Bible Study Your thoughts: A Biblical Study on The Mind of Christ

[daninthelionsden]

The big question is should it dunk 1----2----or 3 times?

When I asked my wife to baptize me in the swimming pool, I had wondered ....once or thrice?......after prayer, study, thought...we both chose once.

 

[ezra]

The baptism in the Spirit is a real thing

which takes place the moment we get saved

imo the baptism of the spirit is over ....not sure what word to use.. the Bible says
1 Corinthians 12:13King James Version (KJV)
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. which happens at the new birth i think some feel they hold the patent to the Holy spirit the still small voice the comforter as one who walks along beside us.. then the spirit of truth

ekk put on the brakes that redas like i meant i thought it was no longer... i wondered why i had reply like that.... MY BAD by no means is it over .. many say the baptism of the spirit is speaking in tongues .i m o the baptism is the spiritual birth baptized into the Body tongues are a gift from the spirit

 

[Nathan]

which takes place the moment we get saved

ekk put on the brakes that redas like i meant i thought it was no longer... i wondered why i had reply like that.... MY BAD by no means is it over .. many say the baptism of the spirit is speaking in tongues .i m o the baptism is the spiritual birth baptized into the Body tongues are a gift from the spirit

There is a difference between belief in Christ and baptism into the Spirit. I cannot say I understand it, but Paul encountered some "disciples" that had been baptized into repentance. Can read about it in Acts 19.

It's interesting to read because you get a clear picture of what baptism actually is. I'm not saying water baptism is wrong at all. It's right and Jesus did it.

I'm not trying to take this down a different path. The key is that most often baptism is referred to the immersion of someone in order to teach them and set their mind on the right path.

What I'm saying is baptism is crucial in order to have the mind of Christ. In those days they did not just go around having big evangelical meetings where they called people down front and had them fill out a card.

Paul would spend countless hours teaching disciples. Yes, our new nature gives us the capability to understand the things were taught. But we should never suppose new believers will automatically learn what they need to know.

Lots of times the responsibility is placed on the new believer. That seems nuts to me. People will shrug their shoulders and say, "well, there the ones not coming to church any more" or "if they don't read their Bible then they are never gonna grow".

Weird. How many of us would see a baby and think they were responsible to take care of themselves???

Ok, I'm off my soap box. . I used to be one of these. I kept looking, over and over, for someone to teach me. Thank God He saw my need and helped me. I have to wonder if things would be different if I would have had someone. But I don't dwell on it anymore because God worked it all out in the end.

 

[Chopper]

the moment we get save we have in indwelling presence of the spirit. no spirit no Christ --no salvation. i agree to some extent on bad spirit, i drove by a church sign that read forbidden fruits creates many jams this can be referenced through Romans 6 . our mind has to be trained imo comes through prayer meditation of the word and discipline...obedience which is something we all have trouble with i by far do i have this all packaged up and can say i have no problem in this area . we are and always will be a W.I.P work in progress changed from glory to glory

Interesting....I have a T-shirt that says, "Pastor Under Construction"

 

[Chopper]

which takes place the moment we get saved

ekk put on the brakes that redas like i meant i thought it was no longer... i wondered why i had reply like that.... MY BAD by no means is it over .. many say the baptism of the spirit is speaking in tongues .i m o the baptism is the spiritual birth baptized into the Body tongues are a gift from the spirit

Hi Ezra. I may be different from the rest of the pack, I don't know. When I was in Bible College, I had a part time job working in a gas station, owned by a Christian man. He allowed me to work on my studies while attending the gas pumps, what a blessing.

One night while I was studying, a force came on me that I'd never experienced before. It was an intense warm glow of a wonderful feeling that started in my guts and spread thru ought my body. I knew it was something from the Spirit of God, but didn't understand it. After a few minutes (I guess) I asked God to stop because I felt I would explode. The feeling subsided.

I asked a Pentecostal student about this and He said it was the Holy Spirit. I never felt it again until around 1990-1991 in Florida. I have told this story many times in the Forum, so just to say that the feeling came back for four days. Since then I've discovered that God Himself Baptized me in His Holy Spirit. God had to do it Himself because as a Baptist, I didn't trust Pentecostals.

Because of this Baptism, my whole life and ministry changed dramatically. Therefore I believe in a second work of God other than the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Salvation, which placed me into the family of Believers in Christ Jesus....As I said, I may have been different from most Christians & Pastors. This event, I'll never forget, it was the most wonderful feeling that I've ever felt and experienced.

One of the results of this Baptism was a tremendous love that came into my heart for fellow Believers that I'd been praying for, that was lacking in my life. There was also a huge boldness to witness to the unsaved the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and many came to Jesus as a result. There was a power in my preaching and witnessing that was absent before. Just saying!

 

[GodsGrace]

When I asked my wife to baptize me in the swimming pool, I had wondered ....once or thrice?......after prayer, study, thought...we both chose once.

It's one God.
It's one death and rebirth...

 

[Nathan]

Hi Ezra. I may be different from the rest of the pack, I don't know. When I was in Bible College, I had a part time job working in a gas station, owned by a Christian man. He allowed me to work on my studies while attending the gas pumps, what a blessing.

One night while I was studying, a force came on me that I'd never experienced before. It was an intense warm glow of a wonderful feeling that started in my guts and spread thru ought my body. I knew it was something from the Spirit of God, but didn't understand it. After a few minutes (I guess) I asked God to stop because I felt I would explode. The feeling subsided.

I asked a Pentecostal student about this and He said it was the Holy Spirit. I never felt it again until around 1990-1991 in Florida. I have told this story many times in the Forum, so just to say that the feeling came back for four days. Since then I've discovered that God Himself Baptized me in His Holy Spirit. God had to do it Himself because as a Baptist, I didn't trust Pentecostals.

Because of this Baptism, my whole life and ministry changed dramatically. Therefore I believe in a second work of God other than the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at Salvation, which placed me into the family of Believers in Christ Jesus....As I said, I may have been different from most Christians & Pastors. This event, I'll never forget, it was the most wonderful feeling that I've ever felt and experienced.

One of the results of this Baptism was a tremendous love that came into my heart for fellow Believers that I'd been praying for, that was lacking in my life. There was also a huge boldness to witness to the unsaved the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and many came to Jesus as a result. There was a power in my preaching and witnessing that was absent before. Just saying!

I'm curious Chopper, have you ever met someone who knew they had the baptism of the Holy Spirit but has never 'felt' it in a physical way?

 

[GodsGrace]

Bingo. We don't have the mind of Christ. When we get out of our own way, which we seldom do, the Holy Spirit can work through us. Pretending we have the mind of Christ, trying to act Christ-like, is the problem 75% of the time. (Not even pretending or trying is the problem the other 25%.) The fruit of the Spirit is the evidence the Spirit is working through you, period. There is no other sense in which we "have the mind of Christ."

"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NASB). This is probably the best way to get out of our own way.

Hi Runner,

Just one comment on what you wrote:

I feel like it's the opposite!
The problem is that 75% of Christians are NOT trying to act like Christ!
Isn't that the whole point of His coming here to us? To show us what we're to do to belong to the Kingdom?

I don't believe anyone here is saying they actually h ave the mind of Christ, but he was supposed to be our example.

Don't you think that if 75% of Christians acted like Christ, we'd be living in a different and better world??

 

[Papa Zoom]

Hi Runner,

Just one comment on what you wrote:

I feel like it's the opposite!
The problem is that 75% of Christians are NOT trying to act like Christ!
Isn't that the whole point of His coming here to us? To show us what we're to do to belong to the Kingdom?

I don't believe anyone here is saying they actually h ave the mind of Christ, but he was supposed to be our example.

Don't you think that if 75% of Christians acted like Christ, we'd be living in a different and better world??

We are called to put on the mind of Christ. I suppose there are different ways of looking at what that means. To me it suggests to think like Him. To have His priorities in mind (the Kingdom) and to develop, through actions, a servant's heart. Thoughts?

 

[GodsGrace]

We are called to put on the mind of Christ. I suppose there are different ways of looking at what that means. To me it suggests to think like Him. To have His priorities in mind (the Kingdom) and to develop, through actions, a servant's heart. Thoughts?

Amen.
Absolutely.
As I posted in no. 11 and 12, what you say above is how I also understand having the mind of Christ. Especially to have His priorities in mind, the Kingdom - to promote the Kingdom. This can be done exactly by having a servants heart.

I like to think that we're God's hands and feet. We're in this earthly world and can work here - God is in a different dimenstion and He's not going to be working miracles every moment of the day. WE are to be His miracle workers.

How?
Maybe by being good parents.
Maybe by helping someone in need, be it material or emotional.
It could be just listening to the problems of a friend and giving encouragment instead of feeding them courses of action that would only make the situation worse.
Maybe being good children and helping parents in need.

Anything we do that is good and for God will promote His Kingdom.
This is a servant's heart -- it could be the simplest thing.
Creating good instead of evil.
Helping someone to feel good about himself, or something, instead of letting them feel badly about themselves.

Jesus cried over Jerusalem. He saw how evil affected everything in life, He felt sorry for how humans made in the image of God were suffering - from the Pharisees, from the Romans, from evil in general.

I believe we are called to have the mind of Christ.
Romans 8:19-22
Romans 12:2

 

[Papa Zoom]

Amen.
Absolutely.
As I posted in no. 11 and 12, what you say above is how I also understand having the mind of Christ. Especially to have His priorities in mind, the Kingdom - to promote the Kingdom. This can be done exactly by having a servants heart.

I like to think that we're God's hands and feet. We're in this earthly world and can work here - God is in a different dimenstion and He's not going to be working miracles every moment of the day. WE are to be His miracle workers.

How?
Maybe by being good parents.
Maybe by helping someone in need, be it material or emotional.
It could be just listening to the problems of a friend and giving encouragment instead of feeding them courses of action that would only make the situation worse.
Maybe being good children and helping parents in need.

Anything we do that is good and for God will promote His Kingdom.
This is a servant's heart -- it could be the simplest thing.
Creating good instead of evil.
Helping someone to feel good about himself, or something, instead of letting them feel badly about themselves.

Jesus cried over Jerusalem. He saw how evil affected everything in life, He felt sorry for how humans made in the image of God were suffering - from the Pharisees, from the Romans, from evil in general.

I believe we are called to have the mind of Christ.
Romans 8:19-22
Romans 12:2

Well said. :amen

 

[Chopper]

I'm curious Chopper, have you ever met someone who knew they had the baptism of the Holy Spirit but has never 'felt' it in a physical way?

Hi Nathan. Yes I have. Unfortunately, my Pentecostal Brothers have distorted the Baptism in the Holy Spirit a little. They teach that tongues is the sign of the baptism and it's not. I didn't speak in tongues until 3 or 4 months passed. There are many other gifts of the Holy Spirit now that manifest thru the Baptism, one new one for me was a supernatural love that I didn't have before.

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is God's work and it can come with no physical effects. FAITH is the reception mode. You pray for the Baptism IN the Holy Spirit for what the book of Acts describes it's for. Witnessing with power. In order to minister to the unsaved, you need the ministry of the Holy Spirit to minister thru you, that's what the Baptism is all about.

I'd be happy to answer any of your questions. I sense that you feel you have the Baptism, but no physical indication, right?

 

[reba]

As a person born and raised Penticostal .. GREAT post Chopper

 

[Nathan]

Hi Nathan. Yes I have. Unfortunately, my Pentecostal Brothers have distorted the Baptism in the Holy Spirit a little. They teach that tongues is the sign of the baptism and it's not. I didn't speak in tongues until 3 or 4 months passed. There are many other gifts of the Holy Spirit now that manifest thru the Baptism, one new one for me was a supernatural love that I didn't have before.

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is God's work and it can come with no physical effects. FAITH is the reception mode. You pray for the Baptism IN the Holy Spirit for what the book of Acts describes it's for. Witnessing with power. In order to minister to the unsaved, you need the ministry of the Holy Spirit to minister thru you, that's what the Baptism is all about.

I'd be happy to answer any of your questions. I sense that you feel you have the Baptism, but no physical indication, right?

Right, kind of. I know I have the baptism , not just feel. And yes, there is no physical indication that is usually associated with it at least.

I was just curious if you had come across some before. I'm happy to hear that you are not close minded like that. (not that I thought you were)

 

[Chopper]

As a person born and raised Penticostal .. GREAT post Chopper

As you know Reba, there's more to it, but I gave him a quick answer to his question. I had a fellow in the Baptist Church that I was attending. He was Baptist thru and thru. He said that he was afraid of me because I spoke in tongues. One day, he came to me and said, I don't understand the Scriptures. Is there something that I can do to help me understand.

I told him to come to my Thursday nite Bible study and I would pray for him. He came, and I told him that he needed the Holy Spirit power in his heart to help him. Actually, I prayed for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of understanding the Scriptures. I saw him the following Sunday morning and he just about ran up to me. He said very excitedly, I understand the Scriptures now, it's a miracle.

Yep, it's a miracle, that Baptism in the Holy Ghost, that's for sure.

 

[Nathan]

I was brought up Charismatic, learned Baptist ways in my older years. My mother still goes to a charismatic church so tounges are not foreign to me.

I do know, from my younger days, that indeed a lot of the Charismatic Movement kind of ruined it for a lot of people. It's just something you have to understand happened and move on. I know that none of us can stop The Spirit when He chooses to move on His people.

 

[Chopper]

Right, kind of. I know I have the baptism , not just feel. And yes, there is no physical indication that is usually associated with it at least.

I was just curious if you had come across some before. I'm happy to hear that you are not close minded like that. (not that I thought you were)

Not close minded at all. My friends call me a BaptiCostal.

I was brought up Charismatic, learned Baptist ways in my older years. My mother still goes to a charismatic church so tounges are not foreign to me.

I do know, from my younger days, that indeed a lot of the Charismatic Movement kind of ruined it for a lot of people. It's just something you have to understand happened and move on. I know that none of us can stop The Spirit when He chooses to move on His people.

I agree Nathan. When my Wife Jennie was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, as a Baptist, I was lost as how to pray for her to be healed other than "Lord Your will be done." That's when I joined myself with the "Deliverance Center" in Portland, Maine. Brother James Reynolds Sr. was a holiness Pentecostal Pastor/Teacher and Evangelist. His healing ministry was quite famous in that part of Maine.

When I spoke to Pastor Reynolds about joining his work, he already knew of my reputation as a holiness Baptist Pastor. Our agreement was that he would teach me Pentecostal doctrines and I would teach him Baptist doctrine. We had a wonderful Spirit led relationship for several years.

Pastor Reynolds had a "Tent" evangelistic ministry. When he and his crew went on the road, I would pastor the Deliverance Center in his absence. I learned so very much from this old holiness preacher, and I carried that into a new Church that Jesus had me establish in Portland with Pastor Reynold's blessings.

That's how I came to be called a BaptiCostal Pastor....During those years, Pastor Reynolds filled me in on men and women that distorted the Charismatic and Pentecostal system of doctrine, sad really because there is great biblical truths in both movements of the Spirit of Christ.

I say all this just to say that the "Mind of Christ" was always in front of my longings. I knew that my Baptist background was missing a lot of biblical truths, and I wanted Jesus to give me His mind in these matters that I was searching for. Grace, O Grace, did He pour on and in my heart. The mind of Christ, slowly began to make sense to me and I've been so very grateful that my Master Jesus took me under His care during those years of learning. All Glory to God!

 

[Jethro Bodine]

The greatest secret in the world, and in the church, is the Holy Spirit. And yet it's no secret at all as Jesus himself invites anyone to ask for Him with confidence knowing that the Father knows how to give good gifts to his children better than us evil humans do.

13“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?” (Luke 11:13 NASB italics in original)

 

[Runner]

Hi Runner,

Just one comment on what you wrote:

I feel like it's the opposite!
The problem is that 75% of Christians are NOT trying to act like Christ!
Isn't that the whole point of His coming here to us? To show us what we're to do to belong to the Kingdom?

I don't believe anyone here is saying they actually h ave the mind of Christ, but he was supposed to be our example.

Don't you think that if 75% of Christians acted like Christ, we'd be living in a different and better world??

You've moved the goal post. The world would indeed be better and different if 75% of Christians "acted" like Christ, which they would if the Holy Spirit were guiding their actions. In reality, 75% are "trying" and "pretending" to act like Christ, which is a different animal and does not work at all. The net result is "Christianity," not Christianity, and what you get is the world we have. (You may be right that I have the percentages backwards. It may be that 25% are trying and pretending, while 75% are not even trying or pretending.)

 

[reba]

You've moved the goal post. The world would indeed be better and different if 75% of Christians "acted" like Christ, which they would if the Holy Spirit were guiding their actions. In reality, 75% are "trying" and "pretending" to act like Christ, which is a different animal and does not work at all. The net result is "Christianity," not Christianity, and what you get is the world we have. (You may be right that I have the percentages backwards. It may be that 25% are trying and pretending, while 75% are not even trying or pretending.)

Runner this is a Bible Study... There are other forums available for your postings

Do not reply to this post in this thread