Dear friends and Bible teachers at our church…I have to admit that (sometimes) I totally do NOT understand the approach our lesson writers take to our particular lesson theme.  This week has been one of those times.  I totally “get” the unit theme of being set apart.  I am cruising with each title and approach to the subject. 

However, this particular week, I would have chosen a completely different scripture to magnify the topic of never being alone.   There are SO many passages that would have helped us focus on being set apart.   We are going to go with it and do our best with this wonderful, wonder-filled passage in First Corinthians which highlights the wisdom of The Lord. The main theme I have extracted is that we are not alone because our Lord shares His wisdom with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Totally in agreement with that!  Full disclosure:  I have gnawed on this bone all week!

First week, we learned that our God is set apart, holy, perfect, completely different than us, worthy of all praise and worship.  Psalm 99 reminds us of the holiness of God.  He is to be exalted above all others.  All other “gods” are simply just that…little gees.  Actually, they are no gods at all.  Earth and Heaven both recognize the glory and power and strength of our GOD. 

Last week, we learned in Romans 6 that when we present our lives to God to serve Him forever, Christ sets us apart unto Himself.  We find ourselves being found by Him and in Him and begin to serve with Him living inside us by God the Holy Spirit.  We identify with Christ and therefore we no longer identify with the world.  We are living IN the world, but we are not OF the world anymore.  We are immediately distinct from the world the moment we identify with Christ.  We live for Him while reaching out to others who don’t know Him, and we show His love to them. 

This week, we are recipients of the first letter to the church in Corinth written by Paul in the first century. Some of the people alive at the time of this writing were some of the very first people to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Some could have even been there on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem as recorded in Acts 2.  Paul was a contemporary of Jesus and the apostles. Paul did know and work with Peter and several of the other disciples after the ascension of Jesus.  Scholars tell us this letter was written around AD55.  Paul had helped to start the church at Corinth.  He was writing them to address several major issues that were now being used to wound the growth of this important church in Greece. 

We are no longer alone after salvation.  God the Holy Spirit lives in us to help us navigate life.  1 Corinthians 2:11 says that no one knows the mind of God except the Holy Spirit of God.  At salvation, we are given access through the Holy Spirit to the heart and mind of God.  Pause a minute and let that sink in.  We have HIS wisdom for making decisions.  For consolation.  For conviction.  For affirmation.  For encouragement.  For things to avoid.  For growth.  For…EVERYTHING!!! 

Such wonderful knowledge sets us apart from the “natural man” described in verse 14.  Such access to the Lord is our highest spiritual privilege as believers.  Our greatest spiritual event was Calvary and the empty tomb which provided our salvation.  The natural man who has not recognized the power of the resurrection has no clue about what it means to be set apart.  The sinful nature of natural man without Christ automatically has set him apart from Holy God.  

When God the Holy Spirit convicts natural man and he responds in faith by confession and repentance, the same wisdom we possess as believers immediately becomes available to him.  It behooves those of us who know Christ not to keep such good news to ourselves!  We must share it!  “Set apart ones” are called to love those separated by sin from the grace of God in Jesus Christ.  

Set apart FROM Christ=natural man=alone, separated, living without God.
Set apart UNTO Christ=spiritual man=never alone, living with God.
Wisdom of God is available to everyone who believes!