Spirituality

The spiritually-minded man understands that the proclamation of Christ Crucified is the Power and Wisdom of God - 1 Corinthians 2:14.

Overused by the Church and society, the English term ‘spiritual’ has become meaningless. To some, it is synonymous with religion. To be religious is to be spiritual. To others, it refers to supernatural things not of this physical universe, creatures that are otherworldly, noncorporeal, invisible, and live beyond the realm of time.

The “spiritual” man of popular preaching is divinely enabled to peer into the “spirit realm” beyond his existence where physicality, visibility, and time do not exist. It is not simply an altered state of consciousness, but a higher plane of existence of which our physical life is but a pale shadow. The truly “spiritual” man perceives the true realities behind what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears. However, is this understanding biblical?

[Cross at Night - Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash]

The Greek term commonly translated as “spiritual” is used sparingly in the New Testament (‘pneumatikos’ – Strong’s Concordance #G4152). It occurs 26 times in the Greek New Testament. In only one instance is it found outside of Paul’s letters. Of the remaining cases, 16 are in 1 Corinthians, which is not coincidental since Paul deals with this very topic in his Letter.

Certain members of the Corinthian congregation pointed to their extensive use of the Gift of Tongues as evidence of their “spirituality.” Paul responded by presenting what spirituality truly is, the recognition of the significance and centrality of Christ Crucified. The truly spiritual or “mature” man understands this and lives accordingly:

• “We speak wisdom, however, among those who are mature, yet a wisdom not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age have known, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory <…>   Now the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged” – (1 Corinthians 2:6-14).

The Greek term ‘pneumatikos’ is an adjective that refers to things about or belonging to the spirit. Whether “spirit” refers to the Spirit of God or something else must be determined from literary context. In the case of 1 Corinthians, Paul refers to the Spirit of God, not our human spirits - (1 Corinthians 2:10-14).

• “But we received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God” – (1 Corinthians 2:12).

The “spiritual” man has “received the Spirit of God.” It is God’s Spirit that reveals the deep and hidden things of God, not our spiritual sensitivity or ability to enter the “spirit realm” and commune with spirit beings such as angels.

Our problem stems from how we understand the term “spiritual.” If we could remove all mystical and metaphysical aspects from our application of the word, we would come closer to the biblical understanding.

When Paul complains, “I could not speak to you as to spiritual ones, but as to carnal ones,” the adjective is in the plural number and masculine gender. He is referring to “spiritual men” or persons. If we rendered the Greek adjective ‘pneumatikos’ as “Spirit people” we would come closer to Paul’s intended sense.

Believers are identifiable as belonging to Christ since they have the Gift of the Spirit. That is what sets them apart from other men, and it is the presence and activity of God’s Spirit alone that makes them spiritual. Since the Corinthians have received the Spirit, Paul is surprised that they behave like men who lack the Spirit.

SPIRITUAL vs NATURAL

The “natural man” does not have the Spirit of God. A man who has received the Spirit is, by definition, a man of the Spirit and should act accordingly. So, what does the Spirit of God teach His people?

• “Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews, scandal, to Gentiles, folly. But to those called, whether Jews or Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God” – (1 Corinthians 1:22-24).

For a devout Jew of Paul’s time, the proclamation of a Crucified Messiah was a contradiction in terms. The idea that the God of Israel would allow His anointed King to be crucified by Rome, Israel’s greatest enemy, was scandalous. Moreover, by scriptural definition, any man who was left “hanging on a tree” was under God’s curse. How could a “cursed man” nailed to a Roman Cross be “God’s power and wisdom”? – (Deuteronomy 27:26, Galatians 3:10 – “Cursed is every man hanged on a tree”).

For the Gentiles of the Roman world, the suggestion that God’s answer to Sin, Death, and Satan was the shameful execution of a politically powerless man for sedition against the mighty Roman Empire was “foolishness.”

Nevertheless, it was through the public execution of His son that God achieved victory over Sin and Death, therefore, the proclamation of a “Crucified Messiah” is the “wisdom and power of God.” Christ’s crucifixion was physical, occurred within history and time, and was certainly visible to the naked eye of anyone in the vicinity of Golgotha.

Jesus did not redeem us by leaving the space-time continuum for any invisible “spiritual realms,” but by fully embracing the human experience including mortality and death:

• “Since the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nothing him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil, and might deliver all those who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” – (Hebrews 2:14-15).

When Paul first arrived in Corinth, he did not use eloquent speech or the philosophies of this age. Instead, he proclaimed Christ Crucified - (“For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ, and him as crucified”).

The Apostle defines God’s wisdom as the preaching of Christ Crucified, the “Word of the Cross.” By “power” he does not mean miraculous displays of “signs and wonders.” He came to Corinth “in weakness, fear, and much trembling.” His proclamation of “Christ crucified” was scandalous and foolish to natural men, but it brought salvation and life to the Corinthian believers - (“For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God”).

The “Rulers of this Age” do not understand true wisdom or spirituality. If they had, they would not have “crucified the Lord of glory,” and by doing so, they sealed their doom. Presumably, these otherworldly creatures are not subject to the restraints of time and physicality, yet they could not comprehend what God would do through the Cross.

The problem is sin, not life under the restraints of time or physical existence. Power, spirituality, and wisdom are found in “Christ crucified.” Nowhere does the Bible teach that God’s Spirit is incompatible with his physical creation. Sin and disobedience separate us from God’s presence, not our physical bodies, visibility, or subjection to the constraints of time.

Any belief system that denies the goodness of God’s creation is neither biblical nor spiritual. He created the universe and called it “very good!” Adam’s problem was not his embodied state or the reality of time, but his disobedience. Death entered the Cosmos through the first man’s transgression.

Believers who strive to peer into the “spirit realm” to gain insight into the nature and purposes of God are looking in the wrong place. Instead, they should look to Jesus, the Savior who died a genuine human death on the Roman Cross and was raised bodily from the dead on the third day:

• “Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame” - (1 Corinthians 15:1-12, Hebrews 12:2).

The spiritual man perceives that this same Crucified Messiah is the center of God’s redemptive plan, the Divine answer to Sin and Death. However, this understanding is beyond the comprehension of the wisdom of this age or the “carnal mind” that lacks the Spirit of God and resists or cannot comprehend the “Word of the Cross.”

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SEE ALSO:

• Power and Wisdom - (The power and wisdom of God are found in the proclamation of a Messiah who was crucified on a Roman cross)

• Starting at the Cross - (Jesus is the Messiah whose reign began on the Cross, and who fulfilled his mission as the Servant of the LORD)

• Son and Servant - (Jesus is the son of David and heir to the Messianic Throne, the beloved Son of God, and the Suffering Servant of Yahweh)

• The Cruciform Path - (To follow Jesus necessitates a lifetime of self-denial and sacrificial service for others and a willingness to lose all for the Gospel)