Phil. 2:1-4; Rom. 15:5-6; 1 Co. 1:10, Gospel Conduct (4)

Fleshly lusts keep us from being souls together.  What will enable us to be souls together?

·        Thinking the same thing. 

You may think this to be impossible, that in the average church or even above average church you could get everyone to think the same thing.  But it is quite apparent that the Lord believes this to be of high value because it is commanded often.  We are to glorify God one mind and one mouth (Rom. 15:5-6).  We are to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (1 Cor. 1:10).  This “one mind” has a special focus to it.  It glorifies God; it recognizes the name of Christ.  The result is that we are in no way divided.  We would suggest there are two sides to this “mind”.

o   It is a mind set on Christ.  This is clear throughout the Scriptures.  We are to set our minds on things above where Christ is (Col. 3:2).  We are to be looking unto Jesus who endured the cross (Heb. 12:1-3).  He is the focus of attention and this will be explained in detail in Phil. 2:5-11.

o   It is also a mind that has a proper thought about the people around us in the body of Christ.  Phil. 2:3 makes this clear: in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  To esteem is to consider something to be true.  We don’t need to sit around and think about others and find ways that they are better than us.  It is simply our attitude towards them where we honor them and put their needs above ours.

These two thoughts go a long ways to helping us understand how it is possible to be a body of believers with one mind.

·        Having the same love.

This begins with having the same love focus, as in Matt. 27:37-39.  We all are to love God with all we have and are; and we are to love all those around us.  Further we can say it is the same love in that it is defined by the sacrificial love of our Lord and Savior; it is the willingness to lay down our own lives and interests for others (1 John 3:16).  Phil. 2:4 gives a statement of this love: it is looking out for the interests of others in the same way we look out for our own interests.  It is easy, sometimes, to say we should be willing to die for others.  But that rarely happens.  The question is: will we, day by day, look unselfishly to the needs of those around us and seek to be part of meeting those needs?

If you still wonder how this can ever happen we encourage you to come back for the next few days as we consider one of the greatest passages about Christ in all the Bible where we will learn the mind of Christ!  For now let us seek, by God’s grace and Spirit, to see those around us in the Body of Christ as people of value, as the honored people who belong to Christ (Titus 2:14).