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“The Mind of the Spirit”

Romans 8:27

“He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.” — The Lord Jesus knows all about us, even when we are puzzling and confusing to ourselves.

His Own Experience

He knows the mind of the Spirit in the experience of every believer. Though our Lord Jesus was altogether without the need of grace, because he was perfectly righteous, yet as a man he lived in this world in perfect faith as the God-man our Mediator. He was constantly ministered to by the Spirit. The Spirit, who is given to us by measure, was given to Christ the Man without measure (John 3:34).

All that he was and did in his earthly life and ministry he ascribes to the Holy Spirit. Was he born of Mary? It was by the work of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). Was he consecrated to God in his baptism? It was by the Spirit of God descending upon him (Matthew 3:16). Was he led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil? It was God the Holy Spirit who drove him into the wilderness of temptation (Matthew 4:1). Did he return from his temptation untouched by it? He returned in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). Did he identify himself in the synagogue as the One of whom Isaiah wrote? It was by declaring, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” (Luke 4:18). Did he cast out demons? It was by the Spirit of God that he did so (Matthew 12:28). Did he offer himself without spot to God? It was through the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14). Did he rise again from the dead? It was by the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4). He was “justified in the Spirit.”

Even Now

Even now, our Lord Jesus Christ performs his work for us and in us by his Holy Spirit. All his works of grace in us are “according to the mind of the Spirit” and by the Holy Spirit.

Did he instruct the Apostles after his resurrection? It was through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:2). He gives dead sinners life in the new birth by his Spirit (John 3:5-8). In the new birth, the Lord Jesus puts his Spirit in us and causes his people to live in the Spirit. All who believe live in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not an imaginary second work of grace. It was the work of Christ at Pentecost, which we come to experience in saving grace. If I have been born of God, I live in the Spirit (Romans 8:9).

The Lord Jesus comforts his redeemed by the Holy Spirit, our Divine Comforter, Guide, and Teacher (John 16:7-20)

In Us

Our Lord Jesus lives in us by his Spirit, making all who are born of God “partakers of the divine nature”(2 Peter 1:4), and by his Spirit seals to our hearts all the blessings, gifts, benefits, and covenant promises of the Triune God (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Whatever gifts of grace we possess are the gifts of God the Holy Spirit, who is the ascension gift of Christ to his people (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). If we have faith, it is the fruit, operation, and gift of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). If we have hope, it is “through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13). If the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, it is by the Holy Ghost given to us (Romans 5:5). If we pray, it is in the Spirit and by the Spirit in us (Romans 8:26; Jude 20). If we sing, our singing is nothing, unless we sing in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15). If I preach, my preaching is altogether useless unless I preach in the Spirit (1 Peter 1:12).

“Every virtue we possess, and every victory won,

Every thought of holiness, are His and His alone!”

All these things are the works and gifts of God the Holy Ghost in his saints. Yet, there are times when our spiritual life is at such a low ebb that we cannot see any grace in our souls, Even then, especially then, our Lord Jesus, the Heart Searcher, knows all about us and tenderly cares for us. Even when we know it not, “He knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.” (See Psalm 42:5-11).

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s