>> Jen: Hello there, faithful listeners. Welcome to season eight of the Bible Explain podcast. Today we'll be in the book of first corinthians, so stay tuned. I hope you guys had a great Labor Day weekend. I did end up working, but other than that, I was able to enjoy yesterday and spend some time with my husband. We both found a game that we really enjoyed. It's a final Fantasy rhythm game. It's so cute. It's adorable. And so we've been enjoying playing that game together.
Tell me what kind of games you enjoy playing, or if you don't like playing games at all, I'd like to hear about that. You can contact me in the description of the episode. Now, today in one corinthians two, we're going to be finishing up the chapter. This was a very short chapter, but very dense with content. So today we're going to be discussing the concept of truth and how christians understand what truth is. But the world is always searching for truth. They crave it and they need it, but they
never can seem to find it. We're going to talk about why that is today. So let's read this. I'll be reading from the web, as I always do. But of course, feel free to grab the version of the Bible that you prefer. This is one corinthians 210 through 16. But to us, God revealed them through the spirit. For the spirit teaches all things. Yes, the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man
except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except God's spirit. But we received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might know, uh, the things that were freely given to us by God. We also speak these things not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches. Comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
Now, the natural man doesn't receive the things of God's spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can't know them because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no one, for who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him. Isaiah, uh, 4013. But we have Christ's mind. I think you can probably pick up on a theme here in one corinthians one
and also two. Now that Paul is talking about how people who belong to the world, who don't want the things of God, who don't want spiritual things, can never fully understand spiritual things. It's just going to sound like foolishness to them. It's going to sound ignorant. It's going to sound old fashioned. It's going to sound just ridiculous to those particular people. And I'm sure that, you know, people who feel that way about Christianity, perhaps they make fun of you for your
faith. Perhaps they get, uh, angry if you start talking about it, or maybe they just want to change the subject as quickly as possible. I'm sure, you know, people who are like that, because to people who are unsaved, the gospel message is going to be extremely uncomfortable. And that is what Paul is talking about in one corinthians one, and also one corinthians
two. And I think the reason Paul starts out with this in his letter to the corinthians is because he is imploring the corinthian church that they are supposed to act differently than the world. Don't forget where the corinthian church was located. It was located in Corinth, which was the debaucherous capital of the ancient world. It was a city right on the sea. So
all these, like, sailors would come and go. So there are so many, like, traveling salesmen and sailors, and just all these people who would come to Corinth and then, obviously, um, partake in some crazy, debaucherous things. And so that was what the reputation of Corinth was, even in the ancient world. In fact, there was a saying back in those days, in Paul's days, to act like a Corinthian was to act basically like a whore in today's language. So Corinth
was known for being like this. And unfortunately, the church of Corinth was beginning to fall into some of those same old patterns that they had come out of. And so Paul is explaining to them, no, you are different because of these reasons. And so you must act different. You can't fall back into the old way of thinking. And so, since you have been made new, the spiritual things are no longer foolish to you, so you must accept them. So here's what he says in
verse ten. To us, God revealed them through the spirit. In other words, the mysteries of God. God has revealed them to the, uh, people who have accepted him. For the spirit teaches all things. Yes, the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? So now Paul is using an analogy to explain his idea a little bit more concisely. He's saying, look, every single human being has these thoughts inside of them that nobody else
knows. I don't know your thoughts. You don't know my thoughts. In fact, there's a verse in proverbs, I don't know exactly where, but it says that every heart knows its own misery and every heart knows its own joy. And nobody else can understand the depth of that misery or the depth of that joy. That's kind of what Paul is saying here. Every single person has these thoughts and feelings inside of them that nobody else can quite
comprehend. And the same thing is true with God on a much bigger level. We cannot understand the mind of God. It is impossible for us to understand the mind of God, just as we can't even understand the mind of our neighbor, the mind of our children, the mind of our parents, the mind of our spouses. We can't even understand their minds. So how can we possibly think that we have God
figured out? How can we possibly think that we have any knowledge of what is going on inside of God's mind except for the fact that God chose to reveal it to us? So the Holy Spirit reveals the mind of God to all of us. That's what he says. Even so, no one knows the things of God except God's spirit. But we received not the spirit of this world, but the spirit which is from goddess, that we might know the things that were
freely given to us by God. Now, this doesn't mean that if we have God's spirit, we're going to just automatically understand everything there is to know about God. Absolutely not. There are things actually that are hidden from us and are kept secret that we're possibly never going to know. God doesn't reveal every single thing to us, but he reveals the important things about his nature to us. That is because he wants to have that relationship with us.
And, I mean, you can't really have a relationship with somebody that you don't know. You can't have a relationship with a stranger. And so God, because he loves us and wants that personal relationship with us, actually chose to allow us to understand certain things about his nature, which has been revealed by the Holy Spirit. These mysterious things that Paul is talking about, the gospel message that was kept hidden from the very beginning of time until Jesus
came to earth. And so now the people who accept God, the people who have faith, can understand these mysteries that God once kept secret but now revealed. And actually, Jesus talked about this in John chapter 16, before he was about to go to the cross. He talked about how the spirit was going to come into the world and bring truth to people. So I'm going to turn over to John 16 and read it from the web version. This is verses 13 through 15.
This is Jesus speaking. He says, however, when he the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself. But whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine and will declare it to you. All things that the father has are mine. Therefore I said that he takes of mine and will declare it to you. This is another, um, verse where Jesus declares himself as
God. I think people don't understand a lot of times in scripture that Jesus declared himself as God multiple times. But just because Jesus didn't come directly out and say, I am God, people like to say, well, Jesus never claimed that he was God, so we can't actually know if Jesus was God or nothing. That is so untrue. Just look at these verses we just read. Jesus mentions the Trinity. Here. He mentions himself, he mentions the spirit, and he
mentions the Father. And he puts himself on the same level as the spirit and as the father. He says, when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak of himself, but whatever he hears, he will speak. Meaning the spirit is going to hear from the Father, and the spirit is going to guide people into all truth based upon what the spirit heard from the Father. The spirit will glorify Jesus is what it says in verse
14. Jesus says, he will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine and will declare it to you. So now Jesus put himself on the same level as God the Father, because the spirit is hearing from God the Father and is going to declare those words to everybody. And he's going to declare things that are coming as well. All of that is from God the Father. The spirit is also going to repeat the words that Jesus said. The spirit is going to take from what is Jesus and declare it to the
people. All things that the Father has are mine. Jesus says, therefore, I said that he takes of mine and will declare it to you. So jesus just put himself on the same level as God the Father. Jesus declared himself as God in these verses. So just read through the book of John. If you think that Jesus did not declare himself as God, you got to read the book of John. Because it's like every other paragraph. Jesus is saying something about how him and the Father and the Holy
Spirit are one. They are the same. But anyway, this whole concept though, going back to first corinthians two, is that the Holy Spirit is going to take the things of God, meaning Jesus and the Father, and he's going to declare them to all the people. And those things from God and from Jesus are truth. That is how we find truth. Truth is what God says. Truth is what Jesus says. So all truth belongs to God. And then Paul in verse 13 mentions something else here.
He says, we meaning himself and the other disciples, we also speak these things not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. And that is very true. Whenever Paul, uh, went and talked to somebody, you'll see that he was always quoting scripture. I mean, he quotes scripture twice. In first corinthians two alone, this very short chapter that we're reading today, he
quotes scripture twice. Paul was always quoting the Old Testament scriptures because he was showing how they lined up with the gospel message. He says, I compare spiritual things with spiritual things. So the gospel message with the Old Testament. So Paul is proving that his words and the words of the other disciples are from the Holy Spirit because they are truthful. Once again, the Holy Spirit guides people into
truth. And Paul was not the only person to say that the disciples words were from the spirit of if you go over to two, Peter, verse one, or, I'm sorry, chapter one, verse 20. Peter says, knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation, meaning nobody just made it up. Um, for no prophecy ever came by the will of man. But holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
Then in two Timothy, chapter three, which Paul wrote this chapter, he says in verse 16, every scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. So the scriptures, all of them, the Old and the New Testament, are God breathed. They are from the Holy Spirit, every single one of them. And so we know that these scriptures are the truth.
At least those of us who are believers know that these scriptures are the truth. Anybody else listening to this podcast or reading through the Bible who doesn't believe in these things is going to find all of this complete and total nonsense. They're going to be like these stupid christians believe all this crazy spiritual stuff.
That's exactly what Paul says in verse 14. Now, the natural man doesn't receive the things of God's spirit for their foolishness to him, and he can't know them because they are spiritually discerned. So the natural man Paul's talking about here in verse 14 is the natural state of man, meaning what we were born into. So each and every one of us, at one point in time in our lives, we're not saved, right? Because we are born into the sin nature. We were born into sin. So that is
the natural man. The natural man is any person, any man or woman who chooses to remain in that natural state of sin. That is what Paul is referring to here. Actually. Uh, if you go back to the Greek, the word Paul uses is physical, the physical man. So these people who were born into their natural state and remained in that natural state of sin, they don't receive the
things of God's spirit. They choose not to receive the things of God's spirit because it sounds like foolishness to them, and he can't know them because they're spiritually discerned. So these things that are of God, that are from God's spirit, he's not going to reveal them to the people who refuse it, to the people who don't want it. Why would God do that? He's not going to reveal it to those
people. He's going to reveal it to the people who accept it, to the people who are searching for him, to the people who know that this world is broken and need something different. But many people want and choose to believe that there's nothing really wrong with the world. Yes, it's broken. Yes, there are problems with it. But we can fix all of those things through a certain lifestyle, through a certain thought, uh, process, through a different way of living,
something along those lines. People believe that they can fix the brokenness of this world with temporary fixes. And of course, that's never going to work. But also, they are truly in love with the things of this world as well. That is why they choose not to believe the spiritual things, because, uh, the spiritual tells us that there is life after death, that there is
something other than this world. And also we have to, in a way, reject the things of this world, especially the sin nature, to look forward to the world and to the life to come. And that is very difficult for people to understand that there is something beyond the here and now. They want the here and now, these fallen and broken things, instead of the things that they can't see.
And that is why to many people, ChristianitY is not appealing to at all, because ChriStianiTY looks past this WorlD and looks past the Momentary, uh, enjoyments of this world for something beyond this world. In fact, Paul says something hilarious in one Corinthians 15. This is the funniest verse, I swear, in the entire Bible. This is verse 19 of one Corinthians
15. If we who are abiding in Christ have hoped only in this life, and this is all there is, then we are, of all people, the most miserable and to be pitied. And what that verse means is that if Christianity, the lifestyle of Christianity, was only for this world, it would be the most miserable lifestyle that you could ever have. Why would anybody choose to be a Christian if it was only for this world and there was, like, no hope of anything to come after this world, no hope for life after
death. Why would anybody become a Christian? It is not a pleasant lifestyle because you have to deny yourself. You have to become humble and not, like, crave the things of this world. Why would anybody want to become a Christian if it was only for this world? But thank God, it is not just for this world. There is a hope for something to come after this life, something so much better, something absolutely 100% perfect, something not broken somewhere. We can have fellowship with God for an
entire eternity. That is what we are really craving. We are craving God, each and every one of us. We are craving God, even if we don't recognize that or understand that. And that is why people are always turning to false gods instead of looking for the true God. They want God, but they want a version of God that they can control.
Because if they get a version of God that they can control, they can also have all the other things that they love, like their sin and all of these temporary things that are here on earth. But those of us who choose to believe in Yahweh, in the true one and only goddess, we know that there is something better coming than just what is here on the earth. And that is what we look forward to. He who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no
one. That is one. Corinthians two, verse 15. We who are spiritual, who know that there is something better coming, who wants that relation, that true and deep relationship with God, and know that that's the only thing that can satisfy those of us who are spiritual. We can discern these things. That doesn't mean we're gonna discern every single thing every single time, because our sinful nature and our flesh is still always at play.
Right? But we have the Holy Spirit guiding us, and we can discern these things. And also we are not going to have the condemnation that others are going to have. We are judged by no one is what verse 15 says, so we're not going to have that condemnation put on us that other people who refuse to believe in Jesus, who refuse to believe in Yahweh, are going to have on them. Verse 16. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? That is
Isaiah 40, verse 13. Once again, Paul is quoting a scriptural passage here. We don't know the mind of God. We can't possibly know, except for what God chose to reveal to us. And that is where the scriptures come in. That is what God chose to reveal to us. And because of that, we now have Christ's mind. That, uh, does not mean that we are little g gods. That does not mean that we have some sort of divine power within
us. You have to be very careful of that because, yes, the Holy Spirit is amazing, and he can give us, certain abilities for certain times and certain spiritual gifts. That doesn't mean that we are divine, though. That means that the Holy Spirit is divine, and he is choosing to allow us to do certain things at certain times, because God will use us. Even though God can do everything and anything that he wants to
do, he will use us. Like, if you look at the book of Exodus, for example, many times God partnered with Moses to do miracles. It was not Moses doing those miracles. Moses didn't have any power on his own. He couldn't do anything. But God used Moses to do amazing miracles. For example, the parting of the Red Sea. Moses was the one who took the staff and performed the miracle, but it was God's power performing that miracle. So each of us is not divine. The
Holy Spirit, however, is. And he chooses to reveal these mysteries and parts of God's mind to us. We share in that. That is what Paul is talking about here. Not that we are on the same level as Christ, but that God chose to share his mind with us, and because he loves us, has chosen to reveal these truths to us. So what do you guys think of this chapter?
I thought it was very encouraging. Just think about how much the gospel message goes beyond really anything we can understand, just with the depths of God's love for us, for humanity, that not only did Jesus choose to come down and sacrifice himself and get tortured and beaten for us so that we can have fellowship with him for eternity, but also that God gives us the Holy Spirit who reveals truth to
us. And I think that's what people are just really craving in today's world is truth, and they don't know where to get it. But us christians know exactly where to find truth. The Holy Spirit is who gives it to us. We have access to truth through the Holy Spirit. But faithful listeners, I hope that you enjoyed today's episode. If you did, check out my, Yahweh t shirts. Speaking of Yahweh, I have a wonderful t shirt that has the, name of Jesus written in both Hebrew and English on it, and it
forms the shape of a cross. And almost every single person who has gotten it has told me it is the most comfortable t shirt they have ever worn in their entire life. And I agree. I'm actually not lying when I say that so many people have contacted me and told me that it is the most comfortable t shirt that they have ever worn. So check it out. In the description of this, um, episode, you'll find my shop with the Yahweh t shirt and also the lion of Judah t shirt, which is, uh, my second
most popular t shirt at this point. It used to be my most popular, but I think people really like the name of Yahweh on their t shirt because they're searching for that truth once again. Anyway, faithful listeners, have a fantastic rest of your day. I will see you all tomorrow for an episode from first kings. Happy listening and God bless.