THE RENEWED MIND

By J W Luman

We are not after another line of theology; we are after the ever greater, ongoing revealing of Christ in His Church, and that Church becoming the living expression in the earth of all that He is, as a witness to heaven and earth.

We are going to be considering the renewing of the mind. So much, well, all that we are involved in - in Christ Jesus - demands a renewing of our mind. Just think for a minute. Picture a believer as a circle, then a larger circle, then a third larger circle. The inner circle is newness of spirit; it is Christ dwelling in you, but we can put "renewal of spirit - a New Spirit", that Spirit which is Christ. That second circle is the soul, which is the substance of the mind - the heart, the will, the emotions of the believer. We’re not talking about brain now; we’re not talking about anything material that can be found, operated on and altered. If when we are born again we receive a New Spirit, (the scripture teaches that to be the Spirit of Christ, Christ Himself, The Eternal Spirit, The Ever Living Word dwelling in you); does it not stand to reason that something must out from that New Spirit take place in our soul, in our mind? Isn’t it just reasonable that our mind could not of itself, by itself, in its present state comprehend the New Spirit? I mean - you’ve got old soul and New Spirit! And we should all know that the transforming of the soul is not an instantaneous thing, but an ever progressing work of the Spirit of Truth in you!

But does it not make sense that there must be a spiritual work in your soul that is equal to, and the same as the spiritual work constituted by New Spirit, New Birth? And that this same work of the Spirit even be made manifest in your outer man, in your body? And that’s where it would come to your sense knowledge; bringing your sense knowledge under the control of the indwelling Spirit. But it’s the soul with which we’re concerned right now - THE RENEWED MIND. You do not understand the Indwelling Christ with the brain, or with intellect of the outer man. No, it is in the soul, in the mind where a renewing must take place. Not an old mind trying to think new thoughts; not an old mind trying to understand spiritual things - No! No, there has to be a work in that mind by the Holy Spirit that is equal to the working of the Holy Spirit in the New Spirit itself - it’s got to be equal to it. You can’t have a working of the Spirit in your soul that is less than the working of the Spirit in you as a New Spirit. You can not understand Christ with an old mind! You must come to have the mind of Christ if you are ever to understand the Person, the reality, the Truth of Christ.

And the most prevalent problem in the Church today , in the circle of those who would know Jesus is this problem of trying to, with an old mind, understand the New Spirit. It can not be done! Paul’s answer to this was, as we have said again and again - GOD REVEALING HIS SON IN YOU! In 2 Corinthians 3:18, of all of the meanings that this verse has, both primary and theological, ultimately it means just this: our souls being able to gaze into the very view of God, vision of God, Eternal Word of God, glory of God dwelling in us, which is Christ. And in the light, in the knowledge, in the wisdom of Christ, that soul being transformed - in light, in knowledge, in wisdom, in understanding; since what the soul is looking into is light, is glory, is life - the soul is transformed in glory, in light and in life, and takes upon it the same image. This is the transforming of the soul, this is the renewing of the mind, this is Christ being revealed in you and this verse goes on in the original as, "...this is the work of the Spirit." This is the work of the Spirit, and it is exactly that - the renewing of our mind; the revealing of Christ in you.

The learning of theology is not the goal. We are dealing with the theology of certain matters so that we might simply correct false views and misunderstood scriptural interpretations, but beyond all of that, the purpose is that in these very scriptures we may be brought to a greater view of Christ; and that in these very scriptures our souls may be captivated and turned inwardly to see the Lord face to face. And that everything these scriptures declare in letter, be worked in us in reality of Indwelling Christ, Indwelling Spirit. Let us not forget after all, that we are embarked upon a spiritual adventure. This thing is not intellect, this thing is not mere scriptural information, this thing is not merely historical or even prophetical; but in reality of Spirit and Truth to be worked in you. If everything the scripture declares is not, and can not be worked in us, then what good is it at all? But our natural mind would cease to embrace what the scripture is saying but not enter into the reality of having what the scripture is saying worked in us - in the reality of Christ. And in this we fall short. We find ourselves trying to do what the scripture says to do, trying to know what the scripture says to know; rather than experiencing the very doing of the scripture and the very knowing of the scripture being revealed in us, worked in us through the Indwelling Spirit of Christ.

I’m trying to say this in as many ways as I can so that I can reach hearts. I’ve run a little computer search on the word "mind" and I want us to see how absolutely involved in our spiritual growth the mind, our inner man, the soul, truly is. 1 Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Please listen to this. This natural man is the same as Paul uses as the natural mind. There’s nothing wrong with the natural mind; it’s just not capable of spiritual discernment. And in its ultimate form, all scripture must come to be spiritually discerned. And there’s only one way that scripture can be spiritually discerned and that is in the face of Jesus Christ! All scripture ultimately finds its fulfillment and its testimony in life in Christ. You can find scriptures being fulfilled in time, dates, events, persons, places, things - historically. There are primary interpretations to the scripture. God said, "Build an ark", and Noah built a big wooden boat. But we all know that the concept of the Ark and the command of God concerning the Ark goes far beyond what Noah built, and finally comes to have its ultimate realization in the Person of Christ. And yet, how many believers are there today who have not entered into that reality? They do not, in Spirit and Truth, dwell in Christ Jesus. Oh, they accept the theology "we’re in Christ"; often people tell me, Brother, we’ve heard this, everything time you come you say the same thing. And immediately that tells me they haven’t heard it, because if they had heard it they would have gotten past the point that it ever is old, and where it is ever repetitious. They would have gotten into the area where it is always new, challenging, conforming, transforming, alive and eternal! They would have gotten past the letter of it into The Eternal Word of it, and it is ever ongoing and New!

When people say they’ve heard this over and over, then I know they’re only hearing with their intellect, they’re only hearing with their natural mind. They haven’t heard the Voice of the Lord in this at all, they haven’t heard the decree of God, they haven’t heard the Word of God. They have heard like those of times past, where God in sundry times and in divers manners spake, and that voice faded. But hath in the end of those days spoken in Son - they haven’t heard in Son yet. There are so many whose hearts are truly hungry but they keep trying to satisfy that hunger in an intellectual way, and all that does is increase the hunger, and finally in the throes of starvation, bring you to absolute spiritual frustration! Spiritual frustration. Now I did not say that The Spirit frustrated because The Spirit doesn’t. He brings us to soundness of mind, but there is such a thing as spiritual frustration brought about by the natural mind seeking to know the spiritual things that are only revealed and manifested in Christ.

So how many know that the Ark is a type of being in Christ, but have not in the face of Jesus Christ, in the reality of the revelation of Christ, come to know; find themselves in the very being of Christ, surrounded by nothing but Him? Oh you see, that’s the place where Salvation has brought us, and that’s the place in comprehension where the Spirit seeks to bring us - that we may live there - in faith, in knowledge, in understanding, in peace, in "completement"; that we may live there, walk there, talk there, and in every situation manifest that reality in the earth. This is what I’m talking about, and if you haven’t come to this reality, don’t make excuses for it, just say, ‘Well, I need a renewing of the mind.’ Let’s at least get our prayer life right. Say, "God, bring me to a renewing of the mind!’ We’re not confessing sin here; we’re just confessing that we’re trying to learn God with the natural mind and it’s not working! The Lord looked at the Pharisees and said, ‘Look boys, if you would just confess that you’re blind, I would give you light, I would be your light, I could heal you. But you insist that your darkness is light and therefore it is grossly dark and you have become a nation of blind leaders of the blind.’

My God, let this not be said about us. We don’t need blind leaders of the blind; we don’t need blind leaders or blind! We need our sight healed, we need to walk in the light as He is in the light! I pray with you, I urge you - do not try to understand the scriptures but in the face of Jesus Christ! Do not go to the scriptures first looking for new things or a better understanding of things, better scriptural understanding of things. Don’t do that! Go there to see Him, go there to surrender the natural mind to the Holy Spirit of Truth, so that the Holy Spirit can renew the mind. It is a spiritual work, and it is one that many of us are brought to through this frustration that I talked about. Finally we want to know the Lord so badly, we want to understand things so badly, that we’re always on a quest to know something new; and things get old rather quickly for us. But you see, that should tell us something. That should tell us that we have never seen Newness of Life; that we have never seen New Covenant, because New Covenant never gets old! No matter how many times we see it in the same scripture - no matter; it never gets old. The realization of The Cross, which is the center of God’s Eternal Plan in Christ Jesus never gets old. The realization of His death being worked in us never gets old because it never is old - it is ever ongoing! The realization of being buried with Christ never gets old because the transition from one body to another Body is ever taking place in our comprehension. The realization of the resurrection - for God’s sake, how could you ever say that could get old? For we are always abounding in the knowledge of the Lord, always learning Him and always desiring to know Him in the power of His resurrection - how could it ever get old?

I’ll tell you how - it gets old to the natural mind, it gets old to the fleshly mind, it gets old to those believers who have only heard sermons but they have never heard The Living Word that is contained in the sermons. They read the scripture but they have never seen the Eternal Word contained in the scripture. They have rehearsed the Testimony, but they have never realized by the Spirit of Truth, the Faithful and True Witness being revealed in them - they have never seen Jesus, they have never seen the Glory of God that is in them; that Glory has never been revealed and therefore they are surrounded with things that are written, things that are dead, things that are old, because they have not found The Life that is hidden in them. I am telling you dear friends, above and beyond everything we are involved in an issue of LIFE. We are not involved in an issue of going to heaven, we’re not involved in an issue of not going to hell; we’re not involved in any of these so called spiritual "things". We’re involved in an issue of LIFE. Christ is either my life now or He is not, and I have no life. Consequently and equally so, I am either involved with the Spirit of Truth knowing that Christ in a living way; He is either being revealed in me in an ever ongoing appearing; I am either always and ever undergoing a transformation inwardly or I am not!

Not learning Christ, not growing in Christ, not walking in the light as He is in the light, not growing up into the Head in all things, not seeing Him who is perfect, not beholding the indwelling Glory of the Lord; and if I am not, then no wonder I’m frustrated! Because I’m surrounded with spiritual reality which I cannot understand in an intellectual way, and have not experienced in an inner way through the comprehension of the Spirit of Truth. No wonder I’m frustrated - that’s enough to frustrate anybody, and does frustrate many, many precious believers who want to know the Lord and who love the Lord, but who seem to be insistent upon accomplishing this in an intellectual way - they are going to figure it out, study it out, learn it out; they are going to hear as many as they can. All of these things are symptomatic of a natural mind, seeking to know a spiritual Man. I know the symptoms, but by the grace of God and the ever abounding wisdom and love of our Father I also know the answer: the answer is the revealing of The Son!

1 Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Please don’t forget this one. The natural man receiveth NOT the things of the Spirit of God: they are foolishness to him. Now this foolishness began way back in the first chapter. Look at 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." Verse 23, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." This is all about The Cross, this is all in knowing Him in His death, burial and resurrection. This is the very thing, the very source of knowing Him, this is the very center of God’s plan of which the natural mind tires quickly. It is first a stumbling block to that natural man because the natural man is always first "a Jew". That means he always claims to be chosen of God, he claims to be a Christian, he claims to be a child of God - he’s always a Jew first. And The Cross first is a stumbling block because he wants to live, and The Cross says - No! You’ve got to die! And The Cross says that throughout you - spirit, soul and body. The Cross says it is not you who lives, it is Christ who lives in you; but then The Cross goes on and says it is not you who understands, but rather it is the understanding of Christ that must be worked in you. It is not your mind, but His mind; a new mind just as it is a New Spirit. The Cross says again then - you must die! To the mind, to the soul - YOU MUST DIE! You must embrace The Cross as being your own. You must be emptied and become of no reputation - you must die - in your intellect, in your power to know. We’re talking about to know spiritual things - not to drive a tractor or an automobile.

For these things can only be worked in you in the power of His Resurrection, and by the Spirit of Life and by the working in you not only that New Spirit, which is Christ, but that New Mind which is Christ; bringing even your outer man into absolute subjection to Christ, where your bodies become living sacrifices and useful instruments. So, to "the Jew" that is in all of us, He is first a stumbling block. And to "the Gentile" that is in all of us, that true natural man, He is just foolishness. We just tire of it. Oh, the first time we hear a sermon on The Cross it’s kind of new to us and we get to pick something out of it that’s good for us, and we find some kind of a benefit in it. Maybe that’s our problem. Natural men - Jews and Gentiles who have not yet found our death in that one body by The Cross as Paul teaches in Ephesians 2:14-18. We who are still natural minded, still Jew and Gentile in our concepts - maybe that’s our problem. The whole thing centers around us; it’s always what’s good for us - what’s my benefit out of it. That sounds like a Jew and a Gentile, doesn’t it?

But you see this whole concept of God’s redemptive plan, Eternal Salvation; the plan and purpose of God in Christ Jesus is not centered in me, it’s not centered in you. It is not a plan of God for us - it’s for HIM. It’s worked out in earthen vessels so that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. No friends, we’re not the center of God’s plan - Christ is, just as He is the center of God’s universe, just as He is the center of The New Creation, just as He is the center of the Body of Christ and just as He dwells in the midst of you! Yes, He displaces you out from the center! He displaces me out from the center, and you see, that’s a great stumbling block to the natural mind, it’s a great offense to the natural mind. And that is foolishness to the natural mind because our whole concept of Salvation in the natural mind is contrary to The Truth as it is revealed in Christ. We don’t want to die to live - we want to never die! We must understand the difference. We don’t want to become foolish to be wise. No, we want our foolishness to be turned to wisdom, we want our foolishness to be wised up!

But The Cross simply brings you and I to an end. Yes, it brings us to an end - personal existence, intellectual existence, material existence - it brings us to an end! And many will hear that and say - ‘I just don’t believe that.’ Well, that’s alright, just continue in your frustration, but this is the gospel. And if you would just live for awhile in the first three chapters of First Corinthians, the Holy Spirit has something to show you. And the heart of it is right here in verse 14. "FOR THEY ARE FOOLISHNESS UNTO HIM." But go back and see where Paul is coming from with this word "foolishness", and see what these things of the Spirit of God are all about. They are the things that are centered in The Cross, they are the things that are centered in Christ crucified. For Paul has continued on in his letter and has stated in Chapter 2, "I determined not to know..." You see, there are virtually no natural minded Christians that would allow Paul to come to their house or to their Bible study or their gathering more than one time, because in their estimation and in their way of thinking - one sermon. "I’m determined not to know anything among you save JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED." And we must understand with Paul that is not a sermon; it’s a way of life! It’s the unfolding of The Eternal, ever ongoing Mystery of God in the death, burial and resurrection of The Lord. First in Him in His Person, then in Him through His Person being revealed in His body, then through that Body manifesting the reality of Him in all the earth.

It is ever unending, ongoing and eternal. It is the power of God being worked in you and I, but it is a stumbling block to the Jew, it is foolishness to the Gentiles, it is a consternation to the natural man. Oh dear friends, I’m encouraging you who have crossed the line, who have passed over this Jordan, who have embraced The Cross; I’m encouraging you. And those who have not, I am pleading with you, you are still standing in the wilderness in love with Canaan, but you won’t cross this Jordan. You might go back and look at the first few chapters of Joshua and you might understand that the crossing over is literally through His death, burial and resurrection, and for you and I in a comprehensive way; comprehending His death, burial and resurrection in us. We must comprehend when He died - I died, when He was buried - I was buried, when He came forth - we come forth in Newness of Life. This is a comprehension that will set you in a place of spiritual reality, a comprehending that will bring you forth in a knowing of Him, in a liberty, in a joy, in a reality that you have never experienced because the natural mind can not. You can read about it, and want to know about it, and run up and down the banks of the Jordan and ask 50,000 people how to get across - but there is only ONE WAY to get across!

There’s only one way to pass over the Jordan! There’s only one way! Just like there was only one way to come through the Red Sea; now Jordan is the comprehension of that same way. The Red Sea typified a baptism whereby you and I are baptized. The Jordan typified an obedience of faith, a comprehension whereby Israel went in and possessed the land. It’s the same thing for you and I today, except for you and I it’s not a type and shadow, it is in reality of Christ! The Christ that is in you must be revealed in you! The Christ who is in you by new Birth, must be revealed in you if you are to know Him and walk in Him, and become in reality a manifestation of Him. This business of the renewed mind as concerning spiritual life is a necessity. A few more verses now. Colossians 2:18, "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind." I know this has a primary interpretation, but the whole point is the fleshly mind is always trying to intrude into things which it has seen, and cannot see. There is nothing more intrusive than the fleshly natural mind. The spiritual mind will not seek such an intrusion. That mind that is learning Christ has been brought into such a realization according to Paul: "it is not I, but Christ who liveth in me." Brother T. Austin Sparks has a publication on ‘Men Whose Eyes Have Seen The Glory of God’. Listen - men and women who have seen the glory of God are not presumptuous, they are not intruding. The Old Testament types show them falling upon their faces and crying out, ‘I have unclean lips!’ Jeremiah cried out, ‘I am but a child and can not understand!’ Daniel falls on his face and his face is in the dirt. Ezekiel - the same spirit; he was struck dumb and could not speak. There’s no presumptuousness, there’s no intrusive attitude about the true spiritual heart, the true spiritual mind. Once you have seen the Lord, you do not come tramping into His presence - you are always very carefully brought there by the Holy Spirit.

Paul cried out, "Oh God, I am crucified. It is not I, it is Christ who liveth in me!" Writing in another place he said, "Let this same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." You remember how Jesus was not intrusive in His attitude toward The Father, because He had given up that place, He had forsaken that place, knowing that The Father would restore Him to it. But what I’m trying to tell you is the natural mind is an intrusive mind, it is a self centered mind. It seeks to go into places where the spiritual mind would never on its own go, because it realizes that only the Holy Spirit can bring me here; and so the spiritual mind waits before the Lord, waits for the coming of the Lord. The intrusive mind runs into places where it has no business being, always trying to find out, to know. Now that may work in the "business" world, but it doesn’t work in the world of The Spirit. That may impress people connected with such enterprises as Wall Street, but it doesn’t impress the angels of God, and it certainly doesn’t impress the community of heaven, and it does not impress, but rather offends the Holy Spirit. But a quiet spirit, a mind that is obedient unto death, even the death of The Cross, and yet longing to see Him; one that waiteth upon Him, one that longs to hear His Voice, one that finds joy in the waiting, joy in the longing...oh yes, that’s the mind to whom, and more so, in whom, in loving intimacy, in whom the Lord Himself appears, and His Voice is heard and He is embraced, and we are transformed.

I’m telling you dear friends, the issue with which we are involved is an issue of life - LIFE! The issue is life, the issue is knowing Him. The issue is not Christianity, it’s not "churchianity" - it’s LIFE. The issue with me is not ministry, ministering, preaching, teaching, going or staying - that’s not the issue with me. It is not one of doing or developing. It is not one of research, not of outreach. The issue with me is one of life - CHRIST IS MY LIFE! Except that be the ongoing realization behind all else that we do, then all else that we do is nothing more than a gigantic and colossal work of the flesh, and consequently a waste of time. But now let’s go on in the scripture.

We come to Romans 8:6, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." To be carnally minded is death. I know that we want to apply the carnal mind to a sinner, but the carnal mind is simply a natural mind trying to learn spiritual things. It is not just a natural mind; it is a natural mind caught in the trap of trying to be spiritual. A carnal mind takes the things of the Spirit and makes them natural. A carnal mind takes the things of Christ and makes them self serving. A carnal mind takes The Eternal Word and makes it to become dead letter. A carnal mind is the natural mind trying to understand spiritual things, and it is death. "...but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." We’ve just been describing the relationship which is life and peace, the relationship which the spiritual mind that waits upon the Lord is brought to; that is led into all places of Christ by the Holy Spirit Himself - never intrusive. This is life, this is peace. To be carnally minded is death. I don’t know anyplace in the scripture that actually speaks of a carnal mind, but the point is it is not a carnal mind that is spoken of, but to be carnally minded. It is a natural mind seeking to comprehend spiritual truth.

Look in Romans 8:5. We find that they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. And again, don’t relate this to sinners. This relates to the law, this relates to knowing Him by the letter and not by the Spirit, this relates to knowing Him after the first and not after the Second. "For they that are after the flesh..." What does that mean? They that are after knowing Christ by the flesh. It is the natural mind trying to comprehend spiritual things, and they bring themselves into a captivity of these very things, they become captivated by trying to know, captivated by trying to learn - captivated. And ultimately they are the most frustrated human beings upon the face of the earth, because a human being can learn human things and go to sleep and have peace; but a human being can not know spiritual things, and will end up in frustration every time.

..."but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." And you see this all comes down to being led by the Spirit. Verse 14, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." It all comes down to this spirit of adoption crying out in us, Abba, Father; not us figuring out God is a Father, God is my Father, God’s name is Father so He must be my Father, the scripture says it so it must be true, I believe it! No, no, no! It is the very spirit of adoption, it is the very Spirit of Truth working in us the reality of God through the revelation of The One Eternal Indwelling Son of God, in whom all scripture and all spiritual understanding and relationship is both fulfilled and revealed. I’m telling you the Truth. I’m giving you a prescription for frustration. THE RENEWING OF THE MIND is the answer. It is the Spirit itself that beareth witness with our spirit, that is, our spiritual understanding, our soul, the spirit of our mind; causing us to know, to understand we’re the children of God. This goes over to Galatians 4, but my point here in Romans 8 is just this, verse 8: "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

"They that are in the flesh" is a descriptive term here of those that are trying to be spiritual by natural understanding, those that are trying to know Christ. Paul here is dealing with the law in a post-Cross situation; those still trying to know spiritual things by natural understanding of spiritual things. And that still exists today. The name has changed but the game is the same - still trying to comprehend the fulness of the Spirit by the natural mind. So many believers are convinced that spiritual mindedness is just that: a natural mind learning spiritual things, but that is not spiritual mindedness. That is a natural mind trying to learn spiritual things which is carnal mindedness. Spiritual mindedness comes from the mind of the Spirit, that is, the mind of Christ being worked in us. The mind of Christ being worked in us - Christ being revealed, Christ made unto us wisdom, knowledge, understanding; coming to a realization of spiritual life and reality that can only be gotten in the face of The Son, in the revelation of the Indwelling Son. Such revelation can only be had when we bring our natural mind to The Cross, reckon it dead, forsake it, and leave it there. Only then can we truly begin to be led by the Spirit. That comprehensively is our crossing over Jordan.

Romans 8:7, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God..." Now there’s cause for frustration. The carnal mind is enmity against God! "...for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." We could spend a lot of time on this, but I just want to encourage you in whom Christ is being revealed, and praying with you in whom He has not been revealed, and yet you want to know and understand spiritual things and you do love the Lord. And because you do love the Lord you are trying all the harder to understand Him and the things of the Lord. But every time you hear the Truth of Christ presented it is frustrating to you; or worse yet, maybe it has become foolishness to you, and that’s a terrible place to get into because that will bring about a lot of flesh justification on your part. And to justify yourself you’re going to have to criticize others - that’s the spirit that it works in you.

Turn to 2 Corinthians 13:11, " Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." 1 Corinthians 1:10, "Now I beseech you, brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." Having no divisions is not meeting in the same building; there can be a lot of divisions in the same building. Having no division is being perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. There is only one place scripturally you can come to that judgment and that mind, and that is THE CROSS - The Cross in a comprehensive way. A spiritual comprehension of Christ crucified brings you into that one mind and that one judgment, and releases you into the endless knowing and abounding in the knowledge of Him.

1 Corinthians 2:16, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." Now that’s not just a blanket statement of legalism saying every Christian has the mind of Christ. No, the true meaning of this verse is: we have as our inheritance the mind of Christ. It does not mean that every believer has in a comprehensive way laid hold upon their inheritance, and in fact, most haven’t. And that’s exactly what Galatians 4:1-7 is saying; that there are many who are children, though heirs; yet because they are children, differ nothing from a servant. What does that mean? They haven’t laid hold upon their inheritance. Who are these? Those in whom the spirit of adoption has not been worked, those in whom Christ has not been revealed, those who are still with the mind of a child, which is the natural mind. Now that may be offensive to some, but it is the natural mind trying to learn the things of The New Man. Thus when Paul speaks of coming from one mind to another, he speaks of coming from a child to a man. That’s in 1 Corinthians 13 and you will see that he is speaking of coming from one comprehension to another. What is it? It is the renewing of the spirit of the mind! That’s what it is.

Ephesians 4:17, "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk..." Now the Gentiles have said this is all a bunch of foolishness. "...in the vanity of their mind." There is such a vanity to the natural mind! ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?’ ‘You are!’ says the vanity of our mind. It always comes back to us in the natural mind; it always centers in us in the natural mind. That’s why The Cross, the preaching of Christ crucified is such a stumbling block. We say we’re going to learn these things, we’re going to intrude, we’re going to figure it out! No you’re not! Jesus said, " I AM THE WAY, I’M THE TRUTH, I’M THE LIFE and no man cometh but by ME!" And do we not understand yet that The Way, The Truth and The Life is His death, His burial and His resurrection? Do we not understand that these are not historical events only, but an endless Way, Truth, Life in Him - knowing Him!

Surely one day we must begin to understand that The Cross is not a sermon, but the power of God; even the power of the Resurrection working in us that which is perfect. Only the natural mind could be tired of The Cross, only the natural mind could be wearied in hearing ‘we are dead with Christ’; only the carnal mind could suppose that we in some way can enter into His Life other than by His Eternal death...yes, I said His ETERNAL death, because if He is eternally alive unto God, and if He is Eternal Life, then he is eternally dead to sin, and He is the Eternal death to sin and flesh and the world, and all that is not Life. He is the Lamb standing in the midst of the Throne, and not me nor you, nor any other power is going to be able to remove Him - not even the power of the natural mind! My Lord - have mercy!

We read in 2 Corinthians 13:11, "Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peach shall be with you." Yes, indeed it will! There’s nothing more glorious than the fellowship of those who are walking in the light as He is in the light. It is here we experience what Christianity really is, what fellowship really is all about. And we experience it in that very inward way, and we live it out in our bodies one to another. Ephesians 4:23, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Oh yes, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind! This is the text verse of what we’re considering now. Philippians 2:5, " Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." This is the mind that brings us in obedience unto His death, whereby we are brought forth in His glorious presence through the Resurrection. The Resurrection is worked in you in person, in spirit and in comprehension. He is that Person in you - he is The Person of The Resurrection, He dwells in you. And because He dwells in you, He is that quickening Spirit; He hath quickened, raised and seated you. And because He is in you, He must be revealed, and we must come to comprehend Him as our Life, and comprehend that we are raised up in Him, by Him, through Him and walk in that comprehension; becoming partakers of The Resurrection. Very briefly, that’s The Person, The Spirit and The Comprehension of The Resurrection.

It is this mind that is obedient unto The Cross that brings you to this glorious realization of Christ. You can call this foolishness, or you can let it be a stumbling block, but if we’re ever to come from the natural mind to the renewed mind, you must do it through the reality of The Cross. No other way can it be done. You can study yourself to death; it isn’t going to help any except you come by way of The Cross! All of our studying is in vain except it be with a renewed mind. Spiritual reality, spiritual cognizance, spiritual comprehension, spiritual walk and growth BEGINS with the renewing of the mind. It begins with Christ being revealed in us. It begins there and it also ends there. 1 Peter 1:13, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Spiritual life begins and ends, that is, fulfilled, finds its fulfillment in Christ being revealed in you. Now that verse has a primary interpretation, but that primary interpretation has come and gone. It was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and the deliverance of the Church from the oppressiveness of the Jews, but what does that mean to you and I today? It means exactly what I said it meant because ultimately all scripture finds its ultimate realization in the Person of Christ dwelling in His Body. I’m telling you, the issue before us and in us is one of Life, one of knowing Him Who is our Life. So here’s what it all comes down to.

Colossians 3:1, "If ye then be risen with Christ..." Well, are you or are you not? Speaking now of this very reality of Christ being your life. "If ye then be risen with Christ..." Now Paul is not questioning whether they are or not, he is building upon the premise that in the first two chapters he has settled the fact that they are in Christ. Verse 13 of Chapter 2, " And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." He hath quickened you together with Him. So he goes on therefore and says since you then be risen with Christ... Remember Paul’s teaching: quickened together, raised together, seated together in heavenly places in Christ. Then upon the basis of this being so, "...seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection (here’s your soul) on things above, not on things on the earth." We’ve been saying that the soul in its natural state, through its natural ability can not know things that are above, but must be renewed. And this is what Paul is saying. "For ye are dead..." Why seek spiritual things in an earthly way, in a carnal way, with a natural mind? "You are dead to that and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

And here’s the issue of our whole existence. Verse 4, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear (that is, be made manifestly known, be made known in a manifest way)then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Oh, when God reveals His Son in you, and works in you that work of the Apokalupsis, that is the uncovering, the unveiling of The Ever Living One, the next thing on the "spiritual agenda" is His manifest presence filling your very soul! It is then that you and I also appear with Him in glory. It is then when our Life appears, when we see Him as our Life, we see ourselves as we are - as those who have no life but Him! As those in whom He lives. When our Life appears, we appear as One with Him Who is our Life. When with an unveiled face we behold the glory of the Lord, we are changed into that same image.

Here’s the issue, here’s what it comes to, here’s what it’s all about. When Christ shall appear, then shall ye also appear as One with Him in glory. It is all about the appearing of Him Who is our Life. It’s all about LIFE. The natural mind can not intrude into the things of Life, but the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth is come to lead, to guide, to direct whosoever will into the fulness of that Life which is in you, that Life which is Christ. Isn’t that the cry of your heart? That’s the cry of your soul! Not to know things, but to know Him. I ask that you let the Spirit of God answer the cry of your soul. Do it simply by bringing it to The Cross, lay it down and confess, ‘oh God, I will never know Him except You reveal Him in me!’ That’s all the Father is waiting on. When the heart turns, the veil is taken away and the glory of the Lord shall fill your temple, which is His Temple. Blessed be the Lamb of God!

I hope this will encourage those of you who are seeing the Lord, and because of that are misunderstood by others; and I hope it will minister to those who have a real desire to know the Lord but are trying to do it through a natural mind, and that only leads to frustration. May the Lord renew our minds to know Him. Amen.