The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Mind of Christ...

Hello. I'm rather new to this forum, but just want to express thanks for all the wonderful articles discovered! Truly, what a blessing to be in fellowship with believers in our LORD Jesus Christ!

I was reading these couple verses in I Corinthians 2:14-16, and frankly, mulling. Please pardon my thoughts.

"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For 'who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ."

"But we have the mind of Christ"??

I guess it just amazes me that he could say that! Knowing the humility of Paul's character, and the humility with which he handled his duty as a minister for the Gospel, his godly concern, passion and care for God's people, coming only through the pure grace of God's Holy Spirit, makes that claim of his so completely warranted! I read that and think to myself, well gee, am I a Christian? Am I loving and obeying the LORD as I ought?? Am I continually striving through the grace of the Holy Spirit to think His thoughts after Him, to be a wise person, whether I sit down, or whether I rise up, whether I eat or drink or in whatever I do, to give Him the glory?

--Oh, and a blessed LORD's Sabbath to all His saints!

Welcome to the Highway!

I take great comfort in the fact that the same man who called himself "chiefest of sinners" could also write, "imitate me as I imitate Christ!"

It gives me hope in God that I too, despite being even more chief among sinners than Paul, might still live a life worthy of imitation by others. Paul could suffer, even at the hands of his brethren and fellow Christians, and still rejoice that the gospel was preached and that he was honored to share in Christ's suffering!

The humility and dependence of the Apostle on Christ alone is what enabled him to write such things. The more I realize my own utter dependence upon Him, the more I find myself agreeing with Him about sin, life, and everything else. And the more I lean on Him, the greater my passion for worship, for His word, and to please Him in every thought, word, and deed.

-Robin

Amen, brother.

"The humility and dependence of the Apostle on Christ alone is what enabled him to write such things. The more I realize my own utter dependence upon Him, the more I find myself agreeing with Him about sin, life, and everything else. And the more I lean on Him, the greater my passion for worship, for His word, and to please Him in every thought, word, and deed."

--And that's just why we as sinners need to have an understanding of the nature of our sins, the deadness and corruption of our whole nature, and recognize that it is "not unto us Lord, not unto us!" (Spurgeon) that we can of our own accord accrue grace to ourselves in the sight of God. No, but we must come before God "in humble submission with a contrite heart and a desire to repent and an overwhelming desire to seek His will and follow His steps." So easy to say, but oh, so challenging every day! :-/

God bless you, brother!

-Fay

Welcome to the Discussion Board.

Yes, this entire pericope, beginning at 1:1 delves into the great and mysterious working of God the Holy Spirit and the benefits of it which have been given by Him, i.e., Himself, to believers; not because they were believers but rather to make them believers.

Paul first sets the Gospel in the place where it belongs; a mystery from God and revealed by God the Spirit. (2:1-9) He then shows the chasm which exists between the "natural" man, i.e., the unregenerate/unconverted man, who not only does not receive the gospel but indeed he cannot comprehend it, i.e., in its absolute sense, to embrace it with his mind and heart wholly. This is due to the fact that the natural man is spiritually dead (Eph 2:1,5; Col 2:13) AND totally void of the indwelling Spirit who is the one who gives spiritual life. But the "spiritual" man isn't just one who has some unusual but natural superior knowledge of spiritual things but rather one who has the Spirit himself, this self-same Spirit who knows the very mind of God. (2:10; cp. Isa 43:10) This type of man, the spiritual man, the natural man has no way of judging, i.e., he is incapable of knowing even the most rudimentary things about what the spiritual man is, never mind what things he knows concerning the reality of God, sin, grace, Christ, reconciliation, and all leading up to the glory that shall surely come when Christ returns.

Now, this is what it is to have the mind of Christ. It is to be given the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and by the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. (Jh 14:16-21) It is He who reveals all things and makes known the glorious mystery of the gospel of Christ Jesus the Lord. There is an inseparable union that is created in every believer with Christ and with God. And this gift is reserved for those beloved of God before time and given to them according to God's sovereign good pleasure. (Matt 11:25-27) The result is, of course, that they are not only given to know because they are known of God, but they are adopted as sons/daughters and made to be children of God, (Jh 1:12,13; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5; 1Jh 3:1) and partakers of the divine nature. (2Pet 1:4)

Does this boggle the mind? Hopefully so! True salvation in Christ is not the simple recitation of a prayer found on the back of some card or tract. It is a radical and spiritual transformation which enables a poor needy sinner to see the true state of his/her black heart, at least in part and to see the incomprehensible loveliness of Christ and His total willingness and sufficiency to save. The language used to describe this radical change couldn't be any clearer than what Paul wrote to the Colossians:

Blessed be the name of the Lord, for all things are of him, and through him, and unto him. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.

Why, thank you Pigrim.

I have a longer reply headed your way in just a bit, as your article touches on certain points. So, just a head's up.




-Fay

Greetings Pilgrim,

Thanks for your biblically contextual exposition. It was most kind of you, and I appreciated it.

I don't have any additional insight to add really, since I agree with everything you've said. Truly, what "boggles my mind" the most here is the thought of the impossibility of obtaining salvation for my soul in any way by any means of my own personal autonomy, or merit, or free will. Or even better, as you assert:


I agree with this, for it is in line with the Bible...And...Wow. J. Gresham Machen was so right in asserting that, "Christianity is a supernatural thing." For how can the natural unregenerate man/woman understand the working of God's Holy Spirit in a convicted soul? Only if God so pleases to draw them.

Running along with you on the same track I hope, I appreciated reading what Mathew Henry once wrote on this matter:

"The great truths of the gospel are things lying out of the sphere of human discovery: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard them, nor have they entered into the heart of man. were they objects of sense, could they be discovered by an eye of reason, and communicated by the ear to the mind, as matters of common human knowledge may, there had been no need of a revelation. But, lying out of the sphere of nature, we cannot discover them but by the light of revelation. And therefore we must take them as they lie in the Scriptures, and as God has been pleased to reveal them."

He also has some additional excellent contextual commentary of his own that I could queue in, but it would only be in tune with your "cannon".

To conclude my not-so-contextual reply, as I read your words, "...to embrace it with his mind and heart wholly." I couldn't help but insert this wonderful quote by B. B. Warfield,


Finally, thanks for your conclusion:

Colossians 1:12-13 (ASV) "giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;"

I'll strive harder to make it my chief end to "give thanks unto the Father," for that gift of salvation He has so granted me, repenting of my sins, and hopefully "looking unto to Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith."



The LORD bless you!

-Fay

Wow, amazing! hundred and eleven people peeked at this topic! That makes six hundred and eleven more people viewing this to within the space of a few hours just this morning, when the tally was one hundred eleven! I'm humbly flattered. I've been trying out a couple other forums, and am usually ignored, due to a newbie intruding on an "in-group"...but my humble thanks to y'all for your interest!



Thank you again, Robin! Thank God for the hope that we have. J. Gresham Machen says,



May God bless y'all this week!!!



-Fay

Fay,

There is no "in-group" here, as far as I know. We are simply a mixture of mainly and hopefully those who have been redeemed by the grace of God, in the blood of the Lord Christ who seek to know the truth as it is revealed in His inspired and infallible Word and to live accordingly as the Spirit enables. Perhaps this is one of several reasons why God has seen fit to preserve The Highway for over 14 years.

In short, we see you as FAMILY!

Pilgrim,

Sorry... I wasn't referring to the "forums" on the Highway. I've really been blessed to have stumbled upon this site, and thankful to be able to read so many wonderful articles and comments! The "forums" I had been referring to were those from different web sites, not this one. I've encountered a couple sites offering similar forum discussion groups, and there was definitely (no disrespect to the moderators) a sense of feeling a "newbie"-- intruding upon an established "in-group". This differs in respect to the Highway though, for which I am humbly thankful.

I apologise if I may have been disrespectful here, it wasn't my intent.

May God continue to preserve all His saints! And may He continue to bless and grow the Highway, and the Christian community it offers!

-Fay

Fay,

I didn't understand your comments as referring to this board.

As I stated before with all sincerity, you are no less a part of the "family" here than someone like myself who has been here since the flood. The Spirit gives knowledge and wisdom to whosoever HE wills; to sheep as well as under shepherds. Sometimes, the "sheep" have been given far more than those who esteem themselves above others.

Again, welcome to our little niche on the web.

Alrightie, thanks. --And no more "I give up" emoticons directed at me, I humbly pray. *Laugh* ;-)

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown."

Regards,

-Fay

PS. The smiley was actually directed at the attitude of those who look down on those outside the "rat pack" which they have formed, as I am given to call such groups.

Hi, there, CustosFariAnima!! I, like others here, welcome you to the Highway! Enjoy the wonderful forums and articles


Actually, I don't think that you "stumbled upon this site", I think it was God's providence that led you here. He does everything for good to those who are His elect.

--RoadOfLife

Hello RoadOfLife!

Thank you so much!! May the LORD richly bless you and all His saints this week! I know that the LORD is good and faithful, and I know that He watches over all His people. I can't begin to say how truly thankful I am to counted among His chosen! I can't begin to say how blessed I am to have Christian friends, be part of a church, and to be a part of the Highway Christian community! What a blessing that all God's people serve the same LORD!

"Now Blessed be the LORD our God
The God of Israel;
For He alone does wondrous works
In glory that excel;
And blessed be His glorious name through all eternity,
The whole earth let His glory fill
Amen, so let it be!"

:-D

Thank you so much for your kind, encouraging comment. I love your John Gwyn-Thomas quote! Thanks for it! I confess to being a quote fanatic. Your Scriptural quote also as I was reading it was a good reminder to me, the latter part especially (although I don't wish to take the entire verse out of context; I understand its given context) as I need to be striving harder during every trial that the LORD sets in my path to hold fast to what is good, and abstain from every form of evil.

May we all with one heart and one mind look unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith!

God bless you!!!

-Fay