Category: devotional

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 (ESV)

14 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. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

 

            What difference does having the Spirit of God in our lives make? To some, the presence of the Spirit should be a source for powerful and spectacular gifts. To others, the presence of the Spirit of God is a truth, but not one that makes a real difference in their day-to-day lives. As chapter 2 of this letter comes to a close, Paul shows us that God’s Spirit is very important to our lives, and he does so without focusing on the manifestation of some sort of spiritual power or supernatural giftedness.

 

            Earlier in the chapter, Paul helped us to understand the Spirit of God by asking, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him;” and, Paul went on to say, “So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:11). Thus, as Paul talks about the Spirit of God, he points us to the fact that God’s Spirit is how we can really know our Lord’s mind, as the Spirit of a person is the only one who truly knows the inner thoughts of that person.

 

            Take that thought into the final verses above, and you will see something spectacular. Christians have the Spirit of God. We are connected to the person of God in a very direct, very real way. We, unlike the lost world, actually have access to the mind of our God. We are too finite to ever grasp all of who God is; but we certainly must not assume that knowing God is an impossibility for God’s children. With God’s word and God’s Spirit, we have the ability to understand what God is like, what God demands, and what will please him. We can know Gods standards for life and godliness and ethics in all areas of life.

 

            One caveat here is to remember that God’s primary way of revealing himself to his people is the holy Scripture. God is not going to reveal to us his mind in a way that ever contradicts the word of God. However, only those who have access to the Spirit of God will be able to read God’s word and see the sweet truth it communicates. This is not because the Bible is impossible to interpret, but because the natural mind of man will reject the perfect standards of God. We see an example of natural man every time we see somebody look at the Bible and say that they don’t think God would do things that way.

 

            What does this mean for us today? Christians, recognize that the gift of God’s Holy Spirit is an even bigger gift than you have ever considered. God has allowed you and me to know his mind. Without the Spirit, we cannot know God. With the Spirit ,we can understand our Lord’s ways, at least to the extent that our finitude will allow.

 

            Also realize that those who have not received God’s grace, and thus who have not received his Spirit, do not have access to the mind of Christ. They will distort and reject God’s word, because their access to wisdom is merely their own and not that of God. Let this lead you to share a simple and clear gospel for the glory of God, and do not let the criticism of those who reject that gospel get you down. Press on in simple evangelism, knowing that when God enlightens the minds of the lost, they will understand the truths of Scripture and respond rightly.

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 (ESV)

1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

 

            The apostle Paul is thought by many to have been one of the great geniuses of his time. Paul had the ability to match wits with any philosopher of his day. In fact, just before Paul came to Corinth he had stood before the Greeks in Athens and shown that he was at least their intellectual equal.

 

            It is interesting, then, that Paul, just after leaving Athens went to Corinth. There, as Paul declares above, he did not preach based on his own wisdom. Paul did not use flowery speech or rhetorical devices of the day. Paul did not constantly fill his speech with complex arguments that the uninitiated could not understand. No, Paul very intentionally kept his message simple.

 

            The context of the above passage still flows from Paul’s point in chapter 1 that the Corinthians should not separate from one another based on following Paul, Peter, Apollos, or some other teacher. There is one gospel. Paul had even pointed out that God had saved these people through the message which seems foolish to the supposedly wise. And the people God saved were not the smartest of the smart, but were ordinary folks who could only boast in the Lord, not in their own abilities.

 

            In the light of Paul’s continuing argument, he declares that, when he arrived, he preached a very simple gospel. Paul told them about Jesus Christ and him crucified. Of course, this is Paul’s way of saying that he preached a very simple message of what this all means. Paul told the simple gospel, and he watched as God, by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, brought people to spiritual life.

 

            So, have you ever thought that you have nothing to present to others? Have you ever believed that you lack the eloquence or rhetorical skill to do any good for the kingdom of God? Have you ever thought that you must leave evangelism to those trained in philosophy and apologetics? Think again. Paul preached a simple gospel in Corinth. It was that simple gospel message that God used to save many people in a bustling city of the first century. And, if you will be faithful to tell others about Jesus Christ and him crucified, who knows that God might not empower your message to see people saved today.

1 Corinthians 1:26-30

 

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

 

            God does not do things the way we might plan to do them. God did not plan to win the world by building a team of the strongest, wisest, and most popular. Nor did God choose to save his people through means that the world expects. He chose grace, not works. He chose faith, not ritual. He chose to save the needy, not the best of the best.

 

            As Paul points these things out to the Corinthians, he lets them know that they too should consider their own calling. You and I need to do the same. If we are saved, it is not because we brought something special to the table. O, we are valuable and special; but that value comes to us because God gives it, not because we earn it. Not many of us have anything to brag about. We who follow Jesus are sweetly ordinary. There is humility that comes to the believer who grasps that he or she is saved by God and not because he or she is in a special category of greatness.

 

            Then, at the end of the verses above, Paul tells us the reason God has done things in the way that he has. God chose to save the weak and the poor through means the world believes to be foolish. Why? Verse 29 tells us that God did things in this way so that no human being can boast before God. The fact is, we have nothing to brag about, and God wants us to know it. It is God and God alone who is worthy of all praise.

 

            So, what does thinking this through do for a modern believer? In a word, it brings us a God-glorifying humility. He is wiser than us. His ways are beyond our comprehension. His mercy is magnificent. And we are small, weak, needy recipients of grace. We have great reason for joy, as God’s love has been lavished upon us. But we also smile knowingly, realizing that we are sinners saved by a grace that the world around us, until they know Jesus too, simply cannot fathom.

1 Corinthians 1:18 (ESV)

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

 

            Early in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul warns against the cult of personality that can often form, even in churches, around different favorite leaders. As Paul tries to extricate himself from any discussion of being the hero of the faith to any of the people at Corinth, he makes the above statement. You see, Paul did not minister based on his own skill set, but simply based on the cross.

 

            What does Paul tell us about the cross? He lets us know that the message of the violent, sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus Christ to pay the price for the sins of God’s people is a message that will meet with two radically different responses. Those responses are not based on the skill of the one delivering the message. Neither are those responses based on the cleverness of the argument. No, the response of people is simply based on what God is doing in the hearts of the hearers. The responses will either be to see the cross as salvation or foolishness.

 

            To some people, the message of the cross is folly, utter foolishness. Paul tells us that this is true of those who are perishing. It is not that these people are particularly mean. It is not that these people are somehow not as good as you or me. No, the only difference here is that they are perishing. There are people whose hearts are not alive to the gospel. To those people, the message of the suffering Savior sounds simply senseless. You see this all the time in media. You hear it in the mocking tone of those who reject the gospel, and who do so with utter incredulity as to how any reasonable and rational person could allow themselves to be taken by such a scam.

 

            There is something for us to grasp here. Those who reject the gospel, even those who think us total idiots for believing it, are only doing what Paul predicted. Those who are perishing, who are walking toward the judgment of God if they do not repent, will think the message of the cross hollow and foolish. We do not “win” such people by developing more clever arguments. We do not change their minds by becoming more socially acceptable to them. No, if we are wise, we will recognize that the message of the cross is folly to them, and then we will continue to share that simple message for the glory of God in the hope that, perhaps, God will enliven their hearts and bring them to faith.

 

            On the other hand, the message of the cross is the power of God to those who are being saved. One thing that this means is that, to one who is being saved by God, the message of the cross is powerful like our Lord is powerful. God spoke, and a dark and empty void exploded with light and life. God commanded, and an immovable sea split in two to allow a nation to cross. God has shown us in Scripture that there is no limit to his power. And, to those who are being saved, there is no limit to the impact of a simple message of the cross.

 

            What’s the final conclusion? It is pretty simple. Paul was telling the Corinthians that their salvation was not about him, the messenger. People are not more likely to be saved when your or my favorite preacher really gets on a roll. No, salvation is about the message of the cross—sweet, simple, and unadorned. To some, this message will be foolishness. We should expect that to be the case and pres on for the glory of God when we are seen as fools. To others, that message will electrify the soul of a hearer as if God spoke to them for the very first time. Some people will come to life as they hear the same simple message that they may have scoffed at fifty times before. So we tell the truth and trust the Savior.

1 Corinthians 1:8 (ESV)
[Our Lord Jesus Christ], who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

            When I think of myself and my standing before God, there are a lot of words that can come to my mind. I know that I am under grace. I know that I am forgiven. I know that God accepts me into his family as an adopted son. I know that God will keep me, sustaining me as the verse above says.

 

            But there is one word in the verse above that catches me, causes me to pause, and gives me great joy. God says that, in Christ, I am counted guiltless. I know myself too well. I am certainly guilty. I deserve wrath. But god, he no longer says so. Maybe I was guilty. Maybe I did deserve his wrath. But now, because of the perfect sacrifice and substitution of Christ, God calls me guiltless.

 

            What changes in the life of a person who understands that God no longer counts him or her guilty? That may be too much for one little post. But I know this, for me this morning, God shows me a reason to obey with great joy. I’m not called to obey in order to make up for my guilt. I’m not called to obey in order to make myself worthy before God. I cannot do either. No, instead, God declares me not guilty at all, and that declaration and promise of a future with him is far more motivating, far more heart-filling, far more worship-inducing.

 

            For clarity, I must remind us all that God does not declare all people guiltless. We are guilty. Only those who have entrusted their very souls to Jesus by believing in him and asking for mercy have been declared guiltless. Thankfully, trusting Jesus is a command for every person. God calls all people everywhere to turn from their sin and trust Jesus. If you will, you will be counted guiltless before God. If you have, you are guiltless before God. And if you are guiltless before God, you can know that God will sustain your soul as a child of his from this day until the end of days and beyond. This is a great reason to worship and to obey the Lord.

Proverbs 18:1

 

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;

he breaks out against all sound judgment.

 

            Verse 1 of Proverbs 18 shows us the danger inherent in isolation. One of the traits of a person who is headed for destruction is that such a person isolates himself or herself from those who would offer biblical counsel. I know that this is true of myself and of people I have known. Whenever we try to hide, to keep to ourselves, and to pretend that our business is our business, we are most often hiding sin.

 

            What is the cure to the problem of verse 1? The cure is solid, true, Christian fellowship. If we are open and honest with others as we live out our Christian lives, we will be far less likely to walk ourselves down into destructive ways. This is why we always promote being a part of a small group in our church. We want our people to know each other and to be known by each other so that we can encourage each other and care for one another.

 

            In the garden, God said that it is not good for a man to be alone. Contextually, marriage was the issue at hand. However, it is also a true principle that it is not good for a person to live in isolation. We need others to grow us, to sharpen us, and to encourage us. Hebrews 10:24-25 calls believers not to give up meeting together. We need each other. We do ourselves harm when we intentionally isolate ourselves.

 

            Lord, I thank you for the Christian community that you have given me. I acknowledge that it is not good for me or for any other believer to live in isolation. Please help me to be open and honest with my friends so that I can be protected from the folly of walking alone. I also pray for those who currently have no solid connection to a church or to brothers and sisters in their church. Please help them to see the need of others in the Christian life and grant them opportunity to find fellowship.  

Titus 1:2

 

… God, who never lies, …

 

            God never lies. Never not ever does God fail to keep his word. This is news that is wonderful and terrifying.

 

            God never lies. So we know that his promises are true. When he tells us that eternal life awaits his children, it is true. When he says that he forgives all who turn to Jesus in repentance and faith, ,it is true. When he promises that Jesus will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords forever, it is true. When he promises that the glory of eternity with him will far outweigh the hardships of this life, it is true.

 

            Yet, it is also true that the promises of judgment are true. God will judge the wicked. God will cast into hell those who reject his offer of grace. God will not treat rebels against him who do not come to Christ as anything but rebels. He will not let sin go unpunished. He will not change his rules for me. God never lies.

 

            Lord, thank you that you never lie. I thank you that I can always trust you. I rejoice in the fact that your promises of joy, reward, and glory are all true. I thank you that your promise of forgiveness in Christ is true. I tremble at the truth that your promise of justice is also true. Lord, be glorified. Help me to remember that your word is always true because you are the One who never lies.