January 12, 2020 My Soul, Be Spiritual!
/in 2020 Lord's Day /by Youhyun Chang
[1 Corinthians 12:1-11]
God
is a living spirit.
Because
He is spirit, He is true.
Because He is true, He is the truth.
Because He is the truth, He is life and light (Jn 1:3-4).
His name is Jesus. He put His name in our hearts.
Jesus’ name inside our hearts is not doctrine.
It is eternal life.
It is the right to become God’s children (Jn 1:12).
The right of God’s children is not just eternal life.
They should be spiritual by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:10-16).
Spiritual people
know about God’s working,
the duty of Jesus Christ,
and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
These are permitted to us.
As spiritual people belong to heaven,
they should be filled with the Holy Spirit’s gifts (1 Cor 12:7-11).
When they lay hands on the sick, the sickness should flee (Mk 16:18).
Spiritual people should make demons recognize them, tremble and be driven out (Acts 16:16-18).
The Lord works with them from heaven (Mk 16:20).
The Lord Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8).
○ The people of Jesus Christ should be spiritual.
They should do what Jesus did.
○ Those who are baptized in immersion should be spiritual.
They should always have the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit.
○ The Church of Jesus is His body.
His Body is His life and power.
It should be filled with Jesus and His power.
※ Without the Holy Spirit’s power, you can only be religious.
Religious people are godly but cannot escape judgment.
The people of the Holy Spirit are free and gain eternal life.
Coming Soon
The people of Jesus Christ are meant to glorify to God. To do this, they devote themselves ‘with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their mind’. This matches how the Bible tells us to love God. Therefore, the person who loves the Lord their God until death is made a pastor and their hearts are filled with the desire to offer their entire lives to God. Because of these sacred concerns, they finally go to theological seminary and study. After they finish their studies, they can become a pastor and do their ministry well. But I wonder, do they know what they are studying? In university, you can learn various types of knowledge in various areas. But in schools related to religion, they study religious studies. Here is where we must pay attention. When Christians chose to study, they study theology and not religious studies. Religious studies and theology are clearly different. All worldly religions study their own religious philosophy for its propagation and spread. But the Christian Church studies existential theology – which is not found elsewhere in the world. All religions study religious philosophy for their own sake, whilst the Christian Church majors in existential theology for the Church’s sake. Religious philosophy and existential theology are clearly distinct academic areas. They are clearly different, even at a glance. Religion studies human ideas. Christianity does not research man’s thought but receives God’s revelation. God is living and self-existent from eternity past. Christianity is certain Jesus of Nazareth is God’s Son who was shown to the world. We keep this testimony. We do not seek after fiction, but objectively study and certify the existential One. Though Jesus is a historical Being, He is God unrelated to history. First off, the academic name of Hades is the universe. In one word, it is the void. The kingdom of God (heaven) is spirit. Jesus dwelt in the void but dwelt with God before coming to the world. So He is God. Religious philosophy cannot escape the area of Hades (also called the universe). It only studies the invisible ideological world inside it. Existential theology does not approach study with doubt or ignorance. God sent His true Image to the world. We know, believe, obey and are baptized in the Son. Mankind is God’s greatest creation. Those who are baptized study with their reason and spirits the knowledge, emotion and will of the living God. We do not go to seminary to study religious philosophy. Rather, we should surely understand and choose existential theology. This is our calling. We should acknowledge and respect existential theology as the greatest area in all theology. We should be proud of theology. Semuon, 12th January 2020
Coming Soon
Outline translated by John Kim
Letter translated by John Kim
Interpretations by John Kim
Korean Summary by Ki-Taek Lee