Lessons #99 and 100
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Self-deception regarding worldly wisdom (1 Cor 3:18-20)
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
The passage before us is concerned with the fourth in the series of the various misunderstanding among the Corinthians. The first misunderstanding is failure to recognize that only God is important in overall ministry of His word that the apostle addressed in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. The second is their lack of understanding that meaningful activities in the spiritual life that would be rewarded should be Christ-centered. This the apostle dealt with in verses 10-15. The third is their misunderstanding that they are God’s temple, that is, that the Holy Spirit indwells the church of Christ and by implication indwells each believer, as the apostle discoursed in verses 16-17. The fourth, which is, the concern of our present passage is that of misunderstanding regarding self-deception primarily about wisdom. In our previous consideration of these misunderstandings, we stated specific messages that were associated with each. Therefore, following the same pattern, the message of this passage that we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to convey is this: Avoid thinking you are wise by world’s standard but be wise by following God’s word. Put in another way, the message is that the Holy Spirit warns us about self-deception.
The concept of self-deception is evident in our passage because of the beginning command of verse 18 Do not deceive yourselves. Literally the Greek reads Let no one deceive himself. The word “deceive” is translated from a Greek word (exapataō) that means to cause someone to accept false ideas about something, hence means “to deceive, cheat.” It is used of the serpent’s deception of Eve in 2 Corinthians 11:3:
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
It is used by Apostle Paul in warning the Thessalonians regarding those who claim the day of the Lord had come and gone, with the implication the Thessalonians missed out, as stated in 2 Thessalonians 2:3:
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
The sense of the Greek word in our passage is “to deceive thoroughly,” that is, to deceive in an exhaustive or persuasive manner. Because the key focus of the message of the passage we are considering is deception, we should examine the concept of deception as given in the Scripture.
We should be clear from the start that by deception we mean any behavior either in words or actions that deliberately is intended to make someone believe something that is not true. This means that deception may involve misrepresentation of fact as was the case with the serpent or Satan to Eve. The serpent misrepresented the fact that the woman would not die, as stated in Genesis 3:4:
“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.
The serpent, of course, contradicted God’s instruction that Adam and Eve would die if they ate from a specific tree in the garden of Eden, He forbade them. Without going into the details of the account as to the reason Eve chose to believe the misrepresentation by the serpent, the point is that it is this misrepresentation of fact that the woman considered as the deception of the serpent, as she stated during the phase of God’s punishment to her in Genesis 3:13:
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
When the Gibeonites misrepresented the fact of their geographical proximity to Israel during their conquest of Canaan, such misrepresentation was considered “deception”, as that is how Joshua characterized the information supplied by the Gibeonites in Joshua 9:22:
Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by saying, ‘We live a long way from you,’ while actually you live near us?
The deception of the Gibeonites involved actions that were meant to deceive as described in Joshua 9:4–6:
4 they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. 5 The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. 6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”
The sentence they resorted to a ruse may alternative be translated literally they acted on their part with cunning.
Misrepresentation of fact or lying is not the only thing involved in deception but withholding a pertinent fact from another person is also deception. You see, if you provide information to a person that will lead the individual to make certain decision, but you withhold a part of the information that would have resulted in the individual making a different decision or taking a different action, that is deception. When Jacob left Paddan Aram, he did not inform his father in law about his move but secretly left. This move was considered “deception” by his father in law, as he stated in Genesis 31:20:
Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.
Laban claimed he would have taken a different action if he knew of Jacob’s plan, as we read in Genesis 31:27–28:
27 Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps? 28 You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-by. You have done a foolish thing.
Of course, we do not know if Laban could have done what he said but the point is that withholding the necessary information by Jacob was considered deception. The same point is illustrated with Saul when he consulted the medium at Endor. He withheld the information that he was Saul, the king of Israel, who had banished all mediums and spiritists in Israel; instead, he gave the medium an assurance of not being killed, as stated in 1 Samuel 28:9–10:
9 But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?” 10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, “As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this.”
If Saul had revealed the fact that he was the king of Israel, the medium would have not consulted the dead for him as she stated that such a move would be a trap set to harm her. But because she did not know the information about Saul, she consulted the dead but what happened surprised her that she charged Saul of deception in 1 Samuel 28:12:
When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
The point we seek to emphasize is that deception involves not only lying but withholding information from someone that would have resulted in a different action or decision by the individual from whom a fact or information is withheld.
In considering the subject of deception, we should be aware that there are two kinds of deception stated in the Scripture. The first is deception brought on another person and deception one brings on self, that is, self-deception. Deceiving others certainly involved lying and withholding of information, but we should be cognizant that often deception may come through flattery (i.e. insincere and undeserved praise or words of encouragement, used with the intention of gaining favor with someone). This fact is mentioned by the Holy Spirit through the pen of Apostle Paul in Romans 16:18:
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
Thus, the Scripture warns believers against letting others deceive them, especially regarding doctrinal truths given in the word of God. Thus, we have the warning especially regarding being deceived about the day of the Lord or the Second Coming. The Lord Jesus warned about this in Matthew 24:4–8:
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Similar warning is issued by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in a passage we cited previously, that is, 2 Thessalonians 2:3:
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
The way a believer keeps from being deceived by others as it pertains to doctrine, is to know the truth. Hence, if you learn doctrines of the Scripture, that will safeguard you against being deceived by others. Anyway, believers should be careful that they are not deceived by others as per the instruction of the Holy Spirit stated in Ephesians 5:6:
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
The Holy Spirit not only warns us about being deceived by others but that we also should not deceive anyone. It is this instruction that is given in Leviticus 19:11:
“‘Do not steal. “‘Do not lie. “‘Do not deceive one another.
Similar instruction is given in Proverbs 24:28:
Do not testify against your neighbor without cause, or use your lips to deceive.
Because believers should not deceive others, we should strive to ensure that we do not involve in any kind of deceit as per the instruction of 1 Peter 2:1:
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
It is particularly important that those who are spiritual leaders not involve any kind of deception in advancing God’s word as Apostle Paul indicated that he and his team did not do such a thing in 2 Corinthians 4:2:
Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
In any event, we have been considering the first kind of deception that is brought upon someone by another individual, so let us consider the second kind of deception we stated, that is, self-deception.
Self-deception is the situation where a person lies to self to believe what is not in accordance with reality. This is possible because of the corruption of the human mind as the Holy Spirit reminds us in Jeremiah 17:9:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
The corruption of the human mind leads to primary reason for self-deception, which is arrogance. It is arrogance that would allow a person to be in a state whereby the individual lies to self and believes that lie and so ignores reality. The Scripture speaks to this factor of arrogance or pride in self-deception. The Holy Spirit through Prophet Jeremiah states the fact that arrogance leads to self-deception in Jeremiah 49:16:
The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
Prophet Obadiah states the same truth in Obadiah 3:
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
The phrase pride of your heart refers to the thinking of the Edomites that they could not be defeated because of their geographical location. Nonetheless, it is pride that led to the self-deception of the Edomites. Pride usually involves a person thinking of self in a term that is not supported by reality. Thus, the Holy Spirit spoke of self-deception through Apostle Paul in terms of a person having an exaggerated opinion of self in Galatians 6:3:
If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Self-deception is a reality among humans. Therefore, the Scripture warns us against it. The Lord warned Judah regarding their self-deception in thinking that the Babylonians will not attack them, as stated in Jeremiah 37:9:
“This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not!
The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul warned about self-deception in 1 Corinthians 6:9:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
The same warning is issued in Galatians 6:7:
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
The command Do not be deceived of this passage may not appear to be concerned with self-deception, but it is. This fact is recognized in the translation of the TEV that reads Do not deceive yourselves.
The warning of the Scripture regarding self-deception is one we should take to heart. It is easy to be involved in it without recognizing it. Hence, to help in this endeavor of recognizing it, let me mention three ways we can become involved in self-deception without being conscious of it. A person may be involved in self-deception if the individual places importance in the person’s achievement or even the person’s success as that which would help the person in this life. It is this kind of manifestation of self-deception that is mentioned in Job 15:31:
Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return.
The word “worthless” is translated from a Hebrew word (šāweʾ) with several meanings but here it seems that the meaning is that of “stature” or “height.” It is this meaning that is reflected in the REB that instead of the verbal phrase trusting what is worthless of the NIV it reads trusting in his high rank. Another way self-deception manifests itself is failure to comply with God’s word. If a person listens to the teaching of the word God but for whatever reason decides not to comply to its requirement then the individual is involved in self-deception as the Holy Spirit indicated through James in James 1:22:
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
A person who keeps listening to the teaching of the word but is not impacted is in self-deception. This kind of self-deception is one that those who receive constant teaching of the word of God fall into but not recognize it. Another manifestation of self-deception related to this second is failure to control one’s tongues while claiming to be a spiritual person, as given in James 1:26:
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
Another manifestation of self-deception is failure to admit that one is wrong. It is this kind of manifestation that the Holy Spirit states in 1 John 1:8:
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
A person who is in this later kind of self-deception is certainly one that will not receive God’s forgiveness or mercy, as indicated in Proverbs 28:13:
He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
This effect of failure to admit one’s sin by one in self-deception, leads us to consider an important fact about deception.
Deception, like every other sin, has consequences. The most obvious effect of deception is lack of fellowship with the Lord. A person involved in any form of deception could not possibly be an individual controlled by the Holy Spirit and so such a person would not enjoy the ministry of the Holy Spirit, specifically, the empowerment of the Spirit. Such a person would not experience the presence of the Lord in a unique way. This truth may be deduced by what King David stated in Psalm 101:7:
No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.
In strict interpretation, this passage is concerned with the king’s promise to expel from his service every deceptive person that is a liar and hypocrite. If a human king that fears the Lord would not tolerate such a person in his service, then it follows that the King of kings would certainly not tolerate a relationship with such a person. This means that the individual would not be in the right relation with God and so would not enjoy the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Another consequence of deception is God’s judgment. This is declared in Psalm 5:6:
You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors.
This passage is concerned with God’s judgment on those involved in deception. Thus, we are certain that God would bring judgment on those who are involved in deception. Of course, there is punishment that come to a person who deceives others that may be described as self-inflicted. In other words, there may be an immediate pain suffered by a person who is involved in deception so that we can say that deception is costly even to a deceiver. A good illustration of this declaration in the Scripture is Abraham. He deceived Abimelech by lying concerning his true relationship with Sarah, his wife and the immediate consequence was his temporary loss of his wife, according to Genesis 20:2:
and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
Abraham, no doubt, suffered immediate mental pain for the loss of the wife, showing that deception can be costly to the one who deceives others by lying. Deception is also costly to the deceived. A good illustration of this is the prophet from Judah God sent to Bethel to deliver His message in the time of Jeroboam that introduced idolatry in Israel that was deceived by another prophet. The prophet from Judah paid a heavy price with his life because of allowing himself to be deceived, as described in 1 Kings 13:18–24:
18 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.) 19 So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house. 20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. 22 You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.’” 23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was thrown down on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
The fact that the Lord killed the prophet from Judah that was deceived indicates that deception is costly to the deceived. Furthermore, it teaches us that being deceived by others is not an excuse before God. Therefore, we should endeavor not to be deceived by others. As we have indicated, the best defense against deception is to know the word of God. If we know and apply correctly what God says in His word, then we would not be easily deceived by others. Because correct application of the word of God is difficult, the believer who knows the word of God should constantly ask for wisdom from the Lord to help in discerning falsehood from truth.
In any event, we have cautioned against deception, especially self-deception but we should be careful to distinguish self-deception from confidence in the Lord. We say this because it is easy for people to take your confidence in the Lord as being involved in self-deception. Take for example, you may face loss of a loved one or you may suffer in any other way, but you do not fall into pieces because of your confidence in the Lord. People may then accuse you of either being in self-denial or in self-deception. Because your confidence is in the Lord, you should not accept the discouraging description of others to cause you to waver in your trust in the Lord. A person would be involved in self-denial or in self-deception in the midst of difficulty of life only if the person places confidence on human solution. However, when such a person is confident in the Lord that is not self-deception or self-denial. By the way, when people tell you that you are in self-denial or deception because you trust in the Lord, you should cheer up because you are not the first nor would you be the last. This was what the king of Assyria said about King Hezekiah because of his confidence in his Lord, as described in 2 Kings 18:29–30:
29 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
The point is that trusting in the Lord in the midst of disastrous situation and remaining calm does not mean that a person is under self-deception although some may think so.
In any case, as we have noted, self-deception could be evident in several ways but in our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:18, the concern is self-deception that primarily involves wisdom. We use the word “primarily” because there is no connective between verse 18 and previous verse. The implication is that in this warning, the apostle could also have had in mind the fact that some believers may be in self-deception by thinking that God will not punish them for causing trouble to the church of Christ. This may be in the mind of the apostle but his primary focus in the passage of 1 Corinthians 3:18-20 that we are studying is that of deception that concerns wisdom since he had much to say about wisdom in the passage we are considering. In effect, a person could be in self-deception regarding being a wise person as the world defines such wisdom. It is this possibility that is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 3:18 If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age.
The word “if” is translated from a Greek conditional particle (ei) that is used in different ways. The Greek word may be used to express a condition thought of as real or to denote assumptions relating to what has already happened. It is in the sense of expressing a condition thought of as real that Satan used it when he addressed the Lord Jesus during His temptation, as stated in Matthew 4:3:
The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
When Satan says If you are the Son of God he was not doubting that Jesus is the Son of God. He knew and believed that to be true. How can you be sure of this, you may ask? It is because even demons asserted that Jesus is the Son of God, as recorded in Matthew 8:29:
“What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
It is inconceivable that demons would know that Jesus is the Son of God and their chief, Satan, would not. Furthermore, Satan would not tempt Jesus to turn stone into bread if he did not believe Jesus was capable of doing it. So, the use of the conditional word “if” here is to state what is true. However, the same word is used to describe an assumption relating to what has already happened, as Apostle Paul used it to describe the cutting off ethnic Jews that did not believe in Christ that has already occurred when the apostle wrote the sentence of Romans 11:21:
For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
The word “if” here is used to state what is true that has already happened to unbelieving Jews. The Greek word translated “if” in 1 Corinthians 3:18 may also be translated “that” as a marker of content of an indirect question, as it is used in 2 Corinthians 11:15:
It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
The clause if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness may alternatively be translated that his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Another usage of the Greek word in question is as a marker in causal clauses, when an actual case is taken as a supposition, where we also can use “if” instead of “since”, as in Romans 6:8:
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
It is a fact that believers have died with Christ since they are in Him so the use of the word “if” in Romans 6:8 may be replaced with the word “since” as reflected in such English versions as the NLT and the TEV. Another usage of the Greek word is as a marker of direct questions. Under this usage, the context normally would have the word “asked” or “said.” For example, the word “asked” is used to reflect the question of Apostle Paul to the commander of Roman soldiers in Jerusalem when he was being taken into their barracks, as recorded in Acts 21:37:
As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied.
The question May I say something to you? is more literally If it is permitted to me to say anything to you? The Greek word may mean “whether,” often when used in indirect question or to state content of an assertion as it is used in the instruction of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians to test if they are living as Christians should in 2 Corinthians 13:5:
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
The verbal phrase to see whether is literally to see if. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:18, the particle is used to denote an assumption relating to what has already happened. That means that what the apostle states concerning wisdom has happened with some individuals in the local church in Corinth.
Some Corinthians consider themselves wise as in the clause If any one of you thinks he is wise. The word “think” is translated from a Greek verb (dokei) with several meanings. It may mean “to suppose” as the word is used to describe the thinking of those who came to comfort Mary, after the death of Lazarus, when she got up to meet Jesus on hearing He had come, as recorded in John 11:31:
When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
The word may mean “to think” as Apostle Paul used it in refuting those who put confidence in the flesh in Philippians 3:4:
though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:
The word may mean “to consider” as James used it to describe that a person who is unable to control his/her tongue but claims to be religious is in self-deception, as in the passage we cited previously, that is, James 1:26:
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
It is with this meaning “to consider” that Apostle Paul used it as he boasted about his suffering to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:16:
I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting.
The expression no one take me for a fool may be translated no one is to consider me foolish. The word may mean “to seem” as it is used by Apostle Paul as he described those in Jerusalem to whom he presented the gospel message he preached in Galatians 2:2:
I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:18, the meaning is “to suppose” in the sense of to think or believe something as probable. Thus, some Corinthians supposed themselves to be wise as in the clause If any one of you thinks he is wise.
The word “wise” is translated from a Greek adjective (sophos) that was primarily used in classical Greek for a clever person who knows how to do something or construct something, such as buildings, poems, and speeches. Thus, the word pertains to knowing how to do something in a skillful manner and so means “clever, skillful, experienced, expert.” It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it in rebuking the Corinthians for engaging in lawsuits in the courts presided by unbelievers in 1 Corinthians 6:5:
I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?
The verbal phrase wise enough to judge a dispute between believers is to be understood as a question that inquires if there was no one among the Corinthians that is skillful in deciding dispute between individual believers. The Greek word may pertain to understanding that results in wise attitudes and conduct hence means “wise, prudent” so it can be used to describe being learned and so refers to an individual with intelligence and education above the average person, as that is the sense of the word in Romans 1:14:
I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
The meaning “wise” may refer to a state that is divine and originates from God reflected in one’s conduct, as it is used in Romans 16:19:
Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 3:18, it is the meaning “wise” in the sense of being skillful or experienced or discerning due to accumulated knowledge that the word is used. Thus, the apostle conveyed that some Corinthians consider themselves or suppose themselves to have become skillful or experienced or discerning due to accumulated knowledge.
Is there anything wrong with being skillful or discerning due to accumulated knowledge? No! Nothing is wrong with that as that is what every believer should endeavor to possess. We are saying that you should strive to be skillful or discerning due to accumulated knowledge as that is commendable. In fact, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Peter encouraged accumulating of knowledge as we can infer from 2 Peter 1:5:
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
Thus, there is nothing wrong with accumulating knowledge, but the Scripture cautions us about accumulation of knowledge that does not include God for that is futile, as Solomon testified in Ecclesiastes 12:11–12:
11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
On a surface reading of this passage, especially verse 12, one may get the impression that Solomon is cautioning about studying too much which will mean that we should not study much, even the word of God. However, that is not what the passage is all about. Instead, the warning issued in this passage is concerned with placing the word of God on the same level as any other source of information or knowledge for the spiritual welfare of humans. As it reads on the surface, the passage warns the reader about being careful with the words of the wise as they do not compare with other possible sources of instruction for living for humans on this planet. The passage conveys that you are being warned as a believer not to spend so much of your time reading other books that purport to provide spiritual information outside of the Scripture. By this we mean that you should spend more of your time in the Scripture and other books that explain the Scripture. It is a waste of time to spend it seeking spiritual insights or advice for living on this planet from any other sources of information than the Scripture. Be careful of being wrapped up with organizations that are not grounded in the Scripture or the various groups that claim enlightenment that is not rooted in the Scripture.
Be that as it may, when Apostle Paul wrote If any one of you thinks he is wise, he did not mean that there was anything wrong with a being skillful or experienced or discerning due to accumulated knowledge as this is desirable in the spiritual life. No! He was concerned with the kind of accumulated knowledge one acquires and insight or discernment one has. What kind of accumulated knowledge and insight or discernment was the apostle concerned? Well, we are out of time so come back next week for the answer. But let me remind you the message we are concerned: Avoid thinking you are wise by world’s standard but be wise by following God’s word.
12/07/18 [End of Lessons # 99 and 100]