The Christian Mindset Part 1

Don’t you get frustrated trying to talk to the unbeliever about the things of God? When you have shared the love of Jesus with someone, just like what sister Gina said in her testimony, it brings sadness to us when those we share the gospel with reject the very message that will save them!

It is because you are sharing something spiritual from a spiritual mindset to someone who has a natural mindset. The spiritual and the natural just do not meet.

1 Corinthians 2:14–16 ESV

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

We have the mind of Christ.

What does it mean to have the mind of Christ?

Is it just having the ready answer to what Jesus would do in every situation so that you are able to respond Christ’s way?

WWJD

WWJD image here.

I submit to you today that it is not that, Jesus does not have to tell you what to do in every detail of your life. It is an overall mindset of Christ that we should also have!

There is a struggle between...

Natural person versus the Spiritual Person.

Worldly Mindset versus a Christian Mindset.

The Christian Mindset.

The absence of the Christian mindset is why the person we share the gospel with does not understand or simply outrightly rejects the message.

This is a spiritual struggle. It is not our power of persuasion that can convince men to believe in God. The gospel is the power of God to those who believe..

When a person by the work of the Spirit believes in God, he undergoes a process of the change of his mindset. He has to be deprogrammed of everything that the world has placed inside of him.

When it comes to our mindset, not all Christians have attained to the ideal Christian mindset, a lot of Christians still have to be purged of the world and the influence of Satan that is still in them.

If you are watching this message today, the question is” Are your thoughts, point of view, choices and decisions controlled by the world or by Christ?

We do not here a whisper from… It is a matter of our mindset.

It takes the work of the Spirit of God for someone to have the mindset of Christ.

Powerpoint flow here.

Mindset

Perspective

Point of View

Worldview

Christian Worldview —> is dominated by The Kingdom of God

Non-Christian Worldview ------> is dominated by The Kingdom of the World.

These are basically all the other worldviews outside of the Christian worldview.

How are worldviews developed?

There are three factors in the person’s mind that shaped his worldview.

Philosophically..

Three Factors in a Worldview.

1. Element of being or reality (In philosophical terms this is called Metaphysics) - What do you believe as real? Does God exist?

2. Element of knowledge (In Philosophical Terms this is called Epistemology)

How much do we know about what we consider real or true? What is truth?

3. Element of Ethics (In Philosophy this is called Value Theory)

What is right and what is wrong? What is good and evil?

The way we live our lives and the choices that we make demonstrate our values.

What is most important to you?

It is very important that you visit your worldview today. Again, your

worldview dictates your point of view ==> which develops your perspective which in turn develops your mindset.

Worldview ==> Point of View ==> Perspective ==> Mindset

Mindset then dictates how you act in any situation.

Or we can look at it as building blocks.

Building Blocks image here. (talk through,, everything else crumbles)

So in order to have the Christian Mindset or the Mindset of Christ, we need to start to examine do we even have the right worldview.

Well Pastor Ramon, I adhere to the Christian worldview but I also borrow from the good things that I learn from the culture. You cannot have a one-track mind on these things. It is possible that the Bible missed some important aspects of life.

To me there is only the Biblical Worldview and Everything Else.

Image here.

There is no mixing and matching. There is no picking and choosing.

This is the danger of pluralism.

If you have an extrabiblical basis or rule for life and conduct then you have the ability to override the Bible and justify your sinful behavior!

It leads to what the Bible describes as everyone does what is right in his own mind.

Deuteronomy 12:8 ESV

8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes,

Judges 17:6 ESV

6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Judges 21:25 ESV

25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

The Bible said it multiple times and when the Bible does that, when it repeats a thought multiple times pay attention! Because it is important even in these times that we live in.

That is the problem of ethics, many people now do not believe in moral absolutes. Everything is relativistic! What is good for you does not work for me.

Examples:

Persecution of Christians, Abortion, same-sex marriage, infringements of religious freedom, globalism. I know you preached about that pastor that those are not the most important issues that govern my choices.

Pastor - you think missions, evangelism and discipleship are the most important values of the church. That is your turf, pastor, there are other things that are more important to me and I have to attend to that for now.

When we go to missions, send missionaries, reach out to Filipinos in the Metro Denver area, when I encourage you to join or lead an iTIM class it is not me pushing my agenda, I am pushing the greatest core value of God’s Kingdom which winning, strengthening and sending souls to the great harvest of souls.

This all goes back to your worldview.

Image of building blocks of worldview elements here (Metaphysics, Knowledge, Values)

What is the Biblical worldview then?

I would rephrase the question:

What is the worldview that Jesus formed:

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This claim of Jesus will be the starting point:

Jesus is the Way - Metaphysical

Jesus is the Truth - Epistemological

Jesus is the Life - Ethical

This is the lens by which Jesus viewed the world. And we should view the world the same way.

What is our basic reality?

That God became man to reveal the Father and He came to be like one of us but He was sinless.

That the God-Man Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the ransom for our sins.

By His resurrection, Jesus pointed us to an eternal destiny outside the natural world that we live in reserved for those who are ransomed by the Lord.

Only those who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved. We continue to be sanctified in the context of the Priesthood of Believers, the church.

Jesus is coming back for His church and He will establish His Eternal Kingdom on a redeemed heaven and earth.

What is Truth? Meaning of existence? Who am I? Why are we here?

God is the source of all truth and knowledge. He revealed His truth in scripture. (Talk about studying your Bible)

We were created in the image of God with the purpose of having dominion over the earth.

Our chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. (Westminster Catechism)

God’s plan is for us to know Him, the Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He sent (John 17:3)

We are called to be Christ’s Ambassadors, to reconcile men to God.

Where do we stand when it comes to the truth claims of scripture?

Do we see the world and world events through the lens of

Biblical Lens:

God, Creation, Revelation, Fall, Redemption, Church, Calling, and Re-creation.

Is there anything here that you don’t embrace and has consigned to the area of mythology or fairy tale?

3. The Life (Your ethics and values)

a. Not just existence but a high quality of life based on God’s standards.

b. A high quality of life built on godly morals and obedience. (Holy Living)

c. Behavior and decision patterns directed by Biblical principles.

d. Identity and significance emanates from God and the imago deo.

e. A blessed life (Rewarded and favored)

From this what is your worldview? Do you have a Biblical worldview?

Jesus should be the foundation on which we build our system of viewing the world.

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This verse of scripture is not just truth that we share with someone who we want to lead to Christ.

This should be the basis of how we view the world.. our reality, our truth, and our value system.

Once we have this worldview, we will see everything the way Christ sees it.

Case in point: Soul-winning through Evangelism and Missions.

Reality: Man is lost without Christ, eternity in hell,

Truth Claim of Scripture: God’s purpose is for all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and that none of mankind will perish but that all will come to repentance.

Time is running out, Jesus is returning soon and when he does it will be too late.

In light of that truth and that reality, Our ethics or value should be:

Participate in Kingdom building. Make God’s priority our priority. Go on a two-week mission trip, experience God’s power, no one is being told to go and live in a foreign land forever, but if God tells you too, it is God’s grace that will compel you to do so.

Send missionaries, send even your kids and do not inhibit them, Our kids belong to God and we are honoring the Lord if we allow them to be used for His purposes. You are also setting them up to have the right worldview.

Let the Lord transform Your Worldview which will lead to a Renewed Mindset.

Jesus will truly be Lord of all. You will live for the Glory of God. All you do will be for the advancement of His Kingdom.