|
No one knows the things of God
except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received
the Spirit who is from God,
that we might know the things
that have been freely given to us by God.
We have the mind of Christ.
(1 Corinthians 2:11, 12, 16)
22 years ago, my wife Joy and I took a "rest stop" at a conference entitled The Mind of Christ led by T.W. Hunt. I am excited to share with you truths summarized in two tables from that conference. These truths continue to be a special part of my journey with Christ as He renews my mind.
CHRIST IS TRUTH
The center columns in the following tables represent the truth, truths that characterize Christ, AND you and me, too, because we have been united with Christ through His cross and resurrection!
The right column are our "good" attempts to live the Christian life in fulfilling our needs for love and acceptance. However, these are lifeless imitations of the real thing. The left column are our "evil" reactions and coping ways toward life's circumstances when our needs for love and acceptance are not fulfilled.
The right and left columns represent deceptions through tempations to live "right" according to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, the truth is we have been cut out of that tree and have been grafted into the Tree of Life who is Christ!
The center column does not represent a precarious walk as if on a tight rope. Not at all! We are free to roam in God's green pastures! We don't fall into the right or left columns. We choose to walk in those ways only when we don't believe the truth.
|
FLESHLY PERVERSION |
CHRISTLY MIND (James 3:17) |
FLESHLY IMITATION |
|
Lust |
Pure |
Puritantical |
|
Fussy |
Peacable |
Compromising |
|
Harsh |
Gentle |
Unkind Restraint |
|
Unapproachable |
Entreatable |
Yes-man |
|
Merciless |
Merciful |
Indulgent |
|
Fruitless |
Fruitful |
Fruit-obsessed |
|
Wavering |
Steadfast |
Inflexible |
|
Lying |
Honest |
Brutal |
|
FLESHLY PERVERSION |
FRUIT OF SPIRIT (Gal 5:22-23) |
FLESHLY IMITATION |
|
Hate |
Love |
Possessive |
|
Hurt |
Joy |
Frenzy |
|
War |
Peace |
Neutral |
|
Impatience |
Longsuffering |
Lenience |
|
Hard |
Gentleness |
Soft |
|
Badness |
Wholesomeness |
Finicky Nice |
|
Unbelief |
Faith |
Presumption |
|
Arrogance |
Meekness |
Weakness |
|
Undisciplined |
Self-control |
Self-disciplined |
A COMMAND
Each of us are on a lifelong journey of developing the mind of Christ! Philippians 2:5 says, "Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus." T.W. Hunt has written:
"We are not told to have a good mind, not a mind purified by discipline, not a sharpened intellect, not even the highest of human attainment in godliness and virtue -- but the very mind of Christ Himself! We are not merely to resemble Jesus. We are to think His very thoughts. This is not a wish, but a command."
THE CROSS
T.W. Hunt also affirms the foundation for my own life and ministry:
"The cross, more than anything else in Christ's life, presents the totality of His mind -- His humility, His self-control, His servanthood, His faith. All that is Christ. We cannot comprehend God until we understand the dread cost of the cross. We must look at the cross to know the bottomless depths of God's love. The glory of the cross also would be meaningless without the inseparable victory of the resurrection."
CLOSING
I remember the freedom I first realized when God began to reveal to me that troubling thoughts I had for many years as a Christian that were negative, condemning, self-righteous, impure, etc were not from my true heart. These thoughts were temptations from the enemy to lure me away from my true love of Christ.
Listen to Paul's exhortations to fellow Christians (not to non-Christians), "But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3).
Through the cross and resurrection, we have been given a new heart united with Christ Himself! May we encourage each other to grow in believing that God through the Holy Spirit is renewing our minds to the truths He has already planted in our hearts in the Person of Christ! "Receive with meekness the implanted word" (James 1:21).
You can get to know T.W. Hunt more at the following link:
| 
