November 19

Read: I Corinthians 2:1-16

No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received… the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God (I Corinthians 2:11-12, R.S.V.).

The Work Of The Spirit

We saw yesterday that in this chapter there are eight references to the work of the Holy Spirit. Twice Paul speaks of the Spirit in His relationships to God (vv. 10-11). The other six times he speaks of the Spirit’s action in the lives of men. The Apostle testifies to the work of the Spirit in his own life (v. 4), and to God’s plan for the Spirit’s ministry in every Christian’s life (vv. 10, 12, and 13).

Jesus promised, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Paul testified to the fulfillment of that promise: “My preaching was… in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”

Before the Crucifixion, Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). After Pentecost, Paul could write: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard… the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.”

Does a Spirit-filled man go deeper than a casual Christian into the things of God? The Bible answers Yes. It is only the Holy Spirit who knows the things of God. But this same Holy Spirit is given “that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

And consider those two startling verses at the close of the chapter. The Spirit-filled man has the mind of Christ. Egotism? Yes, if such a claim is made by a man for himself apart from the gift of God. But No, when such rightness is the result of the very Spirit of God himself dwelling in a man’s soul. He who gives himself most fully to the Spirit of God is able to judge most nearly like God. There is no spirit of egotism here. There is only glad acceptance of the grace made possible by a life filled with the Holy Spirit.