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1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ESV
As Christian authors, writers, bloggers and/or writers of devotionals, we must be so careful to not write in our own wisdom, with lofty or flowery speech intended to impress others with our knowledge. We should not be trying to win people to us, but to Christ Jesus. And, we definitely should not ever dilute the gospel of our salvation to gain followers for ourselves.
Before we sit down at a computer or a typewriter, or with pen and ink and a piece of paper, we must spend time with God in his Word and in prayer, seeking him, his wisdom, and his guidance in what he wants us to write. For, he has messages he wants to give through us, which is why he gifted us in this way. So, we need to inquire of him as to what messages he wants us to share in writing, and for his honor, glory and praise.
This way, what we write will not be of our own flesh, but it will be with a demonstration of the Spirit of God and of His power, not ours. For, it will be the Holy Spirit of God leading us into all truth. But, we must be receptive to this in our spirits. We must be walking according to the Spirit and not according to our own flesh if we want to be led of the Spirit of God in what we write. That way we will not be hypocritical in what we write, too.
1 Corinthians 2:6-8 ESV
Paul did not merely impart wisdom to the mature. He taught the truth to everyone, no matter who they were, what rank they had, or whether they had little knowledge of God or they were walking in obedience to his commands. He shared the gospel message with the unsaved, and he taught the walk of faith to those who were in Christ Jesus, by faith in him. For, if he had only imparted wisdom to the mature in Christ, then he would not have been persecuted as he was for his faith and for his testimony for Jesus.
So, I take from this that this “wisdom” he is speaking of has to do with the “meat” of the word which the immature are not ready to receive. Yet, we must be careful here that we don’t equate the “milk” of the word with a diluted gospel message absent of true repentance and walks of obedience to our Lord. For, Paul made it clear that the gospel message includes leaving our lives of sin behind us to follow our Lord in obedience (Eph. 4:17-24).
Jesus taught deep truths, too, to the crowds, which is why many deserted him because they said his teachings were “too hard.” He told them that, if they wanted to come after him, they must deny self, take up their cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him. For, if they held on to their old lives, they would lose them for eternity. But, if they lost their lives for his sake (died with him to sin) their lives would be saved (Lu. 9:23-25).
So, it isn’t that Paul watered it down for the immature. He didn’t. And, that is why he was persecuted. And, Jesus didn’t water it down for anyone, either, which is why they hated him, and why they put him to death on a cross, because they didn’t like his message. For, it confronted them with their sinful lifestyles. And, his message called them to repentance and obedience to Him, and they didn’t want to let go of their sins.
1 Corinthians 2:9-13 ESV
There are people who profess faith in Jesus Christ who have no comprehension of the Spirit of God at all. They don’t hear the Holy Spirit speaking to their hearts through the written Word of God, or in their minds and hearts. And, so they end up operating in the flesh, some of them trying to “do good” and trying to not “do bad,” but to little avail.
So, if we want to understand the things of the Spirit of God, then we need to have the Spirit of God living within us. Yet, this is not to say that we are going to understand everything. We won’t! For, while we live in these flesh bodies, our understanding is going to be incomplete, and we won’t know fully until the time we go to be with our Lord forever (1 Co. 13:9, 12).
So, how do we get the Spirit of God living within us? By God’s grace, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ – a faith that is divinely persuaded, and thus it submits to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in following him in obedience. Thus, it leaves the old life of sin behind, and it follows Jesus in surrender to his will – all by the power and working of God’s Holy Spirit, and not of our own flesh (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
For, notice with me here that it says, “what God has prepared for those who love him.” And, to love God is to do what he says, to obey his commands he has given to us, his church (Jn. 14:23-24; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; 1 Jn. 3:24).
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV
There are a lot of people, too, professing the name of Jesus Christ as Savior of their lives who do not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to them. And, that is because they have not ever truly been born again of the Spirit of God, and so they don’t have the Spirit. And, so they have no comprehension of the Spirit of God. But, they are still walking according to the flesh, doing what their flesh desires.
Many of them bought into a lie which told them that all they had to do was to repeat some words after someone else supposedly in a prayer to God, or all they had to do was to acknowledge what Jesus Christ did for them on that cross, and they just had to accept his gift of grace into their lives. But, there was no repentance, no turning away from sinful lifestyles, and no submission to Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. So, they are void of the Spirit of God, and they don’t understand the mind of God at all, or little.
So, again, in order for us to have the Holy Spirit of God living within us, teaching us all things with regard to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and all things regarding holiness, righteousness, godliness and walks of faith, we have to be in Christ Jesus by genuine faith in Him. And, this faith requires that we turn away from our lifestyles of sin and that we walk in obedience to our Lord according to the ways of the Spirit of God, and no longer according to the ways of our sinful flesh. Then, we will have the mind of Christ.
Full Release
An Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
As Christian authors, writers, bloggers and/or writers of devotionals, we must be so careful to not write in our own wisdom, with lofty or flowery speech intended to impress others with our knowledge. We should not be trying to win people to us, but to Christ Jesus. And, we definitely should not ever dilute the gospel of our salvation to gain followers for ourselves.
Before we sit down at a computer or a typewriter, or with pen and ink and a piece of paper, we must spend time with God in his Word and in prayer, seeking him, his wisdom, and his guidance in what he wants us to write. For, he has messages he wants to give through us, which is why he gifted us in this way. So, we need to inquire of him as to what messages he wants us to share in writing, and for his honor, glory and praise.
This way, what we write will not be of our own flesh, but it will be with a demonstration of the Spirit of God and of His power, not ours. For, it will be the Holy Spirit of God leading us into all truth. But, we must be receptive to this in our spirits. We must be walking according to the Spirit and not according to our own flesh if we want to be led of the Spirit of God in what we write. That way we will not be hypocritical in what we write, too.
1 Corinthians 2:6-8 ESV
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Paul did not merely impart wisdom to the mature. He taught the truth to everyone, no matter who they were, what rank they had, or whether they had little knowledge of God or they were walking in obedience to his commands. He shared the gospel message with the unsaved, and he taught the walk of faith to those who were in Christ Jesus, by faith in him. For, if he had only imparted wisdom to the mature in Christ, then he would not have been persecuted as he was for his faith and for his testimony for Jesus.
So, I take from this that this “wisdom” he is speaking of has to do with the “meat” of the word which the immature are not ready to receive. Yet, we must be careful here that we don’t equate the “milk” of the word with a diluted gospel message absent of true repentance and walks of obedience to our Lord. For, Paul made it clear that the gospel message includes leaving our lives of sin behind us to follow our Lord in obedience (Eph. 4:17-24).
Jesus taught deep truths, too, to the crowds, which is why many deserted him because they said his teachings were “too hard.” He told them that, if they wanted to come after him, they must deny self, take up their cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him. For, if they held on to their old lives, they would lose them for eternity. But, if they lost their lives for his sake (died with him to sin) their lives would be saved (Lu. 9:23-25).
So, it isn’t that Paul watered it down for the immature. He didn’t. And, that is why he was persecuted. And, Jesus didn’t water it down for anyone, either, which is why they hated him, and why they put him to death on a cross, because they didn’t like his message. For, it confronted them with their sinful lifestyles. And, his message called them to repentance and obedience to Him, and they didn’t want to let go of their sins.
1 Corinthians 2:9-13 ESV
But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
There are people who profess faith in Jesus Christ who have no comprehension of the Spirit of God at all. They don’t hear the Holy Spirit speaking to their hearts through the written Word of God, or in their minds and hearts. And, so they end up operating in the flesh, some of them trying to “do good” and trying to not “do bad,” but to little avail.
So, if we want to understand the things of the Spirit of God, then we need to have the Spirit of God living within us. Yet, this is not to say that we are going to understand everything. We won’t! For, while we live in these flesh bodies, our understanding is going to be incomplete, and we won’t know fully until the time we go to be with our Lord forever (1 Co. 13:9, 12).
So, how do we get the Spirit of God living within us? By God’s grace, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ – a faith that is divinely persuaded, and thus it submits to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in following him in obedience. Thus, it leaves the old life of sin behind, and it follows Jesus in surrender to his will – all by the power and working of God’s Holy Spirit, and not of our own flesh (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
For, notice with me here that it says, “what God has prepared for those who love him.” And, to love God is to do what he says, to obey his commands he has given to us, his church (Jn. 14:23-24; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; 1 Jn. 3:24).
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
There are a lot of people, too, professing the name of Jesus Christ as Savior of their lives who do not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to them. And, that is because they have not ever truly been born again of the Spirit of God, and so they don’t have the Spirit. And, so they have no comprehension of the Spirit of God. But, they are still walking according to the flesh, doing what their flesh desires.
Many of them bought into a lie which told them that all they had to do was to repeat some words after someone else supposedly in a prayer to God, or all they had to do was to acknowledge what Jesus Christ did for them on that cross, and they just had to accept his gift of grace into their lives. But, there was no repentance, no turning away from sinful lifestyles, and no submission to Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. So, they are void of the Spirit of God, and they don’t understand the mind of God at all, or little.
So, again, in order for us to have the Holy Spirit of God living within us, teaching us all things with regard to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and all things regarding holiness, righteousness, godliness and walks of faith, we have to be in Christ Jesus by genuine faith in Him. And, this faith requires that we turn away from our lifestyles of sin and that we walk in obedience to our Lord according to the ways of the Spirit of God, and no longer according to the ways of our sinful flesh. Then, we will have the mind of Christ.
Full Release
An Original Work / April 15, 2012
Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.
Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.
Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
