In approaching the practical problem of passionate disputes and contentions within the Corinthian Christian assembly, since chapter 1 v 10 Paul has been presenting basic theology. He has not ‘jumped straight in’ by urging practical solutions and strategies. He has not turned to Covenant Law, or recommended that these Christians ‘let go’ and seek ‘spiritual experiences’. Rather, he began by issuing an exhortation or call, ‘that all of you speak the same thing and that there do not exist splits and divisions among you, but that you are properly adjusted within the same understanding and within the same knowledge and opinion’ (I Corinthians 1 v 10). Since then he has sought to ‘properly adjust’ their understanding ‘within the same knowledge and opinion’ by presenting theology. He has presented knowledge and understanding about the unseen realm revealed and conveyed by the Breath of God. Only here and there, and in these last few verses does he mention logical, practical conclusions and applications in the light of this basic theological knowledge and understanding.
So here is one of the major practical applications of the theology.
‘Don’t be deceiving yourselves. If any one among you supposes that they are wise within this age, let him become dull and stupid in order that he may become wise’ (I Corinthians 3 v 18).
Paul is writing specifically to and about Christian leaders and he is saying ‘Don’t deceive yourselves’. Don’t mislead yourselves or fool yourselves. This principle is especially important when it comes to how Christian leaders relate to each other – they are not in competition, it is not a matter of who is the best or most popular, or the most authoritative or charismatic leader. This practical application is especially important when it comes to what they labour to construct. They are called to be working together with the one purpose of building upon the foundation of the word of the cross of the Messiah, and they do so according to the measure of the gifts that God has given to them.
Paul’s assessment was that the Corinthian Christians were thinking in worldly terms, basing their thoughts, actions and evaluations on the values and principles of the present worldly arrangement. He has shown that God works by using entirely different principles from those of the world. So now he says, ‘If any one among you supposes that they are wise within this age…’. If any of you Christians or Christian leaders are assessing yourselves as being wise, knowledgeable, educated and clever according to the ways, values and principles of this present, worldly age…what? ‘Let him become dull and stupid in order that he may become wise’. As Paul said earlier, the natural man sees the wisdom of God as dull, stupid foolishness. It causes the natural man to trip up and stumble. So let the Christian who thinks he is wise become dull and stupid in worldly terms. The practical exhortation is that the Christian be uneducated, slow and sluggish in worldly values, principles, methods and standards so that they may become wise and knowledgeable within the principles and values of God.
Paul adds a qualification to what he has been saying. He has been explaining the superior position of Christians, those pertaining to the realm of the Breath of God, when it comes to knowledge, understanding and persuasion of God and the unseen, intangible heavenly realm. Does what Paul has been saying about the Breath mean that Christians are infallible? Are they perfect in what they say and do? In taking hold of the Breath of God do they instantly become fully enlightened beings? Are they above any kind of inquiry or criticism, even from their fellow Christians? Given their enlightenment or illumination within the Breath, are Christians meant to be dogmatic, authoritarian and superior in their attitude? Not at all! Our own experience is surely enough to tell us that this is not the case. Paul agrees. Straight away he counters any idea of perfectionism. ‘But brothers, I am not able to continue talking to you as to those full of Breath but as to fleshly, simple-minded infants within the Messiah’ (I Corinthians 3 v 1). This is another example of Paul’s literary style of making a ‘grand general statement’ when introducing a new theme. Then, in subsequent verses he will expand and explain what he means by this initial general statement.
Paul introduces two metaphors. First, the metaphor of capacity. He presents his readers with the concept of being ‘full of Breath’, and this has its opposite implication of being empty or only partially filled with the Breath. Some Christian leaders teach being ‘filled with the Breath’ as some kind of transcendent or ecstatic experience – a ‘second blessing’ or ecstatic experience leading to entrance into a ‘higher level’ of Christian development, knowledge and service. Thus, in some assemblies, Christians are exhorted to ‘empty themselves’ of their daily concerns and anxieties, to ‘let go’ of their busy, distracting thoughts, and ‘surrender’ to the Breath and ‘allow God’ to fill their hearts. Nowhere do we find Paul presenting such teaching. When Paul talks about being filled with the Breath he is not talking about ecstatic experiences or being ‘transported’ into transcendent heavenly delight. Rather he is talking about being sensitive and responsive to the movement or inclination of the Breath of God within Christians, moment-by-moment, in the various situations and circumstances that they face. By paying attention to the Breath, by scrutinising and investigating everything, Christians become perceptive and sensitive to how God would have them speak and act in a way that is worthy of and consistent with their calling. And instead of being ‘quenched’, the Breath fills and influences them in such a way that when they co-work with the Breath they walk around within the Breath and bring to completion the fruit of the Breath.
Second, Paul presents the metaphor of maturity – whether or to what degree a Christian has grown and developed from the position of being brought forth as a spiritual ‘baby’ so as to develop through childhood and adolescence into mature adulthood.
All that Paul has been saying so far goes back to chapter 1 v 10 – 12. There was division, contentions, quarrels and partisanship with regard to the Christian leaders at Corinth. These arguments and disputes were about who was the best Christian leader, about who followed which leader, and about who had the best spiritual gifts, as we will see in I Corinthians 12 v 1ff. Paul has been writing about the wisdom of God and the Breath because the Christians in Corinth had an eager, passionate desire to be ‘the best’. They had ‘spiritual ambition’ and wanted to excel. A number of them thought of themselves as being wise, clever, educated and intellectual to the point of dismissing or demeaning some of their fellow Christians and leaders. In their competitiveness and eager desire to be the best, they were adopting the ‘wisdom’ of the worldly arrangement.
Paul has been explaining basic theology or teaching pertaining to the realm of the Breath. He has said that God’s wisdom revealed through the Breath is radically different from worldly methods and standards with regards to wisdom, and far superior. But…. Paul introduces an important qualification to what he has been saying with this word ‘But’. Despite this talk about the superior wisdom of God being revealed through the Breath to those who pertain to the realm of the Breath, Paul says that he cannot continue talking to the Corinthian Christians and leaders as if they were full of Breath. He still regards them as Christians ‘within the Messiah’. He is not saying that they are ‘outsiders’. But he has to speak to them as if they are worldly people still thinking and acting by being influenced by the fleshly passions and energies of their physical constitution. Thus, in terms of the realm of the Breath, they are like simple-minded infants within the Messiah. They have a low measure of the Breath and thus they remain immature, therefore he cannot speak to them like adults. Tell it like it is Paul. You want a practical statement? Well there it is.
What Paul is saying is both a natural and a spiritual principle. If a young child wants to learn physics for example, we can’t begin by talking about quantum physics – the concepts are too advanced. If a young child wants to learn to play the organ, we don’t begin by getting them to practice Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Young beginners are unable to start at advanced levels. It’s the same with the realm of the Breath. When speaking to Jews outside of the Synagogues who were not ‘religious’, Jesus spoke to them in parables. He presented his teaching by means of illustrations from everyday life, and often ended them with the phrase, ‘If you have ears to hear, then listen, if you have eyes to see, then perceive’. This approach is fully consistent with what Paul has been saying about the Breath of God when it comes to announcing the cross.
Perception, enlightenment, illumination, with subsequent examination and scrutiny of everything, is an ongoing process that leads to growth and development within the realm of the Breath, and walking around as an obedient servant within the Breath leads to being filled with the Breath
But the Corinthian Christians were not full of the Breath. They were lacking in ongoing enlightenment pertaining to the realm of the Breath, they were not fully walking within the Breath, and their growth and development with the Breath had, as it were, stalled. They were ‘late developers’, they did not always ‘see’ and ‘hear’, and the result was that in their thinking they remained fleshly and worldly and this affected their behaviour and attitudes. Although people pertaining to the realm of the Breath, they were still like simple-minded children and as such Paul had to change and adapt the way in which he spoke to them. He had to come down to their level of understanding.
As I said in the previous post, Paul has not yet finished with explaining basic theology. Rather, he expands his basic theological teaching. Although previous generations, including God’s chosen people, the Jews, had not seen or heard how much God is preparing for those taking pleasure in and esteeming Him, now ‘God is continuing to uncover to us through the Breath’, (I Corinthians 2 v 10a). Paul first mentioned the Breath – often translated into English as the ‘Spirit’ or ‘Holy Spirit’ – in verse 4, and now he is going to say more about the Breath of God. The means or channel through which the uncovering of this previously hidden knowledge is happening is the Breath of God. This is a quite separate and distinct channel or means of knowledge from the means of wisdom and knowledge engaged in by the worldly arrangement.
Paul often uses a particular method when it comes to introducing a new theme. First of all he makes a grand general statement and then goes on to explain and add detail to this initial statement. God is uncovering or revealing to Christian leaders by means of His Breath. That is his initial general statement. The Breath of God distinguishes Christians from ‘outsiders’ and the means of the Breath is different from the present ‘worldly arrangement’. This difference between Christians and ‘outsiders’ is attained by the Breath of God ‘unveiling’, ‘uncovering’ and ‘revealing’ to the point of obedient persuasion – or faith – exclusively to Christians.
Why is the Breath of God so important and necessary? One reason is ‘because the Breath is diligently searching and examining even the profound depths of God’ (I Corinthians 2 v 10b). If we think for a moment about our own breath, we can quickly conclude that our breath enters into and comes out from our inner depths. Our breath does not simply enter our mouth or nostrils and then come out again – it permeates the depths of our being. Paul is alluding to the same idea with regard to the Breath of God. A few New Testament references to the Breath refer to the ‘Breath of the Messiah’, but there is of course the sense that the Messiah has been brought forth by God as the ‘Word’. The Ultimate Source of Breath therefore is God, and Paul’s allusion is to the profound inner depths of God. As is the case with human breath, the Breath of God ‘diligently searches and examines’ the profound depths of God.
Why is this relevant? Paul has been talking about the wisdom of God that is different from the ‘wisdom’ of the world. Human beings are naturally blind, deaf and even opposed to God and His wisdom. So how do human beings receive the wisdom of God? They do so by means of the Breath of God (verse 10a). Why the Breath? ‘Because who among men perceive and know the things of the man if not the breath of the man within him? So also no one knows and perceives the things of God if not the Breath of God’ (I Corinthians 2 v 11). The Breath knows and perceives the things of God, the ‘inner depths’ of God. Paul presents the breath of an individual as coming away from deep within them, as thoroughly knowing and inspecting the individual deep within, portraying their essential nature and character. He uses this by way of comparison to the Breath of God knowing and inspecting the ‘inner depths’ of God. The Breath is the perfect means to reveal God to humanity as an informed, faithful and trustworthy means of God’s wisdom. The Breath of God knows and perceives the things of God, (verse 11), and is the means or channel through which God is continuing to uncover or reveal Himself to us, (verse 10a), that is, to the Apostles, Christian leaders and Christians in general. Without the Breath of God no one can know or perceive the things of God to the point of obedient persuasion.
In dealing with the practical problem of divisions and splits within the Corinthian Christian assembly, Paul has turned to basic theology to say that God is confounding worldly wisdom when it comes to the word of the cross of the Messiah. Rather than using eloquent influential, charismatic promoters and big campaigns, God is selecting people that ‘outsiders’ see as weak and poor. God is using what seems to be the foolishness of merely stating the word of the cross, often in a faltering or hesitant way, as the means of His power. Paul has pointed to the Corinthian assembly itself as evidence – not many of them are rich, successful social influencers.
Paul continues by pointing to himself as a Christian leader as evidence. ‘I am coming towards you brothers, not coming down from excellence of speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the evidence of God, 2 because I continued to decide not to be knowing anything among you if not Jesus the Messiah and him having been crucified. 3 I, within weakness, fear and much trembling, became strengthened towards you, 4 my speaking and proclamation not within persuasive, enticing, wise and clever words, but within separation away from it demonstrating and showing the Breath and power 5 so that your persuasion to the point of obedience was not within human wisdom, but within the power of God’ (I Corinthians 2 v 1 – 5). Paul admits that he is not a great orator, not a naturally persuasive speaker, and not skilled in using enticing, clever words. Rather he spoke the word of the cross to them in fear, weakness and trembling. ‘Outsiders’ would not have regarded him as a successful ‘front man’ that they could employ to persuade people. But Paul chose to speak despite his fear, weakness and faltering manner because he decided to be knowledgeable only of Jesus and the cross when he was among them. His fear, weakness and faltering manner may seem to be a recipe for failure, but on the contrary, what he said became strengthened. What he said was not strengthened through worldly skill and wisdom but separated away from it and this demonstrated and showed the Breath and power of God. (Most translations use the word ‘Spirit’ of even ‘Holy Spirit’ here, but the original Greek word – ‘pneuma’ – means ‘breath’. In this case it is capitalised – Pneuma’ – to refer to the ‘Breath of God’). The Corinthian Christians were clearly not persuaded of the word of the cross by Paul’s creative, astute, enticing eloquence or charisma. Rather Paul’s faltering, weak, and by worldly standards ineffective announcement of the word of the cross was made strong by being separated away from worldly eloquence, persuasive speech and wisdom in a demonstration and show of the Breath and the power of God. This has major practical implications with regard to how Christians think about and engage in evangelism, outreach and so on. But Paul is mentioning this basic theology in order to address the division and partisanship within the Corinthian Christian assembly and its leaders.
Faced with the practical problem that the Corinthian Christians were divided and partisan, Paul has placed his focus on Christian leaders and exhorted them to be properly adjusted within the same understanding and within the same knowledge and opinion, (I Corinthians 1 v 10). He has then turned to basic theology that initially seems to be theoretical and abstract. He has stated that the power of God is in the word of the cross the Messiah being announced or stated and that ‘outsiders’ see this as dull and absurd foolishness, and that many trip up and stumble. ‘Outsiders’ would tend to enlist powerful, charismatic, wealthy, eloquent, persuasive people to organise big campaign rallies to promote the message to attract and persuade followers. But Paul says that God is confounding such worldly wisdom.
Paul now asks his Christian readers to look at their own summons from God as evidence of what he is saying. ‘Therefore consider your summons brothers, because not many skilled and wise down from the flesh, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. 27 But God is selecting the dull and stupid of the orderly arrangement of the world in order that He is putting to shame the skilled and wise. 28 God is selecting the weak of the orderly arrangement of the world, in order that He is putting to shame the strong. God is selecting those without family in the orderly arrangement of the world, the outcasts and despised, the non existent, so that He has started and is continuing to render the existent entirely idle, 29 so that all and every kind of flesh cannot boast in the face of God’, (I Corinthians 1 v 26 – 29).
What are Christians like? Are they made up of the rich and powerful people of the world? Are they mainly educated philosophers and intellectuals? Are they ‘social influencers’ and celebrity trend-setters? Are they business and media magnates in positions of power and influence? Are they successful entrepreneurs? Are they world-renowned orators, or propaganda and advertising moguls who influence how people think? No doubt there are a few of these. But by enlarge, Christians summoned by God are not made up of these kinds of successful people who are often valued and admired in worldly terms. Just the opposite. In worldly terms Christians tend to be seen as weak, dull, foolish, outcasts. They are often despised or simply not noticed or acknowledged – as if they did not exist. In this way God is putting the standards and values of the world to shame, confounding its wisdom and overcoming the strong. God is thereby starting to render idle the arrangement that currently exists. Why? So that no one of any ethnicity, class or status will be able to boast in front of God.
In contrast to this worldly perspective and evaluation, Paul states the position of Christians in theological terms. ‘But from out of Him you are within Jesus the Messiah who has become our wisdom away from God, and also in addition, judicial approval, a process of being set apart and full ransom in order that 31 as it is written, ‘The boasting is boasting within the Master’, (I Corinthians 1 v 30, 31). ‘Outsiders’ belonging to the worldly arrangement tend to have little or no regard for the word of the cross of the Messiah. They tend to perceive this gospel and Christians who are persuaded of it, as foolish, but as a result of God’s summons, Christians are placed within the Messiah and the Messiah is their wisdom away from God. Christians have godly wisdom that ‘outsiders’ are not persuaded of. More than this, Christians have judicial approval and are now within a process of being set apart from the worldly order to obtain full ransom – complete ‘buying back’, or ‘redemption’ to a position of divine favour. So do Christians boast of their own skills and abilities, do they proclaim their own cleverness and insight? Not at all. They do indeed boast, but they do so within the Master, the Lord, their Messiah, not within and of themselves.
Faced with the practical problem that the Corinthian Christians were divided and partisan, Paul has called for unity of knowledge and understanding. He has then turned to basic theology that may initially seem to be rather theoretical and abstract. He has stated that:
The Messiah is not divided
Christian leaders have different roles, gifts and abilities
But he has called for them to be properly adjusted within the same understanding and within the same knowledge and opinion
There is division, but it is between ‘outsiders’ and Christians, not between Christian leaders or Christians
‘Outsiders’ are naturally blind to unseen spiritual realities
This blindness leads them to adopt ineffective means if they attempt to try to know God
The power of God is in the word of the cross the Messiah being announced or stated.
For ‘outsiders’ this is dull and absurd foolishness
What is the practical result of announcing or declaring the cross of the Messiah, perhaps even in a faltering, stuttering way? Such an announcement is ‘indeed, a Jewish snare, a rock causing them to trip up and stumble; and to Gentiles, dull, absurd, stupidity. 24 But to those summoned, both Jews and Greeks, [it is] the anointed power of God 25 because the absurd dullness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God stronger than men’, (I Corinthians 1 v 23b – 25). With regard to the way in which Jews had naturally come to think and reason, the announcement of the cross of the Messiah was a snare or trap, a rock on the path that caused them to trip up. For Gentiles and their natural way of thinking, the announcement of the cross seemed to be dull and unworthy of their attention, or to be absurd to the point of stupidity, and they therefore dismissed it.
Yet God summons some to salvation from out of both Jews and Gentiles, and the declaration of the cross of the Messiah proves to be the power of God for them. Those who are summoned by God are not persuaded by clever logic, eloquent speeches, or by any ‘razzmatazz’ surrounding its presentation, but by its declaration – the means that God has chosen in His wisdom. Thus the dullness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God more powerful than men. By the plain, unadorned, sometimes faltering declaration of the cross of the Messiah, those who are summoned are effectively persuaded to the point of obedience and placed as adopted sons in God’s household.
The power of God does not reside in clever, witty presentations, creative attention-grabbing approaches to evangelism, advertising campaigns, popular music and entertainment, or big production values. It does not reside in being able to articulate and debate the profound logic of highly educated philosophers. The power of the word of the cross of the Messiah does not reside in being able to provide supportive evidence from Christian Apologetics, philosophy, psychology or comparisons with other religions. Nor does it reside in demonstrations of extraordinary signs and portents. Miracles, wonders and signs, eloquent speeches, clever propositions, convoluted logic and profound concepts hinder the power of the word of the cross of the Messiah. For example people may be attracted by the ‘razzmatazz’ or the ‘entertainment’ rather than by the word of the cross of the Messiah.
Paul has introduced the basic theological principle that ‘outsiders’ – be they Jews or Gentiles – are ‘naturally blind’ to the unseen realm of spiritual realities. This means that in their darkened knowledge, understanding and reasoning ‘outsiders’ seek to know or find God by worldly means such as philosophy or science. If they were leaders of a Christian assembly they would tend to promote the cross of the Messiah through clever, attractive, eloquent and persuasive means – they would act like advertising promoters. But the power of God is in the word, in the declaration or announcement of the cross of the Messiah, even when such a declaration lacks eloquence or the speaker lacks charisma. But ‘outsiders’ consider this simple declaration to be dull, ineffective and foolish.
What is the evidence that Paul is correct? Paul presents general examples as supporting evidence. ‘Since Jews are now asking for signs and Greeks are inquiring for wise and clever resolutions, 23 we however are proclaiming the Messiah having been crucified’, (I Corinthians 1 v 22, 23a). The practical result of this basic theology can be seen. Jews, whom God gave up to their own darkened and empty reasoning at the time of the Babylonian Captivity, are now asking for signs. They require miracles and portents before they will be persuaded of the cross of the Messiah. Greeks, (another term for Gentiles or non-Jews), are seeking answers and resolutions to questions about the unseen spiritual realm within human wisdom, by means of clever logic and reasoning. In Paul’s time that meant philosophy like that of the Epicurian Philosophers on Mars Hill who loved to debate, (Acts 17).
Paul is looking at this theological principle within the context of Christian leaders. In the phrase ‘we however’ Paul is contrasting Christian leaders with ‘outsiders’. By the word ‘we’ Paul means the Apostles, Evangelists, teachers and leaders who were proclaiming and heralding the Messiah crucified. They were simply declaring this good news because within the wisdom of God ‘the word spoken of the cross… is the power of God’, (verse 18). The power of God lies within this word being declared. Thus Paul accepted the invitation by the Epicurian Philosophers to declare the gospel. But it is also why Paul did not engage in philosophical debate with them. It is why, as some of them began to sneer at the idea of the resurrection, Paul walked away, having faithfully and successfully announced the basic concepts of the gospel. (Acts 17).
Paul is going back to basic principles relevant to the practical everyday problems of division, sectarianism and partisanship between Christians. He is focussing on Christian leaders and he has called for them to be of one understanding and expressed the unity of the Messiah whom they are serving. Christian leaders have a diversity of roles and gifts, but the Messiah is not divided. Instead of division between Christian leaders and Christians in general, there is a polarising separation or division between Christians and ‘outsiders’. For ‘outsiders’ – even educated scholars – the word of the cross of the Messiah is dull or absurd. So Paul asks a rhetorical question:‘Where skill and wisdom? Where Scribe? Where the ostentatious debater of this age?’ (I Corinthians 1 v 20). If the power of God is in the word of the cross, then where does this leave philosophers, educators, debaters, opinion-makers, educated critics and scholars who think that this is dull, absurd foolishness? Where does this leave the intricacies of worldly philosophy, or Christian Apologetics, or Psychology, or the thought-through principles, values and approaches presented by other religious teachings? Where are the approaches of objective science?
Paul gives a theological answer to his rhetorical question. ‘Because seeing that within the wisdom of God the world absolutely does not come to know, recognise and perceive God through the art of using wisdom and cultivated skill, God is well-pleased to be continuing to deliver those who are being persuaded through the absurdity and dullness of proclamation’, (I Corinthians 1 v 21). Within His wisdom God has arranged matters in such a way that the world – ‘naturally spiritually blind outsiders’ – absolutely do not come to perceive and know God by means of the skill and learning of their human wisdom. They cannot discover, perceive or know God by engaging in the rigours of logic and reasoning within philosophy, or by material scientific endeavours such as astronomy, chemistry, physics or biology. To tie this in with Paul intimated earlier, ‘outsiders’ do not come to discover and perceive God by means of eloquent, rousing, persuasive speeches, or through cleverly thought-out and sophisticated logical reasoning in academic disputes and debates. Rather, God is pleased to continue delivering those who are being persuaded by means of what worldly ‘wisdom’ considers to be the absurd foolishness and dullness of proclamation. The good news is simply announced, it is merely stated, often in an unsophisticated and faltering way, and by what the worldly arrangement considers to be this unspectacular, ineffective and basic means, namely the plain and simple declaration of the good news of the cross of the Messiah, the power and wisdom of God is revealed. The power of God is in the word of the cross.
Paul is going back to basic principles relevant to the practical everyday problems of division, sectarianism and partisanship between Christians. He is initially focussing on Christian leaders and at the foundation of Christianity by explaining where the power of the word of the cross of the Messiah is situated. It is not situated in clever worldly propositions, eloquent speeches, slick presentations or attractive charismatic leaders. The power of God is situated in the word of the cross of the Messiah itself. ‘Outsiders’ see this word as dull or absurd. But those being delivered by God see it as the power of God. This basic theology reveals the polarising separation or division that exists, not between Christians or Christian leaders, but between Christians and ‘outsiders’. There is a fundamental difference between practical Christian perspectives and approaches to daily life, and the perspectives and approaches to daily life that arise from within human beings within the worldly arrangement.
Paul adds authority and consistency to what he is saying by referring to the Hebrew or Old Testament Scriptures. ‘Because it is written: I will entirely cut off the wisdom and cultivated skill of the wise, I will do away with the joining together of understanding of the intelligent’, (I Corinthians 1 v 19). Paul presents a slightly altered quotation of Isaiah 29 v 14 from the Septuagint. The Hebrew reads, ‘The wisdom of the wise will perish and the understanding of their discerning men will be hidden’. Christian evangelicals, fundamentalists and ‘Bible believing’ Christians are fond of quoting Scripture texts to ‘authenticate’ what they are proposing. The Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament would not carry as much weight for Gentiles or non-Jews, so Paul only refers to these texts occasionally when speaking or writing to Gentiles.
Paul, in his letter to the Romans, says, 1 v 22, ‘Professing to be wise, they [outsiders] continue to be foolish and insipid’ (Romans1 v 22). Paul is talking about spiritual perception, about knowledge and understanding of what is true to the facts in the unseen realm of the heavens. Those educated and skilled in worldly wisdom who embrace sensuous values drawn from the tangible material world may certainly be very clever indeed. They may be highly educated and skilled in the use of logic and possess a sharp and incisive mind. But when it comes to spiritual perception and persuasion they remain dull, slow and insipid.
This principle of ‘natural spiritual blindness’ is particularly relevant to Jews, who are God’s chosen ethnic people and who as a result had many privileges. But as Ezekiel explains, the people and leaders of Israel had been so rebellious and unfaithful to YHVH and His Covenant that YHVH withdrew Himself and His honour and praiseworthiness away from them. They lost their land, their leaders, their monarchy, priests, temple and so on during the Babylonian Conquest and Captivity. YHVH left Jews to their own way of thinking and empty reasoning when it came to the unseen realm. As a result, amongst other things, Jews failed and still fail to recognise or accept Jesus as God’s anointed Messiah and deliverer. They defend their perspectives with clever propositions and reasoning. There have been and still are many educated and skilled Jewish scholars and philosophers. But this kind of wisdom and cleverness does not lead to a perception and understanding of the unseen realm and spiritual realities. This ‘natural spiritual blindness’ or ‘veiling’ still continues down to this present day for Jews as well as Gentiles. Isaiah tells us that worldly cultivated skill and wisdom will perish, it will be entirely cut off. The educated scholarly logic and reasoning of intelligent worldly philosophers and religious thinkers will be done away with, covered and hidden. Isaiah is almost certainly referring to the advent of the Millennium Reign. The principle, that the power of the cross does not depend upon human eloquence, clever speech and the methods of worldly philosophy continues to hold true in this present age, as Paul is about to explain.
Continuing his theme of the Christian’s relationship with pseudo-prophets and the orderly arrangement of the world, John says, ‘You are infants from out of God and are overcoming them, because that within you is greater than that within the orderly arrangement. 5 They exist from out of the orderly arrangement; they successfully carry across to the other side by means of speaking from out of the orderly arrangement, and the orderly arrangement listens to and hears them. 6 We are from out of God. The one knowing God in experience is hearing and listening to us; but he who is not from out of God is not hearing and listening to us. From out of this we know in experience the breath of truth and the breath of wandering and departure’ (John 4 v 4 – 6).
Although there are references in the New Testament to Christians growing towards maturity, there is also a sense in which Christians remain as ‘infants from out of God’ because no Christian will reach the completion of their redemption until they are resurrected. But despite his Christian readers still being infants John nevertheless assures them that they are overcoming the pseudo-prophets. How and why are they doing this?
Christians are overcoming pseudo-prophets because what is within them is greater than that which is within those who belong to the orderly arrangement of the world
John returns to the stark division that he has already introduced between Christians and ‘outsiders’. Each Christian is a ‘new creation brought forth by God’, but ‘outsiders’ – including the pseudo-prophets that John is talking about – exist from out of the orderly arrangement of the world. As is the case with all ‘outsiders’, pseudo-prophets who claim inspiration and revelations from God are enslaved to their fleshly constitution – they are sensuous, earthy people from out of the orderly arrangement of the world which fleshly, sensuous, earthy people have established. This means that pseudo-prophets are consistent in their appeal to the values, standards, principles and desires of their fellow ‘outsiders’ who are likewise travelling the ‘broad path’. Thus, fellow ‘outsiders’ listen to pseudo-prophets and false teachers and they hear them, because they all belong to and resonate with the same ‘outsider’ group, sharing the same fundamental energies as earthy people who are children of the devil. They often like ‘slick’, entertaining presentations, handsome preachers, well-crafted speeches, stirring oratory, rousing music and dynamic events such as healing, tongue-speaking and so on, all of which give an air of authority, success, power, health and even the promise of material wealth.
By contrast Christians are unlike ‘outsiders’ because they are new creations brought forth by God. They possess, enlightenment, illumination and unction from the Breath of God such that they perceive and are persuaded of spiritual realities, as well as unction from the breath of the Messiah towards submissive obedience and practical beneficial love towards fellow Christians. Their persuasion is not based on worldly values and approaches. As the Apostle Paul says, he came ‘to announce and proclaim the good news, not within wise words and eloquence, so that the cross of the Messiah is not emptied of its power. 18 Because the word spoken of the cross is absurd and dull to those who are being completely cut off, but to us, those who are being delivered, it is the power of God. 19 Because it is written: ‘I will entirely cut off the wisdom and cultivated skill of the wise, and I will do away with the joining together of understanding of the intelligent’. 20 Where skill and wisdom? Where Scribe? Where the ostentatious debater of this age? 21 The wisdom and cultivated skill of the orderly arrangement of the world has absolutely not made God absurd and dull. Because seeing that within the wisdom of God the orderly arrangement of the world did not know God in personal experience through cultivated skill and wisdom, God is well-pleased to be continuing to deliver those who are being persuaded through the absurdity and dullness of proclamation. 22 Forasmuch as Jews are also asking for signs and Greeks are inquiring for wise and clever resolutions, 23 but we are proclaiming Messiah having been crucified. Indeed, a Jewish snare, a rock causing them to trip up and stumble, and to Gentiles, dull, absurd, stupidity. 24 But to those summoned, both Jews and Greeks, the anointed power of God. 25 Because the absurd dullness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God stronger than men. 26 Therefore consider your summons brothers, because not many skilled and wise down from the flesh, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. 27 But God has selected the dull and stupid of the orderly arrangement of the world in order that He is putting to shame the skilled and wise. 28 God has selected the weak of the orderly arrangement of the world in order that He is putting to shame the strong. God has selected those without family in the orderly arrangement of the world, the outcasts and despised, the non-existent, so that He renders the existent entirely idle 29 so that all and every kind of flesh cannot boast in the face of God. 30 But from out of Him you are within Jesus the Messiah who has become our wisdom away from God. Also in addition, judicial approval, being set apart, and full ransom, in order that 31 as it is written, ‘The boasting be boasting within the master’ (I Corinthians 1 v 17 – 31). And again, ‘my speaking and my proclamation not within persuasive, enticing wise and clever words, but within manifestation of the breath and power, 5 so that your persuasion to the point of obedience was not within human wisdom but within the power of God. 6 We are speaking wisdom among the complete and mature – but not the wisdom of this age, nor of the pre-eminent rulers of this age who are being rendered inert and idle. 7 But we are speaking the wisdom of God within a mystery that God predetermined before the ages, having been concealed away, penetrating into our honour and esteem, 8 that none of the primary rulers of this age are coming to know, recognize or perceive. Because if they had perceived and recognized it they would not have crucified the Lord of honour and esteem. 9 But as it is written, ‘What eye has not seen and ear has not heard, what has not ascended on the basis of the deep inner core thoughts and feelings of man’, because what God is preparing for those taking pleasure in and esteeming Him, 10 God is continuing to uncover to us through the breath’(I Corinthians 2 v 4 – 10a). And once more, ‘we have not received and taken hold of the breath of the orderly arrangement of the world, but the breath from out of God in order that we are knowing and perceiving under God freely extending favour and pardon to us, 13 which we are also speaking, not within instruction of words belonging to human wisdom, but instructed by the breath closely identified in company with discriminating breath and breath. 14 But the natural, sensuous man is not taking, receiving and welcoming the breath of God because it is absurd, dull, stupidity to him. He is not able to know, recognize and perceive, because [it is] breathfully distinguished and examined. 15 But the breathful are scrutinizing and investigating everything. However he himself is being investigated under no one, 16 because who is continuing to know and discern the intellect of the Lord? Who will join together to teach him? But we are holding and possessing the intellect of the Messiah’ (I Corinthians 2 v 12 – 16).
It is in the light of this that John says: ‘The one knowing God in experience is hearing and listening to us; but he who is not from out of God is not hearing and listening to us. From out of this we know in experience the breath of truth and the breath of wandering and departure’. ‘Outsiders’ can of course hear the words and can understand what the words mean. They can follow the logic, reasoning and deductions of Apostolic teaching, and can say the words ‘Jesus is Lord and Messiah’. But they are not persuaded to the point of obedience of what is true to the facts concerning the messiah and unseen realities. Thus it was that ‘outsiders’ said of Paul that his writing was impressive but that in person and as a speaker he was unimpressive, and that what he had to say seemed to them to be dull, absurd and stupid.
Because of the polarizing dichotomy between Christians and ‘outsiders’, John argues that if a person is persuaded that Jesus is God’s chosen and anointed deliverer who came in physical flesh, and persuaded to the point of obedience, then they must be within the Messiah and thereby possess a share of the divine inheritance. The one who is from out of God listens to and hears the Apostolic teaching regarding who Jesus is. John is also arguing the case with regards to those who do not hear and pay attention to this teaching. He argues that if a person is opposed to these concepts of Jesus being the Messiah who came in physical flesh, then they cannot be within the Messiah or be following the unction of the breath of God in their teaching and practice, even if they say that they are teaching a form of Christianity. Such an orientation cannot come from the breath of God.
Christian 2 Christians 