Called To Be Holy

(Audio version; Music: "Holy" by-Jesus Culture and "When I Get Where I'm Going" by-Brad Paisley)

Introduction

            Generally speaking, vanity isn’t really something I struggle with. I will say though that getting old isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of great things that have come along with growing old—relationships that have survived the test of time, wisdom refined by the fires of past mistakes, and a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus—all wonderful by-products of growing old. However, it seems like daily another part of my body reminds me of my advancing age. This past week, I went to the eye doctor who confirmed that my eyesight has gotten significantly worse. However, the fact that my physical body is failing as I get older is not really the point I want to make. My point is, I can no longer do many of the same things I used to do when I was younger. Mind you, it’s not that I don’t want to—my brain says, “You can still run fast;” “You can still jump high;” “You can still kick the ball hard;” “You can still lift a lot of weight,” it’s just that my body can’t actually do what my brain says it can. And that’s really what I want to address in this lesson. What happens when we can’t do something we feel like we’re supposed to be able to do? At best, it can be very frustrating and at worst it can be down right depressing. You’re supposed to be a good husband or wife but for some reason you keep letting your spouse down; you’re supposed to be a good friend but you keep letting your selfishness get in the way of the most important relationships in your life; you’re supposed to be a good student but you can’t bring yourself to always put in the effort it takes to be your best; you’re supposed to be a successful business person but you don’t always want to work that hard. It sometimes seems so hard to always consistently be the person you were called to be.

            As aggravating as it might be when we feel like we’ve fallen short of the person we’ve been called to be in our everyday lives, it is infinitely more painful when we fall short of the person the Bible calls us to be. We are called to be faithful, obedient, loving, kind, patient, gentle, good, just, and a myriad of other qualities that many of us can get pretty good at over time. We’re certainly never perfect but at least it’s something that we at least feel like we can practice and get better at. But we are also called to be something else. It’s repeated a number of times in the Bible and I don’t know about you but I’m usually uncomfortable with it so I just gloss over it. Maybe you do too. I have glossed over it my whole life because it’s one of those things I feel like I just can’t do even though the Bible says that I’ve been called to do it. But I think it’s time I take a deeper look into it and figure out exactly what it means when the Bible says that we are Called To Be Holy. And not only are we Called To Be Holy, we are Called To Be Holy the way God is holy. I don’t know about you but that’s a standard that I have never believed I could reach. Nevertheless, we had better deal with it because the reality is that we, as Christians, have been Called To Be Holy.

Subject Text

1 Peter 1:13-19

¹³Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” ¹⁷Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. ¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Context

            Where Paul’s ministry was primarily directed toward Gentile Christians, Peter’s ministry was directed toward Jewish Christians. Of course neither of the two men withheld the Gospel from anyone. However, God seemed to guide each of them along different paths in order to reach very different ethnic groups. Consequently, Peter is probably writing this letter to Jewish Christians—Jewish Christians who were forced out of Jerusalem because of their faith in Jesus and were now settled throughout the various provinces of Asia Minor. It is likely that Peter was writing this letter from Rome sometime between 62 A. D. and 64 A. D. and that’s important to remember because that is when the Neronic persecution of Christians began to intensify throughout the Roman empire. It was during Nero’s reign that Peter would be put to death. However, Christians, in general, were the target of Nero’s brutality, being tortured and murdered. Peter is offering instruction and encouragement to Christians who were no doubt scared and confused. In the face of their awful circumstances, they were, nevertheless, Called To Be Holy.

Text Analysis

¹³Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

            Since v. 13 starts with “therefore,” we need to understand the instruction preceding our Subject Text. Peter establishes a premise for his instruction in our Subject Text in vv. 3b-7 when he says:

^3bIn his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

            Peter is reminding them that through their faith in Jesus, they have inherited eternal life. And the persecution they are having to endure is serving to refine their faith which was more important than anything they could acquire during their earthly lives. It would be their refined and genuine faith that would, in the end, be their ultimate reward “when Jesus Christ is revealed.” These final words are repeated also in v. 13 and we’ll take a look at what that means shortly.

            Vv. 3b-7 are the premise for Peter’s instruction in v. 13. Through their faith, they have received an inheritance of eternal life through Jesus Christ and their struggle is being used by God to strengthen and purify their faith. “Therefore,” they need to prepare their hearts and minds for whatever persecution might befall them so that they will conduct themselves with the knowledge of their eternal destiny. However, Peter has a distinctly Jewish trajectory in his instruction to the Jewish Christians when he references their “inheritance” back in v. 4. Let me explain, the Greek word for “prepare” is probably better translated as “gird” because of its familiar usage in the Old Testament. “Men wore long robes and would tuck them into their belt, ‘gird up their loins,’ so they could move more freely and quickly. Although the image also occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament, here Peter may specifically allude to the Passover (Ex 12:11): once God’s people had been redeemed by the blood of the lamb (1 Pet 1:19), they were to be ready to follow God forth until he brought them safely into their inheritance, the Promised Land.”[1] And here Peter again uses the phrase, “when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Very simply, what Peter is referring to is Jesus’ second coming. There is much that awaits all those whose faith endures to the end—an inheritance of eternal life, praise, glory, honor, and grace.

¹⁴As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

            There is a common theme that plays out from the time Jesus started His ministry and continued throughout the teachings of His apostles and disciples: Once you become a follower of Christ, you can no longer do the same things you did before you became one of His followers. Jesus inaugurated a new way of relating to God and to others. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spent a considerable time orienting the people to a new way of doing life. Jesus would say something like,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:43-48).”

            Paul, too reminds those who were given to his care that their lives should reflect their allegiance to a new Lord when he says,

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Rom 12:1-2).”

            And now, Peter is saying the same thing in v. 14. Peter is saying, when you were ignorant, before you became a follower of Christ, you followed the evil desires of your sinful nature. However, now that you are a follower of Christ, you must no longer live that way. “All believers are God’s children [cf. Jn 1:12]. As such, we are to obey God. Believers ought not live in the same manner that they lived before they were saved. At that time, they didn’t know any better, but now they should not slip back into their old ways of doing evil. The evil desires still exist, but believers have a new goal for their lives. They must break with the past and depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to help them overcome evil desires and obey God.”[2]

¹⁵But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

            And there it is. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve read the words in vv. 15-16 and every time I do, I am left with an uneasy feeling. The first part is easy enough. We know God is holy. We’re glad God is holy. Be honest, would you follow Him if He weren’t perfectly holy? Probably not. But how in the world are we supposed to be holy in the same way that He is holy? It seems impossible doesn’t it? Well it seems impossible to me. Nevertheless, we, as followers of Jesus Christ are Called To Be Holy so it must be possible. But what does it mean to be holy?

            “As majestic holiness and unquenchable love, God wills that his nature be reflected in his people. Being a holy God he is satisfied with nothing less than holiness in all manner of conduct. Being a loving God he strives to instill this love in the people he has created and called to service in his kingdom. All people have a vocation to holiness. We are all created for the glory of God. All are called to fear God and to keep his commandments…People of faith, however, are especially singled out for a vocation of holiness…Holiness is not wholeness as the world understands it but faithfulness, perseverance in obedience. It means wholehearted dedication to the living God through service in his name. To aspire to holiness is to aspire to something other than a virtuous life or even a fulfilled life. What makes a holy person distinctive is not so much adherence to conventional moral standards as consecration to the Wholly Other, who stands in judgment over all human values and aspirations. Holiness excludes not only immorality but also mediocrity. It involves not only obedience to the law but also zeal for the faith.

            The Christian’s life is characterized by passive sanctity and active holiness. The Holy Spirit secretly works sanctity within us; our task is to manifest this work of the Spirit in our everyday activities. We do not procure sanctity or holiness, but we can do works that reveal the holiness of Christ. We do not earn holiness but we can demonstrate, celebrate and proclaim his holiness. Christ has broken down the wall of hostility that divides peoples, but we can give concrete witness to this fact by being peacemakers and catalysts of social change…

            The self-effacing spirit, so alien to the current cultural ethos that upholds personal satisfaction and fulfillment as the goal of human existence, is the salient mark of discipleship and holiness. Our mandate is not to make something of ourselves but to wear ourselves out for Jesus Christ. Mother Teresa has rightly observed that we are called not to success but to fidelity to the One who has redeemed us…‘The temporal holiness of the saints is the service that they render to the eternal holiness of God.’

            Our peace and confidence are to be found not in our empirical holiness, not in our progress toward perfection, but in the alien righteousness of Jesus Christ that covers our sinfulness and alone makes us acceptable before a holy God…‘The foundation of our Christian peace is not in us but in Christ, not in our holiness but in His righteousness, not in our walking but in His blood and suffering.’ By being exposed to the holiness and love of God we are led to imitate God and thereby give concrete testimony to our indebtedness to God. The foundation of our holiness is not in our doing but rather in our being grasped by Christ and incorporated into his body. Once we are in communion with Christ we will want to do good works—to show our joy and gratitude to him. But our works do not sanctify us; they provide the evidence that we are being sanctified by the Spirit of Christ. The call of the Christian is to be a sign and witness to the holy love of God, a love that must never be confounded with human virtue but creates within us the will to be virtuous, to be loving and holy. To be in the presence of Christ arouses within us a burning desire to please Christ and to walk in his ways.”[3] It is true that we are Called To Be Holy but not by our own strength. We are holy not because of who we are but who we are in relationship with. Christians are both holy and becoming holy because we are in relationship with Jesus.

¹⁷Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.

            Sometimes I wonder if some Christians honestly think they can fool God. They confess their allegiance to God with their words but demonstrate their allegiance to the world with their lives. Guess what? If that describes you, you’re not fooling God. When Peter says, in v. 17, that God judges each person’s work impartially, he is referring to how we conduct our lives under the banner of being Christians. One of the hardest lessons I had to teach my girls when they were growing up was to get them to understand that the reason they weren’t allowed to do all the same things their friends were doing was because we were called to be different as followers of Christ. It wasn’t easy for them then and it’s not really any easier now—for any of us. But it matters. It matters because it shows a lost and broken world that there is another way to do life; a better way to do life. How will a world know there is a different way to do life; a better way to do life, if our lives are merely a reflection of the world around us? But if we were to live our lives as strangers in this world, we will be a reflection of a different way of doing life.

            “God takes character development seriously, so Peter highlighted God’s role as judge. Membership in God’s family, although a great privilege, must not lead to the presumption that disobedience will pass unnoticed by God. Judging here may describe either God’s present dealings with believers in the development of holiness in their lives or the time of judgment when Jesus Christ returns and each person will give an account of his/her works…

            God’s judgment is not determined by outward appearance of pretense. Whatever faces or masks people try to hide behind, they remain transparent to God. God’s judgment deals with a person’s character, not simply one’s actions, which can be faked. God is concerned with individual actions and the internal motivation behind these actions.

            In light of this judgment, whether present or future, believers will not be quite so anchored to earth and time. Instead, we focus on the hope of eternity and view our life in this perspective. We view ourselves as strangers on earth. The term means that we have ‘temporary residency.’ It describes a person who visits for a short time in a country where he does not take out citizenship. This is the perspective of the believer who lives with pain in the light of hope. This is our viewpoint since we desire to see God forge his own holy character into our lives, even when this involves pain. We desire to be obedient to the commands of God even when it is difficult to believe because of the extremities of life. Thus, we live life in reverent fear…

            The expression does not refer to terror or even to the fear of judgment or the loss of reward. The expression could best be understood with the words ‘reverential awe.’ This is the kind of positive awe that a son or daughter has toward a respected and loved parent. This is the kind of positive awe that motivates a child to shrink from whatever would displease or grieve his or her parents.”[4]

¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

            The backdrop of our salvation must always be the extreme cost of that salvation. We have the privilege of being in relationship with God because God the Son died for us. That has to mean something. The key word in vv. 18-19 is “redeemed.” We were slaves to sin and the sinful desires of the world but Jesus, with His blood, redeemed us out of that world. That necessitates that we should no longer participate in the sinful desires of the world. “Their reverential awe before God, however, is not based simply on their recognition of judgment, but on deep gratitude and wonder for what God has done for them. Thus Peter reminds them of what the gospel has already taught them, namely, the cost of their redemption…True and lasting value is found in the ‘precious blood of Christ.’ There the imagery is that of the Passover lamb, which was closely connected with redemption from Egypt. Thus Christ the lamb was ‘without blemish’ and ‘without detect,’ a term used in the NT for lack of moral corruption…In our context the two terms simply reinforce each other and indicate the total perfection of Christ as sacrifice…The readers’ “Egypt’ may have been cultural, not physical, but the price paid to redeem them was far more than money, more even than the first Passover, for it was Christ’s own blood”[5] that was used as the currency to redeem them.

Application

            Well I got all the way through this lesson and my eyesight isn’t any better. I suppose that would’ve been too much to ask for. There are lots of things we’ve never been able to do and probably many things we are no longer able to do. However, I hope I’ve been able to demonstrate that being holy isn’t one of them. Before we became Christians we probably never gave holiness much thought. According to Peter, it was a period of our lives when we were ignorant. But now that we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, we are called to be different, to not conform to the evil and sinful desires of the world. It’s easy to say but certainly not easy to do. We know what we should be doing and we’re pretty sure we know how we should be doing them, the problem is we just can’t do them on a consistent basis. And that can cause anxiety for some of us—especially when we take our Christian faith seriously. We know that praise, glory, honor, and grace awaits us when Jesus returns but we want to be faithful and obedient now. We want to be holy because we are Called To Be Holy and I hope I’ve been able to show you how. Your actions and attitudes are certainly an element of being holy but that’s not what God sees when He judges whether or not we have answered the Call To Be Holy. God’s primary interest is in our relationship with Jesus. God judges us to be holy because of our relationship with Jesus. As followers of Christ, we are holy in the most important sense because Jesus is holy and when God judges our holiness He sees only Jesus’ holiness in us. So if you have accepted Christ into your life and you are seeking daily in all areas of your life not to conform to the evil and sinful desires of the world then you have answered the Call To Be Holy.

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[1] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary—New Testament, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 710.

[2] Bruce Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman, Life Application New Testament Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), p. 1106.

[3] Donald G. Bloesch, Christian Foundations: God The Almighty, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995), pp. 158-160; 164-165.

[4] David Walls and Max Anders, I & II Peter, I, II, & III John, Jude—Holman New Testament Commentary, (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 1999), p. 13.

[5] Peter H. Davids, The First Epistle Of Peter—The New International Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), p. 71-73.

The Mind Of Christ

(Audio version; Music-"What I Already Know" by: Point Of Grace and "Amazing Grace" by: Chris Tomlin)

Introduction

            As a Christian, witnessing the events of the world that unfold around us daily can make you question your own sanity at times. To make matters worse, an unbelieving world appears to be, at best, blind to what seems so obvious to many Christians and at worst they are enthusiastic participants. I don’t know about you but sometimes I look around at what people are saying and doing and say to myself, “Are you out of your mind?” Let me illustrate:

            People around the world insist that Islam is a religion of peace even while many of its followers are in the process of invading nation after nation and brutally murdering anyone who refuses to convert to their “peace movement.”

            Israel is accused of overreacting for seeking to defend itself against the incessant and brutal terrorist attacks within its borders against its citizens from Palestinians who in partnership with the terrorist organization, Hamas, have as their mission to wipe the nation of Israel off the map.

We’re told that murdering babies is a method of healthcare for women (except of course the women who are murdered as babies-we’re not supposed to talk about them). And then butchering the murdered babies and selling their body parts (for a healthy profit) serves to advance the noble cause of medical research.

We’re supposed to accept that it is completely normal for a woman to marry another woman or a man to marry another man even though it is a biological abnormality. All the while ignoring the fact that if homosexuality became the norm for all relationships, humanity would cease to exist within just one to two generations.

Criminals break the law with impunity and when law enforcement attempts to stop lawlessness, they are accused of over-stepping their authority and are themselves accused of being criminals.

“Brilliant” scientists insist that humanity is responsible for changes in the worlds climate conditions—claiming that it’s either too hot or too cold or too wet or too dry as though they actually know what, definitively, the precise ideal climate conditions should be on earth and exactly when those conditions ever existed in the past.

            I could go on and on but I think you get my point. It’s almost like some people are living in a different universe where they see things completely backwards or upside down from reality. Well the truth is that many people, including some Christians, understand the world with the mind of the world where these things all make perfect sense. However, the reason it seems so foolish to the rest of us is because we understand these things using a different cognitive process—we understand Islam to be a blood-thirsty cult with the ultimate goal of instituting a worldwide caliphate; we know abortion is murdering a baby for convenience; we know homosexuality is an abomination because it is a complete contradiction to God’s created order; we know that law enforcement officers are God’s servants put in place for our good and criminals who are wounded or killed while confronting law enforcement officers generally get exactly what they deserve; and we know that God is sovereign over all His creation—including the weather. It seems so obvious to us because we process the events of the world differently than does an unbelieving world and, sadly, some believers. They process and understand the world with the mind of the world where worldly attitudes and behaviors make sense while most Christians process and understand the world with The Mind Of Christ and we often reach the complete opposite conclusions. But what does it mean to process the events of the world using The Mind Of Christ?

Subject Text

1 Corinthians 2:10b-16

            ^10bThe Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. ¹⁴The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: ¹⁶“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Context

            Corinth was the most important seaport city in the Achaia province. It was a major metropolitan city and major trade center. Corinth served to satisfy the desires of the world. In Corinth, one could find the cults of the gods of Egypt, Rome, and Greece. Although the temple of Aphrodite lay in ruins during Paul’s time, the successors to the temple’s 1,000 cult prostitutes continued to practice their profession in the city streets catering to sailors and traveling salesmen. Corinth was home to some Jews but primarily Greeks or Gentiles. For many of the Gentiles in Corinth, like many of the Jews in Jerusalem, the message of the Gospel was considered foolishness. Paul tells us in the verses immediately preceding our Subject Text that the Jews wanted miraculous signs and a conquering Messiah not a humiliated and crucified Messiah. The Greeks had no need for a God who could be killed. Jesus didn’t have the divine characteristics of their mythological gods. The Greeks did not believe in a bodily resurrection and no reputable person would be crucified—certainly not a God. To the Greeks, death meant defeat not victory. For the Greeks the atonement for sins and the sacrifice of the cross was foolishness. The Greeks prized wisdom and intellect. The only problem was that they were trying to understand the ways of God using the mind of the world, which is why they considered the things of God—specifically, the message of the cross, to be foolishness.

Text Analysis

^10bThe Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

            As a member of the Trinity, the Spirit would naturally know all the intimate details about God—who God is and what God is doing in and around us. The implications of v. 10b are so very important that I don’t want you to miss them. How can we know the ways and the will of God unless God tells us? Being indwelled by the Holy Spirit is the primary distinction between Christians and non-Christians in how they relate to God and the world. This is why Jesus told His disciples it was so important that He should go away, because it would open the door for the Holy Spirit to enter the lives of believers. Here’s how Jesus described it to His disciples:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you…the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you (Jn 14:16-17; 26).

            The reason unbelievers don’t see the world the same way believers see the world is because of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, the only perspective in understanding the world around us is rooted in the wisdom of the world that knows nothing about the ways of Jesus because the world rejects Jesus. Unbelievers are necessarily constrained to think like the world around them; they have in them the mind of the world. Conversely, the Holy Spirit teaches Christians the truths of God in Jesus and in this way Christians see the world from a divine perspective as people informed by the Holy Spirit who reminds us of all the things Jesus commanded and much more. Christians have in them The Mind Of Christ.

“The [grammatical aorist] tense points to the advent of Christianity, ‘the revelation given to Christians as an event that began a new epoch in the world’s history.’ The Spirit reveals, ‘for the Spirit investigates everything, even the depths of God’: He discloses, for He first discovers. The phrase describes an Intelligence everywhere active, everywhere penetrating the complementary truth concerning the relation of Father and Spirit. The Spirit is the organ of mutual understanding between man and God. [Paul] conceives of Him as internal to the inspired man, working with and through, though immeasurably above his faculties. [The depths] are those inscrutable regions, below all that ‘the eye sees’ and that ‘comes up into the heart of [humanity], where God’s plans for [humanity] are developed’…These deep-laid counsels centre in Christ, and are shared by Him; so that it is one thing to have the Spirit who ‘sounds the deeps of God; and to ‘have the mind of Christ.”[1]

¹¹For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

            Paul’s point in v. 11 seems rather obvious as it relates to humanity but he is illustrating an important point in order to validate the intimate relationship of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son. No person can be fully known by another person. The marriage relationship is perhaps the closest relationship where a person knows more about their spouse than anyone else. And that knowledge only grows as time passes and the relationship deepens. But even in the most intimate relationship both the husband and wife have thoughts that are not immediately known to their spouse. This is not true in the relationship between a person and his or her own spirit—there are no secrets that a person can withhold from their own spirit. A person’s spirit knows all there is to know about that person. In this same way, the Spirit of God knows all there is to know about God. And that’s why the Spirit is so vital in the life of the believer—we can’t really know God without the Spirit. And we can’t know how to relate to the world the way Jesus related to the world without the Spirit who gives us The Mind Of Christ.

            “Since human wisdom does not belong to the same sphere as the divine, it cannot know God. Only God’s Spirit apprehends God’s plans and purposes, and only God’s Spirit can link God and humans together. What God is doing, God only knows…‘It is not simply that just as individuals have private thoughts not known to others, God has private thoughts too, rather, if human things are known only to human knowers, divine things are known only to God’s Spirit.’ Paul’s intention ‘is to draw a thick and heavy line between things human and divine and to place things of God squarely outside the limits of human knowing.’ That line is crossed only by the divine Spirit, who works in humans ‘a likeness of the Lord (2 Cor 3:18) and enables the confession ‘Jesus is Lord.’”[2]

¹²We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

            When Paul says that we have not received the spirit of the world in v. 12, he is validating something Jesus said when He referred to the disciples as being not of the world in the same way that He was not of the world. In other words, disciples of Jesus, then and now, are not a product of the world’s wisdom because the spirit of the world doesn’t direct their lives. Instead, Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit who knows all the intimate details of God and shares them with us as He sees fit in order to advance His will for our lives and the world. Christians relate to God and the world around us on the basis of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit who resides within us. What does this reality look like in our everyday lives? Let’s consider just one of the examples I gave in the Introduction to this lesson: Christians filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit understand abortion as murdering an innocent human baby. Unbelievers filled with the wisdom of the spirit of the world understand abortion as a method of birth control—even refusing to acknowledge that the baby is actually another human being! It is a glaring and stark distinction—the wisdom of the Spirit of God leads to life while the wisdom of the spirit of the world leads to death.

            “Paul makes [the] point once again by way of antitheses to those of the present age. He is forever reminding the Corinthians that they belong to a different world order, a different age, and therefore must not do as they are now doing—pursue or think in terms of merely human sophia [Gk. ‘wisdom’]. In receiving the Spirit, it was not ‘the spirit of the world’ that ‘we have received’…[Paul] is not suggesting that there is a ‘spirit’ of the world comparable to the Holy Spirit, nor is he referring to demonic ‘spirits.’ He is rather saying something about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who we have received is not ‘of this world’; rather, he is, ‘the Spirit who is from God.’ The implication, of course, is that since they have the Holy Spirit, who is not of this world, they should desist thinking like this world.”[3]

¹³This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

            Do you understand the implications of v. 13? Christians have been entrusted with the spiritual truths of God! Christians have access to understand who God is and how God operates in the world. It may be a limited understand but even that limited understanding is far more valuable than any understanding that comes from the wisdom of the world. Let me try and explain it like this: I might have an idea of how a clock functions by looking at it’s inner workings but only the clock-maker knows exactly how it was made and exactly how it is intended to function. In the same way, unbelievers might have an idea of how creation functions by observing its respective elements and its function through the lens of history but only the Creator knows exactly how it was made and exactly how it is intended to function. And Christians have access through the Spirit to the knowledge of the Creator.

So what does this mean in our world? For those of you who are not Christians, you’re not going to like what I have to say: Only Christians should be in positions of leadership because only Christians are able to understand the world according to God’s plan and purposes—only Christians have The Mind Of Christ. That means that only Christians should hold governing offices; only Christians should be teachers and school administrators; only Christians should own and manage businesses. Why? Because all of these things are part of the God’s created order and only the Creator knows how they are intended to function. So it stands to reason that only those who have access to the Creator should hold positions of leadership within God’s created order. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality in our world. Many, maybe even most, people in positions of leadership and influence are not Christians. And that explains the growing immorality and foolish thinking in the world—broken people filled with the spirit of a broken world can do nothing more than perpetuate brokenness. But spiritual people filled with the Spirit of God can lead the world into the truths of God—especially when it comes to the truth of the Gospel; the truth that God became incarnate in Jesus Christ who died for us to provide a way for us to become reconnected with God having been separated from God because of our sins. And this is the trajectory toward which all of creation should be directed. But only those who have The Mind Of Christ can lead the world along that trajectory.

            “Paul explained that the gospel message had not been given with words of human wisdom because no human wisdom can adequately explain God’s wisdom. In order to speak the Spirit’s message, believers must speak words given by the Spirit. In order to explain spiritual truths, believers must use the Spirit’s words. Paul’s words are authoritative because their source was the Holy Spirit. Paul was not merely giving his own personal views or his personal impression of what God had said. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he was writing the very thoughts and words of God. Today, all believers pass along the gospel message—trusting in God’s Spirit to speak the spiritual truths.”[4]

¹⁴The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

            A few months ago, I had a lengthy discussion with a self-proclaimed atheist about the issue of abortion when she claimed that outlawing abortion would end the life of the mother. As you can imagine, I was confused at how she reached that conclusion so I asked her to explain. She explained that taking way a woman’s right to have an abortion would mean that she would lose her ability to have a productive work-life and that would be tantamount to ending her life. I tried to explain to her that an innocent human life created in the image of God was far more valuable than a productive work-life but she thought I was a fool for believing in God in the first place. You see, according to v. 14, without the Spirit, what is perfectly clear to you and me as Christians is nothing more than foolishness to unbelievers. I’ve had similar conversations with unbelievers about the Good News of Jesus Christ that usually end with me being accused of being a fool for believing in fairytales.

            “People without the Spirit are not able to accept the things that come from the Spirit. Only those who are under the influence of the Holy Spirit can receive Christian instruction with open hearts. The Christian message appears to be foolishness to people without the Spirit. They cannot understand the teachings of the Spirit…Paul didn’t mean that unbelievers have absolutely no understanding of the Christian gospel and instruction…Paul meant that unbelievers cannot lay hold of or deeply appropriate the Christian message. People without the Spirit are impaired in their ability to understand and accept the instructions of the Spirit because their orientation in life is so contrary to the Spirit.

            The teachings of the Spirit are foolish and cannot be understood because they are spiritually discerned. People without the Spirit cannot grasp the revelation of God’s wisdom because they hold to wrong standards of judgment. They employ the standards of human wisdom to judge the truth claims of Christ. The revelation of the Spirit, however, is properly evaluated only by the Spirit’s work in the heart and mind of a person.”[5]

¹⁵The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: ¹⁶“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

            I want to warn every Christian about the danger of vv. 15-16. Before you use these verses to insist that your view is the only view that is legitimate, you had best be sure that you can make that claim in the presence of God. You may not be subject to the judgment of unbelievers for your beliefs but I promise that you will be subject to God’s judgment for them. If you allow your words and deeds to be guided by the Spirit then you have absolutely nothing to worry about but you had better be aware of the dire consequences if you try and use these verses to advance your own personal opinions and agenda. Having said that, these verses should give you the courage to share the message of Christ as well as all other biblical truth because it is truth that has been revealed to you by the Spirit of God. Furthermore, a sinful, self-prioritizing world, can judge you to be foolish, arrogant, hate-filled, or ignorant but that judgment is meaningless because it is rooted in worldly wisdom, which by its very nature is distorted and flawed. How can someone who relies on the wisdom of the world judge the ways of someone who has the privilege of knowing the “deep things of God?” When Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would guide us and remind us of everything He taught, it means that the Holy Spirit transforms not just our lives but also our minds. Where once we relied on worldly wisdom to make judgments about life, we can now make judgments that are consistent with biblical truth because we have been given The Mind Of Christ.

            “As the Spirit searches all things, the person guided by the Spirit also can examine all things, particularly God’s ways, that were formerly hidden. Unspiritual persons cannot do this, because they have no help to bridge the knowledge gap and cannot make correct assessments. By saying that the spiritual person is examined by no one, Paul could mean that the unspiritual person, who misjudges the cross as foolishness, also misjudges believers as fools. Their judgments are invalid.”[6]

Application

            Have you ever heard of John Newton? You might not be familiar with his name but I’ll bet you know his greatest work. I’ll get to that shortly but first I want to tell you about who he was and the kind of life he lived. Newton lived during the middle of the 18^th century with a love for the sea. He went on his first of six sea-voyages with a merchant navy captain when he was just 11-years old. He lost his first job in the merchants office because of “unsettled behavior and impatience of restraint.” In other words, he was quick to become angry and lose self-control—a characteristic that would rear its ugly head often in the years ahead.

            Newton spent his later teen years at sea until he was pressed into military service as part of the Royal Navy. However, his propensity towards “impatience of restraint” made it difficult to exist in an environment of military discipline where he consistently rebelled against those who were in authority over him. Not willing to humble himself to the authority of his superiors, he deserted the navy. He was eventually apprehended by naval authorities and put in prison. He petitioned his superiors to discharge him to serve on a slave ship. There, Newton went from bad to worse as he became an active advocate of slavery. Newton’s depravity continued to spiral downward. He was known as a “free-thinker” which is someone whose opinions are based on reason, independent of authority or tradition. Newton continued to be arrogant and insubordinate and lived with complete moral abandon. He later wrote of himself, “I sinned with a high hand…and I made it my study to tempt and seduce others.” Newton was right at home with the barbarism of slavery and the slave trade business. What some saw as evil, Newton saw as an opportunity for profit. What you may not know is that Newton was raised by his Christian mother who taught him the Bible at an early age. Nevertheless, Newton had no use for the transformative message of the gospel and considered the faith of his mother as foolish. Until, that is, his sin-filled life left him in rags and begging for food—a condition that began to soften his hard heart.

            In 1747 Newton became a sailor on a ship called the Greyhound. On a voyage back to Liverpool, the Greyhound was engulfed by a violent storm. At some point during the voyage home, Newton had been reading Thomas a Kempis’ Imitation of Christ and was struck by one particular line in the book that read, “uncertain continuance of life.” Faced with the uncertain continuance of his own life in the midst of a violent storm, Newton gave his life over the Christ. They reached the safety of Liverpool and Newton began focusing his attention on restraining the worst excesses of the slave trade. Eventually, Newton became increasingly disgusted with slavery and his role in it and quit the business altogether and became an ordained Anglican minister.[7]

            Still don’t recognize who John Newton is? He is the man who wrote the Christian hymn that has been remade countless times and is sung even today. Newton authored Amazing Grace. And there is one particular line in the hymn that I want to highlight to illustrate the point of this lesson. The line is: “I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” Before Newton became a believer he fancied himself as wise and enlightened in the ways of the world. It was only after he became a believer that he realized he was actually blind without the knowledge of God. Before becoming a follower of Christ, Newton was guided by the wisdom of the world and lived with the mind of the world. As such, his life was defined by gross immorality and brutality toward other human beings. However, once he became a believer, his eyes were opened and he began to be guided by the wisdom of the Spirit of God. Accepting Christ started a change of heart and a change of mind in Newton. Once influenced by the mind of the world that saw nothing wrong with the exploitation people, Newton later received The Mind Of Christ that recognized the inherent value in all humanity as having been created in the image of God. And if you are a Christian, this is the mind that is in you as well. I hope this gives you some degree of comfort and encouragement when the world considers you and your ways foolish. Remember believers are blind; they process and understand the world with the mind of the world—a world that is broken. You were once blind but now you see; now you process and understand the world differently—with a new mind; a transformed mind; with The Mind Of Christ.

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[1] W. Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Vol. II, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983), p. 781.

[2] David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians—Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2003), pp. 98-99.

[3] Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians—The New International Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987), pp. 112-113.

[4] Bruce Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman, Life Application New Testament Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), p. 655.

[5] Richard L. Pratt, I & II Corinthians—Holman New Testament Commentary, (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2000), p. 37-38.

[6] Garland, 1 Corinthians, p. 101

[7] Christianity Today, “John Newton: Reformed slave trader,” (August 2008), accessed October 18, 2015, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/pastorsandpreachers/newton.html.