The Mind of Christ

“We have the mind of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 2:16b

What an amazing statement! The apostle Paul is either exaggerating or he’s onto something big. What does he mean by this?

Let’s start with “we.” Paul says “we” have Christ’s mind. So who’s he referring to?

1 Corinthians 1:1 identifies Paul and Sosthenes as the authors of this letter. And while there’s a ton of verses about Paul in the New Testament, Sosthenes is a relative unknown. He’s mentioned only twice. The other verse is Acts 18:17:

“Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.”

This scene took place in Corinth where Paul had settled to preach the gospel. (Acts 18:1-18 covers Paul’s outreach in the city of Corinth.) Winning many people to Jesus Christ upset the Jewish authorities. We don’t know if Sosthenes the synagogue leader is the same fellow mentioned at the beginning of 1 Corinthians, but it seems likely. 

If so, Sosthenes was a Jew who became a Christian as a result of Paul’s evangelism and later traveled with him on some of his missionary trips.

But it’s too narrow to restrict the “we” to Paul and Sosthenes. Since they’re writing to the Corinthian church, it’s reasonable to assume that the congregation was on their minds. 

Now, there’s nothing special about the church in Corinth. In fact, Paul dedicates chapter after chapter to addressing their issues and solving their problems.

So the word “we” includes Paul and Sosthenes as leaders, and the church at Corinth.

But even this is too cramped. Scripture, although addressed to an original audience, has the wider body of Christ in view. 1 Corinthians, in an ultimate sense, was written to all Christians.

We who believe in Jesus Christ have His mind.

The second matter to consider is the verb. “Have” is in the present tense, so Paul is describing a current, in-the-moment reality. We, Christians of all eras and places, possess something special.

The mind of Christ.

The Greek word for “mind” is nous and Paul likes to use it in his letters. While this noun occurs 24 times in the Greek New Testament, 21 of them are in Paul’s writings. It’s a favorite of his!

But he doesn’t reduce the Christian life to the abstract. Following Jesus is an active, intelligent way of life. It involves the full investment of what we think, say, and do. When we yield ourselves to the Lord, He gives us every resource we need to stay true.

And one of those great blessings is His mind.

So what is Paul trying to tell us with this declaration? 

One, Christians should be united.

I’m not introducing a foreign notion unrelated to the verse. In 1 Corinthians 1:10, Paul says the following:

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

There are many Christians, but only one Christ. Our hope of unity is based on the mind of the Lord. If we don’t ourselves in that, the pressures in the church and in the world will fracture us into numerous groups centered on opinions, theologies, and experiences. None of these are worthless, but they can’t substitute for the mind of Christ.

Two, Christians should be spiritual.

The first two chapters of 1 Corinthians deal with spiritual wisdom. Many in the church at Corinth were distorting Christlike spirituality. They were evaluating spiritual gifts (and those who exercised them) according to the pagan religious standards they grew up with.

Paul counters this by stressing how true spirituality transcends such judgments.

 “But the one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is discerned by no one. ¹⁶For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NASB20)

This point connects to the first one. When we judge our brothers and sisters in Christ, we inhibit the possibility of unity. We stop cooperating and begin to argue. Discussions get heated, and we end up magnifying minutiae. When that happens, the ministry of the gospel grinds to a halt.

This isn’t the mind of Christ!

God gave us the Holy Spirit so we could think and act like Jesus. In fact, we can say that the Spirit is the mind of Christ. And He won’t fracture the body of Christ; it’s not His way. The variety God gives His people has an underlying unity.

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” – 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

This is how the mind of Jesus operates! He delights in the differences because there are so many needs out there in the world. The only way to meet them is to equip every child of God with the power to make a difference. The circumstances will vary and the problems will range, so God calls His whole people to serve in the manner of Jesus. Everyone has a part to play; everyone can make a difference.

Let’s not dispute or challenge this; let’s support each other in the work of the gospel. God has given us the mind of His Son so we can appreciate one another and team up to carry out His will in our day and age.

This is the mind of Christ in the church.