1 Corinthians 2:6-16: Are You Mature?

Introduction

LSU super fan… How much is too much? Far too influenced by LSU…

Some of us are far too influenced by the world - leaving us spiritually immature.

This is what Paul wants for the church at Corinth. He wants these believers to act their age spiritually speaking. The church at Corinth struggled to live as mature believers in Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 2 -3, Paul is encouraging these believers to act their age.

When it comes to following Jesus, you are either mature or immature. What is spiritual maturity, and are you living as someone who is spiritually mature?

Two truths from this passage to help you understand the difference between spiritually mature people and spiritually immature people.

You can always expect immature people to live immaturely.

In Corinth, the sophists were wise. People flocked to hear them speak about what was good, right, and meaningful. They espoused a wisdom of this world - a wisdom that was always changing and never certain - a wisdom focused on what’s best for you rather than a wisdom that points to what’s best for God.

Paul explained that real wisdom is the cross of Jesus Christ. There is power in the simple message of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

vs. 6 - Paul speaks about the wisdom of the cross to the mature. The mature are the ones who understand the significance of the cross and embrace the message of the cross.

Paul’s use of the word mature is a play on words. In Paul’s day, the sophists claimed maturity. They had the answers, and if you followed the wisdom teachings of the sophists you were mature. From Paul’s perspective, sophists were immature because they thought the cross was foolishness. Those who embrace the Gospel are mature. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are mature because you have more insight and knowledge than the person who has advanced degrees in multiple subjects yet rejects Jesus. You have wisdom that the rulers of this age do not have (vs. 6). This maturity is a gift from God. The immature, no matter how wise they are in the eyes of the world, will come to nothing.

vs. 7 - The hidden wisdom of God is a mystery. When you think of mystery you think of Sherlock Holmes or your favorite mystery movie where the main characters are desperately trying to solve a crime or some type of puzzle. Biblically, a mystery is what we can’t know about God apart from God Himself revealing it to us.

In the NT the Gospel is referred to as a mystery. Abraham, Moses, and the other Old Testament saints knew that God was going to redeem His people, but they didn’t know exactly how God would redeem His people. In Jesus, the mystery has been revealed. The NT shows us that redemption comes through the cross.

If you’ve embraced Jesus, you understand the mystery. God has revealed to you by His Word and through His Spirit that Jesus is the wisdom of God. You are saved because of your faith in what God has revealed to you.

God’s plan of redemption was predestined. For all of eternity, God knew He would redeem His people through the cross of Christ - for our glory. The Bible rightly speaks much of the glory of God. But, our glory? One day, you will experience real glory - you will be with Christ forever. You will see Him face to face. You will be more alive than ever. You will be in a glorified body free from sin. God predestined a glorious future for your life and the Gospel secures it.

You are mature not because you have a lot of life experience, advanced degrees, or a lot of common sense. You are mature because God has chosen to reveal Himself to you and save you.

You are immature if you don’t know Jesus, and immature people live immaturely. (Always shifting in beliefs, always living for self.) Consider the rulers of the age in Jesus’ day. They did not have the spiritual eyes to see that Jesus was the Lord of glory. Otherwise, they would not have crucified Him. Because of their immaturity, their inability to see Jesus as their Messiah, they committed the most evil act possible. They crucified the Son of God (vs. 8).

vs. 9 - Paul loosely quotes from Isaiah 64:4. In Isaiah, the Israelites in captivity awaited deliverance. They did not fully know God’s plan for them, but God knew. God knows His plan for His people. God knows what He has prepared for those who love Him.

Are you immature or mature? If you are a follower of Jesus, you are mature. If you are not a follower of Jesus, you are immature. Immature people live immaturely.

Don’t be surprised that the immature live immaturely. Lost people live like lost people. Don’t be surprised when your lost teenagers rebel. Don’t be surprised when your lost friends make really sinful choices. Don’t be surprised when lost people ridicule and reject your faith. Don’t expect lost people to make this world permanently better.

Do be surprised at how much you are influenced by the immature. THIS is the problem that Paul will eventually address. We are mature but we behave as if we are immature. Who’s voice is loudest in your life? The voice of Jesus or the lost world? What characterizes your life? Immature, sinful choices or wise, godly choices? Who are your greatest influences? Mature, followers of Jesus, or immature, lost people?

Eating a camera - what’s inside of me that can potentially cause sickness? I need what’s inside my body to be treated to be healthy. If you’re live in maturity - change on the inside - in your spirit.

You should expect mature people to live maturely.

You are mature, and you should expect to live maturely because of the truth that has been revealed to you and because of who’s inside of you.

In 1 Corinthians 12-14 Paul writes about the gifts given by the Holy Spirit, but in these verses, Paul writes about the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. The Spirit helps you to live out the maturity that God has given you.

We believe that God is triune. The Father is fully God, Jesus, the Son, is fully God, and the Holy Spirit is fully God. We worship one God reveals Himself in three persons. God the Father ordained your salvation. God the Son purchased your salvation. God the Holy Spirit applies the work of salvation to your life by drawing you to Himself.

vs. 10 - The Holy Spirt opened your eyes to the truth of the Gospel. As God, the Holy Spirit knows everything, even the depths of God. The Holy Spirit knows the desire of the Father to save you. vs. 11 - just as only your spirit within you knows you better than anyone else, so also, the Spirit of God knows the innermost thoughts of the Heavenly Father.

This One who knows God, because He is God, knows you. He knows the work He desires to do in your life, and He knows how He is going to accomplish that work. He doesn’t just know you, He’s in you (vs. 12). The spirit of the world is not in you. The Spirit of Christ is in you. True wisdom resides in you.

The Holy Spirit indwells you to teach you (vs. 12-13). God placed His Spirit in you so you would understand Him and His Word. E.g., anyone can study the Bible and gain facts about the Bible, but it’s a work of the Spirit when you study the Bible and you are convicted of your sin, and you are led to repent. Or, the Spirit challenges you to grow in a specific area of your life. Or, the Spirit leads you to obey God in a specific way. The Spirit is in you teaching you how to live your life conformed to the image of God.

The Holy Spirit grows you to maturity (vs. 14-16). You are mature because the wisdom of God has been revealed to you, but you don’t always live maturely. Sometimes you live immaturely. For the person who does not know Jesus, they always live immaturely (vs. 14) because they do not understand the work of God. A lost person is stuck in immaturity - always rejecting God’s truth. But, if you are a follower of Jesus, even in those moments that you are acting immature, the Spirit of God is at work. He convicts, and you respond to that conviction, and you grow. You are growing in your ability to discern the work of God in your life. You can evaluate everything - what’s God honoring and what’s not God honoring. The mature cannot be evaluated by anyone. An immature person might think that you are unwise because of your faith, but their judgment of you doesn’t change the fact that you are sealed by God’s truth. Vs. 16 - quote from Isaiah 40:13. Who knows the mind of the Lord? No one! Who could possibly know the mind of the Lord? The immature certainly doesn’t know the mind of the Lord. BUT… we do! (vs. 16) Followers of Jesus have the mind of Christ. We know what God desires from us. We know how God wants us to live. We know the wisdom of God. We know the mystery. What a marvelous truth! We have the mind of Christ.

A contrast in these verses - the mature vs. the immature. In Christ, you are mature because you know the truth. Not only do you know the truth, the Spirit of God is in you, giving you the mind of Christ. The Spirit of God is empowering you to live out what you are: mature in Christ. These verses challenge us:

Be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). To live under His control rather than resisting His control. Are you resisting His work in your life? If you find yourself reverting back to immaturity, you are giving control back to the spirit of the world.

Listen to the Spirit’s voice. Study God’s Word not just for information but for transformation. I hope you learned something this morning, but more importantly, I hope you are longing for transformation (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 12:2). I hope when you gather around the Word with the body of Christ it’s not just to learn Bible facts but to be challenged by the Spirit of God. What is the Spirit saying to you this morning? A step of obedience He is calling you to take? A sin to repent of?

Respond to the Spirit’s conviction. For some, you know the Spirit has been speaking to you. He’s been calling you to share the Gospel with a specific person. He’s been calling you to partner with one of our other churches that we are helping to live again. He’s been calling you to forgive someone. He’s been calling you to repent of bitterness or to turn from some other sin. You’re convicted, but you don’t respond. It is sinful to not respond to the Spirit. You are quenching His work in your life. This morning, respond to His conviction.

This morning, the Spirit of God is drawing some of you to faith in Jesus Christ. Today, the mystery of God is being revealed to you. For the first time, you understand that you need a Savior. Respond in faith to the Gospel. This morning, believe that Jesus lived the life you could not live, died the death that you deserve, and rose from the dead three days later to forgive your sins and give you the gift of life. This morning, repent and believe.