The Mind of Christ

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 2:5

Although salvation is free, it is not cheap, since it required the Creator Himself to become man and submit to an agonizing death on the cross. This was the mind of Christ.

And, by the same token, although our salvation is not conditioned on any meritorious acts of our own, the standard by which we must measure our lives is nothing less than the perfect life of Jesus Christ. In the first place, our words and deeds are to be compared to His: “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps”
(1 Peter 2:21). Our standard of holiness is to be His life of holiness
(1 Peter 1:15).

If we truly follow His steps, they may well lead to suffering and persecution, but “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6), and this involves a willingness to be “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). The Christian life is preeminently to be characterized by unselfish love, but again the standard of that love is nothing less than the love of Christ Himself. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34).

To love as He loved; to walk where He walked; to be holy as He is holy; to follow His example in word and deed - all this requires that we think as He thought, that the very attitude of our soul be like His. In position, we do “have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16), but in practice, we still come far short. May God help us to cast down “speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).