3. The Spirit of God Is inside of Me

1 Corinthians Chapter 2 has just become incredibly more wondrous. Always before, I drew from it only when writing about something else. Now I see it as a wondrous introduction into Paul’s goal of Salvation, knowing God in us on the one hand and being part of His Church revealing God on the other hand.

Chapter 2 begins with knowing Christ crucified and then proceeds immediately into knowing that the Spirit of God is inside of us, the Spirit that causes us to know the “deep things” of God. Again, the Cross is the door into Christ.

Paul’s Progression. Let’s see the progression. In Chapter 1, Paul establishes that God chose us out from weakness and foolishness so that we would have no confidence in ourselves, but that our boast would be Christ our life. Then, Paul establishes the first part of his gospel, how we get into Christ in the first place. – Out from God, you are inside of Christ Jesus, who has become (all things) as us.

And so Paul does not present the cross as something we “pass through” but something we KNOW already. Then, knowing the cross already, we turn and know God by the Spirit and all that is God given to us.

Introducing Consciousness. Next, Paul wants to impart to us the mystery of Christ, something God unveils to us through the Spirit. Then he realizes that his readers have no idea of the extent and meaning of the Spirit of God inside of them.

To have the Spirit of God inside of us, part of us, causing us to know God and all that He gives us of Himself, is a far bigger deal than anything we have ever contemplated. The things God has prepared for those who love Him – the same as Hebrews 10, our bold approach to everything we find, here, inside of God. Paul begins by conveying to us what consciousness is.

Consciousness. According to Paul, human consciousness, how I know myself and what it is that I know, is patterned by God after His own consciousness. John said that God is Word and that God is Spirit. These two can never be separated. God as Word is anointed by Spirit and God as Spirit carries Word as its expression. Paul said that the Spirit of God knows the things of God inside of God. Those “things” include Word, an infinite number of infinite numbers of words that are the thoughts of God’s being. Thus we can say that God is a story of words inside of a Spirit self-awareness; that is, consciousness.

In the same way, according to Paul, humans are also a story of words inside of a spirit self-awareness. Solomon said that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. My mind is a story of words, and my spirit is aware of myself and of my story. In this way, I am made like God.

The Knowing that Is God. Then Paul says, “We have received… the Spirit who is out from God, that we might know the things already freely given to us by God.”

– The Spirit searches all, even the depths of God.

The Spirit that knows God, that is the knowing of God, is our knowing as well. We have received and we possess the very KNOWING that is God. For the most part, then, the remainder of 1 Corinthians is Paul conveying to us what this means, what the Spirit of God inside of us accomplishes in us individually and among us together.

Active Energeia. Paul concludes Chapter 2 with the assertion that we possess the mind of Christ, and that this mind is entirely different from the minds of humans in this world. We are, one could almost say, a different species. That is, we are real humans, and they are not quite.

Possessing the mind of Christ is not a static condition, however, but an active energeia. Thus Paul gives us a most incredible line, one which I have never before brought into our understanding. These things we also speak, not in words taught of human wisdom, but in words taught of the Spirit as Spiritual to spiritual communicating together.

Learn of Me. We speak words. Let this sink into your heart. We speak words, the words given to us by the Spirit of God, the KNOWING that is God, inside of us.

In Matthew, Jesus said, “Learn of Me.” Then, in John 16, When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide and instruct you inside of all truth; indeed, He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and the things coming [from God] He will report fully to you. He will glorify Me, for He will receive what is Mine and report it fully to you. All things the Father possesses are Mine; for this reason I said that He will receive what is mine and report it fully to you.

Our Very Fabric. This active and ongoing communication, Spiritual to spiritual communicating together, is in the form of words, living and energeoing. Paul is making it clear that when he says that we possess “the mind of Christ,” this is not some outward gift, like getting a present for your birthday. He is speaking of the very fabric and existence of our human soul.

Our human consciousness is now the woven Words that are Jesus, Words which we speak, our own story, which continuously flows out from the dynamic KNOWING that is the Spirit of God inside of us.

Spirit and Word in Me. Paul is saying far more than my human consciousness made in the same way as God’s. The same Spirit of God, inside of God, that KNOWS the things of God is also inside of me, giving me the very Words that are God Himself to speak as my own. The Spirit that causes me to know God Himself freely given to me is part of me, joined together with my own spirit. This Spirit of God in me then searches the entire span that is God, including His very depths to bring to me every Word that has become Jesus inside of me. The Spirit teaches me to speak those same words as myself, for Christ Jesus has become all wisdom now as me. This flow of living Spirit Word into me is my own consciousness, my soul, my only story of self, the very mind of Christ.

Our Human Thinking. Now, Paul uses the Greek word, krino, in one form or another, four times in this passage, a concept that he and we will expand on in an upcoming page. Krino means to judge, to examine, to investigate, to determine. Here, it is the active process of human thinking. In verse 13, it is syn – krino, examine together.

Yet Paul is clear, this is an interaction of the Spirit of God with us, inside of us. I translated it, Spiritual to spiritual communicating together. It means our human thinking. It means that the operation of our minds, in living interaction with the Spirit who KNOWS, is the mind of Christ.

The Mind of Christ. I possess the mind of Christ; I think like Jesus thinks. Yet even more than thinking like Jesus thinks, my own mind is Jesus’ thinking. I know this to be true as I give thanks in all and as I speak God’s words as my own. But what does it mean, that I have the mind of Christ? What is intelligence? Computer technology helps me to frame my understanding. The Spirit searches God, as a “search engine,” even to His depths, and there He finds all things that are Christ Jesus. Then that same Spirit transfers the Life and Meaning that are those Words out from God to me, hard drive to RAM, one might say, as Spiritual to spiritual communicating together. Then I speak those words as my own story of Jesus with me. Thus I possess the mind of Christ.

Our Human Souls. I decided to put the statements of faith for this part of Chapter 2 near the bottom of the page in order to sum up the wondrous things unveiled to us in this chapter. This teaching clearly belongs in Symmorphy VI: Mankind. Since I have not completed the print copy of that text yet, I might “cheat” and sneak it in as another lesson added to the appropriate chapter.

Adam became a living soul when God breathed His breath upon flesh out from dirt. This is similar, but at a far deeper level. The Spirit of God’s knowing is part of the fabric of our own human souls.

Statements of Faith. Like God, I am a story of words inside of a spirit self-awareness. It is my spirit that enables me to know myself, just as it is God’s Spirit that knows everything that is God towards me. That same Spirit of God is inside of me; I know the things given freely to me by God. God shows to me, through His Spirit, all that He has prepared for me.

That same Spirit knows all of God’s thoughts concerning me and shares those Words with me. Then I speak the words taught me by the Spirit. In this way, I possess the mind of Christ. I think like the Lord Jesus. My mind is Christ’s mind, and Christ’s mind is my mind. We share the same story together.

A Significant Declaration. The extraordinary meaning found in 1 Corinthians 2 is exploding in our understanding right now. We did not know. Yet we must keep this basic for those following after, and thus we finish the page with a simple, but significant declaration of faith.

I have the mind of Christ.
Jesus’ thoughts are my thoughts and mine are His.
The Spirit causes Jesus and me to share the same story.