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MEASURING OUR SPIRITUALITY
Paul taught us the measure of
spirituality: namely the acceptance an belief of what he wrote as being the
Word of God. His words are these: “If any
man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that
the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if
any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant,”
(1 Corinthians 14:37-38). Do you think you are spiritual? Do you think that
God has given you a special knowledge as a prophet? The measure of whether
either of those things is true or not is this: do you follow Paul's
teachings as the Word of God? Most people read little of Paul's writings and
fewer understand, believe and follow them.
Paul says some folk are ignorant –
willfully ignorant – hopelessly ignorant – and nothing can be done to help
them. They are like the man who said, “Don't confuse me with the facts, my
mind is made up.” Such a person is not spiritual or a prophet even if he and
others regard him as such. His is a hopelessly closed mind. Even the Word of
God cannot help him!
Paul wrote about his people, the Jews, and
their disastrous ignorance in Romans 10:3-4 saying:
“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness,
and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
Ignorance about some things may be bad, but not
disastrous. However, ignorance about the righteousness God has provided has
eternal catastrophic results!
Refusing to believe what God revealed to
Paul – ignorance about “God's righteousness” - results in lost people trying
to keep the law. They think law-keeping will save them. They try to do this
or that so as to somehow be seen as righteous by God. Sadly, often such folk
think themselves to be spiritual and on the way to an eternity with God.
Peter spoke of the law as an unbearable
yoke never kept by any man in Acts 15:10. There his words are:
“Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able
to bear?”
The law was not given to save sinners, but to
show them that they are sinners as Paul wrote:
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no
flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin,”
(Romans 3:20). Lost sinners cannot be seen as righteous by law-keeping! The
law was summed up in male circumcision, but Paul wrote:
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature,”
(Galatians 6:15). It is not your attempt at law-keeping that will save you!
The question is this: are you a “new creature?” Have you been born again –
raised from spiritual death by the Holy Spirit of God?
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