In His Image - 17: Being Spiritually Minded

“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” -Romans 8:6


Opening Thought
Mind What I Say!

Maybe you have this mental image in your memory as well. One hand on her hip, the other raised pointing a finder at you – having lectured you on the same fine point of behavior for the "umpteenth" time, she punctuates it with “You’d better mind what I say, or…” the rest we’ll leave to creative imagination.

God doesn’t stand over us with that irritated look on His face watching to make sure we “mind what He says”. However, some of this picture does fit. As we listen to Him explain in His Word what it means to live righteously, He looks for us to understand it. More importantly, He wants us to show that we not only understand, but we agree with the Truth, and we desire to live it in our daily lives. We want to mind what He says!

As a child of God, He has begun a remarkable process in us. Philippians 1:6 says that what God has begun in us, He will complete. He has begun the remarkable work of transforming us into spiritual, holy people. Peter tells us we are to be a “holy priesthood” so that we can “proclaim the excellencies of Him.” (1 Peter 2:5, 9)

We need to be sure that our mind is in gear with the mission of our life in Christ! Thinking God’s thoughts then putting them into action!


Study Notes
Being Spiritually Minded


1. The Veil is Taken Away

• When Moses came down from the mountain after being with God and receiving the Law, his face shone with the glory of God and he had to put a veil over his face (Exodus 34:33) for the peoples' sake -- they couldn't withstand full exposure to God's glory. This account is remarkable in at least two ways: Moses had a personal encounter with God - the Bible later calls him "the friend of God". He had the result of the personal experience emblazoned on his person. Then, how sad that the people at the bottom of the mountain, God's people, had to be shielded from that revelation of God's glory.
  
• Paul mentions this picture in 2 Corinthians 3:12ff. Our hope in Christ gives us boldness, it produces a glory that radiates from us, and there is no veil -- Christ has removed it! (Remember the torn veil at His Resurrection?)
  
• As a result, verse 18 tells it, we are able to encounter the glory of God in Christ in a transforming way, moving us towards Christlikeness.
  

2. Disciple? sure. Obedience? hmmm....

• We readily acknowledge that we are disciples of Christ. But when we come to the issue of obedience, we tend not to be so quick to respond. We're still human, we still want to be in charge.
  
• In practical, human terms, how do we approach obedience?
  
  1. We hear someone giving direction, and we realize we have to choose whether to follow.
  
  2. We evaluate and conclude the level of competence and authority that person has.
  
  3. We decide whether to follow the guidance given in #1 based on #2.
  
  
• So then, how should a disciple of Christ respond to the guidance of God's Word?
  
  1. Be intimately familiar with the guidance given by God in His Word.
  Two key passages come to mind:
  - John 14:26 and 16:13 tell us that the cornerstone ministry of the Holy Spirit to the Believer is to teach and guide you in the Truth of God's Word (the Bible).
  - 2 Tim. 3:16-17 tells us that the Word of God has 4 primary purposes, summarily providing all guidance needed by the Believer
  
  2. Settle once & for all the total authority God has in our decisions and actions.
  - The debate needs to be over, have it settled so that when the challenges come, you already know the result: God's guidance has complete authority in your choices and decisions.
  - Paul often reminded and encouraged his listeners about the importance of understanding what they have committed themselves to in Christ and being faithful to it. Look for example at Colossians 1:23; 2:7; Romans 6:13
  - Warren Wiersbe, in The Integrity Factor, quotes Peter Forsythe saying "The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master."
  
  3. Instinctively assume that all guidance from God is applicable in your life.
  - The good news is that this makes the decision process brief and simple. Our testimony of the grace of Christ is enhanced and more consistent.
  - The challenge now is to become increasingly capable of godly application of His truth.

3. Put it into Action

• We need to get past this ...
  1. Is God Who He says He is?
  2. Is the Bible truly the complete and authorative source for our life's purpose and principles?
  
• We need to get here...
  1. Become very clear about our commitment to and love for Christ .
  2. Recognize that these two should drive us to a passionate demonstration of His likeness.
  
• At that point, obedience becomes essential.

4. Our model is Christ

• This is the goal of this series of studies in Christlikeness.
  
• We all probably need to review what has been covered in this series on a regular basis so that we grow in our understanding of who Christ is and how He expressed God's character.
  

For Further Study...

1. Philippians 4:8 challenges us to focus our thinking, to “dwell on” certain things. Does this verse express the mind of Christ? Is there anything we can add to this? How close do we come to this model?

2. Spend some time meditating in 1 Peter 2 and the importance of your being a truly holy person, not just in God’s sight, but before the world.What does it mean to you to be “spiritual”?

3. Would you agree that God expects the Christian to show a distinct spiritual nature characterized by godliness? Are these two things the same?