Scripture to Read: 1 Corinthians 2:14–16
God had Paul write this in 1 Corinthians 2:14–16, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” Just as God, through His Holy Spirit, reveals the richness of His Word to all of His children, the opposite is true for those who are still lost and dead in their sins. God makes it clear that lost people can’t receive His truths from the Holy Spirit. To a lost person, God’s Word most often sounds pretty idiotic to them. The problem is that a lost person can’t understand it because their spirit is still dead within them. The only people who can have an understanding of God and His Word are those who have surrendered to Christ as Lord and have the Holy Spirit living in them. Christians are able to evaluate the things of God, but a lost person is incapable of judging or understanding a Christian’s spiritual nature. God even has Paul quote from Isaiah 40:13, asking, “Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has informed Him?” The obvious answer is that no one directs God’s Spirit but God alone, and no one teaches God, for He’s Omniscient, but God gives us understanding because we have the mind of Christ.
Challenge & Application
Why are we able to understand and comprehend God’s Word and other spiritual things?
Why are lost people unable to comprehend anything of God’s Word and why is it pretty foolish to them?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!