1 COR 2:1-3:4   THREE TYPES OF PEOPLE

  The Bible is a mirror in which we can see ourselves as we really are. If you want a true picture of yourself you only need to look in the Bible. The Bible is God's studio in which He has a picture of each one of His created beings. Your photograph is there and it is very accurate.

  The Holy Spirit has revealed in this passage of the Bible that the human race can be divided into three clearly distinguishable groups and every member of the human family fits into one of them. It does not matter about our race or colour or religious inheritance, we belong to one of these groups. God’s description of each is so clear that everyone may be quite certain about the group to which they belong.

  This passage speaks about-

The Person who is not indwelt by the Spirit of God,

The Christian Controlled by the Spirit of God,

The Christian controlled by Worldly Attitudes.

 

The Person who is not indwelt by the Spirit of God

  Now it is quite clear from this passage that this person is not really a Christian at all. No one can be a Christian without having a relationship with God and no one can be in a right relationship with God except through the Lord Jesus.(John 14:6) The Bible reveals to us that we must receive the Lord Jesus into our lives as Saviour and as Lord. Now the Bible also tells us that no one can call Jesus the Lord of their life except by the Holy Spirit and that if the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a person then he cannot belong to God nor belong to God's family.

This person does not accept the things of the spirit of God for they appear to him to be foolish. He cannot understand them because it takes a spiritual mind to comprehend spiritual truth and he does not have the Holy Spirit. The natural man is not in a right relationship with God so that, although he may behave as well as any Christian, he is not a really a Christian.

Gal. 4:8            He does not know God

Rom. 1:21        He is not thankful to God

Rom. 3:11        He has no desire for God

1 Jo. 4:10       He has no love for God

Jo. 3:18         He has no faith in God

Rom. 3:18       He has no fear of God

Rom. 1:21-25 He does not worship God

2Ti. 3:8            He resists the truth

2TK2.12         He rejects the truth

2Th. 1:8          He disobeys the truth

Rom. 5:10      He is an enemy of God

Eph. 2:17        He is far from God

Rom. 3:19      He is guilty before God

Jo. 3:18         He is condemned by God

Jo. 3:36          He is under God's wrath

Eph. 4:18        He is alienated from the life of God

Eph. 2:1          He is without God in this life

2Th. 1 :9        He is without God in the life to come  

  The person without the Spirit does not know Jesus as His Saviour and therefore lives only for himself. Self dominates his thoughts, affections, speech, will and actions. The natural man is dead to God but alive to sin, self and Satan. He is a bond-servant of sin. He is lost, helpless and hopeless. Tragically, "the god of this age" has so dazzled his mind that he has no desire to know God (2 Corinthians 4:4). In fact, he does not realise how serious his condition is and has no desire to change it.

 

The Spiritual Person

The spiritual man is the exact opposite of the natural man. He is rightly related to God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He came into this relationship through the agency of the Holy Spirit who convicted him of his sin and revealed the Lord Jesus as a Saviour from sin and as the Saviour that he needs. When He submitted to Jesus as his Saviour and Lord the Holy Spirit came to live in his heart and now fills him, leads him in God's way, teaches him the truths of God's word and gives him power to live for God.

The spiritual man has accepted Jesus as his Saviour. He has yielded to Jesus as his Lord; he has appropriated Jesus as his life. Jesus Christ and the spiritual man are one as the vine and the branches are one (John 15:5). Jesus is the supreme need in his life and has the supreme place in his affections. Christ is all in all to him. The spiritual person lives his life wholly unto God, Jesus is real and precious to the spiritual person and the aim of his life is to live for the One who died for him.

The Worldly Christian

But there is a third type of person in this passage. This is the person who tries to have the best of both worlds but who actually has the worst possible way of life. This person is a Christian because he has received Jesus as his Saviour but he knows nothing of the privileges and joys of belonging to the family of God.  

The Holy Spirit may be living in this person but is constantly being grieved and quenched so that the Holy Spirit's power is not experienced in his daily life. The worldly Christian has no greater understanding of spiritual truth now than he had when he was first converted. His life is constantly being pulled apart by knowing what Christ requires if him but desiring to please himself rather than the Lord Jesus. Two natures, the human and the divine, are in constant conflict within him. He tries to live for two masters and fails to please
either.

This condition is due to lack of spiritual nourishment and leads to failure to understand the things of God, unwillingness to submit to the Lord Jesus, and unbelief in receiving from the Holy Spirit all His graces and gifts. Unfortunately, this is the category into which many Christians fit. It is characterised by immaturity in spiritual things and by failure to become more and more like the Lord Jesus. In fact, there is not much difference between the worldly Christian and unsaved people. Their life is dominated by the human nature instead of being controlled by the Spirit of God.

As we have looked in the mirror of God's Word I trust that you have seen yourself and understand the category into which God's Word places you. I trust, too, that you have seen the category into which Spirit-filled Christians should belong. Submit to the Lord Jesus afresh this morning and begin living on the highest level. It may be time to remember the promises made to God in the past and time to reflect on some of the great hymns sung with real conviction some time ago. Hymns like “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord to Thee” and “O Jesus I have promised to serve Thee to the end”. A good place to start might be with the chorus that says,

Cleans me from my sin, Lord,

put your power within, Lord.

Take me as I am, Lord and make me all your own.

 Now may God bless you with a fruitful life under the Holy Spirit.