An admonishment for us today.
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
~ I Corinthians 2:5 ~
Our faith can only STAND in the power of God. This power of God, we understand to be: The Wisdom of God, which is spiritual understanding.
For the wisdom of man, we believe to be, natural understanding which cannot receive the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Lets now look more closely in his writings of this same chapter two of first Corinthians:
1. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8. Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
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.
15. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Please notice that Paul states that the apostolic word is not of man’s wisdom (wisdom of the world ~ mans’ imagination) , but of Gods wisdom; the demonstration of the Spirit and of POWER (Word of God~Understood by the speaker/preacher). Then he defines more clearly what that means.
“We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory”
And why? “That we might know the things that are freely given to us of God”.
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We intend to launch a new chapter in the book called ATA First-Things-First to give more content to this context.
The new chapter will drill down and expand this comparison that apostle Paul is addressing us with. The wisdom of man as being the natural man verses the wisdom of God as being the spiritual man as Paul lays out here in first Corinthians chapter two.
Here is another witness from apostle Paul:
I Corinthians chapter 15 (vs 45-49)
45. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
46. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
48. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Also, we have the hope that its content and message, will bring some understanding of why that when we first begin our Christian journey, that our reading and mediation of the scriptures, our mind perceives through a natural understanding of the Bible.
BUT GOD SAW (AND KNEW) THIS FROM AFAR…AND PROVIDED US… A WAY TO THE SPIRITUAL MAN!