WWUTT 1452 The Spiritually Minded Man (1 Corinthians 2:15)

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The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.

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For who has understood the mind of the Lord as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the word of Christ, that men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

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Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com. Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of 1 Corinthians 2, I'm going to begin in verse 14, and read through chapter 3, verse 4.

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The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. The natural person does not accept the things of the

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Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

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The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.

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For who has understood the mind of the Lord as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

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But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

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I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it, and even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh.

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For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

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For when one says, I follow Paul, and another, I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human?

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So, as we talk about these things we've been going through in 1 Corinthians 2, you see that Paul will return to the context of what started the argument in chapter 1, where you had some people in Corinth who were saying,

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I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I am of Cephas, and I am of Christ. There were factions that were being formed among them because they had different loyalties to different teachers, and it wasn't just a matter of preference.

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It wasn't like, well, I really like listening to Paul more than I like listening to Peter. You actually had jealousy and strife that was forming among them over this, based on what

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Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, 3. This was entirely superficial.

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It was completely of the flesh. They were behaving as naturally -minded people behave, as people who do not have

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Christ behave. Now, Paul does not say of them that they are not actually in Christ, because he says in chapter 3, verse 1,

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I could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

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So he's still acknowledging that they're Christians. He's not writing these guys off as not being of Christ at all.

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But there is growth that is not happening, because they are still thinking as naturally -minded people, rather than people of God, rather than people of the

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Spirit. So coming back again to yesterday's verse, 1 Corinthians 2, 14, the natural person does not accept the things of the

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Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

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Now it's reasonable for us to conclude by what Paul says here in this particular verse. He is talking about a person who does not have

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Christ versus a person who does have Christ. And it's almost as if he's looking at the church and saying to them, which one are you?

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Are you naturally -minded or are you spiritually -minded? And if the church would respond to him, well, we're spiritually -minded.

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We have the mind of Christ. Then Paul's response to them would be, act like it. Stop forming these factions among yourselves.

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Stop being divided against one another over naturally -minded fleshly things like jealousy and strife.

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You need to be united. You need to be of one mind in Christ Jesus. But the naturally -minded man, he who is still sinful by his nature, does not think with the mind of Christ.

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He thinks with the mind of a man. And this is something that we are fighting against constantly, the desire to want to think with our flesh rather than think with the mind of Christ.

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This is a war that exists in our flesh until our dying day. As we mature in Christ, that battle can get easier.

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It becomes easier to suppress the temptations of our flesh because of the maturity that we've gained in Christ.

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But that conflict is still there. You think about a question that Jesus asked of his disciples.

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We read about this in Matthew 16. He says to his disciples, who do people say that the

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Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist. Others say

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Elijah. And others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And Jesus says to them, but who do you say that I am?

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And Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you,

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Simon Bar -Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

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And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

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So Peter responds with the mind of God, something that is revealed to him by God when he says to Jesus, you are the

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Christ, the Son of the living God. Only a person who is able to think with the mind of Christ, as granted to us by God, is able to see

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Jesus in such a way. The naturally minded man does not contemplate Christ in this way. Second John 1 -7 says, for many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.

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Such a one is a deceiver and the antichrist. So what John is referring to there is the way and the manner in which the

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Son of God came incarnate, that he was very God and very man,

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God in human flesh. There are those who will say that Jesus was only human and not

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God. And there are others that will say that Jesus was entirely God, but not really entirely human.

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He only appeared to be a human, but he still retained all of his

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Godness, if you will pardon the expression. But we know there were things that Jesus in emptying himself and taking on human flesh gave up.

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For example, he says in Matthew 24 that no one knows the hour or the day of his return. Only the

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Father knows. We know that Jesus suffered and died on the cross for our sins because of what the scriptures tell us.

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If Jesus was only God and not man, then there would have been no suffering and no death, but because he was indeed a man.

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The incarnate Son of God, that hypostatic union of being very

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God and very flesh, because he was indeed God in human flesh, he did suffer and die as a man so that he would be the one man to keep the law perfectly, to die the death that we deserve so that he might rise from the dead, conquering death for us on our behalf, that we might be justified by his resurrection.

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He was raised for our justification, as it says in Romans 4, 25. So Christ accomplished this.

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All of this written about in the word, the spiritually minded man, we who have the spirit of God that are able to read these words and contemplate them.

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We're able to understand this. These things are spiritually discerned. But a person who does not have the spirit of God, who is still a naturally minded man, who by his nature would reject

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Jesus Christ in the flesh. This person is a deceiver and the antichrist.

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And we know that the Pharisees that opposed Jesus were certainly that way. They rejected that he was the

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Son of God, God incarnate, who had come in flesh to dwell among us, to die for our sins and rise again from the grave so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

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Remember that Paul has previously said in First Corinthians 2, 8, that if the rulers of this age had understood this, had known who

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Jesus was and the mystery that God was unveiling in Christ, if they had known this, they would not have crucified the

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Lord of glory. The crucifixion of Jesus happened by naturally minded men.

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So Peter, in the first place, answers Jesus question correctly when he says, who do you say that I am?

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He says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus says, you came about this understanding and this answer because God had shown it to you, because you were thinking with the mind of God.

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It was revealed to you not by flesh and blood, but by my father who is in heaven.

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But then later on, just a few verses later here in Matthew chapter 16,

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Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

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And Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you,

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Lord, this shall never happen to you. But Jesus turned and said to Peter, get behind me,

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Satan, you are a hindrance for me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

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So previously, Peter answered this question with an answer that had been given to him by God.

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He answered with the mind of God. But then when Jesus began to show his disciples spiritual things, that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer, that the elders and the chief priests and the scribes were going to kill him.

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But he also said to his disciples on the third day he would be raised. He's revealing these spiritual things to his disciples.

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How does Peter respond in that moment regarding those words? Peter takes him aside and rebukes him and says, no,

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Lord, this shall never happen to you. But what does Jesus say to him? Get behind me,

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Satan. Do you realize that if Peter had his way in that moment, you and I would not be saved?

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If Peter had his way, Jesus would not have gone to the cross and died. And everyone who put trust in God, in the hope of his promise, whether before the cross or after, we would all perish.

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For Christ would not have atoned for the sins of those who had rebelled against God, which is every single person who has ever lived other than Christ.

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Peter thought what he was doing was the right thing to do. He just loved his

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Lord, right? He just wanted to express his love for Jesus. He didn't want to see his friend go and die.

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But he was thinking with the mind of a man. And not with the mind of God.

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That was part of the rebuke that Jesus gave to Peter. You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

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You've heard the old saying, it's kind of cliche, but it's nevertheless true. You've heard the saying, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

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There are a lot of people who do kind and nice things who are well -meaning people, but if they are not thinking with the mind of God, they are thinking with the mind of Satan, with the mind of a fallen man, with the mind of the natural person.

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We need to be thinking with the mind that Peter had when he responded to Jesus. You are the

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Christ, the son of the living God, and not with the mind of Peter when he responded to Jesus, no,

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Lord, I will never let this happen to you. It doesn't matter how good our intentions may be, they are not good if we are not thinking with the mind of God, with the mind of the spirit, accepting the things of the spirit of God.

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We know that Peter would go on to continue to think with the mind of a man rather than with the mind of God.

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He's got a moment there where God reveals truth to him and he is able to proclaim Christ as the son of the living

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God, but then he goes on and continues to think with his natural mind.

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He says to Jesus, I will never deny you. Jesus says to him, you'll deny me three times. And when

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Jesus is arrested and put on trial, indeed Peter did just as Jesus said he would do.

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He denied that he even knew Christ three times. When the rooster crowed, he realized what he had done and it says that Peter went out and wept bitterly.

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At the end of the gospel of John, we see Jesus restore Peter to that place of teaching, that apostolic ministry that he is calling

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Peter to. And then Peter is the one who proclaims the gospel there at Pentecost in Acts chapter two.

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So we know that Peter came around on this, but it was when the spirit of God was given to him, when he was able to see then with the mind of God, with the mind of Christ and not with the mind of a man.

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Peter teaches in first Peter two verse 21, for to this, you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.

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He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

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When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

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He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds.

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You have been healed for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

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And this is Peter coming into this understanding because Peter now thinks now has the mind of Christ at the time that he wrote that particular letter.

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So we likewise cannot be of a natural mind. We cannot think in the old ways in our natural tendencies in, in our flesh, we must think with the mind of God, according to the spirit of God that has been given to us.

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We are able to understand the things of God because those things are spiritually discerned.

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We read in first Corinthians two 15, the spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.

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That doesn't mean that Christians aren't going to do anything wrong. It does mean though that we are discerning spiritual truths that are far above anything in this world.

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And the world cannot tell us that those things that are spiritually discerned are wrong.

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The world can't tell us these things are wrong. They don't know. They don't have a mind to be able to discern those spiritual things.

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These spiritual truths are discerned by spiritual people. We who have the spirit of God.

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So do not be ashamed of those things that are revealed to us by God in his word.

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The Bible, the world can't tell us that those things are wrong because they can't even contemplate these things.

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We understand them because we have the spirit of God. Romans one 16 for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the

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Jew first and also to the Greek. We are not ashamed of these things. We rejoice in these things that we read about in scripture that we contemplate that that we know according to what

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God has done. We have received salvation by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The world finds that foolish.

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But who cares? Who cares what the world thinks about these things? We have the mind of Christ verse 16 for who has understood the mind of the

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Lord. So as to instruct him, these things are given to us by God is revealed in his word.

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So the world cannot tell us that these things are wrong. Is the world going to tell

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God that he is wrong? We have read previously in Romans chapter 11 this very same citation that Paul makes quoting from Isaiah 40 verse 13.

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He did the same back in Romans 11 beginning in verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.

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How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways for who has known the mind of the

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Lord or who has been his counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever.

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Amen. And we have been blessed to understand the mind of the

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Lord by what he has revealed to us according to his spirit. We have the mind of Christ so we are able to discern spiritual things and do not be ashamed when the world makes fun of you for that the world can't understand these things.

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They still think with the mind of the world. They still have that natural mind that which is set against God that which goes after the things of the flesh rather than the things of Christ.

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So yeah, they're going to make fun of us for this. They're going to say we worship zombie Jesus. They're going to say we believe in a in a

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Sky Fairy, but who cares what they have to say? We're going to be mocked.

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Jesus said we would be because the world hates him because the world hates him.

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They're going to hate us who are of God and not of the world but continue to hold fast to Christ continue to hope in his word this word which the world does not understand but we do because we have the mind of Christ and my friend grow in these things also mature in your understanding of this that you that you would not be found to be thinking with the mind of a man, but with the mind of Christ, that's where Paul goes next in this letter rebuking these

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Corinthian Christians and they are Christians, but he rebukes them for continuing to think in their naturally minded ways rather than with the spiritual mind.

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We'll talk more about that as we come back to first Corinthians 3 tomorrow Heavenly Father.

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We thank you for the good word that you have given to us and revealed to us and made us to understand by your spirit that has been poured into our hearts.

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And I pray that as we go this day, we think with the mind of Christ and not with the mind of a man.

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There are many worldly philosophies out there that are attempting to lead us astray that if any of those worldly philosophies had their way

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Christ would not have died. We would not be redeemed.

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Jesus would not be worshipped and we would all perish help us to be able to know the difference between that which is of the world and that which is of Christ that we may grow as spiritual people into Christ Jesus who is the head of the church.

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It's in his name that we pray, amen. Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

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You can find a link to the blog through our website www .utt .com. Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.