The Spiritual Man Makes Judgments About All Things

In my last Blog I began to reflect upon spiritual matters. I mentioned two principles that guide me:

1. The Formal Principle— the source of my knowledge about all things spiritual is The Bible, God's revealed Word.

2. The Material Principle—the central teaching of the Bible is that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who became man and offered His precious life as the complete sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.

Today I turn to the second principle, again basing my comments upon I Corinthians 2:1-16.

The Apostle Paul spent 18 months in Corinth, the seat of government in southern Greece, a great center for commerce, wealth, learning—and depravity. In his work with this newly formed congregation the Apostle emphasizes his resolve when among them to "know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified." He chose this message rather than attempting to impress them with "wise and persuasive words." This, he says, was so that their faith might rest on God's power.

This message about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a message of wisdom, however. Have no doubt about that. It is so profound and complex that even the most intelligent and widely educated have never completely plumbed its depths. It is a wisdom that was long hidden and unknown. It was hidden in the heart of God even before time itself began, before the creation of the universe and our world. It could not and still cannot be discovered by philosophers, historians, people who explore their own hearts or pretend they are in touch with spirit guides. It is not known to kings, politicians, generals or other world rulers. Had the Romans known about it they would never have crucified Jesus.

But now it is revealed. We who accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we who receive God's unmerited and undeserved mercy and grace through Him, we have personal knowledge of this hidden wisdom. We have been made alive in Christ. Is this a boast? Absolutely not. We openly admit that we had nothing to do with gaining such wisdom. It is completely and totally God's doing, God's gift.

As the Apostle says, we now have in our hearts and minds "the mind of the Lord" and "the mind of Christ," who is the Lord God come to us in human flesh and blood. This is a paradox. How can it be that the almighty, all-knowing and eternal God could become a tiny baby, born of a young woman of Nazareth and subject to death? It does not make sense and yet it is so. To the man of this world this is foolishness, moronic, stupid and completely unintelligible.

Look then at every other religion, every philosophy, every claim to revelation and wisdom you can find. If the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified is not in the center of it, it is not spiritual wisdom. Flee from it. Reject it. It does not come from God.

This is my judgment. I make the same claim about this as does the Apostle Paul. I have the mind of Christ. If you have been reborn by the working of God's Spirit you will agree. If you reject this message, deny it, mock and scorn it, then you are not of God. You are not guided by God's Holy Spirit. You are not spiritual.

As Paul says, "The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment" (1 Corinthians 2:15-16).