Divide and Conquer

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (AMP) But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.

Observation:

Non-Christians cannot understand spiritual truths, and they cannot grasp the concept that God's Spirit lives in believers. Don't expect most people to approve of or understand your decision to follow Christ. It all seems so silly to them. Just as a tone-deaf person cannot appreciate fine music, the person who rejects Christ cannot understand truths from God's Spirit. With the lines of communication broken, he or she won't be able to hear what God is saying to him or her.

We must not remain silent, however, using others' difficulty in understanding as an excuse. We are still one of God's communication channels. We must be alert to opportunities. Another person's question may be evidence that God's Spirit is drawing him or her to the point of decision. How would you respond today if someone asked you about your faith?

Application:

The spiritual person has the mind of Christ (see Philippians 2:1-30). This means that the Spirit, through the Word, helps the believer think as Jesus thinks. It is an amazing thing to say that human beings possess the very mind of God! Down through the years, spiritual Christians have predicted things that the people of the world said could never happen, but these events came to pass. The spiritually minded saint understands more about the affairs of this world from his Bible than the leaders of the world understand from their human perspective.

Only the Holy Spirit can help us to understand the Word of God. A person may have studied the Word of God for years, have a good mind, attended the best Bible colleges and seminary, but none of these alone are enough. We need the Spirit of God and help us interpret and apply the Word of God.

The relationship between the Word of God and the Spirit of God is an important one. Some have a tendency to put more emphasis on one or the other and they get off balance and can quickly become ineffective. The moment we separate the Spirit and the Word we are in trouble.

Donald Gee put it this way, ""All Spirit and no Word, you blow up. All Word and no Spirit you dry up. Word and Spirit-you grow up!"

Without the Spirit, the Word is a dead letter; with the Spirit it is a living and powerful force. As Selwyn Hughes says in his "Every day with Jesus" devotion "the devil has policy of divide and conquer." If the devil can get us to divide the Word and the Spirit, he has us right where he wants us, for he can then conquer us!

Prayer:

"Lord, I am so thankful for your Word and your Spirit. I need them both. There have been times I allowed the devil to get my attention more on one than the other. It led to my defeat. Today, I refuse to allow the policy of divide and conquer. I acknowledge your Spirit as I read your Word. Holy Spirit, illuminate the Word of God to me today. In Jesus' name, amen!"