“People who are guided by the spirit can make all kinds of judgments, but they cannot be judged by others. When we are guided by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit peels away our old man and old ways, and replaces them with Godly characteristics,” 1 Corinthians 2:15.
1) Godly characteristics – exhibiting characteristics and Godly signs.
2) Righteousness – integrity, hard-working, discipline, generous, never gives up, love, steadfastness, faith and gentleness.
The work of God in us makes us more and more one with Christ. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be effective in our witnesses, which is a lifestyle. This is ‘transforming.’
1) Transforming or transformation involves being changed into another form (Romans 12: 1-2).
It is a total change by the renewing of the mind. You are not conforming, but transforming; being changed into a new creation. You are trans-formed when you take on a transformation from being ‘deformed’ to being re-formed in God’s recreation.
Deformed—Disfigured and Damaged.
2) Reformed involves being changed, redesigned, reworked, redone, rebuilt, and reconstructed.
You do not settle for less because you are reconstructed for the work of the kingdom and the kingdom only. Paul is saying to the Christians in Corinth that when you are reformed, the Holy Spirit gives you the ability to understand matters of this world as well as divine matters of the kingdom of God. God’s people, the Jews, desired more of God to understand spiritual things. Paul was making it known that to have more you have to be the chosen of God. But you are still young and growing in the faith.
“When you come into the mind of Christ, you will be able to eat the meat of the word. But you are on milk, for this is what I fed you because you could not handle meat. For you are not spiritual, but carnal [without the spirit]. You are babes in Christ.
“You are still not spiritual, because there is jealousy and fighting among you. This shows that you are not spiritual. One of you says, ‘I belong to Paul.’ Another will say, ‘I belong to Apollos.’ When you say things like this, you are acting like the people of this world. Apollos and I are only servants of God who helped you believed. We are only doing the work of God, that He gave us to do. I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the one who gives the increase [makes it grow]. The one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important, only God, who gives the increase is important.
“If you won’t live more for God, do the will of God and stop looking to man and look to Him, for He is the giver of new life,” 1 Corinthians 3:1-7.
“I [Paul] planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who gives the increase [makes it grow],” 1 Corinthians 3:6.
Expanding your consciousness is being open to the truth of the word of God, and the word of God only.
Be attentive to the moving of the Holy Spirit that engages [draws] your mind to receive the truth. This is having the mind of Christ or the meaning of Christ. The mind and the meaning is the plan, purpose, and the perspective of Christ. Having the mind of Christ means we understand God’s plan in the world to bring glory to His name and to restore creation to its original splendor [original glory, original richness] that says, ‘You, the people of God are being restored to life, the life that God intended for you to live out. A life of salvation and freedom, to identify with Christ the full purpose of new life. This is ‘receiving’ from God. But you cannot receive or have the mind of Christ without the Holy Spirit. The mind of Christ is given to believers through the Spirit of God.
