What is the Reality of Living by Christ?
(Overcomer Wu)

“ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus ” Philippians 2:5

Many Christians like to declare the slogan, "For me to live is Christ" (Phi 1:21). That was a true motto and reality of the life of the apostle Paul and many a dear believers. Yet sadly for many dear Christians, this is merely a slogan and nothing more. One of the keys to living a life of Christ is to have the mind of Christ. This is why the apostle Paul immediately emphasized our crucial need for the mind of Christ in the following chapter of Philippians: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phi 2:5).

The first great principle which we see in the life and character of the apostle Paul is self-denial and self-renunciation. Without denying ourselves we cannot be the disciples of Christ (Matt 16:24) and without it no one can live the life of Christ. Constrained by the love of Christ, the apostle Paul dedicated his whole life to living by and dying for Christ. Yet he found that in living for Christ, he is also constrained by the life of Christ to live for others. This is due to the fact that the life of Christ that he lived by is a life of One Who denied His own life to the point of dying for others on the cross. If we are truly living the life of Christ, we must be energized by the Spirit and put on/controlled by the “mind of Christ” in all that we do.

We are told in Philippians 2:6 that Jesus Christ “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Self-denial and self-sacrifice are the hallmarks of the life of Christ. This is the starting point in the life of practical holiness. Yet we need to be careful that it's not just mere self-sacrifice in deference to others, but self-sacrifice in the sense of self-displacement to allow the life and the mind of Christ live out through us. For it is in the death of our self-life and our soul-life that we find the springs out of which the life of Christ can gush forth. Apart from this self-displacement with the life of Christ characterized by the mind of Christ, there can be no true godliness and holiness. The kind of holiness that does not proceed from the mind of Christ is either legalism such as the self-righteousness of which the Pharisees boasted, or the theoretical unattainable holiness in this life preached by many a priests and ministers these days, or the professional holiness verbalized by the hypocrites who do not have the reality of holiness.

Practical holiness is having the mind of Christ who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life for others. Paul said, "I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state, for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's" (Phi 2:20-21). Practical holiness seeks not its own things but the things of others (Phi 2:4). Practical holiness is esteeming others more excellent than ourselves. Yet for us to live a such a life of self-denial, we must allow the mind of Christ be the governing center in deciding all our thoughts, decisions and actions. When we practically demonstrate that we have the mind of Christ by seeking the benefits of others and counting others more important than ourselves, then we shall know what is to live by Christ and a life of holiness. When we cease to have the mind of Christ, we may still maintain some outward form or semblance of holiness, but the power and the reality are gone.

The main reason why more are not truly living for and by Christ is on account of the cost. The cost of self-denial and self-displacement is a price that many are unwilling to pay. Yet if we are to be the Lord's disciples, we have no other options or paths to take but the way of self-denial clearly laid out for us and taken by our Lord Himself (Matt 16:24). Yet unless we are willing to pay this ultimate price, we can talk about building the Church all we want but all to no avail. For it is only those who take up their cross daily and follow our Lord Jesus can have a part in building the Church as shown in the context of Matthew 16:24, found in verses 16-18 of the same chapter.

The second great principle in the life hid with Christ in God is that of self-emptying. “He made Himself of no reputation” (Phi 2:7), which according to the original Greek text of the Bible literally means, He “emptied Himself.” Or, "He emptied Himself and taking the form of a slave." From the human standpoint, to serve one's superior is honorable. To serve one's equal is just. But to serve one's inferior is most humbling. If a pauper should offer to exchange rags with a fellow pauper it would be adding reproach to his sorrow. But if a royalty or a millionaire should disrobe himself of his wealth in order that through his poverty the pauper might be enriched, that would be the mind of Christ in its outworking. To divest ourselves of our inherent rights in order that another may take our place and enjoy our privileges, this is practical holiness. To have the mind of Christ and show it when we are called upon to give preference to one more honorable than ourselves, is commendable. But when, after the toil of the day is over and the way home is long and the car is crowded with weary passengers, we rise from our place to let another sit down in our comfort while we take his place, and we do so because we esteem him better than ourselves--this is Godlike.

The third virtue in the life of one who embraces the mind of Christ is self-humbling. “And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself” (Phi 2:8a). Legal, theoretical, or professional holiness knows nothing about humbling oneself; rather, there's a hidden agenda of self-exaltation. To be lord and master yet willing to humble oneself and take the place of a servant of servants, to be chief of the apostles and yet to consider himself less than the least of all saints (Eph 3:8) is a grace found only among those who have the mind of Christ. Lastly and the crowning virtue of all is a self-sacrificial mind – “... becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross” (Phi 2:8b). Until we have reached this stage in our living for and by Christ, our “fruit unto holiness” has not been brought to perfection.

Anyone who claims to live for Christ but lives a life without these cardinal qualities: self-denial, self-renunciation, self-emptying, self-humbling, and self-sacrifice, is devoid of the mind of Christ Jesus and is making a hollow profession of living for Christ and the Church. A life without the daily displacement by the life and the mind of Christ and the death of our self may appear outwardly holy, but the white robe is only the glint of a cheap tinsel. Anyone who has the mind of Christ would bend over backwards and goes out of his/her way like the Good Samaritan on the Jericho road to meet the needs of others, because it esteems others better than itself (Phi 2:3b). It naturally cares for the things of others, saying, “I will come and heal him”; “Stretch forth thy hand;” “You give them to eat;” “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do;” “Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed” (Isa 53:5). May we live for and by Christ in reality by demonstrating the mind of Christ in our daily lives.