1 Corinthians 2:12-15 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know (oida, Perf Act Subjunctive = know intuitively with continuing results)the things that are freely given (charizomai, Aor Pas Participle = graciously given)to us of  God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words  which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things (pneumatikos, Neuter Accusative = spiritual phenomenon)with spiritual. (pneumatikos, Neuter Instrumental = spiritual structure, means) 14 But the natural (psuchikos, soulish, unsaved) man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness (moria, absurdity, silliness) unto him: neither can (dunamai + negative = is not dynamically able, not inherently able) he know  [them], because they are spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have (Present Linear Aktionsart echo = keep on having and holding) the mind of Christ."

This morning we discussed the Truth that we who are Christians have the "musterion", the fraternal secrets of God. By have I mean we have access to these truths. Sadly, though, few Christians ever mature to the point of practical use of the Spirit. Oh, on the one hand we have the Charismatic believer who runs the aisle, shouting in Tongues, falling on the floor and laughing uncontrollably. On the other hand we have the super pompous Christian who sits quietly during Services, acts as if a perfect Saint, yet leaves the Church and Christ behind until they return next week. Look, we  possess and utilize the "musterion" only if we, in submission to God's Holy Spirit, read and revere the Word of Christ above word of the world. We must actually put into practice the things Jesus tells us, for you cannot fence sit and experience the power of God. No, if you want the Spirit to be fully operational in your life you must keep on having and holding the mind of Christ, this precious Word, above all else. When it becomes "merely a book" to you, then how different are you from the world?

1 Corinthians 2:12 "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know (oida, Perf Act Subjunctive = know intuitively with continuing results)the things that are freely given (charizomai, Aor Pas Participle = graciously given)to us of  God."

Look at these words carefully: "we have received". The Christian is someone who has an amazing potential to be great for God in Christ. This is past tense, something in the rear view mirror that we see receding into the background of our lives as we drive. We have received the Spirit of Christ. This came at the point of salvation. The power of Almighty God has not been loaned to us, but given to us, for that Power indwells us. What can you not do for Christ in this power?

Then consider the Power given. This Power, this Blessed Member of the Godhead was given to each and every Christian at salvation so that we might have an intuitive (oida) knowledge of the things of God. We should intuitively know when those walking among us are out in left field rather than inline with the Truth. We should intuitively know when we are living up to our potential, honoring Christ in the devil's world. We who are Spirit Indwelt, saved Lambs, know the right from the wrong. Rather than follow the wrong knowing it is wrong, we are called to use that Resource given to us along with the Word of God to determine our very actions.

1 Corinthians 2.14-15  "But the natural (psuchikos, soulish, unsaved) man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness (moria, absurdity, silliness) unto him: neither can (dunamai + negative = is not dynamically able, not inherently able) he know  [them], because they are spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man."

The (psuchikos) or unsaved person does not have the potential to greatness that the Christian has, because he does not have the Spirit of God. For this reason the (psuchikos) uses other means to reach what he considers to be his best plateau. The (psuchikos) uses conniving, deceit, cunning, backbiting - in short, he uses means that are grounded in lovelessness. He must use these means because he has no other means available. This is the operating principle of the unbeliever, even the moral unbeliever, and God expect that of them. But, dearly beloved, God expects better of you who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because:

"But we have (Present Linear Aktionsart echo = keep on having and holding) the mind of Christ."

The Spirit and the Word, the Word and the Spirit. These two, together, are "the mind of Christ", and we who are saved by faith in Christ possess this mind. We have great potential, as individuals and as a Church. We have the ability to reach greatness for God, to the glory of Christ, if we use the "mind of Christ" that we have in our grasp.

Father expects us to use the resources He has given us. If we don't, what are the repercussions?
 

I L L U S T R A T E

Never, never neglect the Word of God. The Word will make your heart rich with truth, rich with understanding, and then your conversation, when it flows from your mouth, will be like your heart, rich, soothing, and sweet. Make your heart full of rich, generous love, and then the stream that flows from your hand will be just as rich and generous as your heart. Above all, get Jesus to live in your heart, and then out of your heart shall flow rivers of living water, more rich, more satisfying than the water of the well of Sychar of which Jacob drank. Oh! go, Christian, to the great mine of riches, and cry to the Holy Spirit to make your heart rich unto salvation. So shall your life and conversations be a boon to your fellow man; and when they see you, your face will be like an angel of God. Wise men will stand up when they see you, and men will give you reverence. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)

Romans 8.1-4  "There is therefore now no condemnation (katakrima, to judge according to a standard, to judge down, adverse sentence) to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2  For the law (nomos, set of principles, standard) of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free (eleutheroo, Aorist = once for all made me free) from the law of sin and death. (thanatos, spiritual death. See 1 Tim 5.21) 3  For what the law could not do, (adunatos = was powerless to do, lacked dynamic power to do) in that it was weak (astheneo, Imperfect Act Ind = to be sick, always in weakness, weakness from sickness) through (dia, causal use = because of) the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned (Aor Act Ind katakrino = to judge according to a norm or standard {the Law}) sin in the flesh: see John 7:39 4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled (Aor Pass Subjunctive, pleroo, to fill up a deficiency, fully possess, completely influence, fill up with a certain quality) in us, who walk not after (kata, according to the norm or standard of)  the flesh, but after the Spirit."

In Romans chapter 7 Paul addressed the state that many Christians find themselves in - a state of knowing to do the right thing, yet still doing the wrong thing. Paul ends this chapter by saying, almost in agony:

Romans 7:24-25 "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? [25]  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

Many have looked at these verses and said, "Well, I have no control over my actions. I am a sinner saved by Grace and I will therefore stop trying. God knows that I am a sinner, expects me to sin, and therefore I am not accountable." Now, knowing what the Scripture says, is this true? Does the Scripture ever lay out a proposition where it says that it expects the believer to sin? No, a thousand times no! We saw, in our introduction, that the Lord expects the unsaved man to sin, because he does not have the potential  (Word and Spirit) that the saved man has. So, no, Paul is not saying in Chapter 7 that the Christian has a license to sin. What is he saying?

Paul is actually using, throughout the Book of Romans, a form of argument or presentation called afiorte. In other words, he builds a foundation, then as he teaches further and deeper truths they are all built on that initial foundation. In chapter seven Paul looks at the Christian who, new to the faith, is trying to live his life in Christ apart from the Word and the Spirit. When you try to solve your problems independently of Christ and the power of the Spirit, then the power of sin easily overwhelms the Christian. This is a state that many Christians in the Church Age have succumbed to. A state that, having struggled and struggled, the believer finally throws up his hands and says:

Romans 7:24  "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

This is a hopeless cry, and a state that every believer must walk through before he is broken enough to be in tune with the Holy Spirit that indwells him.

Truthfully, each of us are hard headed, each of us incorrigible in our own way. We were, at the point of salvation, given the Holy Spirit and the Word. We were given power and the potential to be great. And, having this power, what do most of us do?

We keep on operating in the same way we did before we were saved. We keep on following after the works of the flesh rather than submitting to the works of the Spirit. So we, like Paul the Apostle, must be broken before we can be yielded to the Spirit of God. We must be willing to reject the Spirit of this world and, despite its seeming foolishness, follow after the Spirit of God.
 

Such was the fame of Booker T. Washington that few Americans fail to recognize his name. A powerful leader in education, he headed up the Tuskegee Institute. But Booker T. was not born into choice circumstances. In fact, he was born a slave. In his autobiography, Up From Slavery, he shares an experience that made a profound impact on his character and which helped shape his ways.   “The most trying ordeal that I was forced to endure as a slave boy . . . was the wearing of a flax shirt. In the portion of Virginia where I lived, it was common to use flax as part of the clothing for slaves. That part of the flax from which our clothing was made was largely the refuse, which of course was the cheapest and roughest part.   “I saw the tears of the oppressed — and they have no comforter...” “I can scarcely imagine any torture, except, perhaps, the pulling of a tooth, that is equal to that caused by putting on a new flax shirt for the first time. It is almost equal to the feeling that one would experience if he had a dozen or more chestnut burrs, or a hundred small pin-points, in contact with his flesh . . . But I had no choice. I had to wear the flax shirt or none . . .   “My brother John, who is several years older than I am, performed one of the most generous acts that I have ever heard of one slave relative doing for another. On several occasions when I was being forced to wear a new flax shirt, he generously agreed to put it on in my stead and wear it for several days, till it was ‘broken in.’”  HEARTLITE

Romans 8.1   "There is therefore now no condemnation (katakrima, to judge according to a standard, to judge down) to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Most people read "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" without reading the last part of this verse. For the first part gives the "good news", but the last part places a condition on that good news. Let's look at it step by step, starting with (katakrima), or negative judgment. I want to be clear here that (katakrima) does not refer to damnation, or casting into Hell. I can say that with certainty. If (katakrima) refers to eternal damnation, then many who are Christian would fall into this category. There are times when all of us, knowingly or unwittingly, fall into the works of the flesh. Not one of us is perfect, not even the Apostles. The Apostle Peter started telling believers that they had to be circumcised to be saved (Galatians 2.11), which is an aberration of the Gospel.  No, (katakrima) refers to three other types of negative judgment: justifiable condemnation by others, self condemnation, and the negative judgment of the Father (punishment). Let's look at each of these in turn.

The Christian who is using the mind of Christ, the Spirit and the Word, will not be judged or punished by the Father in this life. The Corinthian believers were taking the Lord's Table and, disregarding that it served to honor our Lord and Savior Jesus, were having a party at the Table. They were eating to excess, drinking wine and getting drunk, and in short, blaspheming the Table. Paul said of this behavior:

1 Corinthians 11:30-34 "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. [31] For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. [32]  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. [33]  Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. [34]  And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come."

When the believer decides to ignore his potential and follow after the world rather than the mind of Christ (Spirit and Word), then he sets himself up for Divine Discipline. If God were as quick to condemn the believer today as He did Ananias and Sapphira, then we would see more believers focused on Jesus Christ rather than on their own agenda. However, God is long-suffering - but do not confuse His long-suffering love for slackness. I have seen many believers taken out of this life prematurely because they have ignored the mind of Christ. By heeding the Spirit we avoid this terrible state of adverse judgment and premature death and, more importantly, live to glorify and promote our Lord Jesus Christ on the earth.

Titus 3:9-11  "But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. [10]  A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject; [11]  Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself."

Those who reject the mind of Christ to follow after the world also have to contend with self condemnation  and guilt. The Christian, given potential by a loving God, knows right from wrong. This is an intuitive thing, and you know when you have done the righteous, when you have done the evil. You may talk to yourself until you're blue in the face, and convince yourself enough to where you can almost forget it - but if you are in Christ, you know when you are in heresy. You know when you are outside of the Spirit of God, and though you can run from the Pastor you can never run from yourself.

Judas was such a man. Was Judas saved? I don't know, but I do know that He followed after Jesus, proposed to love Jesus just as much as all the others. Yet Judas, once he delivered Jesus to Satan with a kiss, took those thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 27.3) and tried to give them back to the Pharisees. When this brought no relief, his self condemnation was so great that he murdered himself in the oriental method, by throwing himself forward on a sharpened stake. OUCH! Yet so many Christians today, rejecting the mind of Christ, literally cut off their noses to spite their faces. They go through these same things - when all is required is a time of true repentance, then re-focusing on the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 4:1-4 "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. [2] Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. [3]  But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. [4]  For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord."

Be aware that others are watching you, whether you like it or not. Your every word, every deed is being weighed and judged. When we as believers reject the mind of Christ in order to follow after worldliness, even for a short season, then the damage to our living testimony is often irreparable. I wish I had a dime every time I had an unbeliever tell me, "I would go to that Church, but _____ did _____, and even I wouldn't do that."

Paul told the Corinthians that he had maintained the mind of Christ in his life so, for this very reason, he did not fear the close scrutiny of the Church. He said, "it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment". In other words, who cares? When you align your life with the Word of God, then others can make up lies about you, but on closer scrutiny your life will be vindicated, in time. If we align ourselves with the mind of Christ then we need no fear the condemnation of God, self, or man. We can walk confidently knowing that we are overcomers, not underachievers. We are victors, not second place. We are behaving as children of God, not like someone else's children.
 

Romans 8.2-4  For the law (nomos, set of principles, standard) of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free (eleutheroo, Aorist = once for all made me free) from the law of sin and death. (thanatos, spiritual death. See 1 Tim 5.21) 3  For what the law could not do, (adunatos = was powerless to do, lacked dynamic power to do) in that it was weak (astheneo, Imperfect Act Ind = to be sick, always in weakness, weakness from sickness) through (dia, causal use = because of) the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned (Aor Act Ind katakrino = to judge according to a norm or standard {the Law}) sin in the flesh: see John 7:39 4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled (Aor Pass Subjunctive, pleroo, to fill up a deficiency, fully possess, completely influence, fill up with a certain quality) in us, who walk not after (kata, according to the norm or standard of)  the flesh, but after the Spirit."

If you are condemned by your very failure to follow after the mind of Christ, then certain things are very true. First, you are still under the power of "the law of sin and death". Can you imagine have ten million dollars in the bank, but refusing to cash it out, living off the streets and eating out of garbage cans? This is a disgusting, and terrible state to be in. Yet many Christians are following this behavior in their own spiritual lives. They have great potential, yet refuse to pursue it. They know the right thing to do, but reject doing it. The "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" will make them free, has made them free from the law of death, yet for some obscure reason they continue to follow after the lesser rather than pursuing the greater.

God saved us in Christ so we could be free to live up to our potential. We are saved so that the "righteousness of the law might be fulfilled (pleroo) in us". We were saved so that we could be about our Father's business, living according to His will, not our own. Are you where you need to be in Christ today?

Next Sunday we will focus on the continuing truths found in Romans 8. May God strengthen us as we learn more about Jesus and the precious Holy Spirit.