The Golden Rule Of Interpretation

[Marooncat79]

Let me repeat, the claim that to stick with the least that is being said might "shrink" the scope is false.

In their Natural, unregenerate sate, is not in dispute.

1 Cor. 2:14 does NOT say the natural person cannot understand any of the things of the Spirit God. That is an expansion.

Another expansion is the meaning of "opening the heart." All it means, i.e. the least it means, is to explain something in a way that is understandable to the person.

Ask yourself why Paul speaks to "men of flesh" using "spiritual milk?" 1 Cor. 3:1.

By using spiritual milk he knew he might win some! Therefore the lost can understand spiritual milk but not spiritual solid food, because a person must have learned from their indwelt spirit sufficiently to understand spiritual solid food (meat). 1 Cor. 3:1-3.

And then you rewrite James 2:5 claiming it does not mean God chooses individuals rich in faith, but only honors those rich in faith.

Nuff said...

Where is the word “any” found in I Cor 2:14?

Ill hang up. But i definitely won't listen

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

Let me repeat, the claim that to stick with the least that is being said might "shrink" the scope is false.

In their Natural, unregenerate sate, is not in dispute.

1 Cor. 2:14 does NOT say the natural person cannot understand any of the things of the Spirit God. That is an expansion.

Another expansion is the meaning of "opening the heart." All it means, i.e. the least it means, is to explain something in a way that is understandable to the person.

Ask yourself why Paul speaks to "men of flesh" using "spiritual milk?" 1 Cor. 3:1.

By using spiritual milk he knew he might win some! Therefore the lost can understand spiritual milk but not spiritual solid food, because a person must have learned from their indwelt spirit sufficiently to understand spiritual solid food (meat). 1 Cor. 3:1-3.

And then you rewrite James 2:5 claiming it does not mean God chooses individuals rich in faith, but only honors those rich in faith.

Nuff said...

Van, thank you for your thoughts. My point has been that we should neither expand the text nor shrink it. The “least the words are saying” must still include everything the words actually say, and we must let the rest of Scripture speak to the question of how God overcomes the natural man’s inability.

On 1 Corinthians 2:14, the verse says the natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God as natural. That is the plain statement. The verse does not list exceptions such as “spiritual milk,” nor does it say that the natural man can understand some spiritual things but not others. That distinction is not in the text. Paul’s point in chapter 3 is not that the unregenerate can understand spiritual milk, but that the regenerate Corinthians were still carnal and therefore not ready for solid food. He is speaking to believers, not to the natural man of 2:14.

As for “opening the heart,” Acts 16:14 does not say that Paul merely explained something more clearly. It says, “Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.” The least the words are saying is that God acted upon her heart so that she responded. That is more than explanation. It is divine initiative.

On James 2:5, the text says God has chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith. The question is whether James is describing a decree from eternity or the kind of people God delights to honor. The context is about partiality in the assembly, not about eternal election. Other passages speak to the order of salvation, such as “whosoever believeth” in John 3:16 and “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” in 2 Thessalonians 2:13. Those verses show that faith and love matter in God’s choosing. That is why I read James 2:5 as descriptive, not decretal.

My aim is simply to let all the verses speak. The natural man cannot understand spiritual truth on his own, but God can confront him, convict him, give light, and open his heart. That is the biblical sequence.

Yours in Him,

Tony