“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9 ESV).
What is coming to mind here is what we are taught in Romans 8 about the mind, and what our minds are/are not to be set on:
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8 ESV).
So, this is really our guideline here as we consider what this is teaching us in Philippians 4. For example, just because something is true, that doesn’t mean that it is something good and healthy that we should be thinking about. And just because something is a lie, that doesn’t mean that we are to give no thought and no consideration to that lie and to the damage that it is doing to people’s lives and to what we can do, as followers of Christ, to expose and to refute the lie. We aren’t to just ignore it.
So, this is not teaching that we should give no thought to the lies that are being spread, and that are deceiving and literally murdering many people, which are also sending many people to hell. We shouldn’t just ignore them. And this is not teaching that just because something is true that it is a good thing for us to think on those things. Are you with me? We really have to look at the intent of what this passage in Philippians 4 is teaching us and not get so literal that we totally miss the point of what it is saying to us.
What this passage is teaching us is that our minds should be set on things above and not on the things of this earth. Our minds are to be set on what is godly and holy and righteous and honest and morally pure and right in the eyes of God. And our minds should not be set on evil and what is of the devil and of the flesh of man and on what is morally impure and dishonest and wicked and hurtful to other humans. We are to have pure minds, not filthy minds, and not immoral minds, and not slothful and self-centered minds.
Many professing Christians need to get their minds out of the gutter and to set their minds, rather, on what is holy and righteous and morally pure in the eyes of the Lord. And what we set our minds on is who we become in character and deed. So this isn’t just about what we think about, but it is about what we do and who we become. For if we are filling our minds with the trash of the world, that is what is going to come out in our speech and in our behaviors. And that really is the point of Philippians 4:8-9.
And rather than just believing people just because someone has told us that we should believe these people, we should be people of God who are testing whatever we hear or read or think we see against the Scriptures in their context to make certain that what we are setting our minds on is of God and that it is actually the truth and not the lies. I see far too many professing Christians following after lies and actually turning against their fellow (or other) Christians because they don’t believe the same lies they do.
So much is so backwards these days. So much that is going on in Christian culture today is the exact opposite of what Jesus and his NT apostles taught. And so many people are setting their minds on and thinking about (in acceptance of) what is opposed to God and to his word and to his morals and to his will for our lives. And so many of them are not living godly and holy lives with their minds set on Christ, but they are living just like the world, living in sin and in self-indulgence, for their minds are in the gutter.
The mind is a very powerful thing, you know! For like Paul said in Romans 8, if our minds are set on the flesh, and not on the Spirit, we are going to be those who are living according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit. And the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. And what is this also saying? It is saying that we need to be those who are submitting to God’s commandments (New Covenant) and that we are to be those who are literally and deliberately living to please God.
For what if we don’t? What if we have this mistaken notion that God is pleased with us regardless of what we do? What if we are believing lies which are telling us that once we “get saved” that now all our sins are forgiven and no matter what we do from this moment forward that it will not impact our salvation nor our eternal life with God? And so we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin and not in obedience to our Lord, and not in holy living? What then? We will not inherit eternal life with God!
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
So, what are we to do? What are we to be like? Whatever we have learned and received and heard and seen in Jesus Christ and in the life of Paul, his servant, and in the teachings of Christ and Paul and the other NT apostles, which are examples and instructions to the church, the body of Christ, we are to be obeying and putting into practice. So we need to be filling our minds with the Scriptures and putting those things into practice, and we need to rid our minds of all the worthless and unholy junk of this world.
In Times Like These
By Ruth Caye Jones
In times like these you need a Savior
In times like these you need an anchor
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
In times like these you need the Bible
In times like these, O be not idle
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
In times like these I have a Savior
In times like these I have an anchor
I'm very sure, I'm very sure
My anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
This Rock is Jesus, Yes He's the One
This Rock is Jesus, the only One
Be very sure, be very sure
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!
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