1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) (NRSV)
Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) on biblegateway.com
Chapter 2When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. Verse 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Verse 3And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. Verse 4My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, Verse 5so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
Verse 6Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. Verse 7But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. Verse 8None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Verse 9But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him"- Verse 10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. Verse 11For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God. Verse 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. Verse 13And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. Verse 14Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Verse 15Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny. Verse 16"For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Devotion
Officers in the US Armed Forces “swear or affirm (I sometimes picked the latter) that [we] will support and defend the Constitution.” Chaplains find the two religious clauses of the First Amendment quite precious, and our work stems from this authority. Chaplains, whatever their religious affiliation (and particular “lens” within said affiliation) have vows, affirmations, and commitments from that Religious Organizations (my ELCA denomination’s Chaplain Corps Endorser verifies ours). What, therefore, do we swear or affirm? What are our shared theological principles? I begin in a manner of vulnerable humanity, destined for adoption in Christ (Ephesians 1:5), and live at the very pleasure of God, claiming Christ crucified and risen. We speak and act according to God’s wisdom, humbly acknowledging our weakness, and that all good, enlivening, or enlightening things accomplished by our hands are a demonstration of God’s Spirit of power.
Prayer
God of goodness and life, grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the living of these days—and the giving of ourselves for your sake, whatever our callings and commitments within our common commission. Amen.
Interested in digging deeper into today’s text?
Read more here.