1 Corinthians 2:16 English Standard Version (ESV) “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Colossians 2:18-19 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁸ Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Christ is the head of the church, the body of Christ. We are to take directions from the head in order to grow and move in accordance with His will. This requires us to receive and understand the commands of our Lord. Paul tells us we have the mind of Christ which means He is available to communicate with us.

1 Corinthians 14:30-32 English Standard Version (ESV)

³⁰ If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.

Paul tells us we all have a gift of prophesy which is misunderstood in the modern church. We read and think of prophesy in terms of the Old Testament prophets which is the office of a prophet. The office no longer exist. We all prophesy, some better than others. The reason is that prophesy is nothing more than the revealed mind of Christ and we all have access to Him.

To learn and be encouraged in this hearing the mind of Christ is the work of the Holy Spirit. We may come to hear by faith slowly at first. We might not be aware of this hearing by faith for a time but as we keep up with our bible studies we begin to understand. Group studies are especially helpful as we confirm yes and amen, you are hearing rightly. Notice in line 30 the words let the first be silent. How does one know they are first to hear that revelation? By experience with the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 2:15 English Standard Version (ESV) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

There are several issue at hand here. First is doing your best. We are not all as skilled as some who are so gifted as to have total recall of all scriptures, chapter and verse with relevant meaning. To be fair none of us are as skilled as the Holy Spirit who is God in the third person. God knows us better than we know ourselves and He takes all of us into consideration as to honest effort. He will touch our conscience if He needs us to do better.

Secondly is the issue of coming into His presence. Our tendency is to avoid coming before our creator because we feel unworthy. Unconfessed sin is a problem. We can and often do feel ashamed even after confession of sin. Confession does not remove it from our memory.

I will skip over approved and ashamed for the moment to address the word of truth. If we consider the bible to be the word of truth then a face value reading of the bible can and often is accepted without understanding. It is true, don’t argue. Handling the truth is a different matter than just blind acceptance. We are meant to do something with the truth other than to just believe.

This is where the Holy Spirit is required to direct us with relevant understanding of the truth for each of us. There will be different paths for each of us according to our calling. We do not all go to seminary school. We do not all get called into foreign missionaries. Some of us cannot communicate well enough to teach. Some of us are not wise counselors. If we try to decide for ourselves what our calling should be without following the leading of the Holy Spirit, we may find ourselves adrift without help.

How well do we hear the Holy Spirit? That too differs among us.