1 Corinthians 2:14, Spiritual Things Are Spiritually Discerned

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 unbeliever or the natural man cannot understand spiritual things. Understanding comes by the illumination of the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer. To the unbeliever, the things of God are foolishness to him. I recall as an unbeliever I heard for the first time the word “holiness”. It has no meaning to me. I do not understand what it means. I recall also not having any moral compass in the sense the I have not heard the laws of God as summarised in the Ten Commandments.

It is only after my conversion that I understand spiritual things. I can trace that understanding to the period after my conversion when I have received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. This, I believe, is what the Apostle Paul is teaching us here where the child of God is able to have spiritual discernment.

What blindness before conversion! And what privilege to understand the truth of God’s Word. I understand my origin, born with the image of God, where I come from and where I am going, the glory of my heavenly home. Amen.