The Natural Man

The Gospel Is Foolishness to Them Who Are Perishing!

“For the preaching of the Cross is to them who perish foolishness…….. (1 Corinthians 1:18a)

The natural man, those who have not been born of the Spirit, cannot understand spiritual things. The unredeemed are lost and will perish if they do not come to the Lord in repentance and faith in Christ and His sacrificial death at Calvary. The Lord, in His Wisdom, sent His Son to die on a cruel Cross to pay the sin debt of man. The world, in its wisdom, cannot understand this. The things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned.

“…… Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world” 1Corinthians 1:20b)

The world in its wisdom could not and cannot bring man to a knowledge of God. The Lord sent His Son to Calvary to open the door to a relationship between God and man. This is the Wisdom of God!

“For after that in the Wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God” (1 Corinthians 1:21)

With God sending His Son as a Redeemer for mankind, the world cannot, in its natural wisdom, know God. The Bible calls man’s wisdom regarding spiritual things – foolishness. Man’s attempts to either know God in the natural or live a life without him by their own wisdom is …. foolishness.

The natural man must come to the place of knowing that without God they are perishing. The Bible tells us that Christ is man’s answer for all that ails him. Christ stands at the crossroads of history as a beacon of hope for all those who will come His way! The Bible puts it this way:

“Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24b).

The Gospel is the only answer for man and one that shows the Wisdom of God that rescued us from our fallen hopeless state and pardoned us of our sin. Faith in this wonderful plan of God allows whosoever will to come His way and to have a relationship with the Lord, and, in fact, become “sons of God.”

The Gospel goes forth by the “foolishness of preaching” and is confirmed by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is Christ and Him Crucified. The Apostle Paul made it clear in the following verse:

“For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

This is the only message that will save those who hear it and accept what the Lord has graciously offered to whosoever comes to Him. We are saved by faith in what the Lord accomplished at Calvary, and we can walk out victorious lives in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the Wisdom of God! How great is our God? The following verse points the way:

” …Even so the things of God knows no man, but by the Spirit of God” ( 1 Corinthians 2:11b).

This makes it very clear. In summary, the natural man cannot know the things of God but is perishing in his fallen state. The Gospel is presented which is Christ and Him Crucified, and the Holy Spirit confirms it. We are born of the Spirit by repenting of our sins and the way we have lived our lives without the Lord and accepting the gift of Salvation by faith in Jesus and His great work at Calvary.

Our introductory verse for this article was “For the preaching of the Cross is to them who are perishing foolishness.” The following is the remainder of the verse: “…but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” God’s power is at work in the lives of all those who realize that they cannot come to God in the wisdom of this world. That wisdom sees the things of God as foolishness. In the natural we cannot even image the things the Lord has prepared for those who love Him, but in the Spirit…..

“But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them who love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Always Remember,

God Loves You!

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Here I Am, Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2024