We humans generally don't do "foolish" things, things that just make no sense. But, we've all done and said things that we look back on with some measure of regret. How can both of those statements be true? At the time our "foolishness" made perfect sense in that moment and situation. Maybe our actions have been too impulsive or driven by some self serving motive, but in the moment they seemed perfectly logical. This is the rationale of what Paul refers to as "the natural man", the "man without the Spirit of God".
"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught us by the Spirit expressing (combining/blending) spiritual truths with spiritual words. The man without the Spirit (the natural man) does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 NIV
Every person's initial contact with the Spirit of God is probably initiated by him, the Spirit, through his written word, the Bible. But, that is just my own opinion. He may choose to do otherwise on certain occasions and I have learned to refrain from limiting the actions of God or his Spirit to my own opinions. However, through his Spirit, God has revealed what Paul calls his "secret wisdom", the "mystery" he had kept hidden from eternity past. That revelation is Jesus Christ, which has been, is now and always will be "foolishness" to the world of natural men.
Faith can embrace what appears foolish or absurd only with the aid of God's Holy Spirit who translates that spiritual reality into words and feelings that fit together and ultimately convict my own spirit. Trying to quantify that process is pointless because it can and does happen in different ways for different people. Faith is difficult for some people to understand because if it were always logical, it just wouldn't be faith.
Here is where the "man without the Spirit of God" hits a brick wall. Natural reasoning dictates, "If a thing doesn't make sense, if it cannot be studied in a laboratory setting or proven by some logical scientific process, it cannot be real or right and must be rejected," So, the revelation of God through his own Spirit is easily cast aside as myth, legend or outright lie. The true fact is this - Jesus is either a legend (he never was), or he was a liar (what he said cannot be trusted) or he was a lunatic (stone cold crazy), or he is Lord. So, how do we discern the truth about him? Enter the Holy Spirit!
The Spirit of God works in the human spirit/heart, not in a science lab. He takes what is far beyond ordinary merely human comprehension and translates it into "spiritual words" that speak in a special way to the human spirit. Through that Spirit translation, we are able to hear the voice of our Father reaching out to us in love. Consider this from the Holy Spirit -
"We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone."
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are in the same family. So, Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers." Hebrews 2:9-11 NIV
It is only through the ministry of the Holy Spirit are we able to "see Jesus" and understand why his death occurred and what it means for us. Otherwise, none of it makes any sense, it is absurd, foolishness to the max!
"Spirit can only be known by spirit - God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah's question has been answered, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?", has been answered; Christ knows and we have Christ's Spirit."
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 MSG HALLELUJAH!
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