Think Like Jesus

Philippians 2:5-8

One of the most important factors in how believers live begins with how believers think. When Paul told the Roman church not to be conformed to the world, but rather to be transformed, he said the way to do that was to renew their mind (Romans 12:2). Changing the way we think is key when it comes to living for Christ, because while our spirit is brand new, and He lives in our heart, we control our mind, with the lusts and the affections thereof.

Satan cannot read your mind, but he can certainly throw things across your path. If you dwell on them, they begin to plague you, and your entire emotional makeup can be affected. Your thoughts about who you are in Christ, either a filthy sinner that needs judged, or a redeemed child of God who is perfectly sanctified, affect how you live as well. It is for this cause that the Apostle Paul spent so much time reminding the believer, as to who they were in Christ.

When he is confronted with Christians suing Christians in 1 Corinthians 6, he asks them, “Don’t you know that you will judge angels?” He is appealing to what they know about who they are, in order to get their walk straightened out. Later in that chapter, he confronts fornication by asking, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” Again, he reminds them of who they are, appealing to their knowledge of the truth to bring righteousness out of them.

In Philippians 2:5, Paul tells the church to think like Jesus, and then in verse 6, he tells us what Jesus thought:

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”

Notice what Jesus thought; that it would not be wrong to consider himself equal with God. Now we know that Paul is not insinuating that we are little gods, but he is telling us to think of ourselves as Jesus thought of himself.

Jesus knew His position with His Father, and He was perfectly secure in what His Father thought of Him. Paul is encouraging the believer to be perfectly secure in their standing with God. You are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), thus, you are one of the sons of God (John 1:12). When you know that you are just as Jesus is (1 John 4:17), you begin to live up to that status.

As soon as you realize who that you are in Christ, your actions will begin to line up with your faith. The righteousness of God is revealed in us from faith to faith (Romans 1:17), meaning that His righteousness is already in us, but it awaits our daily faith in order to show itself in our day to day walk.

As I say to the people in my church, when you learn to think as Jesus thought and view yourself as He did, then sin will just feel stupid! You will view failure as an embarrassment to your position, as if the very thought of it is beneath someone of your stature. Christ in you will truly be showing up on you.

God is good, and God is your Father. View yourself today as His child, and rest in His goodness.

Renew Your Mind

Romans 12:1, 2

It is perfectly reasonable for God to ask believers to give Him their whole body, soul, mind and spirit. In light of the price that Jesus paid for us at the cross, that is not too big a request. Paul calls it our “reasonable service”, for you and I are already holy by the blood of Jesus, thus when we give ourselves to Him, we are “acceptable”.

Now I am no different than any other pastor in that I want every person in my church to live a life of honor before the world. I want each Christian to show forth the characteristics of Christ and to let their fruit speak of His grace and favor. Part of this desire is so that the church will be strong but there is also a part that wants it because I want to see that the message of grace and favor works. By experience and by testimony I can tell you, it works!

While we pastors may come up with a long sermon series on how to live right, there is no greater verse in the New Testament for believers to read and know than Romans 12:2 when it comes to looking less like the world and more like Jesus. Paul starts by telling you what not to do and then explains how:

1. “Be not conformed to this world” – The Greek word for “conformed” here is ‘sunschematizo’ which means “to pattern after a certain thing”. Paul is telling believers not to pattern the way that they live after the way the world lives. This doesn’t have anything to do with our dress or our homes or jobs, but rather it involves structuring our lives around the same principles by which sinners govern themselves. It is not to “this world” that we are most loyal, but rather to the next one.

2. “But be ye transformed…” – There is a transformation that must take place within a believer that is much like the one that took place the moment that we were born again. At conversion, our old things passed away and everything became new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now, we must have another transformation that is ‘metamorphaomai’ in Greek meaning “to reflect the inside”. Our outside needs to begin to reflect our inside.

3. “…by the renewing of your mind” – Here is the answer to how we cease to be conformed to the world and begin to reflect on the outside what is happening on the inside. We must renew the way that we think about who we are in Christ. This word appears only twice in the Greek New Testament, the other time being in Titus 3:5 where we have been renewed by the Holy Ghost. When we change what we think of us to line up with what He thinks of us, we start to reflect on the outside what the Holy Ghost has done on the inside.

4. “That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” – This portion of scripture is not telling us to go out and find the perfect will of God for our lives. In connection with the previous statements within the verse, and in light of the Greek meaning of “prove”, we find something completely different. “Prove” is “to recognize as genuine after examination”. When our mindset becomes as His we will prove to the world what it means to be truly good and acceptable and perfect inside of the will of god. When sinners examine us they will have to conclude that we are what we say that we are, and all because we think of ourselves the way that He thinks of us.

Need a bit of help with changing your mind? Just know what He thinks about you. He sees you as righteous and forgiven because of the blood of Jesus. Still not enough? Then take what Paul said to the church at Philippi:

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:5, 6).

The Carnal Mind vs. the Spiritual Mind

Romans 8:6

To be of a carnal mind brings on death; while life and peace are found in being spiritually minded. In light of the end results that each mindset brings, it would be a wise thing to understand what it means to be carnally minded and to be spiritually minded.

Carnality is often viewed as things that are sinful. People declare certain movies or music to be carnal or dressing inappropriately or cursing to be things of a “carnal nature”. If this definition is correct then carnal minded must be sinful thinking. What would constitute sinful thinking? That is a little tougher to answer than it is to ask. Thank God the Bible tells us what carnality is so that all of this is cleared up.

Paul addressed the church at Corinth with some heavy instruction due to some of the things that they were doing. This church had an incestuous fornicator in their midst (5:1); they were getting drunk on communion wine (11:21); they were suing one another in court (6:1); they were sleeping with temple harlots (6:16) and they were abusing the gifts of the Spirit in worship services (chapter 14). In light of all of this, Paul never evoked the power of the Law to get them to live right, but rather reminded them of their righteousness in Christ and said, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not” (1 Corinthians 15:34).

Before any of these other things were mentioned, Paul called the Corinthian church “carnal”, but it was for none of these sins that he referred to them this way. Their carnality was wrapped up in their identification. “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?” (1 Corinthians 3:4). It was for identifying themselves through any other means than as God’s righteousness that Paul called them carnal. He never said it over their lawsuits, their fornication or their drunkenness, but he said it over their divisions.

For the believer to see themselves through any other lens than the finished work of Jesus Christ is to be carnally minded. To face your trials and troubles and your sins and failures as if the cross never happened is to be carnally minded. To lean upon the arm of the flesh, trusting in your reading, praying, fasting, giving and going to bring you life and peace is to be carnally minded. Carnal minded Christians are never at peace, because they never have a sense of fulfillment that is found only through the cross of Christ.

To think with a carnal mind is to ignore the finished work of Jesus and place yourself under the judgment of God. This way of thinking is an enemy of God (Romans 8:7), incapable of producing righteousness. To walk in this way of thinking is to live according to your talents and abilities, with little or no regard as to who you really are in Christ. It is impossible to be pleasing to God in this state, and you will see no “life and peace”.

This does not mean that you are backslidden from God and that you are going to go to hell because you have leaned on the arm of the flesh. You do not lose relationship with God, even though you go about your Christian walk by your works. You DO however hinder fellowship with God when you trust your works for righteousness. He loves you just the same, but thinking that you have to earn His love will only lead to frustration and separation, neither of which are God’s will for your life. Jesus has paid for you to have no condemnation. Think this way and live in life and peace!

Think Like Jesus

Philippians 2:5-8

One of the most important factors in how believers live begins with how believers think. When Paul told the Roman church not to be conformed to the world, but rather to be transformed, he said the way to do that was to renew their mind (Romans 12:2). Changing the way we think is key when it comes to living for Christ, because while our spirit is brand new, and He lives in our heart, we control our mind, with the lusts and the affections thereof.

Satan cannot read your mind, but he can certainly throw things across your path. If you dwell on them, they begin to plague you, and your entire emotional makeup can be affected. Your thoughts about who you are in Christ, either a filthy sinner that needs judged, or a redeemed child of God who is perfectly sanctified, affect how you live as well. It is for this cause that the Apostle Paul spent so much time reminding the believer, as to who they were in Christ.

When he is confronted with Christians suing Christians in 1 Corinthians 6, he asks them, “Don’t you know that you will judge angels?” He is appealing to what they know about who they are, in order to get their walk straightened out. Later in that chapter, he confronts fornication by asking, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” Again, he reminds them of who they are, appealing to their knowledge of the truth to bring righteousness out of them.

In Philippians 2:5, Paul tells the church to think like Jesus, and then in verse 6, he tells us what Jesus thought:

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”

Notice what Jesus thought; that it would not be wrong to consider himself equal with God. Now we know that Paul is not insinuating that we are little gods, but he is telling us to think of ourselves as Jesus thought of himself.

Jesus knew His position with His Father, and He was perfectly secure in what His Father thought of Him. Paul is encouraging the believer to be perfectly secure in their standing with God. You are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), thus, you are one of the sons of God (John 1:12). When you know that you are just as Jesus is (1 John 4:17), you begin to live up to that status.

As soon as you realize who that you are in Christ, your actions will begin to line up with your faith. The righteousness of God is revealed in us from faith to faith (Romans 1:17), meaning that His righteousness is already in us, but it awaits our daily faith in order to show itself in our day to day walk.

As I say to the people in my church, when you learn to think as Jesus thought and view yourself as He did, then sin will just feel stupid! You will view failure as an embarrassment to your position, as if the very thought of it is beneath someone of your stature. Christ in you will truly be showing up on you.

God is good, and God is your Father. View yourself today as His child, and rest in His goodness.

Renew Your Mind

Romans 12:1, 2

It is perfectly reasonable for God to ask believers to give Him their whole body, soul, mind and spirit. In light of the price that Jesus paid for us at the cross, that is not too big a request. Paul calls it our “reasonable service”, for you and I are already holy by the blood of Jesus, thus when we give ourselves to Him, we are “acceptable”.

Now I am no different than any other pastor in that I want every person in my church to live a life of honor before the world. I want each Christian to show forth the characteristics of Christ and to let their fruit speak of His grace and favor. Part of this desire is so that the church will be strong but there is also a part that wants it because I want to see that the message of grace and favor works. By experience and by testimony I can tell you, it works!

While we pastors may come up with a long sermon series on how to live right, there is no greater verse in the New Testament for believers to read and know than Romans 12:2 when it comes to looking less like the world and more like Jesus. Paul starts by telling you what not to do and then explains how:

1. “Be not conformed to this world” – The Greek word for “conformed” here is ‘sunschematizo’ which means “to pattern after a certain thing”. Paul is telling believers not to pattern the way that they live after the way the world lives. This doesn’t have anything to do with our dress or our homes or jobs, but rather it involves structuring our lives around the same principles by which sinners govern themselves. It is not to “this world” that we are most loyal, but rather to the next one.

2. “But be ye transformed…” – There is a transformation that must take place within a believer that is much like the one that took place the moment that we were born again. At conversion, our old things passed away and everything became new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now, we must have another transformation that is ‘metamorphaomai’ in Greek meaning “to reflect the inside”. Our outside needs to begin to reflect our inside.

3. “…by the renewing of your mind” – Here is the answer to how we cease to be conformed to the world and begin to reflect on the outside what is happening on the inside. We must renew the way that we think about who we are in Christ. This word appears only twice in the Greek New Testament, the other time being in Titus 3:5 where we have been renewed by the Holy Ghost. When we change what we think of us to line up with what He thinks of us, we start to reflect on the outside what the Holy Ghost has done on the inside.

4. “That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” – This portion of scripture is not telling us to go out and find the perfect will of God for our lives. In connection with the previous statements within the verse, and in light of the Greek meaning of “prove”, we find something completely different. “Prove” is “to recognize as genuine after examination”. When our mindset becomes as His we will prove to the world what it means to be truly good and acceptable and perfect inside of the will of god. When sinners examine us they will have to conclude that we are what we say that we are, and all because we think of ourselves the way that He thinks of us.

Need a bit of help with changing your mind? Just know what He thinks about you. He sees you as righteous and forgiven because of the blood of Jesus. Still not enough? Then take what Paul said to the church at Philippi:

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:5, 6).

The Carnal Mind vs. the Spiritual Mind

Romans 8:6

To be of a carnal mind brings on death; while life and peace are found in being spiritually minded. In light of the end results that each mindset brings, it would be a wise thing to understand what it means to be carnally minded and to be spiritually minded.

Carnality is often viewed as things that are sinful. People declare certain movies or music to be carnal or dressing inappropriately or cursing to be things of a “carnal nature”. If this definition is correct then carnal minded must be sinful thinking. What would constitute sinful thinking? That is a little tougher to answer than it is to ask. Thank God the Bible tells us what carnality is so that all of this is cleared up.

Paul addressed the church at Corinth with some heavy instruction due to some of the things that they were doing. This church had an incestuous fornicator in their midst (5:1); they were getting drunk on communion wine (11:21); they were suing one another in court (6:1); they were sleeping with temple harlots (6:16) and they were abusing the gifts of the Spirit in worship services (chapter 14). In light of all of this, Paul never evoked the power of the Law to get them to live right, but rather reminded them of their righteousness in Christ and said, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not” (1 Corinthians 15:34).

Before any of these other things were mentioned, Paul called the Corinthian church “carnal”, but it was for none of these sins that he referred to them this way. Their carnality was wrapped up in their identification. “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?” (1 Corinthians 3:4). It was for identifying themselves through any other means than as God’s righteousness that Paul called them carnal. He never said it over their lawsuits, their fornication or their drunkenness, but he said it over their divisions.

For the believer to see themselves through any other lens than the finished work of Jesus Christ is to be carnally minded. To face your trials and troubles and your sins and failures as if the cross never happened is to be carnally minded. To lean upon the arm of the flesh, trusting in your reading, praying, fasting, giving and going to bring you life and peace is to be carnally minded. Carnal minded Christians are never at peace, because they never have a sense of fulfillment that is found only through the cross of Christ.

To think with a carnal mind is to ignore the finished work of Jesus and place yourself under the judgment of God. This way of thinking is an enemy of God (Romans 8:7), incapable of producing righteousness. To walk in this way of thinking is to live according to your talents and abilities, with little or no regard as to who you really are in Christ. It is impossible to be pleasing to God in this state, and you will see no “life and peace”.

This does not mean that you are backslidden from God and that you are going to go to hell because you have leaned on the arm of the flesh. You do not lose relationship with God, even though you go about your Christian walk by your works. You DO however hinder fellowship with God when you trust your works for righteousness. He loves you just the same, but thinking that you have to earn His love will only lead to frustration and separation, neither of which are God’s will for your life. Jesus has paid for you to have no condemnation. Think this way and live in life and peace!

Think Like Jesus

Philippians 2:5-8

One of the most important factors in how believers live begins with how believers think. When Paul told the Roman church not to be conformed to the world, but rather to be transformed, he said the way to do that was to renew their mind (Romans 12:2). Changing the way we think is key when it comes to living for Christ, because while our spirit is brand new, and He lives in our heart, we control our mind, with the lusts and the affections thereof.

Satan cannot read your mind, but he can certainly throw things across your path. If you dwell on them, they begin to plague you, and your entire emotional makeup can be affected. Your thoughts about who you are in Christ, either a filthy sinner that needs judged, or a redeemed child of God who is perfectly sanctified, affect how you live as well. It is for this cause that the Apostle Paul spent so much time reminding the believer, as to who they were in Christ.

When he is confronted with Christians suing Christians in 1 Corinthians 6, he asks them, “Don’t you know that you will judge angels?” He is appealing to what they know about who they are, in order to get their walk straightened out. Later in that chapter, he confronts fornication by asking, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” Again, he reminds them of who they are, appealing to their knowledge of the truth to bring righteousness out of them.

In Philippians 2:5, Paul tells the church to think like Jesus, and then in verse 6, he tells us what Jesus thought:

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”

Notice what Jesus thought; that it would not be wrong to consider himself equal with God. Now we know that Paul is not insinuating that we are little gods, but he is telling us to think of ourselves as Jesus thought of himself.

Jesus knew His position with His Father, and He was perfectly secure in what His Father thought of Him. Paul is encouraging the believer to be perfectly secure in their standing with God. You are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), thus, you are one of the sons of God (John 1:12). When you know that you are just as Jesus is (1 John 4:17), you begin to live up to that status.

As soon as you realize who that you are in Christ, your actions will begin to line up with your faith. The righteousness of God is revealed in us from faith to faith (Romans 1:17), meaning that His righteousness is already in us, but it awaits our daily faith in order to show itself in our day to day walk.

As I say to the people in my church, when you learn to think as Jesus thought and view yourself as He did, then sin will just feel stupid! You will view failure as an embarrassment to your position, as if the very thought of it is beneath someone of your stature. Christ in you will truly be showing up on you.

God is good, and God is your Father. View yourself today as His child, and rest in His goodness.