Phil. 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus
Eph. 4:23 And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind
Rom. 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace
[In Philippians 2:5 “let this mind be in you” literally is] “think this in you.” This refers to the considering in verse 3 and the regarding in verse 4
This kind of thinking, this kind of mind, was also in Christ when He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, and humbled Himself, being found in fashion as a man (vv. 7-8). To have such a mind requires us to be one with Christ in His inward parts (1:8). To experience Christ, we need to be one with Him to this extent, that is, in His tender inward feeling and in His thinking
(Phil. 2:5, footnote 1)
Today’s Reading
Because we have become God-men through regeneration, we also have the right to participate in God’s mind. This means that we, who are human, can have a divine mind…We need to let Christ’s mind be our mind [Phil. 2:5]
Ephesians 4:23 says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The spirit here is the regenerated spirit of the believers, which is mingled with the indwelling Spirit of God. Such a mingled spirit spreads into our mind, thus becoming the spirit of our mind. The more the mingled spirit penetrates our mind, saturates our mind, and possesses our mind, the more our mind becomes like God’s mind. This is to make His mind our mind, and this is to participate in God’s mind. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Incarnation, Inclusion, and Intensification,” p. 215) The leading of the Spirit does not derive from nor depend upon outward things. The leading of the Spirit is an issue of the inner life. I would say that it comes from the sense of life, from the consciousness of the divine life within us. The word life is mentioned at least five times in Romans 8. Hence, the leading of the Spirit is a matter of life, a matter of the sense and consciousness of life. The mind set upon the spirit is life (v. 6). How can we know this life? Not by outward things but by the inward sense and consciousness of life
There is an inward sense which comes from setting the mind upon the spirit
If our mind is set upon our spirit, we are immediately strengthened and satisfied inwardly. We also are watered and refreshed. By that sense and consciousness we can know the life within us, and by this sense of life we can know that we are walking rightly. In other words, we know that we are under the leading of the Spirit. Therefore, the leading of the Spirit in verse 14 does not depend on outward things; it absolutely depends upon the sense of life within our spirit. You should not violate this inner sense or disobey this inward consciousness, for it is truly the leading of the Spirit…The inward life gives you the sense, even in small things, of whether or not you are under the Lord’s leading. Thus, we are led of the Spirit by walking according to spirit and by setting our mind upon the spirit. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 220, 222) Next, the God-men have the divine right to participate in God’s being
Our basis for saying this is Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 3:18 about our being transformed into the Lord’s image “even as from the Lord Spirit.” This indicates that the work of transformation is done not by something of the Lord Spirit but by the Lord Spirit Himself. Hence, we are being transformed with God’s very being
In Ephesians 3:8 Paul speaks of the unsearchable riches of Christ, indicating that these riches have been dispensed into us. The unsearchable riches of Christ are the riches of Christ’s being, the riches of what Christ is
For the unsearchable riches of Christ to be dispensed into us means that we participate not only in God’s life, nature, and mind but also in His being
(CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Incarnation, Inclusion, and Intensification,” pp
215-216)