Mindsets in Bible Study

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ARC GUIDE LEVEL 1
Ideal for those getting acquainted with our thought process at Ammi Ruhama Community.

We know that proper hermeneutics; laws governing the interpretation of texts, are vital in order to properly interpret the Word of God. It is often put that a historical, grammatical, contextual reading of the Word of God is the only way to find its fullest meaning, but even with all of this, scholars frequently fall out on interpretations of passages and, as a result, our systematic theologies, not to mention our unity, suffers for it. If there is to be a mind or a system that interprets the text, let it be the mind and system in which it was originally written.

In the scriptures, we hear much about the mind of Christ, but since we have stripped the word of its organizational value, we have largely missed the implications of being called to live in it. Let’s take a look at a few passages in which this mind is discussed and what people have done while in it.

21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 2:1 English Standard Version

What does this sound like?

49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

John 12:49-50 English Standard Version

And again,

11And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Luke 12:11-12 English Standard Version

It seems from these verses (a mere cross-section of those available) that there is a mind connected to the Spirit, what we have called here, a “Spiritual Mindset,” that is focused on understanding what it is the Spirit has said when He led the men and women of God to write and compile the Word of God into its present state. That mindset is Christ’s mindset, one from which He never wavered, one of total obedience to the Spirit of God as He relayed the words of the Father to Him. The book of John is riddled with verses like the one above, in nearly every section of the book Jesus is constantly reminding those around Him, “this isn’t me, I’m not here of my own will but by the will of my Father, everything you see, and hear me say and do, it is because I have been told to do and say those things.” This is the mind of Christ–the Spiritual Mindset.

If according to 1 Peter, this is the mind in which all of the Biblical authors wrote and compiled the Word of God, then we need to understand it better in order for us to formulate a healthy narrative of the Word, not just historically, grammatically, and contextually, but also ‘spiritually,’ minded.

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