1 Corinthians 2:14-16 says,...
Today's verses are 1 Corinthians 2:14-16, which read,
v.14 - But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
Paul is sharing with the Christians in Corinth that there is a big difference between one who is converted and one who is not converted or one who is a believer and one who is not. "The natural man" is the unconverted person who thinks what the converted person does, follows, and believes is foolishness. The converted person is "spiritually appraised" to be able to have the capacity to understand the Word of God through the Spirit of God. The unconverted person does not have this ability. This is something that we have not earned on our own or studied to get but something offered as a gift from God through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we know has been given to us and we have accepted it.
v.15 - But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.
The spiritual one is the Christian and the Christian can now appraise the world that he lives in by being able to discern it through the grid of the Word of God. We have the very words of God to speak to how we should live in this time just as past Christians did in their time. While we live our lives in light of the word of God that seems foolish to the unconverted, there will be appraisals of us but those appraisals do not stand because they are of man. The only appraisal that counts is the one that God gives of us.
v.16 - For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13. Here is another big difference between the converted and the unconverted. The unconverted will think that they know more or better than God on issues of the day in relationship with the Bible. The converted has been given the understanding of God from God to know God's very position defines that His way is the only way. One is in submission to God while the other is in rebellion to Him. One wants to rewrite what God has said to make it better or easier or more culturally sensitive while the other cherishes that we have the words of God and become a living sacrifice of those words.
Paul is pointing out these differences because the problem of the our lives is not external but internal. The converted person has dealt with the internal and it shows in the external fruit. The unconverted person focuses on the external while the internal problem resides and it dictates the external fruit. We are converted from the inside out and not the outside in.
As Christians we need to be praying for heart change in others (the unconverted) and not just external, world friendly behavioral changes. If the heart is not changed by God then the need for a full surrender to God will be foolish to him.
"Lord, why do we need to see this difference between us and them? Is it so that the need is ever before us so that we keep sowing? Is it so that we see the gravity of what is at stake? Lost people are lost everywhere, from Papau, New Guinea to downtown Oglesby, LaSalle, and Peru. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.14 - But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
Paul is sharing with the Christians in Corinth that there is a big difference between one who is converted and one who is not converted or one who is a believer and one who is not. "The natural man" is the unconverted person who thinks what the converted person does, follows, and believes is foolishness. The converted person is "spiritually appraised" to be able to have the capacity to understand the Word of God through the Spirit of God. The unconverted person does not have this ability. This is something that we have not earned on our own or studied to get but something offered as a gift from God through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we know has been given to us and we have accepted it.
v.15 - But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.
The spiritual one is the Christian and the Christian can now appraise the world that he lives in by being able to discern it through the grid of the Word of God. We have the very words of God to speak to how we should live in this time just as past Christians did in their time. While we live our lives in light of the word of God that seems foolish to the unconverted, there will be appraisals of us but those appraisals do not stand because they are of man. The only appraisal that counts is the one that God gives of us.
v.16 - For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13. Here is another big difference between the converted and the unconverted. The unconverted will think that they know more or better than God on issues of the day in relationship with the Bible. The converted has been given the understanding of God from God to know God's very position defines that His way is the only way. One is in submission to God while the other is in rebellion to Him. One wants to rewrite what God has said to make it better or easier or more culturally sensitive while the other cherishes that we have the words of God and become a living sacrifice of those words.
Paul is pointing out these differences because the problem of the our lives is not external but internal. The converted person has dealt with the internal and it shows in the external fruit. The unconverted person focuses on the external while the internal problem resides and it dictates the external fruit. We are converted from the inside out and not the outside in.
As Christians we need to be praying for heart change in others (the unconverted) and not just external, world friendly behavioral changes. If the heart is not changed by God then the need for a full surrender to God will be foolish to him.
"Lord, why do we need to see this difference between us and them? Is it so that the need is ever before us so that we keep sowing? Is it so that we see the gravity of what is at stake? Lost people are lost everywhere, from Papau, New Guinea to downtown Oglesby, LaSalle, and Peru. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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