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Read Introduction to 1 Corinthians

 

“But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.”

 

In contrast to the non-believer, the Christian has a unique capacity to discern truth by illumination

 But he who is spiritual judges all things,

The believer has a built-in Bible Teacher – the Holy Spirit. This stands in contradistinction to the non-believer, who cannot decipher spiritual truth (previous verse). It is the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit to illumine the Bible to the believer. God gave revelation and inspired the writing of the apostles, but He also illuminates the Word of God to all believers. The believer then can “judge” or assess spiritual things by their true standard. He can come to believe properly and apply truth to experience. He can judge “all things,” in contrast to the non-believer, who cannot discern spiritual things (v. 14).

Ephesians 1:18, …the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…

1 John 2:27, But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.

Non-believers try to pass judgment on believers, but they do not have the capacity to do so because they are spiritually dead. They may accurately assess our faults, but they cannot accurately assess our faith. They might understand the facts about the Bible, but they cannot engage with its truth. Unbelievers cannot figure us out because we march to a different drummer than they can perceive.

PRINCIPLE:

The believer has a built-in Bible teacher –the Holy Spirit.

APPLICATION:

The believer has a built-in Bible teacher, but the non-Christian has no such teacher. The believer has a supernatural point of reference within him because the Holy Spirit indwells and illuminates him. The non-Christian can understand facts and objective phenomena of Scripture, but he cannot truly grasp the spiritual significance of its truth. He is spiritually blind.

 

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