Sermon: How Much of the Mind of Christ Do We Have?

#1805B
David C. Grabbe
Given 22-Feb-25; 40 minutes 2025-02-22

Back in 2017, John Ritenbaugh gave a commentary that lodged in my mind because it was about the condition of the church. The commentary was an expansion of a brief thought in his previous sermon, which was, “Leadership and the Covenants (Part Twenty-One).” I will read a brief excerpt to you. John said,

I am thinking about a sermon that I might give . . . as to what I think God accomplished when He blew the Worldwide Church of God apart. I will give you a summary of what He accomplished. He severed virtually everybody away from a group, so that our faith has to be in the Father and the Son . . ..

Somebody asked me that question. My answer to the person was, “. . . He blew the church of God right back into the first century again, when everybody had to virtually stand alone.” We are not completely alone, but [God] blew the church back to when there were hardly any congregations at all. The congregations that did exist probably . . . were mighty small, little groups.

John then continued his thoughts in the commentary the following week, entitled, “Back to the First Century. He said,

What I meant [in that sermon] was that the church, because its members were scattered all over . . . and had no central human leadership (as it had under Herbert Armstrong), it was put into a state of organizational disarray for a while. It was a reality that major portions of communication broke down, and we began discovering how much disagreement remained regarding some doctrinal issues and how to do things, and some of those things remain to this day. So, the church members had to learn how to adjust to—to deal with—what God did.

In the first century, there was no electronic communication and nothing more rapid in the way of transportation than a horse. The apostolic leadership then had to communicate through hand-written letters. So, what do we find in Revelation 2 and 3 describing conditions in the church then and today? . . .

We read what was a preview of what we now live in. We find spiritual conditions in Revelation 2 and 3 that might be considered startling to some when one considers that God is talking about His church. Perfect unity was not existent from congregation to congregation. In fact, those chapters come very close to describing what exists today.

Some had [left] their first love. Some were being deceived by false teachings. Others were very lax regarding commandment-keeping. And if those churches are viewed as passages of time, and Laodicea portrays the end-time church, then I will inform you right now that if that is true . . . the church has become largely a social club.

Is that what we are? Have we been knocked back to the first century that far? I do not think we have, but from things that I am hearing, there are some areas of the church that are in that condition. The church has not lost its central doctrines, but it has lost something that is spiritually very valuable.

The comparison between the church of God now and the first-century church is fitting in the sense that there is no central human leadership. There is still central spiritual leadership, because Jesus Christ is still the Head of the church. But we had to make an adjustment because, at the time of the scattering, we were accustomed to having church-wide leadership we could physically see and hear, and we were accustomed to all the leadership essentially being on the same page. We then had to adjust to following Christ by faith, trusting that He was still directing things in the church in its new configuration.

As John pointed out, some disagreements remain regarding doctrinal issues, and we don’t have central human leadership as a final arbiter. The greater church is not in a state where a council like in Acts 15 could be convened. So, in that regard, we are even less organized than the first century church. But the effect is that this strongly encourages us to seek God, and to govern ourselves, much more than we had to when there was an earthly Headquarters to rely on. The current condition requires much more faith in the Head of the church, which ultimately is ideal for growing in His image, even though it means we experience some uncomfortable ambiguity and disagreement in some things.

We can be thankful that God did not take the church back to the time of the judges, when there was no leadership at all. Ephesians 4 teaches that God will provide ministers until we are all spiritually complete. And through Christ’s indwelling by His Spirit, there is still a unity of the spirit, which we are admonished to endeavor to keep in the bond of peace.

Today we will be exploring what makes, and what breaks, spiritual unity among the called. Unity is one of the great themes of Passover, which we are approaching, but it is also relevant this year because of when Passover is, and how that has come to affect the count to Pentecost. We won’t be looking at those specifics, but it serves as an example and an application to keep in the back of our minds as we go through this.

Spiritual unity is simple to understand, but almost overwhelmingly difficult to achieve. In fact, humanly, it is impossible. We will see this in Christ’s Passover prayer:

John 17:20-23 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Jesus mentions oneness for the disciples four times in His prayer here, and another time back in verse 11. Oneness is perfect unity. Jesus prayed for it because only God can bring it about. This unity is not difficult to understand as a concept. The Father and Son are perfectly united—they are one—because they are of the same mind. The Son always submits to the Father, and the Son experienced becoming flesh and dying, which the Father did not, but even so, they are still one in their approach. They have different roles and experiences, but that does not detract from having the same mind.

To have spiritual unity in the church, we must all be of the same mind as Christ. When we are of the same mind as Christ, we will also be of the same mind as the others who are of the Christ’s mind. He is our Standard. We will have unique vantage points and experiences, but we can still be of one mind—Christ’s mind—in our understanding and approach.

But this also means that there will be division when one person is of the same mind as Christ, but another is not. Where there is division in the church, it means someone—and maybe more than one—is not of the same mind as Christ. As Paul said, where there are envy, strife, and divisions, it is because of carnality and behaving like men, not Christ (I Corinthians 3:3). The carnal mind is more of a factor than the mind of Christ is in such circumstances.

To complicate matters further, the mind of Christ is not an all-or-nothing mindset or operating principle. In I Corinthians 2:16, Paul says, “we have the mind of Christ,” but he uses this as a contrast to the spirit of the world and the wisdom of the age. In other words, it is a broad statement. Each regenerated child of God has a measure of Christ’s mind, but we don’t have it entirely. We have it by degrees, and with more in some areas than in others. In the same letter, Paul corrects the Corinthians for one problem after another. Compared to the world, they had the mind of Christ, but they did not have it in its fullness.

In Ephesians 4, Paul speaks of the church working toward “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). That does not happen just through baptism and the receipt of God’s Spirit. There is a long process for each of us to take on that image and have the fullness of Christ’s mind. And that completion will not happen until this corruptible form and state of being puts on incorruption in the resurrection.

Paul says that we know “in part” and we prophesy (or teach) “in part” (I Corinthians 13:9). The Amplified renders that as, “For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).” So, near the beginning of I Corinthians, Paul says, “we have the mind of Christ,” but toward the end, he acknowledges that it is incomplete. This is why Christ had to pray to the Father and ask for oneness—because we must be led through the development of that divine mind in us.

God gave us examples of even apostles struggling with this on occasion:

Galatians 2:11-13 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

Paul withstood Peter, another apostle, to his face because Peter was practicing a measure of hypocrisy by not eating with Gentile believers when Jews were present. Paul was of the same mind as Christ in this matter, but Peter was slower to catch on.

On the other hand, Acts 15 records the famous Jerusalem council when there was unanimous agreement. Everyone was of the same mind. But at the end of the chapter, Paul and Barnabas had a disagreement over John Mark, and they parted company for a time. Somebody was not of the same mind as Christ, and so they were not of the same mind as each other. As we can see, it is simple to say, “We need to be of the same mind as Christ,” but the reality is that it is exceedingly difficult, and even the apostles had some hiccups.

We have something similar today. The church agrees on the central doctrines, but there is a range of viewpoints on the specifics. For example, we are all of Christ’s mind that the Sabbath should be kept, but there are differing perspectives on how it should be kept holy. Similarly, the mind of Christ informs us that we need to come out of the world and overcome it, but we differ on what that means or what that looks like. We are not of the same mind—of Christ’s mind—on some specifics.

Even more troubling is that on topics such as counting to Pentecost, parts of Christ’s Body have studied and prayed and perhaps fasted, and yet we have not arrived at the same conclusion. This includes ministers, who are generally described in Acts 6:4 as “[giving themselves] continually to prayer and to the [service] of the word.” The Body of Christ is not of the same mind on some significant things. This begs the question of how much each of us is seeking and striving to be of the same mind as Christ.

So, as we explore how we can be more of Christ’s mind, we will start by looking at things that will inhibit or stunt that development. The short answer is that our flesh, with all that it entails, is the biggest impediment to having more of the mind of Christ.

I Peter 4:1-2 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

This passage begins with “therefore,” so it is a conclusion to what came before. To identify the “same mind” Peter mentions, we must look back to I Peter 3:8. It says,

I Peter 3:8-9 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

This describes aspects of the “one mind” we should be of, and we understand that this reflects Christ’s mind. Now, this does not tell us how to resolve a doctrinal difference, but it does set the pattern for how to conduct ourselves when there is a difference. The mind of Christ compels us to respond with compassion, brotherly love, and courtesy rather than with reviling. Reviling, which is verbal abuse, is a sign that the flesh holds more sway than the mind of Christ. In fact, verbal abuse and vilification is so contrary to the mind of Christ that He says revilers will not inherit His Kingdom (I Corinthians 6:10). He even tells us not to keep company with a reviler (I Corinthians 5:11). Reviling is so commonplace these days that we may have acclimated to it and not think much of it, but reviling repels Christ’s mind.

Peter then goes on in chapter 3 to discuss suffering. This is another aspect of the mind of Christ, one which humbles us when we consider how He demonstrated it. The Creator, who embodied righteousness, suffered horrifically at the hands of His creation, and He did so without defense or protest. He answered not a word, which seems to be impossible these days. Instead, Jesus committed Himself to the One who judges righteously. Yet the Father did not defend Him at the end of His mortal life, and Christ accepted that as well. He knew that something far greater was being worked out than the immediate righting of wrongs. That’s the mind of Christ, and it puts us all to shame.

So, coming back to I Peter 4, Peter says to arm ourselves with this same mind, the mind that works to build up relationships, and to follow Christ’s example in suffering for the sake of future oneness.

Now, taking verses 1-2 together, there is a contrast. Peter talks about the flesh and the lusts of men, which are contrasted with the mind of Christ and the will of God. These are opposing forces. It’s when we mortify the flesh in its various forms that we grow in the mind of Christ and come more into alignment with the will of God.

We are quite familiar with the flesh, but let’s remind ourselves of some things that work against the mind of Christ. As we know, the flesh demands satisfaction, and it tends to want it immediately. Unlike Christ, the flesh is unable to take things patiently or to suffer in silence. The flesh has to have the last word. If it is forced to retreat in one area, it goes on the offensive in another because the flesh is driven to win. It refuses to yield except as a tactic for a future move. But at its core, it remains unsurrendered. The flesh embodies self-concern. But the overriding concern of the mind of Christ is doing the will of the Father. It trusts God to defend, to right wrongs, and to provide, and it waits patiently while God works.

Please turn to Philippians 2:

Philippians 2:1-3 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Paul begins by discussing being of the same mind and of one accord, and we understand now that the only way for that to happen in righteousness is for that same mind to be Christ’s mind. That must be what we each move toward. If our goal instead is to be of the same mind as another person, we may achieve that to some degree, and yet still be separated from God to the degree that that other person is not of the mind of Christ.

But notice the immediate contrast with the flesh in verse 3. It is impossible for members of Christ’s Body to be like-minded, to have the same love, to be of one accord or one mind, when there is selfish ambition or conceit. Conceit just means self-importance or a sense of superiority. These things drive out the mind of Christ.

For verse 3, the Amplified Bible says, “Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance.”

The Message paraphrase has this rather colorful rendering: “Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside . . ..”

Selfish ambition, striving for position, self-importance, and arrogance are all aspects of the flesh, and they directly contradict the mind of Christ. They not only separate us from God, but they also keep us separate from other members of Christ’s Body. It’s a spiritual law.

While striving for position is an obvious work of the flesh, conceit can come in more subtle forms that will still prohibit the fullness of Christ’s mind. For example, the proverbs warn against leaning on our own understanding, as well as being wise in our own eyes (Proverbs 3:5-7). Both come under the umbrella of conceit.

We are more likely to grow in Christ’s mind when we acknowledge that we could be wrong, and we don’t have it all figured out. Remember, God’s apostle said we know “in part” and we teach “in part.” But leaning on our understanding—maybe in the form of credentials—and believing that we could not be mistaken are forms of conceit that inhibit the further development of the mind of Christ. Conceit is the mental equivalent of “in need of nothing.” We already have it all. Yet Paul says what we have is fragmentary.

When we desire to be of Christ’s mind more than anything else, we look for areas where we are out of alignment so we can correct them. But the fleshly mind will defend itself and its actions even when it suspects, or perhaps knows full well, that it is wrong. The flesh is unwilling to admit a mistake because of pride, whereas one seeking the mind of Christ will pursue unity with Him regardless of the personal cost.

The fleshly mind is deceitful, and it will find ways—perhaps subconsciously—to arrange evidence according to the outcome it desires. This means the flesh will cause us to reason improperly, even with Scripture, to the point of blinding ourselves. Along these lines, Upton Sinclair observed that “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” The fleshly mind can justify anything.

We will continue to add things to watch out for, not just because we know they are wrong, but because they will also wreak havoc in our thinking, keeping us from being able to see spiritually. Jealousy, envy, and discontentment are all of the flesh, not of Christ. A need to be right comes from the flesh, not Christ. Anxiety that somebody is getting ahead in some imagined competition is a fleshly concern. Feeling threatened by a brother indicates the focus is on the self—the flesh—rather than God’s. Where the flesh holds sway, the mind of Christ is blunted, and if the mind of Christ is blunted, we will be unable to arrive at correct conclusions. We are our own worst enemy.

Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another.” To be of the same mind as Christ, it is imperative that we identify where our flesh still reigns and put it to death.

I want to go back to a phrase the Amplified Bible uses in Philippians 2:3. It says, “Do nothing from factional motives.” “Factional motives” means that a group of some kind provides motivation, or a group is a significant consideration in why one does something. The faction could be a church organization, or it could be a smaller group within an organization, such as sides in a disagreement.

But regardless of the scope, the warning is against allowing the organization, group, or party to be the major consideration in one’s actions. Of course, taking a group into consideration is not a problem by itself. But it becomes a problem when a group of some sort exerts greater sway over us than God and the truth do. If we care more about the mind of a group or a faction than about the mind of Christ, the faction has become an idol to us.

We saw an example of factional motives in Galatians 2, where Peter and Barnabas were swayed more by the cultural preferences of the Jews than by the mind of Christ. Christ had opened salvation to the Gentiles, but not everybody was yet of His mind. Barnabas and Peter’s factional motive resulted in hypocrisy and division within Christ’s Body.

I Corinthians 11:19 teaches something quite significant. It says that “there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.” In other words, God uses factions and divisions as part of His testing.

The church has undergone such testing in the last 3-4 decades. In the ‘90s, the main organization began going in a different spiritual direction, and the members had to choose whether being part of the organization meant more to them than what God’s word said. There were “factional motives” when people placed a greater priority on unity with the organization than living by God’s word. We recognized that not everyone was of the same mind.

But we also saw “factional motives” in some of the new groups that were formed, with statements by leaders that indicated selfish ambition and conceit. We also see factional motives today in the exclusivity still found in some quarters, where brethren refuse to fellowship with or even acknowledge other brethren for no greater sin than being part of a different 501©3 United States legal entity, as though the Creator God is constrained by such things.

The exclusivity is especially perilous because of the Passover. Though Paul, God says we eat and drink judgment to ourselves if we take the Passover in an unworthy manner. He ties that unworthy manner to our discernment of the Body, which is the church. At Passover, we symbolically proclaim that we are in communion with Christ and taking in His blood of the covenant, but if there is exclusivity, we reject parts of His Body which He purchased with His own blood. It is a very serious hypocrisy. And if factional motives are that strong, those same factional motives could never allow that somebody in another group might have more clarity on something in Scripture. The fleshly mind is always going to tip the scales in its own favor. So, factional motives are an ongoing test for the church.

The testing carries into this year in when to keep Pentecost. The question arises as to what one should do if what one sees in Scripture differs from what is taught by the group with which one fellowships. This is not hypothetical—it happens each time. It becomes a test that reveals whether we are striving to be one with Christ through carefully weighing His every word, or, like Peter and Barnabas in Galatians 2, we will overlook relevant portions of God’s word and adjust our behavior because of social pressure or social standing, which is the definition of a factional motive. If we have a conviction, we will follow through on it because being of the same mind as Christ means more to us than anything else, and we are willing to suffer for it, if necessary, even as Christ did.

Now, we’ve seen some of the obstacles, so let’s change direction and look at some of what we can do:

Deuteronomy 4:29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

In some ways this is an astounding statement because the immediate audience is the carnal nation of Israel. God did not give His Spirit to them. And yet God promises that they can reach Him if they seek Him with all their heart and all their soul, meaning life. The seeking in view here is not a hastily uttered and soon-forgotten request, but a continual hungering and thirsting because they (and we) realize how much they (and we) need Him.

Now, if God would make this promise to a carnal people, how much more is available to a spiritual people who already have some of His mind? We will see this in Luke 11:

Luke 11:9-13 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

The Holy Spirit is the essence of Their mind, and Christ assures us that the Father is pleased to give us this gift. But this passage also teaches that we must be seeking what He says He will give. The verb tense indicates that we must keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking, which parallels the promise we saw that He will be found or reached if He is sought with the whole heart and the whole life.

But think about how the flesh can intrude into this wholehearted seeking to sabotage our growth in the mind of Christ. We may say we want more of Christ’s mind, or that we want to be one with Him and the Father, and we may believe that we do. But the reality is that the flesh is often unwilling to pay the price—to sacrifice itself. It is unwilling to keep asking, unwilling to keep knocking, unwilling to keep praying, unwilling to keep studying, unwilling to evaluate every scripture and examine every motive.

The flesh is unwilling to seek Christ’s mind with all of life because that means sacrificing things it holds dear. It could mean significant disruption. Left to its own, the flesh will neglect so great a salvation to keep itself comfortable.

In addition to conceit, the flesh has material concerns and distractions and habits that must be catered to. Taken to an extreme, our former, wholehearted seeking of God may devolve into snatches of prayer between texts at stoplights. The relationship may deteriorate into days, weeks, or longer without connected prayer or focused study because the flesh has prioritized life such that seeking the Kingdom of God, the dominion of God, the mind of God, no longer comes first. Spiritually, we may be treading water and starting to sink. The cares of this life may be perfectly legitimate, such as earning a living or running a household. Yet even legitimate cares can choke out the Word if we allow them to. In such a condition, we cannot grow in the mind or the image of Christ, nor can we be of the same mind as others who are. Thus, the symptoms of division within the church indicate that the underlying disease is a degenerating relationship with God.

As that excerpt at the beginning said, the church still has the central doctrines, but something has been lost. And even with the central doctrines, we are not all of the same mind, and today we’ve seen some reasons why. There is very little we can do to change somebody else’s mind directly. But we can pray for their understanding, as Paul mentioned in places (Colossians 1:9; II Timothy 2:7; Romans 15:5). And we certainly can—indeed, we must—dedicate ourselves to seeking God with our whole life, to keep asking and knocking, to start recognizing where our fleshly mind is influencing our thoughts and where factional motives may hold sway, so we can grow into the same mind as the Father and the Son.

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