The Mindset of the Just II

And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just (righteous)… (Luke 1:17).

There’s a difference between your thinking process and your mindset. What’s a mindset? It’s a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you interpret and respond to situations. Each one of us has a mindset, but the important thing is the origin of your mindset. The Word of God must frame and shape your mental attitude and disposition to life; otherwise, you’re sunk. Studying and meditating on the Word of God will give you a peculiar mindset, the mindset of the righteous.

A sinner has the mindset of unrighteousness, unworthiness, being an abomination and a reject who is very far from God. Religious people also have this mindset, they think they honor God by calling themselves sinners, frail, weaklings, unworthy beneficiaries of grace and so on. They were taught that they had to denigrate themselves in order to elevate God or in order for God to elevate them. Such a mindset was what led the Pharisees and Sadducees to kill Jesus. It is quick to take offence on behalf of God because it does not really know God

God is only an idea of idealism that this class of people had formed in their minds. They can kill to preserve that ideal, but they cannot do anything to change themselves from thinking they are unworthy and helpless people who only exist by the mercies of God.

The Mindset of the righteous is the opposite of this, it accepts boldly that all His sins had been paid for by Jesus and that it has been purchased by the blood of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit which is the seal of the promise of God and now owns all things. This mindset is the key to navigating the realm of the spirit without any fear because those who have it are already wearing Christ as a toga.

Having the mindset of the righteous isn’t a gift; you must develop it. You can’t pray and say, “I receive a mindset”; no, it doesn’t work that way. You must suffuse and inundate yourself with the Word, studying and meditating on it daily. Then, you’d find that your thinking processes have been altered; your mental attitude and mental appreciation of things have improved. Whereas you used to think about defeat, poverty, sickness, etc., you’d discover you’ve given up those thoughts of negativity, and received divine thoughts of love, victory, faith, dominion, health, and strength. Hallelujah!

 The verse says we’re to turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, which means the righteous have a certain kind of wisdom. Now, what kind of wisdom does the righteous have? The Greek word from which “wisdom” here is derived is “Phronesis”; it means a mind-set: a fixed mental attitude or a disposition that predetermines a person’s responses to situations, and his interpretations of those situations. Such mental attitude influences your actions under a given situation. It’s a programming of your mind to reason, respond, interpret situations and behave in a certain way, usually, the most excellent way!

Jesus had this mind-set. Recall a certain occasion when He went up the mountain to pray, and when He was through, His disciples had sailed out into the sea, and all the boats were gone, being late at night. He didn’t panic. He didn’t start praying, “O, God, please help me now.” No. He just stepped out on the water and walked on it as though it were dry ground. He didn’t think of sinking, because He had a fixed mental attitude! To Him, there was no difference between the sea and dry ground; nothing was going to stop Him from getting to the other side of the shore. He had a mindset that had no sense of fear or impossibilities.

God expects us, His children, to function with the mind-set of the righteous, which can only be gotten through the Word of God. The Word helps you form the right mind-set: the mind-set of a victor; the mindset of one who’s more than a conqueror; the mind-set of success.

There are many believers who can be categorized as “disobedient” as listed in the scripture above, from the original Greek rendering, this means one who can’t be persuaded; one who’s headstrong and doesn’t want to go in the right direction. He or she deliberately chooses to do wrong. Such believers are unyielding; even when they know the truth, they choose to do otherwise. They’re unwilling to submit to the Word of God, which is the wisdom of God.

They would rather believe they are sinners, empty, worthless, helpless and defenseless. They would rather believe they are being attacked by the enemy, suffering in this life because of their sins, that God has turned his back on them and their sin has cut them off from the benevolence of God

On the other hand, “the wisdom of the just” refers to the mindset of the righteous. It’s a mind that’s yielded and given to the Word—easily persuaded by the Word to act in conformity to the Word. Such a person is willing to accept the Word, and to make adjustments on the basis of the Word. This mindset is functioning in true wisdom, which is living in and by God’s Word, being influenced and propelled by the Word to the right thoughts and actions.

1 Peter 4:17 says, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

The underlined portion of the preceding verse is the verb of the noun we read in Luke 1:17: “do not obey.”

The Greek word is “apeitheo,” meaning the disobedient; one who’s willfully disobedient and unbelieving; the foolish. The Bible says, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God…”” (Psalm 14:1 NIV).

Being born again, you have a different mindset: the mindset of the just. Therefore, be swayed and easily moved by the Word of God; take your actions on the basis of the Word. It doesn’t matter how something appears or whether you find it appealing to the senses or your emotions; if the Word of God says otherwise, you ought to always conform to and agree with the Word. Discipline yourself to accept and live by the Word of God only.