A Radical Mind Change

By Tammy Lacock

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5 KJV)

In this week’s podcast, Warren Litzman really emphasizes again the radical mind change that the Apostle Paul had and had to have when coming into the “excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8). By revelation of the Holy Spirit, Paul was not just a believer in Christ as his Savior, he was a knower.

It was revealed to Paul that, by God’s Amazing Grace, we are saved by just believing in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. By just believing, we are made “new creations,” and our old lives no longer matter. As believers, we too died with Christ at the cross and arose to a new life in Him.

Christ now resides in our spirits making us one Spirit with Him. We are perfect in Spirit.

However, Paul knew there must be a radical change in our soulish area—where our minds, wills, and emotions reside—if we are to come to “excellency of the knowledge” of Christ in us as well.

Through Paul’s epistles, Warren goes on to list four points that take place in our minds as we draw closer to Christ in us and deepen our relationship with Him. He emphasizes that only by the work of the Holy Spirit can this radical mind change take place.

The four truths are these:

1) Accept yourself as one forgiven by God of past, present, and future sins. We can’t afford to carry that load any longer. We must accept that our old lives of sin are no longer who we are.

2) We will learn to do without the approval of others when we know God approves of us.

3) Knowing of who we are now in Christ will manifest in our feelings towards others. We feel towards others as Christ does. We are no longer a product of our upbringing or who somebody else taught us to be or think we are. We know who we are now. We are bona fide children of God by Christ’s dwelling in our spirits.

4) We are never to see ourselves as one wearing rags. Warren uses the story of the prodigal son who approached his father in rags and said, ‘I’m not worthy.’ Because his father’s seed was in him, just as our Father’s seed of Christ is in us now, he welcomed his son home and prepared him a feast. Our Father continually forgives us and loves us unconditionally.

As we grow in Christ and deepen our relationship in Him, may we continue to have a radical mind change of who we are now in Christ. May we heed Paul’s “excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” and his prayer for us to “let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”