1 Corinthians 2:14-16
Ps Paul Cheng
Dear Bethelites,
(a continuation of the last pastoral chat)
In our previous pastoral chat, we had discussed that the natural man is the opposite of the spiritual man. The natural man is worldly, unbelieving and unregenerate. What happens when the gospel is presented to such a person? The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:14, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Notice, Paul did not say, “The natural man may not want to receive...” but he emphatically said, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. In other words, it is an absolute fact that the one who does not have the Holy Spirit will not accept the things of the Spirit.
It is important for the church to get this vital point into our hearts and souls, that the reason why a person does not receive the Word of God is not because we did not make it interesting or relevant enough. The reason why the Word of God seems irrelevant and uninteresting to such a person is because he is still natural. If we try to change the Word of God to make it more interesting, accommodating and attractive, then we are perverting God’s Word. We must never do that to the Word of God! Jesus said, He that is of God heareth God’s Word: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God (John 8:47).
1 Corinthians 2:15, But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
The believer or spiritual man will evaluate all things using the Word of God. He will use God’s Word to evaluate his actions, decisions and responses. For example, when someone invites you to a party, and you know the activities that are going on in the party, you will consider what the Bible says, before accepting the invitation. Or when you are being offered a job by a particular company, and they require you to perform certain duties, you will consider what the Bible says, before accepting the job.
The believer is not perfect, and sometimes he does make mistakes, but if he keeps making the same mistakes, then it goes to show that he is not evaluating all things according to God’s Word. The believer who is always using God’s Word to evaluate his actions, decisions and response, will grow spiritually and improve in the things he is doing.
What does it mean, yet he himself is judged of no man? The unbeliever may look at your car and judge whether you have washed it or not. Or he may look at your work project and judge whether you have done well or not. From a physical perspective, he may be able to judge you, but he cannot judge you from a spiritual perspective. He cannot understand why you do what you do from a gospel perspective!
But sadly, there are times when the unbeliever may accurately judge the believer’s faults or shortcomings because his life is inconsistent with his profession of faith. When that happens, the unbeliever is not judging the believer according to what his natural mind thinks, but to what the believer says he believes in. In other words, the unbeliever may say, “You profess to be a Christian, and that you believe in the Bible, but why are you doing this thing that is contrary to what you professed to believe in?” In such instances, the believer has become a great stumbling block!
Finally, 1 Corinthians 2:16, For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
When the natural man (unbeliever) challenges or argues with the spiritual man (believer) about the things of God, in reality, he is challenging the Lord Himself. How can anyone ever teach and instruct the Lord? Which natural man can ever understand the mind of the Lord? However, the believer has the Word of God and the Holy Spirit as his divine teacher, therefore, he is able to understand the mind of Christ.
To have the mind of Christ does not mean that one is perfect, but it means to look at life from the Saviour’s point of view, and having His values and desires in mind. Essentially, it means to think as Jesus thinks and not as the world thinks.
Dear friend, perhaps, you have been a Christian for ten or twenty years, ask yourself this question, “Do I think as Jesus thinks, or do I think as the world thinks? Are my thoughts, actions and words the reflection of a spiritual man or a natural man?
In Christ,
Pastor Paul Cheng