Devotional 23 October 2025

The difference between the natural and the spiritual person is not intelligence, morality, or religious effort, it is the presence of the Spirit of God. Paul makes clear that the natural man cannot accept or even understand the things of God because they are spiritually discerned (v. 14). The truth of God is not a puzzle to be solved by human intellect; it is a revelation granted through the Spirit. What the world calls foolish (the cross, grace, and dependence on God) is in fact the very wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:18–25).

But Paul’s point here is not to make the spiritual person proud. This is where many go astray. To say that the spiritual “judges all things but is judged by no one” (v. 15) does not mean the believer is beyond correction or accountability. It means the standards of worldly wisdom no longer apply to those who are guided by the Spirit. As John said, “This is the judgment: the light has come into the world” (John 3:19). Those who walk in the Spirit stand in that light, not to boast in themselves, but because the Spirit has brought them from judgment to grace (John 5:24; Romans 8:1).

True spirituality is not proven by self-proclaimed insight, but by alignment with what the Spirit has revealed in Christ. The Spirit never contradicts the Word He inspired (2 Peter 1:21). Therefore, to be spiritual is not to be unteachable, but to be submissive: to be corrected, shaped, and sanctified by the truth. As John warns, “Test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). The true test of the spiritual life is whether we are being conformed to the mind of Christ, revealed in His Word and displayed in His humility (Philippians 2:5–8).

To have the mind of Christ is not to think ourselves above others, but to think as Christ thought: to humble ourselves, obey God, and love truth. Spiritual wisdom is not a badge of superiority; it is a call to surrender: to let the Spirit transform us so completely that our discernment becomes an echo of the Savior’s heart.