THE MIND OF CHRIST The New Self =The Mind of Christ The "new self," is nothing less than "the mind of Christ." That is the only alternative to the "natural man," or "old self." There is no way to be renewed in knowledge apart from the Person of Christ. If his thoughts do not become our thoughts, we remain under the condemnation of God. As Isaiah said, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My -- Tomorrow:
"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE SHOULD INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:11-16, NASB).
Devotion 26 of 28
PUTTING ON THE NEW SELF
This is what David earnestly sought when he prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psa 51:10). The "new man," or "new self," is the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy. "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you . . . A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you" (Ezek 11:19; 36:26). This is fulfilled in Christ Jesus, and within the New Covenant. It involves the removal of a stony heart, which causes obstinacy, rebellion, and resistance. All of the liabilities of sin are gloriously answered in Christ Jesus, including the corruption of the heart and the mind.
thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa 55:8-9). This is not the depiction of a tolerable situation. It describes "the wicked," who are to "forsake" their ways and thoughts (Isa 55:7). There can be no accord or fellowship with God where man's thoughts are at variance with His (Amos 3:3).
If those who are in Christ are told they cannot have "the mind of Christ," they will not be emboldened to "put on the new self." They will be forced to reconcile themselves to thoughts that are in conflict with those of their God. If anyone imagines men can train themselves to have the mind of Christ, or that it can be appropriated by study, let them think again. Who is the person who can make their thoughts like God's thoughts? Who is the individual who can abandon his own mind and take unto himself the mind of Christ? Were such a thing possible, we would require no Savior, no regeneration, and no enlightenment.
If it is supposed that it is not even necessary to have "the mind of Christ," or that it was, at best, only for a select group, such as the Apostles, we are faced with an unacceptable condition. That leaves the mass of the redeemed with a mind of their own. Of course, that is what got our race into trouble in the first place.
It so happens that the Lord Jesus is presently teaching His children to put on the new man and put off the old man. Here is how it is stated in Scripture. "But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph 4:20-24, NKJV).
Knowing their effects, our adversary the devil, perpetrates such doctrines. They result in believers going backward instead of forward. The people of God must energetically shun any teaching that suggests Christ, in any of His redemptive capacities, is not available to them. Such doctrines have not come from God!
PRAYER POINT: Father, I receive the admonition to put on my new self, knowing this involves how I think. In Jesus' name, I ask for strength to do precisely what You have admonished me to do.