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Two Spirits

By Phillip Ross

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Published: 20May2009
Word count: 992
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Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:12 that there are two spirits active in the lives of people -- the "spirit of the world" and the "spirit who is from God." The spirit of the world could also be called the natural spirit in that it does not recognize or honor God, while the spirit who is from God does. Understanding the difference between these two spirits hinges on our yielding to the reality of God and denying the temptations and deceptions of the world.

Webster defines spirit as
1) an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms;
2) a supernatural being or essence;
3) temper or disposition of mind or outlook;
4) the immaterial intelligent or sentient part of a person;
5) the activating or essential principle influencing a person, an inclination, impulse, or tendency;
6) a special attitude or frame of mind. Paul uses the word to distinguish something supernatural from something merely natural. The difference suggests a disposition of mind that is God-given and God-driven versus a disposition that denies God. Paul's use of the word spirit intimates a disposition of mind or an attitude.

Paul places these two spirits or attitudes in radical opposition to one another, as he has done previously in his discussion of godly wisdom versus worldly folly. There are some areas that these two perspectives overlap, but that is not Paul's concern here. Here his purpose is to differentiate the two, to indicate that they are actually very different, in spite of the fact that they may at times look similar.

Paul is, and has been, in the process of differentiating two kinds or groups of people. We know them as the lost and the saved, or the elect and the nonelect, the church as the body of Christ and everyone else. There is a difference between the world and the church, and that difference is critical or foundational to Paul's message. That difference not only determines whether one goes to heaven or to hell, but it determines how people live their daily lives. The difference it makes is a matter of attitude, temper, disposition, inclination, impulse, tendency, perspective and habit. Paul is not talking about heaven here.

Faithfulness is habitual. It is in part a matter of practice and repetition. It is, of course, more than a habit, but it is also, in fact, a habit. It is more than a habit because faithfulness is the result of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit operating in one's life. It is life lived on the basis of the reality of the Holy Spirit. It is a matter of discarding one's own personal preferences and desires, and submitting to the preferences and desires of God's Holy Spirit. It is a matter of not doing what you want for yourself, but of doing what God wants for you. It is a matter of abandoning worldly preferences and submitting to godly preferences.

And yet, faithfulness is more than a habit because mere practice cannot produce it. If faithfulness could be acquired by practice, it would be a matter of works-righteousness. But, as we know, it is not a matter of works-righteousness and cannot be acquired by practice. And yet, it is a habit.

How can this be? While faith cannot be acquired through practice, it can be increased through practice. And conversely, it can be decreased through a lack of practice. This, of course, begs the question, if it can't be acquired through practice, how can it be acquired?

Paul tells us that it is not acquired at all, but rather received as a free gift from God. It needs be noted here that our willful reception of the gift of grace is not the trigger that activates it. We cannot say that it is our personal (willing) reception of God's gift that makes the gift real or even that it makes it effective. Whether or not we willingly receive or acknowledge God's gift of grace does not change the fact that God has given it prior to any reception or acknowledgment of it on our part. Our reception of God's grace is always a response to His gift. The reception or response follows the giving.

God wants us to understand or know the things that he has freely given to us. That knowledge is not mere head knowledge or historical knowledge, but is also heart knowledge, experiential knowledge. There are two ways to know a thing. We can know about it and we can know it directly, experientially.

For instance, I can know about China. I can read about it and see movies about it. And that is a legitimate form of knowledge. But it is always second hand knowledge. It is knowledge that comes through someone else -- the author of the book or the director of the movie, etc. This kind of knowledge is general and multi-perspectival. It comes through the perspectives of other people.

I can also know China by going there myself. The experience of being there gives me a different kind of knowledge. It is a more direct kind of knowing because it is not mitigated through someone else. Visiting China provides personal experience, which is deeper and more focused than the other. Both kinds of knowledge have their limitations. One is general, but shallow. The other is deep, but narrow.

Knowledge about China gathered from reading or movie watching lacks the element of personal experience. On the other hand, knowledge gained through personal experience lacks the breadth of perspective that can be gained by reading and watching movies. Reading and movie watching provide insight into perspectives other than our own.

God wants us to engage both kinds of knowledge. This means that wisdom and understanding are integral parts of our salvation. Salvation is not just a matter of personal experience, it is also a matter of wisdom and knowledge -- both the breadth of historical knowledge and the depth of personal experience.

Phillip A. Ross has been a pastor for over 25 years and is the author of many Christian books. In 1998 he founded http://www.Pilgrim-Platform.org , which is loaded with information about historic Christianity. Demonstrating the Apostle Paul's opposition to worldly Christianity, he published a book on First Corinthians in 2008. Ross recounts how Paul turned the world upside down the book, Arsy Varsy -- Reclaiming the Gospel in First Corinthians.

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