The Mind of Christ Is Yours
In other words, the apostle has two answers to the question, Who has known the mind of the Lord? The first is implied in the rhetorical question of Romans 11:34: “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” Answer: No one. His mind is infinitely beyond ours. “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable are his ways!” (Romans 11:33). No human may fully know the mind of God.
And yet Paul gives this second answer in 1 Corinthians 2:16: “We have the mind of Christ.” As we not only read and study the Scriptures, but understand them, and then meditate on and memorize them, we increasingly “have the mind of Christ” as we are conformed to his image. We cannot know the mind of God exhaustively, but we can make real progress in degrees. And few ways, if any, imprint the mind of God on our minds like memorization, with meditation, of what he has so plainly said in the Scriptures.
Two Great Effects
One other text mentions “the mind of Christ” and points to two great effects of memorizing the mind of God.
Philippians 2:5, as the introduction to the famous “Christ hymn” of Philippians 2:6–11, says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” And what will that mean? Two clear things in the immediate context are unity (Philippians 1:27–2:2) and humility (Philippians 2:3–4).
There is no better tuning fork for harmony in the body of Christ than the members striving together to conform their minds to the mind of Christ, not just with Christian concepts, but with the very words of God. Having the mind of Christ will make us catalysts for a community “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27), and “being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2).
And such “unity of mind” goes hand in hand with “a humble mind” in 1 Peter 3:8. Few things cultivate humility of mind like submitting our minds to the words of God by memorizing them. And so we become people ready to
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:3–4)
Hide his words in your heart; build an arsenal for fighting temptation. But don’t miss the life-changing power today of memorizing the mind of God.
Written by David Mathis, author of Habits of Grace, originally appearing on Crossway’s blog ©2016. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187.
