Power of God
1 Cor 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
Paul was gifted with wisdom and knowledge and the Corinthians were used to Speakers using many words and giving speeches to entertain with little lasting worth. But, Paul chose not to come as the others to entertain, he instead gave the testimony of God.
1 Cor 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
He spoke the simple Gospel message and this message had the power to make people children of God. Even as I write this I feel the Spirit making my body more alive. His words were words of life, not empty words to show his skill at speaking.
1 Cor 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
Paul was not filled with self-confidence; knowing the need and his own limitations made him weak and afraid; yet it kept him from the poison of self-reliance, the Holy Spirit allows God's strength to flow intead of our own.
2 Cor 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Cor 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
1 Cor 2:4 And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
There is great power over darkness in the truth of God deivered by the Spirit of truth
1 Cor 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Our faith stands on nothing less than Jesus Christ and His righteousness,
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
So often I quote this verse, because it is powerful, the gospel is the power of God for a new life.
2 Cor 13:4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
Yes we are weak, but we are strong in his Spirit
2 Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Amen, no fear in the Holy Ghost and he will guide us into all truth by the love of God shed in our hearts.
2 Tim 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
2 Tim 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
Save by Jesus, not by our works but by faith unto according to his purpose for our lives
2 Tim 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:
AMEN! Jesus through the gospel brings immortality abolishing death. WE are immortal in our soul and Spirit. Praise God for his gospel!
The Mystery
1 Cor 2:6 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:
We are perfect, or a better word, complete in Christ. The princes of this world are in darkness, they do not have the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
1 Cor 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
The mysteries of Christ were hidden in the Old Testiment.
The wisdom of God seems so foolish and weak to the world. Christ allowed himself to by tormented and to die on the cross. But this fulfilled the requirements of the law, the perfect Jesus died for all sins giving us power to be the son's of God. Satan thought he had won, it was a mystery to that old sly serpent as well. Yet as we look back we see in the Old Testament in Psalms 22 the agony of the cross.
Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
1 Cor 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
2 Cor 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2 Cor 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
I had a discussion in chat with one of these princes today. He mocked the Bible, asked questions but could never see the answers. Finally he gave me a web address of a big organization that poses as a Christian group leaving out one important element; the gospel. He actually called Christianity a virus. No his group is the virus, Christ is truth they are false and led by the false one. Their plan is to teach as many children as they can, the false faith and to apply for government help as a religious help organization. Their aim is to destroy the Christian faith.
("We seek to expose Christianity for what it is and we advocate a conscious and rational approach to morality in its place." )
We surely must know God's truth , and be guided by the spirit of truth. Our end is eternal life, the man virus will only perish in his sins. Mans morality cannot replace our Lord's redemption and Holy Spirit power.
1 Cor 2:9 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.
John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
The Christian faith has survived 2000 years through many great princes of the world. They are forgotten, but the gospel is still the power of God for a new life. Receive him now, give him all of your heart.
Spirit Things
1 Cor 2:9 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.
1 Cor 2:10 But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
God has revealed to us the hidden things he has prepared for us by his Spirit. Praise God, His Spirit that dwells in us searches the deep things of God.
1 Cor 2:11 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.
The things of God are hidden from the natural man, but are revealed after believing in Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit.
1 Cor 2:12 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.
Paul speaks of the spirit that is available by first receiving Jesus Christ, foolishness with the world, but mighty in God's wisdom and power.
1 Cor 2:13 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.
We speak not clever words of man, but what the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. I think of God's word as spiritual, we compare one passage in the Bible with others to find the spiritual truths.
2 Pet 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
2 Pet 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Acts 17:11 These (Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
1 Cor 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.
You cannot speak of Spiritual things to a natural man, unless the Holy Spirit is convicting and drawing him. My greatest pleasure is sharing the word by God's Spirit. On occasion we meet with relatives , most who are unsaved. They only know you by past remembrances. Jesus has erased the sadness of the past and brings us to follow him by the Spirit of God.
1 Cor 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
judgeth :
Often this verse is quoted by one who engages in evil acts.
Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
But how can we be salt and light without standing for the truth? Judging as to bringing condemnation is not our doing. But judging evil by the word of God as a call to repent or change one's behavior is supported by God's word.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
In love, we are the righteousness of God in an evil and dark world.
Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
1 Cor 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Phil 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Phil 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
We are to be humble servants as Jesus. As obedience servants we share His gospel with the world.The truth shall make you free. How can one receive forgiveness of sins if there is no knowledge of what God calls sin? The word points out sin and shows us the way of forgiveness through our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, as servants of God we are to teach about sin as well as the blessings of God.
Gary
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1 Corinthians 3
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