Feb 06, 2015 Words of Grace – Honoring the Spirit
A few years after I became a Christian, a friend asked me, “Have you always been this way?” He meant had I always been a Christian, pursuing spiritual things. I assured him that I had not! In fact, I had been pursuing my thing.
So, how did I, or any other Christian, come to understand spiritual things? How did the cross of Christ come to make sense to me? How did I come to believe and to be set on a new course of living under the lordship of Christ?
The answer given in 1 Corinthians 2 is “by the Spirit.” The Spirit of God has revealed the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation he secured by his death on the cross. The Spirit of God inspired the apostles to impart this news to the church in the form of written words we now have as the Bible. The Spirit of God still opens minds to understand the message of the gospel and he still leads people to repent and believe in Jesus to be saved.
In short, we have the gospel and we understand and believe in it because of the revelation, inspiration, and illumination of the Spirit of God. If we are Christians, it is not because we have always been this way. It is because of the cross of Christ and the ministry of the Spirit.
This Sunday at Grace, we will honor the Spirit as we worship together around 1 Corinthians 2. Take some time this weekend to read this chapter and give thanks to God for his Spirit’s work in your life. Pray that the Spirit of God will continue to open the minds of others to the message of Jesus.
– Scott