Last week we left off by acknowledging the sin in our hearts and minds and asking the question: How do we have victory over it? The answer comes through a Who rather than a how. We need a Prophet, Jesus Christ, who speaks into our minds through the Word of God and the power of the Spirit. This post is a mixture of my own thoughts and content drawn from chapter 3 of A. Craig Troxel’s book With All Your Heart.
Introducing Christ as Prophet in chapter 3, Troxel writes:
“Christ is not just any prophet. He is the final prophet (Heb. 1:1–2). His listeners stood amazed at his authority because he spoke as no one had before. His words cut and healed like no one else’s before. He baffled the religious experts with his parables, and he silenced them with his questions. His teaching offered entrance into the kingdom of God with all its grace, freedom, life, and love. And now, as he sits at the right hand of majesty in his exalted and prophetic headship, Christ continues to minister his truth to his people through his word and the Holy Spirit. In this ministry he never falls short. He never misses the mark. He does all things perfectly well.”¹
On the night before Jesus went to the cross, he promised his disciples that he would not leave them alone but would send them another Helper (John 14:26). This promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Yet it is important to remember, as Richard Gaffin said, that “the gift of the Spirit is nothing less than the gift of Christ himself to the church.”² The Holy Spirit is often called “the Spirit of Christ” or “the Spirit of Jesus” (Acts 16:7; Rom. 8:9; Phil. 1:19). When the Spirit is at work in our lives, we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
The continued prophetic ministry of Christ convicts us, indwells us, leads us, comforts us, and assures us of the truth of Christ. Christ tells us the truth.
In the case of the apostles, the Spirit inspired them to record Scripture as the infallible Word of God. As New Testament believers, as we meditate on God’s truth, the Spirit of Christ brings relevant connections in Scripture to mind that we would never have considered on our own. Many times these connections become especially clear during seasons of difficulty. Martin Luther wrote, “It is impossible for a human heart, without crosses and tribulations, to think upon God.”³
As the pages of our lives turn each day, revealing new challenges, the Lord Jesus opens our understanding of his Word and gives us wisdom to stand firm in the strength that he supplies.
How Jesus accomplishes this is remarkable. What we are talking about is daily heart surgery. God’s Word works upon our hearts, the very center of who we are (Rom. 10:8; Deut. 30:14) like a skillful surgeon, using the Word of God, the Spirit pierces the “thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). Troxel says it this way:
“He who ministers that word does so with surgeon’s care in order to cut away the dangerous tissue of self-deception and false humility (1 Cor. 14:24–25). The Spirit holds out the light of God’s truth to give us clarity and vision, higher knowledge and deeper wisdom, sober judgment, and alacrity of joy. All Scripture lies at his disposal, and he wields it effectively, and often more practically than we wish (2 Tim. 3:16).”⁴
This is the beginning of how our divine Prophet works in our hearts. It is far better than any homemade remedies derived from introspection. We cannot trust our own hearts; they are deceitful and desperately sick (Jer. 17:9–10). Yet sick as we are, Christ does not overwhelm us by revealing everything at once. If he were to expose even a small measure more than he already does, many of us would be crushed with despair.
Instead, as he uncovers hidden motives in our hearts, he also reveals precious promises that give us strength to overcome those motives and live for his glory.
This is all the more reason to fill our minds with his truth. The Puritan George Swinnock wrote that our minds should become “the library of Jesus Christ.”⁵ We need minds stocked with God’s truth, ready for the Spirit of Christ to draw new connections day by day.
The psalmist stored up God’s Word in his heart so that he would not sin against God (Ps. 119:11). Paul urged the Colossians to let the Word of Christ dwell in them richly (Col. 3:16). Jesus concluded the parable of the soils by teaching that the good soil represents those who receive the Word, hold it fast, and bear fruit (Luke 8:15). Meditation upon God’s Word is what occupies the righteous man day and night (Ps. 1:2).
Next week we will continue tracing Christ’s work as he transforms our minds and teaches us to know and live the way of Christ more fully.
¹ A. Craig Troxel, With All Your Heart: Orienting Your Mind, Desires, and Will Toward Christ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 51–52.
² Richard B. Gaffin Jr., Perspectives on Pentecost: Studies in New Testament Teaching on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1979), 20.
³ Martin Luther, The Table Talk of Martin Luther, ed. Thomas S. Kepler (New York: World Publishing, 1952), 283, no. 411.
⁴ Troxel, With All Your Heart, 53.
⁵ George Swinnock, The Works of George Swinnock (1868; repr., Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1992), 1:143.
