Bible Devotion - 10/11/2021

October 11th, 2021

WHICH OF GOD'S THREE CATEGORIES ARE YOU IN?

1 Corinthians 2:14-15

It may surprise you, but God actually puts people into categories. The question that I want to ask is how does God categorize people?

Well, in 1 Corinthians we find that God actually puts people into categories. As we look at our text we will find that the Bible tells us that there are three categories into which God puts people.

In our text we find these three categories. In 1 Corinthians 2:14 the Bible speaks of the "natural man." In 1 Corinthians 2:15 the Bible refers to one who is "spiritual." Then in 1 Corinthians 3:1 the Bible speaks of those that are "carnal."

Every person reading this today is in one of these three categories. When God looks at each of us, He sees us as either as a natural, carnal, or spiritual person. God puts all of us are in one of these categories.

Now, which category does God place you in? This will be the subject of our devotion over the next two weeks.

The first category that Paul describes for us is….
1. THE NATURAL PERSON:

Notice with me 1 Corinthians 2:14:

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

The word "natural" refers to a person who is governed by their own senses and desires. Latin's used the word to speak of one who was governed by their lower passions in contrast to those led by higher passions.

William Burkitt said it speaks of one "who acts only by the principles of human reason and worldly wisdom; who, though well furnished with intellectual and moral improvements, is yet destitute of the enlightening Spirit and renewing grace of God."

Adam Clarke says the word speaks of "one who lives for the present world, having no respect to spiritual or eternal things."

A simple definition would be that the natural man does what comes naturally. Who is this person? When the Bible speaks of the natural man it is speaking of someone who is not saved.

Another way of describing this person is to say they have never been born again. They have had a natural birth but they have never had a spiritual birth. They have been born physically but have never been born spiritually.

If you have never been converted then God puts you into this category. Now, what does the Bible say about natural people?

First of all, They are Tied to Earthly Things

Again, the word "natural" speaks of one who is governed by their own senses and desires. They do not live their life according to God's desires, but their own desires. To be more precise, they live their lives according to their fleshly desires.

In Ephesians 2:3 Paul describes the life of a lost person, or in the words of our text, the life of the natural man. We read,

"Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

When Paul speaks of a person's "conversation" he is not talking about the talk of a person. He is talking about their walk. The word actually describes how a person lives, more specifically, how a lost person lives.

How does a lost person live? They live according to the lusts of the flesh and live to fulfill the desires of the flesh. Many of us can remember how we lived before we were converted.

God had no place in how we lived. We basically lived to have a good time, and for the most part, having a good time took us down a path of sensual pleasure and activities.

We did what we wanted to do rather than what God wanted us to do. Our whole life was governed and controlled by our wants and desires. We lived after this world instead of the world to come because we were bound to earthly things.

Why do lost people live the way they do? The answer is very simple. They are lost. They live a natural life because that is what they are. They are natural. They don't know anything else.

Their life is merely a reflection of who and what they are. Understand that a person is not lost because they sin. They sin because they are lost. A person is not a sinner because they sin. They sin because they are a sinner.

In 1 Corinthians 2:14 the Bible says that the "natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him."

The word "receiveth" literally means "to welcome." The natural man does not welcome spiritual things in their life. That is why you can talk to lost people about coming to Church and it goes in one ear and out the other.

That is why you can talk to people about how they are living and they turn a deaf ear to your pleas for changing how they live.

THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN SPIRITUAL THINGS!

Why is it that the natural man does not welcome spiritual things in their life? 1 Corinthians 2:14 says that they are "foolishness unto him."

The word "foolishness" speaks of that which is "distasteful." A lost person has no appetite for spiritual things. They only have an appetite for natural things.

When you go through a cafeteria or buffet you get the things you have a taste for. You don't load your plate down with things you don't like to eat. Since it is all you can eat, you pile the plate high with things you like.

By the same token the reason a lost person doesn’t put spiritual things on their plate is that they have no appetite for them.

The things of the flesh taste better to them. The leeks and garlic of Egypt appeal to them more than the milk and honey of Canaan.

Furthermore, we see that the natural person is not only tied to earthly things but also they are Blind to Eternal Things

1 Corinthians 2:14 also state that when it comes to spiritual things, "neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

The natural man does not appreciate the things of God, and furthermore, he does not apprehend the things of God.

The word "discerned" means to "judge carefully or correctly." The lost person lacks the ability to understand spiritual things rightly and fully.

They lack the ability to undertake and understand spiritual things.

1 Corinthians 2:11 says, "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."

The only way a person can apprehend and comprehend spiritual things is by the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit does not live in a lost person, they are blind to spiritual things.

A good example is Nicodemus. Jesus said to him in John 3:3, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus replied, "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" (3:4).

John 3:9 says that Nicodemus asked, "How can these things be?" He was no doubt a very brilliant man considering that he was a Pharisee, yet when it came to spiritual things he could not understand.

Before I got saved I could not understand why people thought it so important that a person be a Christian. There was much about God, the Bible, and being a Christian that I did not understand. The same is true of all lost people. They are spiritual blind.

Understanding the natural man, let me ask if you are in this class. Has there ever been a time in your life when you realized that you were lost and that you needed to be saved and you repented and turned to Jesus Christ and asked him to be your new Lord?

If you have not, this is the class God puts you in.

Please understand that I am not talking about religious or being a Church member. You can be religious and belong to a Church and still be a natural man.

That was my case for a number of years. I was religious but lost. I didn’t have the proper understanding of Salvation. Someone shook my hand, I was baptized and joined a church, however, I was not saved.

I had had a religious experience but was still lost. Consequently, I remained bound to earthly things and blind to eternal things. I was a baptized Church member, but God still classified me as a natural man.

Now next week we will look at two more categories of people but for now please take a moment and reflect upon your life and ask yourself if you are Bound to Earthly Things and Blind to Eternal things?

If so, you are a lost Natural person and need to be born again!

Turn to Christ and be saved!

Bro. Jeff