Contemplation #136
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" - but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Cointhians 2:9
Do you notice how Paul quotes Isaiah 64:4 and then contradicts it? Some biblicists would, standing on the immutable nature of scripture, try to argure that no one knows . . . and well, it simply means what it says. Isaiah doesn't hint that God's people would know some day, or that the "knowing" he is talking about excluded the "knowing" of divine revelation. How reckless of Paul to reflect on what God is doing and proclaim that Isaiah's words no longer hold true! When we work on scripture through our logic alone and fail to discern the current working of God, we may conclude that what was will always be . . . and entirely miss the new things that God does.
Contemplation # 137
We 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. 1 Corinthians 2:12
Nothing is quite as dangerous to institutional Christianity as the Spirit of God. Little is as threatening to those who would exercise religious authority over others as the indwelling Spirit ordaining all to understand the gifts of God. We have often rejected the Spirit in favor of the Bible so that we might have a manageable God. We often trust the Spirit in "me" but not in "you". I have good judgment and can handle freedom, but you can't. However, our confidence in God is that he does lead us all to understanding through the Spirit what we have been freely given. Learning to follow . . . that is walking by the Spirit.
Contemplation #138
We 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. 1 Corinthians 2:12
The Spirit of God may lead us in many ways, but let us consider for now the one leading Paul mentions here. Often we think of the Spirit's guidance as primarily about making decisions according to God's will. But the work that Paul is speaking of in this verse is probably more fundamental: his leading into understanding the gifts of grace. Knowing what we've been freely given sets us right in the attitude of humility and explains to us who we are as new creatures. More than needing to know how to make a decision about some matter today, we need the leading into understanding the work of grace. May we seek to be led here first.
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" - but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Cointhians 2:9
Do you notice how Paul quotes Isaiah 64:4 and then contradicts it? Some biblicists would, standing on the immutable nature of scripture, try to argure that no one knows . . . and well, it simply means what it says. Isaiah doesn't hint that God's people would know some day, or that the "knowing" he is talking about excluded the "knowing" of divine revelation. How reckless of Paul to reflect on what God is doing and proclaim that Isaiah's words no longer hold true! When we work on scripture through our logic alone and fail to discern the current working of God, we may conclude that what was will always be . . . and entirely miss the new things that God does.
Contemplation # 137
We 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. 1 Corinthians 2:12
Nothing is quite as dangerous to institutional Christianity as the Spirit of God. Little is as threatening to those who would exercise religious authority over others as the indwelling Spirit ordaining all to understand the gifts of God. We have often rejected the Spirit in favor of the Bible so that we might have a manageable God. We often trust the Spirit in "me" but not in "you". I have good judgment and can handle freedom, but you can't. However, our confidence in God is that he does lead us all to understanding through the Spirit what we have been freely given. Learning to follow . . . that is walking by the Spirit.
Contemplation #138
We 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. 1 Corinthians 2:12
The Spirit of God may lead us in many ways, but let us consider for now the one leading Paul mentions here. Often we think of the Spirit's guidance as primarily about making decisions according to God's will. But the work that Paul is speaking of in this verse is probably more fundamental: his leading into understanding the gifts of grace. Knowing what we've been freely given sets us right in the attitude of humility and explains to us who we are as new creatures. More than needing to know how to make a decision about some matter today, we need the leading into understanding the work of grace. May we seek to be led here first.
posted by Greg at 8:10 AM
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