Post #110: Grace Giving – 2 Corinthians 9 | KJV Right Division (Week 4)

Post 110 · The Mind of Christ (Phil 2:5)

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." — Philippians 2:5-7 (KJV)

Who? The Philippian church — being divided by selfishness and personal ambition; Paul's corrective is the supreme example of the mind of humility: Christ Himself.
Dispensation: Grace Age — Christ's kenosis (self-emptying) is the pattern for Grace-Age humility; the way up is down.
Key: Kenosis (κενόω) = Christ emptied Himself — not of deity but of the independent exercise of divine prerogatives — to become servant, to become human, to become obedient unto death.

Philippians 2:5-11 is the great Christological hymn of the New Testament — and Paul introduces it as the solution to selfishness and rivalry in the Philippian church (vv.2-4). The mind of Christ is: (1) He had equality with God (v.6 — truly God), (2) He did not cling to it as something to exploit for His own advantage, (3) He emptied Himself — not of deity but of the independent exercise of divine prerogatives, (4) He took the form of a servant, the likeness of men, (5) He humbled Himself to death — even death on a cross (v.8). This descent from throne to cross is then matched by an ascent: God highly exalted Him (v.9). The pattern is invariable: in God's economy, the way to exaltation is through self-emptying, not self-promotion.

Application: Read Philippians 2:1-11 as a unit: the problem (v.2-4 — selfishness, vain glory, looking to one's own things), the solution (v.5 — let this MIND be in you), the example (v.6-8 — Christ's self-emptying descent), the result (v.9-11 — God's exaltation). Now apply to a current conflict or competitive feeling you have: where are you looking to 'your own things' (v.4) rather than 'the things of others'? What would the mind of Christ look like in that situation?

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Prayer: Lord Jesus, You had all of heaven and laid it down. You were God and became a servant. You had glory and took a cross. Give us that mind — not to grasp but to give, not to be served but to serve, not to be exalted but to humble ourselves and leave the exaltation to You. Amen.