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. I Corinthians 2:12
Corinth was not far from Athens, the center of Greek philosophy. There was an atmosphere of philosophic hierarchy parading about and it infiltrated the early church. Paul, a scholar himself, was not impressed with man’s opinions or theologies. Truth and wisdom is from God alone, the author of all that is.
God took dust and made man, but until He breathed His breath into him, man did not live. God put a piece of Himself, His life and spirit into each one of us. The world lays claim to all that we are, instinct, environment, evolution, but we are made in the image of our loving Creator. The things that define us most deeply, our character and soul, are His. Satan cannot claim what God has done.
Sin marred man’s image and Satan would have us bound by shame all of our lives, but as Paul teaches a church overwhelmed by everyone’s personalities and strong dynamics, it is God’s Spirit alone that is truth, love, grace, mercy and victory. Dwell in His Spirit, it is peace.
Love,
Gretchen