Tag: spiritual
Infants in Christ
Scripture reading for July 9: 1 Corinthians 3
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. And even now you ae not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” 1 Corinthians 3:1-6
For teaching purposes, Paul divided up people into three groups. First, there were those who were worldly or carnal people. These people were in darkness spiritually and lived by their carnal nature and appetites and senses. Next there were the ‘infants in Christ’ who had received salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. They became believers but still lived by their senses and the appetites of their flesh. They would be considered ‘carnal’ Christians, saved but still in the baby state. The third group were the spiritually mature believers. They had learned God’s Word and through the Holy Spirit had received understanding of all that was theirs in Christ Jesus. They walked in faith and love.
The Corinthian believers had come to Christ, but still held on to their fleshly ways. They began to boast about following certain leaders, some following Paul and some Apollos. This caused jealousy and strife among the believers. Paul wrote this letter to instruct them in the basics of growing up to maturity. Although there were different leaders, each one was given by God to aid the church in their spiritual development. God was the only One worthy of worship and following. We learn from this letter that spiritual development takes time and is often a process of trial and error and correcting course. This is very similar to training a child to become a responsible adult.
Have you ever fallen into the trap of exalting a leader and focusing on that leader above Christ? How does this passage enlarge your spiritual understanding and growth concerning leaders? If you were to evaluate your own spiritual growth and development, in what stage of growth would you place yourself?
Prayer: Father God, thank You for providing spiritually mature leaders who brought correction and discipline into my life. Thank you for those who provided examples that were not so good that I might grow up. May I provide a good example and sound doctrine lived out for younger disciples. Amen.
Spiritual revelation
Scripture reading for July 8: 1 Corinthians 2
“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.” 1 Corinthians 2:9-13
The kingdom of God is revealed to man by grace through faith. God’s Word is ‘God breathed’ by the Holy Spirit into our souls and brings revelation of reality that we can not see with our physical eyes or hear with our physical ears, or even imagine in our hearts through our minds. Just as man’s spirit knows man’s thoughts, so God’s Spirit knows God’s thoughts. Carnal man cannot know or comprehend God’s thoughts through his natural mind and senses. But God reveals Himself to those who are humble and teachable. To those who confess their sin and need of grace, God gives the grace of His Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the Father’s Gift to those who receive His Son, Jesus Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, we can know the fullness of the things God has given to those who love Him. Through the Spirit, we can know that we are children of God. (Romans 8:15-16) Through the Spirit of God, we are convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment. (John 16:8) Through the Spirit, we are guided into all Truth and told things to come. (John 16:13) These are but a few of the many unseen and unknown benefits God has for those who love Him. Paul told the believers that he was imparting these truths to them through the Holy Spirit and that they would interpret them by the Spirit, being now spiritual through His indwelling.
Have you ever tried to imagine what heaven will be like and what God’s throne might look like? Have you tried to grasp your significance when you view the vast cosmos with many stars? Have you invited the Holy Spirit to reveal what your eyes cannot see or ears hear or mind imagine?
Prayer: Father God, thank You for the amazing Gift of Your Holy Spirit in me. Thank You for all the many benefits that are mine in Jesus Christ. I invite You to continually expand my world view to behold those things beyond my sight, hearing, and imagination. May my vision cause worship and obedience. Amen.
The ‘depths of God’
Scripture reading for August 26th: 1st Corinthians 2
Key Scriptures: 1st Corinthians 2:6-11 “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. 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.”
It has been said that God is a ‘deep subject’! Paul would heartily agree. Paul had just stated that Jesus Christ had become to believers ‘wisdom from God’. (1st Corinthians 1:30) Now he stated that he was going to impart wisdom to the believers who were mature. The wisdom he imparted was a secret and hidden wisdom of God, hidden from carnal man but revealed by God in Christ Jesus and decreed before the ages of time by God for our glory! The rulers of this world system did not comprehend God’s wisdom in Christ or they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory. But God has prepared a place for all who will trust in Christ Jesus in His eternal family and promised them eternal life in abundance! This is revealed to believers by the Father’s Gift: the Holy Spirit Who searches the depths of God and makes available the ‘mind of Christ’!
1st Corinthians 2:12 “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, that we might understand the things freely give us by God.”
Faith confession and prayer: Father, thank You for revealing the ‘depths of God’ in wisdom and understanding of spiritual truths through Your precious Gift, the Holy Spirit. Help me to become more mature in comprehending the depths of Your wisdom, love and grace for lost sinners and to proclaim this Good News to those who have not heard.
1st Corinthians 2:15-16 “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.”