1 Corinthians 12:1-3
And regarding the things derived from the Spirit, my
brothers, I do not desire you all to be unknowing. You all have known that when you all were
Gentiles you all were being influenced to follow idols and speechless things
while being misled. Therefore I make
known to you all that no one while speaking in the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is
cursed.” And nobody is powerful enough
to say, “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought
Paul makes a point here that seems simple, but I don’t want
it to get lost. He says that while we
were Gentiles we were being led astray to follow idols. Such is the influence of the world. We are taught to dream big. We are taught that anything we want we can achieve. We are taught to be self-centered. We are taught that life revolves around each
of us as individuals. While the universe
may not physically revolve around us, we are taught that emotionally and
spiritually and psychologically that the universe does actually revolve around
each of us. After all, who does our
world say is number one? Where is my
focus to be according to the world? That’s
idolatry. That’s the world misleading
us. That is us allowing ourselves to be
misled. The world revolves around
God. My identity comes from God. Anything else leads me into idolatry.
Where are your idols?
Where has the world convinced you to focus on something other than God?
Second Thought:
“Jesus is cursed.”
What a horrible thing to even have to type out on my computer. Why would Paul put such a thing in this
letter? Is it possible that people even
within the church would say such a thing?
Let me explain a little. We know
that as Christianity spread that there were several emperors who intentionally
persecuted Christians. Nero and Domitian
are two of the ones who started it and made it the “cool” thing to do. We know that under Nero a person would have
to burn a pinch of incense and profess “Nero is a god” when they paid their
taxes or else they could be arrested.
Obviously, Christians wouldn’t do that, so people who would not proclaim
Nero as a god were then often told to curse Jesus or suffer the
consequences. This was also true of
soldiers who were suspected of Christianity.
Roman soldiers were often forced to say “Jesus is cursed” when they were
suspected of being a Christian. Therefore,
the reality is that it is unlikely anyone in the church was saying “Jesus is
cursed.” But it is likely that the
politics around the town were beginning to heat up in persecution. Paul wants to be clear. Anyone who is saying “Jesus is cursed” just
to avoid the persecution coming from being a Christian is not doing so under
the power of the Holy Spirit or the guidance of God.
How does this point tie into the idea of peer pressure? Why would Paul want to prepare the Corinthians
against this kind of political peer pressure?
What would you do if someone told you they would arrest you and take
away your livelihood unless you said “Jesus is cursed?”
Third Thought:
The opposite of point two is equally as interesting. Paul tells us that nobody is powerful enough
to say, “Jesus is Lord” without the Holy Spirit. This is deeply profound. What this tells us is that even the ability
to ask Christ into my life is something I cannot do without God’s help. It is proof that the Holy Spirit is moving us
even before we have any sense of official relationship or submission with
God. God doesn’t wait for us to ask Him
into our life before moving within us!
If He waited, we’d never have the power to come to Him in the first
place! No, the only reason I have any
kind of relationship with God is because God moved within me even before I was
willing to reach out to Him so that He could give me the strength in the first
place! That is such a profound concept!
What does this mean about “your ability to choose God?” How does this enforce the teaching that
salvation truly is by God’s grace alone and not anything we can ever earn by
our works?
Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 12:4-7
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