1 CORINTHIANS 2
“When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified… My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power”. (1 Cor 2:2, 4, 5.)
Paul was always persuasive; however, he did not rely upon superior human wisdom, but on the Holy Spirit. Some of the cleverest people on the planet are atheists and remain unconvinced about their need for Christ; therefore it must be much more than human wisdom or clever argument that convinces a person to commit their lives to him. The power to change a person’s mind (also known as ‘Repentance’) and heart attitudes can only come directly from the Holy Spirit. It is God who enables repentance (2 Timothy 2:25; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Acts 11:18) and we should never presume that we can, unaided, pick and choose the time when we yield to Him. If you find yourself prompted to repent, then waste no time!
However, there is certainly a place for wisdom, but not of a human type. Mature believers both need and appreciate the wisdom that God gives, day by day and minute by minute. This wisdom, including the full riches of understanding the gospel and our salvation, comes through the indwelling Spirit in each of us. That is the only way that we can know the thoughts of God’s heart and an understanding of spiritual realities – even the very vocabulary has to come from him! As we allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us and through us, we genuinely have the mind of Christ and can exercise the wisdom of God. Do we really believe this glorious truth?
Wisdom is all about choices (if you have no choice, you have no need for it) and we have so many options in our lifestyles these days that we need even more wisdom to handle them. Let’s ask from the One who really knows what’s best for us.
The Big Picture 