Now the natural person does not accept what pertains to the Spirit of God, for to him it is foolishness, and he cannot understand it, because it is judged spiritually. 1 Corinthians 2:14 NABRE
Paul recognizes many Corinthian Christians are still acting like a natural person, as if they were still in their preconversion days. The “natural person” is Paul’s way of indicating a person who is moved only by soul with its faculties of mind and will, closed to the realm of the spirit. For Paul the human is made up of body, mind (or soul) and spirit. The human spirit is the point of contact with the divine spirit and when a person opens themselves up to the Holy Spirit not only is their spirit but their entire being renewed, sanctified and put on the road to continuous spiritual progress. Paul recognizes that it is possible for a person to remain in the confines of the purely natural order and if we do the Spirit of God will seem foolishness, for we do not possess the faculties for judging spiritual things. Jesus and Christians experience this often, it is impossible to understand the Scriptures from a purely natural order. It is the spiritual person who possess the faculties to judge the things of the Spirit and also everything else.
The U.S. today is declared a post-Christian country, meaning we know the scriptures, but don’t accept or believe them. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates this point; do we shut down the country to remove the virus or focus on the economy to increase financial success. Ending the virus saves lives, running the economy saves jobs. A simple argument could be; lives are important to spiritual Christians, the economy is important to natural persons. The economy became the highest priority as we opened early and many lives are lost to the virus daily.
Are you a natural person? How can we be spiritual people?
It is impossible to understand the Scriptures from a purely natural order. It is the spiritual person who possess the faculties to judge the things of the Spirit and also everything else. Click To Tweet#bible’#godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #spirit #natural #Paul #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #cross #last #Matthew #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways