What exactly did the apostle Paul mean when he said: Let this mind be in you? Can we really grasp the depths of the meaning of this exhortation from the great apostle? We know he’s talking about the mind that our great Master, the Lord Jesus, possessed, but how do we go about this? How do we let His mind possess us? What constitutes His disposition and frame of mind, and how do we acquire the same? These, indeed, are the questions, and the answer is far beyond all-natural understanding.
Before we look into the Scriptures and begin to examine the multidimensional facets of the mind of Christ, let us start with this most fundamental fact: that the mind that was in Christ Jesus was the Father’s mind. This may sound simple, but it’s the
best place to start. The Father’s mind fully dwelt in the Son.
“The Son did nothing on His own but what the Father bid Him do. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30).
I and my Father are one (John 10:30).
These and many other statements from our Lord show us His utter dependence on the Father God. He was so completely taken over by the mind of the Father that He had no mind of His own and simply executed the will of the Father.
“Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God (Heb 10:7).
Let us therefore never lose sight of the fact that the mind that was in Christ Jesus, which the apostle was referring to, is the Father’s mind. It was this above everything else that made Him one with the Father even when He dwelt in the flesh among us.
He always prayed in the will of the Father. Their ambitions and purposes were identical; they had the same mind. The Father and the Son did not have two different minds but the same mind dwelling in both of them, and the one mind they had was the mind of the Father. They are perfect in unity. O that God will help us His children to consecrate ourselves to Him, and by this consecration crucify our carnal mind with all its desires, and thereby be indwelt by the mind of the Father God.
O that His mind will dominate and control us this new year in this new decade 2020’s, even as it did in the life of Jesus of Nazareth who is our blessed Lord and Savior.
Let’s spend some time meditating on this passage from the book of Philippians. As we meditate upon these words of admonition from Apostle Paul, our minds might become totally overwhelmed by the magnitude of what he said, but we must also know that the glory resulting from having the mind of God indwell us will be magnificent in us, just as it was with our Lord Jesus Christ. The passage reads:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phi 2:4). What does the phrase let this mind be in you really mean?
The Amplified Bible renders this passage in an easy-to-understand way by saying: Let this same attitude and purpose and humble mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus— Let Him be your example in humility (Phil 2:5).
The Spirit of God, through the Apostle Paul, is admonishing us to follow in the steps of Christ, to let His attitude be our example, and to renew our minds with His words until we literally think as He thought. We are to have the attitude of Christ. What attitude is He talking about?
Without doubt, He is referring to the gentle, submissive, and willing mind seen in Christ; a mind totally obedient to the Spirit of God; a mind that is teachable, pure and spotless, meek and peaceable; An attitude of humility and of a true and sincere servant; a servant of God from the heart.
Our Lord Jesus is the perfect model, the perfect example.  The passage proceeds to explain the mind or the attitude that God desires to see in us by exemplifying it with His earthly walk. Though the Lord Jesus existed as God, He emptied Himself and became man. Born of a woman, and like a pauper in a manger, in little Bethlehem, He was brought up in Nazareth as the son of Joseph the carpenter.
For thirty years, without sin, He lived as a man. At full maturity, He was led by the Holy Spirit to the river Jordan, where He was baptized by John and was straightway anointed by the Holy Ghost. This was the beginning of His service. He went about doing good, teaching, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil.
When the appointed time came, He gave Himself up and was maltreated, condemned, shamefully beaten, and crucified by the humans whom He had created. Yes, God humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the cruel and shameful death of crucifixion.
And even on the cross we still see perfect love in action. We see a mind free of malice and full of forgiveness. Even though He was unjustly treated and put through the most gruesome agony ever known to man yet, He forgave and asked the Father to forgive them. Hanging there in shame and pain beyond description, bearing the sins, the sicknesses, and the infirmities of the whole human race on His body, with His last breath, prayed for His tormentors. Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). What a forgiving Spirit and Love inexplicable.
Prayer:
Lord, I desire that your mind will be in me. That I’ll be filled with a gracious mind like Yours, a mind that does not keep a record of hurts done to it but forgives unconditionally and totally. Help me by Your grace, to follow in Your step, my Savior and my Lord. Amen.
 I pray the Presence of God will overshadow you and me, everyone, as you read this email and that each of us will be conscious of His presence in our lives throughout the year. The Lord will draw you and me nearer to Him this year, and teach us His ways. Amen.
