The Spiritual vs. the Natural

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God: that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.  Which things also we speak, not the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”  I Corinthians 2:12-14

When one is physically born, he or she already has the spirit of the world, the sin nature within.  It is this secular, selfish nature that rules their minds until such time as they come to Christ and receive a new nature, that of the righteousness of Christ by grace through faith.  Along with this new nature comes the filling of the Holy Spirit, which enables the believer to know the grace and faith that are freely given to us by God.  The spirit of the world, the sin nature, gives us nothing but grief, anxiety, fear, and hopelessness.  The sin nature is not given to us by God; it is inherent in human nature since the fall of Adam and Eve.  When they disobeyed God, they chose to follow the way of the world of which the prince of the power of the air, Satan, (Ephesians 2:2), whose spirit works to turn folks against God and His righteousness, is working overtime in this time of turmoil.

Thanks be to God that He had already planned how men and women could receive a new, righteous nature to overcome the nature of the world and sin.  It is this new nature accompanied by the Holy Spirit which gives believers spiritual insight.  God’s word can only be understood by the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Bible can’t be explained by science, although the more scientists discover, the more science supports the words of scripture.  After all, God invented science and nature.  Man has tried to use science to disprove God, only to do just the opposite.  God made Himself known from the beginning in all that man can see, the sky, the earth, the sun, moon, and stars so that man has no excuse not to believe in Him (Romans 1:20).

Anyone who is void of God’s Spirit because he or she has rejected the gospel of Christ can’t understand or accept what God says.  To a lost person, the word of God is just a silly storybook, written by men who were either drunk or high on drugs or just writing about their wishful thinking.  Some see the Bible as nothing more than over a thousand pages of allegory.  Jesus did use parables as illustrations in His teaching, however, the Bible is a fact-based telling of the history of man and his relationship to God centered around a nation of which God appointed to display to the world the glory, power, and love of God.  Because they failed to live up to God’s plan for them, God was prepared ahead of time to find those who would look to Him for forgiveness, guidance, comfort, and love which He supplies through His Son, Jesus Christ.  The reason that unbelievers are called “lost” is because they are outside of God’s kingdom.  They are living in the world that He created, but have no part of the spiritual realm, thus being “lost” from the way home, God’s kingdom in which He desires that all people enter in.

The natural man may think that he knows who God is, but if he really knew God, he would desire to surrender his life to Him.  The natural man operates in the sphere of what he can see, touch, and feel, the physical world.  God doesn’t waste the precious things nor deep mysteries of His word on those who reject Him.  Jesus said in Matthew 7:6 to “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”  Dogs and swine were representative to the Jews as those who were “unclean”, but in other parts of scripture, they represent “evil workers” (Philippians 3:2).  Today we would view them as those who adamantly reject God, His word, Christ, and the gospel.  Jesus also said in Matthew 10:14 when speaking to His disciples that when they entered a city or home to share the gospel, if the people rejected them then they were to leave and shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against those people and/or city.

While God desires for all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (I Timothy 2:4), it is evident in reading the pages of scripture and in observing the wickedness of so many across the globe that vast numbers of people will never receive Christ as Lord and Savior.  Jesus verified that fact when He said in Matthew 7:13 that through the wide gate and onto the broad way will many choose to go, and it will only lead to destruction.  To those who never repent of sin and receive Christ as Lord and Savior, they will never understand or be benefited by the spiritual things of God.  Even though it is evident that many will not enter the straight gate and the narrow way, we should never stop praying for and sharing the gospel with unbelievers.  What we say, backed up by the way we live, might just help someone to see the truth.