| | | | Spiritual Submission - 1 Cor 2:10-12 In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul makes a rather blunt statement:
Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn't talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren't ready for anything stronger. And you still aren't ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. 1 Cor 3:1-3 (NLT)
Wow, I'm glad I wasn't the one having to read that letter! But as harsh as his tone sounds, we need to understand that Paul wasn't trying to be mean, he was encouraging the church at Corinth to grow up! Not grow up physically, but grow up spiritually to be mature men and women in the Lord.
Now one might wonder, "How do I do that? What does that look like?" I believe Paul gave the answer one paragraph earlier in his letter:
But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And we have received God's Spirit (not the world's spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 1 Cor 2:10-12 (NLT)
See the problem wasn't that the Corinthians weren't eating 'solid food' yet, the problem was that they weren't ready to eat solid food. And the reason they weren't ready was because they were still being controlled by their sinful nature, instead of being controlled by the Holy Spirit of God who lived inside them.
See saints, if you're a Christian, the Holy Spirit of God now resides in you; The test is whether or not you're willing to submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, or do you allow your old sinful nature be what guides you? It's not a matter of needing more Holy Spirit, it's a matter of submitting to the Holy Spirit that is in you! And make no mistake, it can be a battle.
I've found that when I'm submitted to the Spirit, my sinful nature doesn't like it at all. It fights! When I want to pray, or read my bible, or respond with kindness to an insult, my sinful nature fights for dominance. But I've also found that when I ignore my sin nature, and submit myself to the Holy Spirit of God, it opens up a new life for me… one where I can embrace and walk in the wonderful things that God has freely given me!
"Lord, help me to choose today to be in submission to Your Holy Spirit that lives within me."
Pastor Clay | | | | | | | |
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