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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain 1 Corinthians 4:7:
I Corinthians 4:6-8
Excerpted from: Faith (Part Seven)Let us go back to I Corinthians 4, where the apostle Paul makes a very significant statement that we really need to take to heart because he is speaking to a church that had a lot of people that had a lot of spiritual gifts from God. They had intelligence. They had faith. You can read the gifts that were given to this church back in I Corinthians 12. But it was also a very badly divided congregation. It was divided because of pride—spiritual pride, pride in their gifts. They had a haughty spirit.
Why is pride so bad spiritually? Because the Bible shows very clearly that it stands between us and a good relationship with God. Because it stands between us and the source of true spirituality. Because it stands between us and the receiving of God's gifts. Because it is proclaiming its self-sufficiency. Its strength is in that. Its confidence, its reliance, its high wall, its tower, as we might say in more figurative language, is standing between the person and God.
Now what do you have that you did not receive? Think about that. What do you have that you did not receive? Did you create yourself? Did you create the great goal in life to be in the Kingdom of God, to be very God? Did you reveal God to yourself? Did you manipulate somehow the forgiveness of sin? Did you die on the stake for the forgiveness of your sins? How about the gift of the Holy Spirit? Did that come to you from your own workings? Did you lead yourself to repentance? Who gave you the power to believe in the true God and in His Son Jesus Christ?
Pride subtly elevates a man to the same level as God and results in him rejecting the very gifts God would give him for his salvation. A perverted comparison.
So the man, then, you and me (hopefully not as much as it used to be), consciously or subconsciously is saying that he already knows better, or has the power and ability within himself by nature, thereby subtly turning salvation into something God owes. It becomes earned. Do you realize that this was the Pharisees' problem? It was. We will get to that a little bit later.
Indeed, what do we have that was not given? None of us have any of the spiritual qualities capable of being generated by means of the spirit in man, is holy enough, pure enough, strong enough, humble enough. If they were, then who needs God? Salvation would be able to be earned.
What do we have that we did not receive? If God chooses to use us—if God chooses out of His mercy to give us salvation—how could we possibly say that any part of this is self-generated and take pride in that? If we begin to take pride in it, there is going to be a wall between us and God, because pride is iniquity and sin separates from God.
What did it do? What did this pride rising up in them do? Well, the same thing that it did to Helel. It began to lift them to the same level as God and led them to rejecting God's part in all of this. They did it themselves! So for their own good, in order that they might have a right relationship with God, He is going to have to bring them down. And He will.
What do we have that we have not received? What then do we have to be proud about? There is in the humble person a right recognition and acceptance of the fact that he is totally dependent upon God for everything that can be taken through the resurrection. Did not Jesus say in John 15, "without Me you can do nothing"? What do we have that we have not received?
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