Ignorance to Knowledge

 DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

IGNORANCE TO KNOWLEDGE

1 Cor 12:1-3

12:1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

NIV

Jesus is Lord! Now that we have said it, we have said it with the understanding of what the word “Lord” means. This Greek word, “Kurios” when applied to God, as the master or ruler of the universe, but also is applied to Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, as well as generally, the supreme authority. Therefore, because we say that Jesus is Lord, we confess his supreme authority in our lives. That is, he is our ruler, our Lord, our Master, which not just implies, but dictates our absolute submission to Him. We are not in charge of our own lives, which includes our own destinies. We also came to the conclusion when we were changed from pagan to believer, that we came from things that had no eyes, no ears, and no mouth, to a living God who sees us, watches over us, and with ears to hear our praise and our requests, and a mouth to speak the truth and life, itself, into us. Paul says the only way we can say that is because of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us because we accepted Jesus as our Lord and our Savior. It is this Holy Spirit who brings His gifts into our lives. He manifests them within us, bestowing whatever gift He determines for whatever time He determines, for the expressed reason of the common good of all in the present of the bestowed gift. Certainly, a believer who lives hundreds of miles from where a gift is expressed through a believer is not aware of or affected by that gift. Then it is the common good of those present when the gift is expressed. We also note that having been influenced and led astray to mute idols, now because we are being influenced by the Holy Spirit we are being led into all truth. When we think about the phrase Paul stated, “Jesus be cursed” he related it to the fact of being influenced by mute idols. That is if we are seeking fulfillment from a mute idol or paying homage in one way or another to a mute idol, are we, in essence, cursing Jesus? We also wonder what would be considered a mute idol. We know that Corinth was filled with mute idols, statues, and temples to all sorts of mute idols. But are there mute idols in our culture today, and if so, what would they look like? We would have to conclude that anything in this world cannot speak any truth into our lives, but only that which opposes the truth. Why would we even attempt to listen to something that is mute, and unable to speak the truth into our lives? So we listen to the Spirit, and we are going to listen to the truth of His gifts as they are applied to our lives. As we listen to the Spirit, we will not be ignorant, without knowledge, for we will know the truth.