The Spiritual Mind
—Paul’s letter to the Philippians
Paul summarises a theme that runs through Philippians, when he says, "We worship God in the Spirit, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3).
1 One Certain Destiny
"If you live according to the flesh you must die, but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the (sinful) deeds of the body, you will live." (Romans 8:13). Each of us has the choice of which mind to cultivate, which way we walk, and in the walking where we shall end up. Either we have "citizenship in heaven" (Philippians 3:17-20) or we don't.
2 Two Possible Minds
"For the mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." (Romans 8:6). Paul pleads with the Philippians to have "this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6). So we can choose whether to have a spiritual mind set on things above or a fleshly mind set on things of earth (Colossians 3:2).
3 Three Key Questions
The above statement (Philippians 3:3) answers three questions. These are the most penetrating questions anyone could ask you. Your answers will reflect whether you are spiritually minded or fleshly minded, and hence the eternal destiny that you are choosing.
- Whom do you serve?
— "We worship God..." - What makes you happy?
— "...we glory in Christ..." - In what do you put your trust?
— "...in the Spirit... no confidence in the flesh."
In other lessons in this series, we outline for you, from Paul’s letter to Philippi, what characterises spiritually minded people —what they are like, and how they think...
Some thought-provoking questions
Family, Money, Career or business, House and car, Clothing, Friendship with Jesus, Sports, Hobbies, Education, Sex, Food, Health.
1. None of the things on the above list are bad or sinful in their proper place. Which one of these good things would you rate as "very far better" than all the others?
2. What order of priority, and what devotion, do you personally and actually give to the items in the list above?
3. Which item would you value and desire so much that, in order to gain or keep it, you would be willing to forgo or lose any of the others?
4. One day you are going to die. What items on the list will be of value to you then?