Twin City church of Christ Blog
“March 13, 2024 - Spiritually Discerned”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsSpiritually Discerned
Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:14-16
Throughout this section, Paul has described two types of people. One type is “perishing” while the other is “being saved”(1 Cor 1:18); one type seeks the “wisdom of this age” while the other seeks the “secret and hidden wisdom of God”(1 Cor 2:6, 7); one receives “the spirit of the world” while the other receives “the Spirit who is from God”(1 Cor 2:12). This explains why two people can hear the same message about the cross and have wildly different reactions. “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”(1 Cor 2:14). The “natural” or unspiritual person cannot understand, appreciate, or accept the words the Spirit reveals (see also Rom 8:5-8). He may hear the words, but he will deem them ridiculous because they do not appeal to his unspiritual way of thinking.
But Paul says that such words can be “spiritually discerned” by a different kind of people. “The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself judged by no one”(1 Cor 2:15). The same word is used three times here; it means to discern, judge, or appraise something. Spiritual people can discern God’s will and wisdom in the message of the cross. In fact, spiritual people discern or appraise “all things” so that they can determine what God’s will is for them. They are always on the lookout for the spiritual dimension of life—good and evil, wise and foolish, loving and hateful. Yet it is not their own brilliance that enables them to judge well. “‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ”(1 Cor 2:16). When we know the thoughts of God, we are equipped to discern and apply them in all areas of life.
Being a natural or spiritual person is a choice, as we will see (1 Cor 3:1-4). Will we humble ourselves and submit to God’s will even if it does not please us? If we merely rely on our own intellect and knee-jerk opinions, we may miss God and his will because they are “spiritually discerned.”
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One Thing to Think About: How well do I discern the spiritual dimension of life? How can I improve?
One Thing to Pray For: The humility to trust God instead of my intellect
