- We Speak Heaven’s Language: Those who “mind earthly things” talk about earthly things. After all, what comes out of the mouth reveals what is in the heart ( 12:34-37). The unsaved person does not understand the things of God’s Spirit (1 Cor. 2:14-16), so how can he talk about them intelligently? The citizens of heaven understand spiritual things and enjoy discussing them and sharing them with one another.
“They are of the world: therefore speak of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God does not hear us. Hereby we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:5-6).
But speaking heaven’s language not only involves what we say, but also the way we say it. The spiritually minded Christian doesn’t go around quoting Bible verses all day! But he is careful to speak in a manner that glorifies God. “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” (Col. 4:6).
- We Obey Heaven’s Laws
The citizens of Philippi were governed by Roman law, not Greek law, even though they were located hundreds of miles away from Rome. In fact, it was this policy that put Paul into jail when he first visited Philippi (Acts 16:16-24). Paul himself used his Roman citizenship to guarantee his protection under Roman law (Acts 16:35-40; 21:33-40; 22:24-30). Paul knew himself to be an “alien” in this world, a “pilgrim and a stranger.” His life was governed by heaven’s laws, and this is what made him different. He was concerned about others, not himself. He was interested in giving, not getting. His motive was love (2 Cor. 5:14), not hatred. By faith, Paul obeyed the Word of God, knowing that one day he would be rewarded. Men might oppose him and persecute him now, but in that final day of reckoning, he would be the winner.
- Let’s look to Heaven word: The anticipation of the coming of Christ must motivate every believer with the spiritual mind. We see Abraham looked for a city and he was content to live in a tent ( 11:13-16). Moses looked for the rewards of heaven and he was willing to forsake the treasures of earth (Heb. 11:24-26). Jesus was willing to endure the cross in order to provide salvation for the entire humanity. The fact that Jesus Christ is returning is a powerful motive for dedicated living and devoted service today. “And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (1 Jn. 2:28-3:3).
The spiritually minded believer does not live for the things of this world; he anticipates the blessings of the world to come. This does not mean that he ignores or neglects his daily obligations; but it does mean that what he does today is governed by what Christ will do in the future.
Paul mentions particularly that the believer will receive a glorified body, like the body of Christ. Today we live in a “body of humiliation” (Phil. 3:21); but when we see Christ, we will receive a glorified body. It will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye! (1 Cor.15:42-53) At that moment, all the things of this world will be worthless to us just as they ought to be, relatively, today! If we are living in the future tense, then we will be exercising the spiritual mind and living for the things that really matter.
In today’s world our values are twisted, our vigour is wasted on useless activities, and our vision is clouded so that the return of Christ is not a real motivating power in our lives. Living in the future tense means letting Christ arrange the “things” in life according to the proper rank. It means living “with eternity’s values in view,” and daring to believe God’s promise that “he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 Jn. 2:17). (thoughts taken from Warren Wiersbe).