How Do You Recognise a Spiritual Christian?
What is a Spiritual Christian?
How do you recognise a Spiritual Christian?
Is it because they speak in tongues?
Is it their evangelism work?
Is it being super wealthy?
Maybe they are healing people?
They run a Mega-Church?
Maybe Bible understanding?
Maybe they act pious and humble.
Could be they are always smiling and positive and basking in blessings?
Just what do we need to look for to recognise a Spiritual Christian?
What is a Spiritual Christian?
To answer this question I will firstly answer the question…
What does it take to become a Christian?
We know it’s not good works/knowledge/family connections etc
To become a Christian
Simply stated
A person is a Christian because of a right relationship to Jesus Christ.
So what makes a Spiritual Christian then?
Well if a person is a Christian because of a right relationship to Jesus
It follows….that
A Christian is Spiritual because of a right relationship to the Holy Spirit
For each believer that ‘Right’ relationship will manifest itself in various ways in and through a believer…….
……Through various combinations of the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit combined with the individuals personal and corporate call of God on their life.
What is a Right Relationship with the Holy Spirit?
So what is a right relationship with the Holy Spirit? We are going to explore something of this today from 1st Corinthians chapters 2 and 3
So let’s dive in….
Starting at 1 Corinthians 2:1 – New International Version
Paul the Apostle writes;
1.And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
When Paul came to the Corinthians he did not do so using the art of language with fluency and aptness to bring his testimony about God. He came not with human wisdom.
Paul took a different approach
2. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Paul came with a straight forward message. Jesus Christ and him Crucified.
but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
And what was his attitude when he brought this message?
3. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.
Paul the great apostle of God
Declaring God’s message with – weakness – fear – trembling
Some may interpret that as a lack of faith or fear of people
But Paul knew where the power came from for his preaching and teaching
In verses 4 & 5 – Paul reiterates why he did not use persuasive words and goes some way to helping us understand why he came in fear and trembling.
4. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Paul wanted his message and preaching to be a demonstration of the Spirit’s Power. That is the Holy Spirit.
It was not about Paul and his ego.
It was not about Paul showing how wonderful he was with words.
It was not about Paul showing he was fearless.
It was however about Paul being a vessel for the Holy Spirit to work through.
Paul says that he did not bring a message based on human wisdom.
But he did bring a wise message.
6. We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8.None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Paul declared a message of wisdom – not human wisdom but God’s wisdom
It’s a wisdom that not everyone can understand
“None of the rulers of this age understood it,”
The rulers of this age (at the time of the Crucifiction)
The Roman governor – Rulers of the Jewish church – Jewish national leaders – Kings – maybe even Satan
If the rulers of this world/age had they known this truth and heavenly wisdom, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory
But none of them understood it
And there is a very clear reason for that…
9. However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[b]—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
There are things that no eye has seen
That no ear has heard
What no mind has conceived
And God has these things available for those that love him
And God reveals them to those that love him
Revealed – By His Spirit
He will even reveal deep things of Himself to those that love him
Paul understood a very important Spiritual principle
God reveals things by the Spirit (we should never lose sight of that)
11. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
As we are made up of body – soul – spirit – A person can know their own thoughts because of their own spirit.
So it follows that only the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) knows the things of God
This is where it gets really exciting for God’s people – for us
12. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
We have received the Spirit of God so that we may understand the things of God. Awesome! (Intellectuals/brilliant minds can’t see these things)
This is God’s plan for his people. To receive what He has for us via the Holy Spirit so we can have Spirit-taught words.
For Paul the apostle the principle is clear.
Paul speaks what he has been taught by the Spirit. He does not use human wisdom to know what to teach. Paul has been taught by the Spirit.
He explains Spiritual realities with Spirit taught words.
This is Brilliant!
It’s brilliant!
It means we do not have to rely on our own intelligence – or in my case – – lack of intelligence
God himself, through the Holy Spirit can provide our words and understanding
That’s why Jesus could say in…
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
This is why at times non-Christians cannot understand what we say
14. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
When our words are Spiritual the natural mind cannot understand them
And if they do begin to understand them….then the Holy Spirit is helping them
Without the Spirit a person cannot accept the things the Spirit is revealing
I consider this is especially true for those who wilfully reject God and his message of Salvation.
But it also has important implications for evangelism and witnessing
If people without the Spirit of God dwelling in them cannot understand and receive the good news of Salvation.
The we need to pray that God will bring light to them by the Spirit so they can be saved….and that happens by the grace of God
Lost/found darkness/light not of ourselves/a gift
15. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 or,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”[d]
But we have the mind of Christ.
Three Types of People
The person with the Spirit –
Walks with God based on Divine Revelation
They live a Godly life
They can make judgements about all things
Human judgements against their sound Biblical teaching and kingdom lifestyle mean little because the human mind can’t really understand the Spiritual mind
Because they that are Spiritual have the mind of Christ
They think and walk in Godly Spiritual ways.
That’s the end of 1 Cor 2
But I do need to delve into the first three verses of 1 Cor 3
To raise something very important for our Spiritual walk
1 Cor 3
1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
Paul could not speak to the Corinthians as people who live by the Spirit
Because they were still worldly
Some translations speak of Carnality meaning the flesh.
Speaking broadly – the world speaks of the fallen world – Carnality speaks of the Flesh – speaks of the sinful element in a person’s nature
The fallen nature inherited by being a descendent of Adam
The Spirit is the Holy Spirit who comes by the regeneration when we believe the gospel
Generally being called to be ‘Born Again’
This is fascinating. It means . . .
You can actually divide the whole of humanity into three groups.
- Those who do not have the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:14)
- Those who have the Spirit of God but still walk in the Flesh and live a worldly lifestyle (1 Cor 3:1)
- Those who have the Spirit of God and live by the Spirit (1 Cor 3:1)
I raised the question earlier “What is a Spiritual Christian”
I gave the answer…
‘A Christian is Spiritual because of a right relationship to the Holy Spirit’
A right relationship to the Holy Spirit.
So if we forget about the people without the Spirit.
We have two groups left – both groups have the Holy Spirit
One group have the Spirit but walk controlled by the world and the flesh
One group live by the Spirit and actively seek to walk controlled by the Spirit
So What is Happening Here?
We are all born again…
We have all received the Holy Spirit…but
Some walk controlled by the Flesh
Some walk being led by the Spirit
I’m sure we’d all agree that living a life led by the Spirit would be what the Lord wants
A life displaying the fruits of the Spirit and not the fruits of the flesh
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Contrast those fruits to the acts of the flesh
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
What a difference/contrast between a godly life and a flesh life
Bearing fruit as Children of God glorifies God and proves we are disciples of Jesus.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
So in a practical sense, what are we to do.
Galatians 5:16 says…
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
But how do we walk on the Spirit?
Well it is letting us know is that We need to yield our lives to God
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1
13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. Romans 6:13
Don’t Offer Ourselves Willingly to Sin
So don’t offer ourselves willingly to sin
Yield/Offer your life to God.
Each day lay your life before Him as a living sacrifice
Offer your heart to God each day
Surrender your life to what He might want
WE can be confident when we do this..
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
God has given us the Holy Spirit
He has begun the work in us
He will carry us through to completion
We have heard from the Word of God,
9. However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[b]—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
Things that eye has not seen and ear has not heard, human mind not conceived
Unseen things
What is faith?
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
Faith is belief in things unseen
What does God have for us? Unseen things!
Walking in the Spirit therefore calls us to walk by faith
To believe in the unseen thing God is revealing to us
How do we get faith –
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
The Word of God plays an important role in walking in the Spirit.
The Spirit will use it to speak, challenge, teach, support, comfort and guide us. (plus, I guess, a lot more)
When the Holy Spirit reveals something to you….It’s good practice to check out what the Word of God says on the subject…
If it contradicts the Word of God then it’s not the Holy Spirit
It’s also worthwhile talking the revelation over with a mature Christian
So Paul the Apostle Teaches
So Paul the Apostle teaches us
It’s not about our eloquence
It’s not about our own strength
Not based on human wisdom
Our faith is to rest on God’s power
God can reveal deep things to us – Limitless – without limit
Holy Spirit reveals the thoughts of God
Holy Spirit will give us the words to speak when we need them
We can have the mind of Christ
We can walk in the flesh
Or we can walk in the Spirit
We should not be surprised that the Holy Spirit want to be with us
In the first book and first verse of the Bible in Genesis we read of the Spirit of God being there
In the last book of the Bible in Revelation 22
17. The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
The Holy Spirit has always been there
So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
So lets practice walking in the Spirit
By today…Yielding our lives afresh to God.
Remembering to exercise faith in what the Lord reveals.
Let our lives be a living sacrifice.
Because this is our true worship.
(2024 © Paul Cummings)