Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dewell on these things. Phillipians 4:8
When God saved us He gave us a new life (2 Cor 5:17) and with that new life comes the ability to do good works for His glory (James 2:17-18). These are works that we are doing through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, but we are the ones doing them. There are times that we succeed in this work and times we chose to be ashamed of the gospel and fail. God could have made created a way in which when we were saved we became instantly sanctified and glorified, thus never sinning again. But in His wonderful mercy and grace He allows us to be a part of the work of sanctification not just the recipients of it. Understanding that we have work to do in our own lives and not to just sit back and wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon us is vital in our Christian walk. We need to understand where the where battle between sin and sanctified living takes place and what we can do to live a more Holy life.
The Battle of the Mind
In Romans 7:14-25 Paul describes the battle that rages on within our new lives in Christ - a battle we all kind attest to. This battle takes place in our minds. There are times when all of us have tortured souls because of the battle against sin in our lives. In fact if you are walking through the new life in Christ and there are not times of immense conflict in your soul then you should take time to examine your life to make sure that your are saved (Phil 2:12). As we become more like our Savior there will be times that sin in our lives is ripped, or torn, from our flesh (Heb 4:12). It is part of the sanctification process that all true believers will go through. In verse 23 of Romans 7 Paul states that he sees "a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members." Paul is telling us that the real battle between sin and holiness lies in the mind. He goes onto say in Romans 8:6-8 that two minds produce two different out comes. The mind of the Spirit is life and peace (vs.6). The mind of the flesh is death (vs.6), hostility towards God (v.7), not able to obey God (v. 7) and can not please God (v. 8).
So it's clear that the battle of the mind is important. Which is why so much is given to us in Scripture around this battle and how to fight it. There are 2 major things that must take place in order to successfully do our work and overcome the enemy in this battle. One requires pain, one requires study - both require discipline.
The Purging of the Old Mind
The process of purging an infection out of the body is not pleasant. And that is exactly what sin is - an infection of the worst kind. It is not fun to purge the mind of sinful thoughts. When you are serious about the battle and start to purge the mind of sinful thoughts you quickly find out just how totally, utterly, indescribably sinful we truly are. I had this event happen in my own life a few years ago. I grew up in a strong Christian home, went to church every time the doors where open, but I was constantly defeated by sin. Once God grabbed hold of my life and shook my out of my slumber I started purging my mind of sin - and the more I purge, the more I find.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5-6 there are two kinds of purging to take place. First of all there is the individual purging of our minds. Paul tells us that he is, and we should be example of him, "taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." Think about that for a moment - taking EVERY thought captive. Have you ever tried to do that? If you were told that the Christian life was easy, you were lied to. We are suppose to taking every thought captive because Satan is prowling around like a lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8) and we are not to give the enemy an opportunity in our lives (Eph 4:27). We can never rest, never stop and never think it is over. We are to be constantly purging our minds of the taint of sin. Secondly, not only are we to individually purge the sin from our own lives, we are suppose to be ready to punish disobedience within our own churches (vs. 6, Matt 18:15-17). This doesn't mean that when you disagree with someone you right away begin that you begin the Matt 18 process. This means that you have such close relationships with the body of Christ that when you see a brother or sister caught in sin you HELP THEM purge the sin from their lives. The entire concept of Matt 18 is to bring the brother/sister to repentance not to humiliate or judge them.
The Pondering of the New Mind
After we recognize there is a battle for our mind and after we purge our mind of the old sins we are to ponder something new. If we neglect this last step then eventually the sins will flood back into our lives. At the end of v. 8 Paul instructs us to Ponder the things he listed and to dwell on them. These things are to fill up our mind so that nothing of the old mind can come back in. So what exactly are we suppose to ponder?
1. Whatever is true.
As Pilot famously asked Christ - what is truth? What is Paul saying to think on whatever is true? Should we sit back in our lazy chairs think 2+2=4? Not at all - Psalm 119:160 says "The sum of Thy word is truth, And every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting." We should study His word and think about the truths that are in it. The times I feel the strongest against sin is when I find myself throughout the day pondering great truths of Scripture. Have you ever been working and at the same time been thinking about the doctrine of justification? Or when a brother is faced with a trial in their lives thought of Scripture that would encourage them? The Word of God is 100% sufficient for all that we will encounter in this life. We are told to mediate on the Word day and night (Psalm 1:2). We are told to hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against God (Psalm 119:11). And here in Philippians we are told to ponder it.
Not only is the Word of God truth, but we are told in John 1:14 that Christ and the Word are the same thing. A quick Sidebar: Think about that one…when you are reading the Word of God you are reading Christ! We have the in the Word the manifestation of Christ, so that even though we have never seen Him, we can still 'see' Him! Do we need any other reason to read the Word other than that? Furthermore, Christ says in John 14:6 that He Himself is truth. So when Paul says to ponder what is true he is saying to meditate on the Word of God and on the person and work of Christ.
2. Whatever is honorable
As if that wouldn't be enough to keep our minds occupied and free from sinful thoughts Paul gives us another thing to think on. Paul tells us to think on things that are honorable. Honor is really about something that is not talked much about these days - chivalry. This is a word that maybe are parents and grand parents new about but not us. Chivalry is by definition is that which is honorable or of valor. Moses for example showed chivalry by defending the seven daughters at the well from shepherds in Exodus 2:17. Husbands are commanded to have chivalry towards their wives and to treat them as a weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7). Psalm 135:3 tells us to sing praises to His name because it is lovely (honorable). When we think on His name and we think of honorable actions of people in the Word of God it draws us away from our flesh and towards the glory of our God.
3. Whatever is right
John 5:30 Christ makes the statement that " I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; And my judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent me." We should think on the fact that there will come a day when Christ will be come back as the glorious Judge of all men. If we truly longed for His appearing and His true judgment maybe we would live our lives a little less like the world.
4. Whatever is pure
Obviously nothing we do is pure….yet. There will come a time in future glory when after going through the fires of purification that we are pure - due to His work. Until that time anything that we think of in purity must be from above. Psalm 19:8 tells us that the commandments of the Lord are pure and righteous altogether. Part of mediating on the Word is thinking of His commandments. This goes beyond His 10 commandments (though just mediating on those are beautiful in themselves), but there is the great commission, the greatest commandment is love, to keep His commandments, the command to preach and teach, to be holy - that is certainly not an exhaustive list, but just an example of what it means to think of pure things.
5. Whatever is lovely
Only Christ is truly lovely. Everything else in this world compared to His name is anything but lovely. Psalm 135:3 instructs us to "sing praises to His name, for it is lovely." I would encourage during times of quiet private worship to the Lord to spend some time singing praises to His name. But what are we suppose to praise Him for? His name. It is such a simple command that it truly is lovely. In this complex world, sit back and think of His name. Take the time to look through Scripture to find all the different names for God - The great I Am, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, Emanuel, Christ, Lamb of God, Lion of Judah, Prince of Peace, The Mighty One, God of my salvation, our refuge - that is just a few…think of the names of God and praise His for each one of them.
6. Whatever is of good repute
Everything else we have discussed has focused on the God and His work. It is clear to see that our focus in pondering is to be on the work of God. This last point is telling us that we should think of other people who have practiced thinking about what is true, honorable, right, pure and lovely. A person, or group of people, that thinks on those things will do amazing things for the glory of God. Paul is instructing us here to think about the good news in the kingdom. Colossians 1:4 Paul says "We have heard of your faith…." Phil 1:27 Paul says we "hear of you standing firm". The apostles where encouraged by the good works done in faith by other Christians. In this day of all the false teachers, man focused churches and worldly so-called Christian living there really isn't much to think on - but there are great things being done in the kingdom. Can you think of any church that is remaining faithful to God honoring teaching - think on their work! Is there a believer you know that is brining glory to the Lord - think about what they are doing! Whatever is going on of good repute within the Kingdom today, we should think of it and give God glory for it.
One thing here in closing, have you picked up on the common thread through everything in Phil 4:8? What is true? Christ. What is honorable? Christ. What is right? Christ's judgment. What is pure? Christ's commands. What is lovely? Christ's' name. What is of good repute? Work done for Christ. Our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ is what we are ultimately to be pondering. As I continue in this journey I have become increasingly more intrigued by the work of Christ in my salvation. It seems I find Him everywhere in Scripture. I can not escape Christ. His work for me is unfathomable and I will never understand it. When we put labels on that work (whether it is the doctrine of soteriology, election, 5 points, TULIP, etc…) no matter how true they are, we lessen the glory of Christ's work. I am not saying we should not study those doctrines because they help us understand more of what He has done, but brothers and sisters, please don't ever allow a label to prevent you from seeing the bigger picture. Christ is everything! To Him be the Glory forever and ever. Amen.
