"For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16). The great apostle Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit of promise and using the apostolic editorial "we," claimed to possess the mind of Christ! How was this possible? Is it possible today for us to possess the mind of Christ? Let us study the Bible, the revealed mind of God, in answer to these and related questions.

Prophetic Announcements Fulfilled

The prophet Joel announced generally that in the last days the Spirit would be poured out upon all flesh (Joel 2:28-31). On the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ, the apostle Peter announced the fulfillment of that prophecy and applied it specifically to himself and the other eleven apostles (Acts 2:14-21). About three years prior to this occasion, John the Baptizer announced generally that Christ, Who was mightier than he, would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Mt. 3:11; Lk. 3:16). (NOTE: The context identifies the baptism of fire with the Judgment Day-Mt. 3:12.) Just ten days before Pentecost, Christ announced the fulfillment of John's prediction and applied it specifically to the apostles whom He had chosen (Acts 1:1-5). Just a few weeks before this time, while in the upper room with His apostles, on the same night in which He, was betrayed, Christ promised to send the Comforter to them. The Comforter would teach them all things and remind them of all Christ had said while here upon the earth (Jn 14:16). He, the Spirit of truth, would guide the apostles into all the truth. He would not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He would hear from the Father, He would speak the same unto the apostles and glorify Christ as He spoke (Jn. 16:12-15). This was a promise of God to the apostles.

Again, in Acts 1:4, 8, Christ repeats the promise of the Father to His apostles and instructed them to wait at Jerusalem until they received it. Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, the apostles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and they began to speak (all the truth) as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4). Ten years later, Peter referred back to this beginning at Pentecost to prove to the other apostles and other Jewish brethren that the Gentiles also were granted repentance unto life as well as the Jews (Acts 11:1, 15-18). Joel's prophecy concerning "all flesh" had now completely been fulfilled.

We Can Know The Mind of God

Study the chart, "The Mind Of God Revealed." Before the "Spirit searched all things, yea, the deep things of God," no man on earth could see, hear, nor understand the things God had prepared for them that love Him (1 Cor. 2:9-10). When the Spirit came forth from the mind of God, He revealed all that God had in mind for man to do. But to whom did He reveal it? The Spirit did not reveal to the prophets and sons of men in the Old Testament the things God had prepared for you and me in the New Testament. Rather, He revealed these things to the apostles and prophets who preached the gospel of Christ (Eph. 3:1-5; 1 Pet. 1:10-12). The apostles began to speak the words revealed unto them by the Spirit Who had searched the mind of God (Acts 2:4; 1 Cor. 2:12). The apostles also wrote down in a few words what the Spirit revealed unto them (Eph. 3:1-5).

Hence, now every eye can see what is written, every ear can hear what is spoken, and every heart can understand what is spoken and what is written and can know what God has in mind for each of us today. We must each reverence the Bible, the word of God, because it truly is the Mind of God revealed to us today. It is the only revelation available for now and for all times. We must live by it and will finally be judged by it (Mt. 4:4; Jn. 12:48). When we give book, chapter and verse for what we practice and preach, we are in reality giving what God had in mind for us to do and to be. Gentle reader, can you give book, chapter, and verse for what you believe, practice and teach in religion? Think about this seriously! Eternity is too long to be wrong. Remember, if God has willed it, the Spirit ha's revealed it, and we have it in book, chapter, and verse.

Truth Magazine XIX: 28, pp. 438-439
May 22, 1975