Today's Journal
POWER OF THE CROSS II
In yesterday’s Journal I wrote concerning Paul’s opening remarks in the first letter to the Corinthians. He made his remarks very clear: “And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling. My conversation and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). An important point in his comments is that he could have come with impressive and scholarly “persuasive words of wisdom.” Paul had to learn upon his conversion what we also must learn, it is the “demonstration of the Spirit and power of God, so our faith does rest on human wisdom.”As Paul finished his thoughts in this chapter on the Power of God, he wrote: “When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:13-16).
Our life and our message of Jesus and the Father and the Kingdom of God become much more possible when produced from the Power of the Cross by the Holy Spirit.
“And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.” Jesus