If we fail to guard our hearts and minds, our lives will be shaped and defined by a corrupt world that calls evil good and good evil (Proverbs 4:23).

The good news is that those of us who are saved have the mind of Christ. This means we have the ability, through the Holy Spirit, to know and live according to the values of Christ and to view the world through His eyes. But although we have this precious gift, it must be cultivated and developed to experience a fuller measure of it.

Have the Mind of Christ by a Single-Minded Devotion

First, we need a single-minded devotion. While contrasting the impotence of human wisdom with divine wisdom, Paul writes, “but we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16b). Again, by this Paul means that believers can know the thoughts of God through the Spirit—and not only know them, but value them and live by them.

Believers can know the thoughts of God through the Spirit—and not only know them, but value them and live by them.

In addition to spending much of this passage explaining how believers can know the thoughts and wisdom of Christ, Paul reminds them that communicating the wisdom of Christ crucified was His single aim. He writes:

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).

What Paul is clarifying here is that appearing clever, knowledgeable, and wise to the Corinthians was never his goal or motivation when he proclaimed the gospel to them. Paul’s single-minded devotion, his resolve, and his aim was to present Christ and Him crucified so that the lost would trust the redemption that’s found in Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice for our sins on the cross.

Therefore, the temptation in Paul’s day, and perhaps more so in our technologically advanced age, is to rely on human means to get and hold the attention of a crowd. However, Paul wasn’t concerned with people being impressed with him. He feared that people would come away thinking, “What an eloquent and powerful preacher he is” instead of, “What a great Savior Jesus is!” His motivation was to see people placing their faith in the wisdom of the cross of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe.

Have the Mind of Christ by a Servant-Minded Dependence

In addition to a single-minded devotion to Christ, a second characteristic of having the mind of Christ is a servant-minded dependence on the Holy Spirit. What did Paul mean when he wrote that his preaching was not with “plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”?

He’s saying that he didn’t rely on human wisdom and methods, which is what the people of his day wanted to hear. Rather, he relied on the Spirit working through the proclamation of the gospel. If he had relied on his oratory skills and given the people what they wanted, he would have won them to himself, but not to Christ.

Moreover, if he had preached in a manner that would have brought glory to himself, he would have acted in a way that the Spirit of God wants no part of. The Spirit of God works in and through our lives to glorify Jesus, not man.

When Paul says that his preaching was in demonstration of the Spirit and power he’s not speaking of a certain style or outward performance, he’s speaking of what only the Spirit can do in the heart of the hearers through the word of God. It wasn’t human wisdom, but the demonstration of the Spirit working through the word in the heart as the gospel was being proclaimed that brought the Corinthians to faith in Christ.

Why did Paul refuse to rely on human wisdom and not just give people what they wanted to hear? Why did Paul not want to simply tickle peoples’ ears? Why would it not satisfy Paul to hear the Corinthians say after the service, “Paul, you really brought it today, that was some powerful preaching”? Why would he tremble at the thought of the audience being impressed with his preaching ability? Why did Paul depend on what the Spirit, through the word of the cross, could demonstrate in the heart and not on a demonstration of his clever speaking abilities?

In verse five he continues, “so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5).

When Paul stepped up to preach, his single-minded devotion was to proclaim Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And his servant-minded dependence was on what the Spirit does through the unadulterated message of the gospel in the hearts of the hearers. Paul relied on the Spirit working through the word so that the faith of the people would rest not in man’s wisdom, personality, and giftedness, but in the word of the cross, which is the power of God to all who believe.

Paul relied on the Spirit working through the word so that the faith of the people would rest not in man’s wisdom, personality, and giftedness, but in the word of the cross, which is the power of God to all who believe.

Have the Mind of Christ by a Spiritually-Minded Discernment

Like Paul, when you have the mind of Christ, your life will be characterized by a single-minded devotion to Christ, a servant-minded dependence on the Holy Spirit, and finally, a spiritually-minded discernment that comes from the word of God.

Remember, although we have this precious gift through the Spirit to see the world through Christ’s point of view, we must cultivate and develop it to experience a fuller measure of the gift.

How do we cultivate this gift? How do we experience a fuller measure of the mind of Christ?

The Spirit of God works through the word of God to impart the wisdom of God to our hearts and minds so that we would increase in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:9-13).

The Spirit of God works through the word of God to impart the wisdom of God to our hearts and minds so that we would increase in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Somewhere along the line, the Corinthian Christians got off track. Instead of putting themselves in a position of humility that would allow the Spirit to impart the wisdom of God through the word, they began to look to human wisdom. As a result, they remained spiritually immature, which led to much disorder, division, and dysfunction in the church.

Paul later explains that believers have received the Spirit of God so that they might understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:12-13). And the things of God that we need to understand are imparted to us in “words” not taught by human wisdom but by the Spirit.

As Warren Wiersbe once explained, “We must note carefully the sequence here. The Spirit taught Paul from the word and Paul then taught the believers from the word. The truth of God is found in the word of God. The successful Christian learns the vocabulary of the Spirit (which is the word of God) and makes use of it.”

“The successful Christian learns the vocabulary of the Spirit (which is the word of God) and makes use of it.” (Warren Wiersbe)

When we are appropriating the mind of Christ in fuller measure, our lives will be characterized by a single-minded devotion to the glory of Christ, a servant-dependence on the Holy Spirit, and a spiritually-minded discernment that comes from daily meditation upon His word and growing in community under the teaching of God’s word.

What a precious gift it is to have the mind of Christ. May we grow into it in fuller measure day by day to the glory of His Name!

Copyright © 2024 Marco David. All rights reserved.

*This Monday Motivator was adapted from the blog Pastor Marco regularly writes for his congregation, which can be found HERE.

Pastor Marco David came to know Jesus as his Redeemer and Lord at the age of 17 after a zealous evangelist knocked on his brother’s apartment door and came in for a visit. For 20 years he served the city of Chicago in various roles in the correctional system and the police force. Ordained in 2000, he began to serve the Church in a part-time capacity until he retired from the police force in 2015 to become the lead Pastor of Midwest Bible Church. He also serves as a Regional Leader for the 6:4 Fellowship and as a Renewal Coach with the 6:3 Discipleship. His passion is to make disciples who spread the fame of Jesus as he prayerfully relies on the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Marco married his high school sweetheart Elizabeth and they have four sons, who are all in law enforcement.