Soulful and spiritual person. Paronyms spiritual - sincere

In one of the sermons of John Chrysostom, I happened to read the following words about the Last Judgment: a person will be judged, firstly, as a person, that is, whether he was merciful, attentive, sensitive, hardworking ... That is, whether there was in him what should be in a person by nature, what distinguishes a person from an animal. Then the person will be judged as a Christian - according to the commandments of the Gospel. Christ speaks of this in the Gospel in the following words: The word that I have spoken to you, it will judge you.

Here we are talking about the forgiveness of enemies, about mercy, kindness, chastity and all that would not exist in the world if there was no Gospel. And finally, then a person will be judged as a son of the Church in the rank that he bears in the Church - a bishop as a bishop, a priest as a priest, a monk as a monk, a layman as a layman. If a person was a bishop in the Church, but did not pass the universal human test, then he will not reach the episcopal court - he will be rejected earlier.

This applies to everyone. Before we are judged as Christians, we will be judged simply as human beings. In a well-known place in the Gospel, which speaks of the Last Judgment, Christ lists a number of good deeds by which the righteous are distinguished, namely: to feed the hungry, to clothe the undressed, to visit the sick, etc.

It should be clear to everyone that these are not actually Christian virtues - such as praying for enemies or distributing property, but actually universal human virtues. Since it is clear to Muslims, Jews, and atheists that they need to participate in the sorrows of their neighbors with love and compassion. Perhaps Christ in the words about the Last Judgment deliberately minimizes the requirements for a person. If you have not been faithful in a little, then, of course, you have not been faithful in more. It is at this lower level that I would like to stop.

The patristic thought clearly and correctly distinguishes in man the spheres of the body, the soul, and the spiritual. Literature, music, poetry, that is, the sphere of grace in all its manifestations, belongs to the spiritual. Well, the spiritual is faith, repentance, prayer, fasting and other Christian deeds.

Christian teachers note that the spiritual makes a person aesthetically sensitive, refines him and loosens his soul, but in itself does not save. In this sense, it is fair to reproach cultural figures for stretching when they call their work "spiritual". A poet, artist, director, screenwriter - these are not people of spiritual labor. These are people of spiritual labor. But the reverse side of the medal is also that it is impossible to give a person the spiritual without first giving the spiritual. The apostle Paul writes about this, saying that “first the natural, and then the spiritual.”

From the lips of one church person, I had to hear bitter words about the fact that culture has been de-churched, and the Church has been de-cultured. Righteous anger causes the existence of poets and writers who have never read the Gospel, as well as the existence of Christians who despise all poetry and literature. Both that, and another - a nonsense, ie. a phenomenon that does not make sense, an ugly phenomenon.

The language of the New Testament is Greek. This is no coincidence. As long as the seeds of the Gospel were sown on the Greek land, this land was plowed and loosened by the labors of hundreds of philosophers and the philosophical schools born from them. The Greeks sincerely and ardently sought the truth. In search of it, they created philosophical systems, contributed to the arrangement of civil society, engaged in science, studied themselves. When the Seed of the Sower fell on this fertile soil, this soil produced great ecumenical teachers, saints, the most elegant theologians.

Such a flourishing of theology, which was on Greek soil, we do not see anywhere else. And this is a clear proof of the usefulness in Christ of pre-Christian labors and efforts.

But we, the late generations who came to Christ a millennium after the first preaching of the Gospel, do not have such a skill in the field of philosophy, poetry, state building ... We, as possessors of the truth, are inclined to neglect that colossal heritage of pre-Christian and non-Christian humanity, which leads to Christ or helps to deepen the understanding of Christ's gospel.

We need, as it were, after the fact, already being Christians, to feel the languor of the human soul, in need of God, and its striving in the search for truth. We also need to feel the state of those of our contemporaries who even now live outside of Christ, who seek Him, even if unconsciously.

This whole complex of sensations is given to us in world literature and art, by which we do not have the right to disdainfully pass. In the Orthodox environment, one can often hear voices sternly pronouncing moral teachings like "Seraphim of Sarov did not read Shakespeare, Sergius of Radonezh did not quote Plato." Such people unconsciously raise the bar for the little man to the level of the life of the greatest saints. We must clearly understand that the way of life of great ascetics is not the norm for millions, but only a reason to be surprised, glorify Christ and repent.

In everyday life it is not safe to be guided only by the ascetic ideal of the Holy Fathers. Very few are capable of truly emulating their exploits. If, however, many weak and infirm people strive in life to achieve exorbitantly great ideals, then we risk getting thousands of broken lives and the collapse of these very great ideals as a result. The Orthodox faith is monastic. Our best teachers are ascetics, virgins and ascetics. But in this dignity of ours lies the cause of our shortcomings. Indiscriminately offering high ascetic ideals to everyone in a row, we risk injuring the souls of most of those who listen to us. It seems to me that it is not necessary to forbid a modern person to go to the pool, to be attentive to his appearance, to listen to non-church music on the basis of the fact that the saints did not do this. We have no right to neglect the spiritual and immediately speak to a person only about the spiritual.

Man is a dynamic being. He may be equal to the angels, may be similar to Christ, or may degrade to the state of cattle or a beast, or even a demon. Between these poles, every person makes free movements throughout his life. The conflict that confronts the Church is that, called to preach angelic purity, Christ-imitating humility, and childish gentleness, the Church today speaks to people who are more and more unable to listen to her, because they lose not only God in themselves, but even human .

Family and school have long taught almost nothing. Perhaps, except for the Church, no one else will explain to a person that you need to greet first, give way to elders, do not throw a candy wrapper past the urn ...

We must explain these things before we start talking about the beatitudes of the gospel. We have no right to talk to people about high things without first teaching them small and elementary things. A modern young man randomly snatched out of a disco, accustomed to "hanging out" and "breaking away", must first be taught to speak in a language that is understandable and close to literary, before telling him anything about the Kingdom of Heaven. In this contradiction I see one of the painful problems of church life. Called to lead people to heaven, the Church today is forced to first make people human, not to let them be demonized or become bestial.

This applies mainly to young people. That old woman who has been cultivating a garden for decades and hurries to church every Sunday does not need to be introduced to world culture in order to be saved. But the youth, incl. rural, needs.

First, the world is inevitably urbanizing. Modern world culture is the culture of big cities. Even a person living in a village, thanks to TV, the Internet, radio, disco, is involved in the circle of modern near-cultural trends. Such a person inevitably needs an antidote against the vulgarity of modern pop culture, and as an alternative - a step up - a culture of a higher standard, which sooner or later can lead a person to the thought of Christ.

In relation to universal cultural values ​​for a Christian, there must be a certain hierarchical ladder. For example, a person who loves the liturgy, who has a social circle among people who are church-going and literate, may not need to visit the theater (although he is not obliged to shun them). But for a person who is mired in earthly worries, who has not read any books for a long time, who does not think about anything but everyday affairs, it can be useful to go to a good performance and, having crawled out of the shell of personal problems, join universal human pain and joy.

A young person who does not know about the life of the Church, due to the ardor inherent in age, non-conformism, can be carried away by rock music, the hippie movement, etc. We should not judge him harshly for this. It is worse if a person, having already become churched, turns back and is carried away by what is characteristic of people who seek, and not those who have found. Such a person is "unreliable for the Kingdom of Heaven."

Spirituality and sincerity - what's the difference?
Spirituality is a movement towards the knowledge of the Truth. This is an understanding of the laws of the Universe, the laws of the Universe. This is an understanding of how the World works, how all elements interact with each other.
But spirituality is not only knowledge. It is also the desire and readiness to live in accordance with this knowledge, to live according to these laws of the Universe or God.
Spirituality is a quality of a person, which indicates his level of understanding of the Universe. This is the desire of a person to understand how the World works, what true laws govern the Universe, and the desire to join these laws and live by them.
That is, spirituality is the desire to know the truth and live in accordance with it.
Spirituality is also the desire to join God, that is, to be closer to this Higher Power, which created everything in the Universe.
Therefore, speaking of spiritual growth, I mean the desire to know the truth and answers to the questions: Who am I? What is the sense of life? How to live like God?
The spiritual path is a movement towards the Truth, during which the answers to these questions are revealed.
soulfulness- this is the ability to open one's soul to people through spiritual deeds. If we accept that the Soul is a part of the Divine in me, then the manifestation of soulfulness is the manifestation of the Divine in me.
And God manifests himself through love. And sincerity is when I show good qualities in relation to others: I love, I sympathize, I forgive, I accept them as they are. This is a manifestation of the Soul, that is, sincerity.
The soul is what I am.
I, who has a body, mind, consciousness, thoughts. That is, when I speak about myself, I mean just the Soul. I am the Soul. The soul is what I am.
If soulfulness is a manifestation of the soul in a person, that is, a manifestation of the Divine in a person, then what kind of manifestation can this be?
How does God live? He creates, loves, gives, cares, but expects nothing in return. He just creates. Therefore, sincerity is when I do good just like that, without self-interest, without expectations.
Such behavior in today's society is considered stupid. If a person gives without receiving anything and without expecting anything in return, then he is considered a simpleton, a fool, a fool.
But remember how Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi lived. That's right: giving and wanting nothing in return.
It turned out a little crumpled and with repetitions. But, the main idea was expressed.
Spirituality is when I want to understand the laws of God and live by these laws.
Sincerity is when I live like God: I love, create and give without expecting anything in return.
To live like God, you need to be able to forgive. When I get rid of anger, resentment and irritation, it is easier for me to love and give. The Radical Forgiveness Questionnaire helps me a lot with this.

I will describe the characteristic features of a Soulful and Spiritual person, emphasizing that these types practically do not occur in their pure form, but in reality there is a mixed type with varying degrees of predominance of the Soulful or Spiritual nature. It is also important that the Spiritual principle, being in the depths of the Soul, either develops, cultivates and begins to prevail over the Soul (under favorable external and internal circumstances), or, fading and drowning out by everyday and practical life activity, turns into a significant, but unfilled place in the inner human world, giving a feeling of an inferior, failed life and a clear lack of something important.

Soul man in his life aspirations he is always focused on feedback. It is, as it were, looped, because it itself is both the beginning of its activity, and - after finding the result of activity - its end and meaning. However, the soulful person is not always aware of this loop. So, taking care of children or loved ones, investing in them means, strength and soul, he often does not pay attention to his stereotypes, limited value orientations and an admixture of selfish intentions.

Various levels of egocentrism - from vulgar self-interest to the desire to find peace in the soul, to be in harmony with the world, to engage in self-improvement, and the like, to a large extent have a Soul component.

Personality spiritual man open, opened for entry and filling it with the Greater than everything that is present in its cash being. Such a striving beyond the limits of personal existence is noble and true in nature, if it is addressed to the holy, higher and merciful principle, which resides both in the beyond to the visible and invisible world of beingness (transcendence), and in the depths of the heart, the core of the living (compare: the gospel mustard seed, the Sanskrit term "hridayam" - the seat of the Atman in the core of man). The accomplice of this deep contact of the living with the life-giving principle is Conscience as a distinctive property of the soul, which distinguishes what is permitted from what is not permitted, and is developed to the extent that the mind accepts the increasing restrictions put forward by the conscientious principle.

Therefore, all life involvement, which for a Soul person has an unconditional value, such as work, family, friends, security, comfort, personal well-being, is not an unconditional value for a Spiritual person.

For a Spiritual person, only the preservation of the sacred connection with the Existing and Truly Living and the correspondence of one's activity to this has absolute significance. In the beginning, maintaining this requires significant effort, counteracting the distractions of the world and sociocultural aggressiveness. Here it is appropriate to recall the image of a spiritual warrior, a warrior fighting for the Heavenly Fatherland, God's truth - with the truth and power of this world.

As one grows spiritually and matures, a constant transcending breath of the Spirit of truth arises in the heart, and the whole surrounding world is perceived as living and breathing the same, only not heeding this sacrament.

As a result of spiritual development, the internal axis “We” — “They” changes significantly. For a soulful person, depending on the level of culture, “We” changes from a narrow circle - family, friends, relatives, colleagues, to a country and a nation. For a Spiritual person, the boundaries of “We” are blurred: at first, spiritually close people are included in “We”, the rest are “They”. And then "We" (I) includes the whole of humanity and in general the whole existence.

Joy, on the other hand, accompanies the spiritual man, as he devotes his activity to non-egocentric vitality, acting selflessly, acting according to his conscience, helping his neighbor, honestly fulfilling his duties. The highest good is the good of communion with God in the altar of one's heart.

The implementation of the provisions described here takes years and years of life under new value guidelines. To a large extent, growth in a Spiritual person is facilitated by the fidelity of the first meeting with Him in the space of one's inner world. Having said “yes” to the spiritual call within oneself, it is important to remember this every day, to protect it in a series of everyday worries. Then the process of growth acquires a self-developing character, and a person who lives this way and cannot live in another way is twice-born (born again). For such a person, the vital center of attention, efforts and worries has moved into the spiritual dimension.

Such a life can be likened to the growth and development of a flower. Careful attentive mindfulness corresponds to sunlight, and distinguishing what is permitted from what is not permitted and following this corresponds to weeding. Vitality and optimism (love and hope) - there is fertilizer and moisture for the sprout. It will flourish in its own time.

Chebanov Igor, Head of the INTACT Center

(Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:14-16)

A spiritual person does not even accept the Spirit of God, for he has foolishness, and cannot understand, he does not aspire spiritually.

A soulful person is one who wants to know everything with his mind, and only recognizes as true what seems to him to be so - who arranges his life and all his undertakings in his own ways, relying on them alone as on a solid foundation - who is the goal of life He supplies peace and earthly happiness and turns everything into a means to those who are so accustomed to the tangible and tangible that they do not consider the invisible and spiritual to exist. Even the Spirit of God - that which offers the wisdom of God, inspired by the Spirit of God, is completely opposite to this. She reveals dogmas that are accepted by faith against the mind, she commands to abandon all one’s ways and to betray life, both external, and even more so spiritual, into the hands of God, indicates the goal beyond the grave and, in order to achieve it, requires sacrificing happiness, contentment and peace on earth, orders so to live, no matter how there was no body and nothing visible, but there was only one invisible, which to eat means to live.

In view of such a contrast between the demands of the spiritual wisdom of God and the mood of a natural person, it is very natural that the latter does not accept anything from the demands of the former. The broadcastings of the Spirit are incomprehensible to him, they seem to him foolishness, and he cannot understand anything in them. In order to accept and comprehend the spiritual and to see wisdom in it, for this it is necessary for a natural person to cease being spiritual, or at least to desire this. We have in our nature a spiritual element - a spirit breathed into the face of the primordial. The fear of God is peculiar to him, the demands of conscience belong to him, he inspires discontent with all created things. When the soul, the power that is given control of earthly life, takes precedence over the spirit, it is muffled, but it is never destroyed and is always present inside, and immediately raises its voice as soon as an opportunity opens up. When the Apostles went on a sermon to proclaim even the Spirit of God and in those who were taught the Holy Spirit, then everywhere, especially among the pagans, they met mainly people of the soul. On what, then, was the hope of success based, when the spiritual does not even accept the Spirit of God? – On the fact that no matter how spiritual someone is, a spirit is hidden in him, which, under the influence of the grace-filled gospel, raised his voice in a sincere person and forced him to both listen and agree to what he heard. And this is to varying degrees. For some, the spirit barely set in motion, for others it rose up with such force that the conversion was immediately accomplished. But the completely soulful one plugged his ears and fled from the preaching of the Apostles or rebelled against it. The Apostle everywhere witnessed this phenomenon and testifies that he who is mired in soulfulness does not contain the pronouncements of the Spirit, does not understand them and does not accept them.

Zane dukhovny claims. Competes - ανακρινεται - is discussed. Whoever does not stifle the natural movements and manifestations of the spirit, especially the fear of God and conscience, listening to the Apostolic gospel, finds in it a kindred element, riveted attention to it, discussed it and, seeing how it corresponds to the requirements of his own spirit, clung to it believed and was renewed in the sacraments. From that moment on, he no longer discussed with his spirit alone the Spirit of God, but also with the grace that revived him and indwelled him. He entered the spiritual realm and the grace of the Spirit brought him gradually into the knowledge of that which is the Spirit of God. And it is with such a person that the spiritual actually spiritually claims. The natural spirit, excited by the gospel, claimed the spiritual only by probability, by expectation, but this one claims now as if it were real, possessed, tasted.

The spiritual one, however, claims the whole, but he himself claims not from a single one.

The Apostle compares the horizons of a spiritual person and a spiritual person. Although he does not name the latter, it is obvious that he means him by those who are unable to claim the spiritual. The spiritual one speaks, discusses, surveys and defines everything: he claims his spiritual realm, because he stays in it, and therefore he knows it, as they usually know the house in which they live; and he claims and surveys the spiritual realm, and understands, for although he is no longer in it, he knows it well, because he has languished under its yoke for so long, he knows all the twists and turns of spirituality and everything on which it relies and where it aims, when this or that says one or the other starts. From the first words, he recognizes the spiritual and the spiritual, and accordingly disposes of his behavior in relation to them. A sincere person cannot understand the spiritual from any side, for what he lives in is an unknown land for him. He sees only that he is not the same, and that instead of expecting such and such a manifestation in him in a certain case, something completely different appears in him. And this is incomprehensible to him. He cannot understand and explain his way of thinking, nor the rules of life. For a spiritual person, the spiritual one is incomprehensible, does not compete with him. Here it happens the same as, for example, when, in a two or three-story house, a person who lived on the lower floors moves to the upper one. He knows his own floor well, he knows the lower floors as well, but those who live on the lower floors, and who have not been able to visit the upper ones, do not know anything there and cannot judge about it.

Saint Chrysostom says: “He who sees sees everything and even that which belongs to the unseeing; and what belongs to it, no one who does not see sees it. So it is here, we know our own, and everything that belongs to the unbelievers, but they do not know ours. For we know what is the nature of the present and what is the dignity of the future, what will happen to the world later, what punishment sinners will suffer and what the righteous will enjoy; we know that the present blessings have no dignity, and we denounce their insignificance, while the future ones are eternal and unchanging. A spiritual person knows all this, and what punishment a spiritual person will suffer in the life to come, and what a believer will enjoy when he migrates from here, but a spiritual person does not know anything like that.

Who can understand the mind of the Lord, who will explain and? We are the mind of Christ imams.

He gives the reason why none of the soulish spiritual person can understand and discuss. For, he says, what is in the spiritual man, that is, the mind of Christ, the spirit of Christ, his contemplations of Christ, Christ's dispositions, Christ's strengths, plans, hopes - everything is Christ's. But no one from the soul can understand the mind of Christ, the mind of the Lord, so that everything in it is understandable. Just as none of them can understand this, neither can they understand the spiritual, because he has the same mind. The words: who will explain and - who relates to the mind of the Lord, so: who knows the mind of the Lord, so that he can understand it clearly and agree with his concepts? (Theophylact). Who refers to the spiritual man as follows: who understands the mind of the Lord in order to understand and discuss the spiritual man? And in us, spiritual ones, there is the mind of Christ, that is, the mind of the Lord. The main idea in both interpretations of these words remains the same: the spiritual realm - with what it contains, and with persons and objects - is inaccessible to a spiritual person: he cannot understand anything in it, not only how it exists in itself, but also how it is revealed in spiritually living persons.

Here is what Saint Chrysostom says to this:

« Mind of Christ Imams- that is, we know what is in the mind of Christ, what He wants and what He has revealed to us. Since the Apostle said above that the Spirit has revealed to us, lest anyone reject the Son, he adds that Christ also revealed, expressing not that we know everything that Christ knows, but that all our knowledge is not human and therefore subject to doubt, but there is knowledge of the mind of Christ and spiritual. The understanding that we have is Christ's, that is, the knowledge that we have about the objects of faith, is spiritual knowledge, and therefore no one can really judge us, for a person of the soul cannot know divine objects. Therefore the Apostle said: Who knows the mind of the Lord stating that our understanding of these things is His understanding. And the words: who will explain and - he added not in vain, but according to the above words, the spiritual aspires to none.– Do you see how variously he refutes external wisdom and shows that the spiritual man knows more and better? Only in this way (that is, having the mind of Christ) can we see and cognize lofty, mysterious and higher things than us; and reason proved insufficient, because through worldly wisdom we cannot comprehend what is above us.– We are the mind of Christ imams, - that is, spiritual, Divine, not having anything human in itself; Christ communicated his knowledge to our minds. And Christ Himself is the proof of perfect friendship that He revealed secrets to us: not to anyone, he says, I speak to you, servants ... you are my friends ... as if everything, even I heard from the Father, told you, that is, I entrusted you(John 15:14-15). But if trust alone serves as a sign of friendship, then consider what love He expressed when He entrusted us with secrets, not only in words, but in fact communicating them to us. Let us be ashamed; and if Gehenna does not frighten us too much, then let it be more terrible for us than Gehenna - to be unrecognizable and ungrateful to such a friend and benefactor.

Vladimir Ryaguzov

For a long time, people have been dividing each other depending on race, skin color, position in society, education, etc. When the Apostle Paul lived, people were divided into four groups, according to the teachings of the Greek physician Heraclitus about the FOUR TEMPERAMENTS or characters. Temperament is a Latin word meaning mixing, in this case the mixing of various fluids in a person.

Heraclitus taught: if a person was dominated by a warm liquid - blood, that is, "sanguis" - he was called SANGUINE. He is active, restless, open to others, defends their interests and tries to help them. He talks a lot and passionately, sometimes without thinking about what he says. He depends on the environment, which has a great influence on him. And if I ask you to name a typical sanguine person in the Gospel, then you will easily say: “Of course, this is the Disciple of Christ PETER: open, sincere, driven by good intentions and at the same time mercilessly condemning his Teacher: “May this not happen to You! "- Matt. 16:22. He also fervently assures Jesus that he will not deny Him. And he denies Him three times.

If black bile predominates in a person, that is, "melancholos", then this is MELANCHOLIC. Unlike the sanguine, he is a man in himself. This is an analyst who carefully studies what comes to him from outside. He is prone to oppression, keeps in memory and analyzes for a long time what hurts him. The melancholic always has an ideal, and he compares everyone with it. His feelings and intuition are refined and deep. Therefore, among melancholics there are many outstanding thinkers. In the New Testament, the typical melancholic is the beloved disciple of Christ, JOHN. First of all, he is concerned about the main truth - Christ is God incarnate, which we read about at the beginning of the Gospel of John. John also wrote the most profound book of Revelation. However, he is a very vulnerable person. This is evidenced by his epistles, in which he speaks with great sorrow about false teachings that have penetrated into the church.

When yellow bile predominates in a person, that is, "cholos", then this is a CHOLERIC. He always has a businesslike, practical mood. What he decides, he immediately does and finds ways and means for this. He is self-confident, arrogant and quick-tempered. Such people are rarely interested in religion, faith. They are convinced that this is the business of women and children. A choleric person can believe in God only as a result of severe shocks and becomes faithful to Him to the end. In the New Testament, such a choleric is the Apostle PAUL. Previously, he was a fierce persecutor of Christians, but, having experienced a meeting with Christ, he became devoted to Him. Paul labored for the Lord more than all the Apostles, about which he says this: “But I labored more than all of them: not I, however, but the grace of God, which is with me” - 1 Cor. 15:10. With the help of God, he founded many Christian communities.

And, finally, Heraclitus taught: if mucus predominates in a person, that is, "phlegm", then this is a very balanced person - PHLEGMATIC. It balances the mind, feelings and will. He is calm and imperturbable, pleasant in communication and indispensable as an adviser. But slow and prone to self-justification. A typical New Testament phlegmatic is the Disciple of Christ - FOMA, nicknamed by the people unbelieving Thomas. After all, even the fact of the resurrection of Christ could not bring him out of his imperturbable state! But why such an extensive introduction? The doctrine of the four temperaments helps to recognize the positive and negative features inherent in us, and therefore, to develop them or prevent their manifestation. And, probably, some of you have already recognized yourself. Or he imagines who his neighbors are on the right and on the left and how they can behave in a similar situation. Speaking about the different characters of people, it should be remembered that the Lord, our Creator, wants to use all of us so different for work in His Church. And therefore calls everyone to it, calls to repentance, faith and spiritual service. And finally, and this is the most important thing: the psychological division of people into temperaments points to another very important division - SPIRITUAL.

The Apostle Paul writes about him in 1 Cor. 2:12 - 3:4: "But we did not receive the spirit of this world, but the Spirit from God, so that we might know what was given to us from God, which we proclaim, not from human wisdom with learned words, but learned from the Holy Spirit, considering the spiritual with the spiritual. The natural man does not accept what is from the Spirit of God, because he considers it foolishness, and cannot understand, because it must be judged spiritually. But the spiritual man judges everything, and no one can judge him. to judge him? But we have the mind of Christ. And I could not speak to you, brethren, as to the spiritual, but as to the flesh, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, and not with solid food, for you were not yet able, and even now you are not able, because you are still of the flesh. Pavlov," and the other: "I am Apollos," are you not carnal?"

Based on the read text, from a spiritual point of view, all people on earth, including Christians, can be divided into SPIRITUAL, SPIRITUAL, and CARNAL. And, as in the doctrine of the four temperaments, what fills us determines who we are spiritually. The Bible often compares a person to the heart - the center of the human personality with its mind, feelings and will. Figuratively speaking, such a heart has two doors. And what goes into them determines how God sees us.

1. Soulful person

This is how EACH OF US, being born, comes into this world. And this group includes the majority of the inhabitants of our city, citizens of our country and planet Earth. What are the characteristics of a spiritual person? When someone says about someone: "Oh, this is such a soulful person!" - then this concept invests an exclusively positive meaning. Is not it? And in fact, a sincere person can be a wonderful person! He usually excels in business, science and art. It is no secret that the great world religions, and I do not mean the Christian faith, as well as philosophical teachings, are the result of the activity of spiritual people.

But what does the Bible say about a natural person? It asserts that the natural man does not have the Spirit of God. That is, speaking figuratively, for God he does not have a "receiving device" - a spiritual antenna. Therefore, he "does not accept what is of the Spirit of God" - 1 Cor. 2:14 that God speaks in the Bible and through His servants. And there is no malicious intent here: after all, like is known by like. A simple example: invisible radio waves operate around us. But if we have an appropriate receiving device, then with its help we can catch the information that these waves carry.

Similarly, it is impossible for a person in whom the Spirit of God does not dwell in his heart to understand the Word of God, "because this must be judged spiritually." Having closed one door to the Spirit of God, such a person opened another to "the spirit of this world." Therefore, the world and its earthly values ​​are of paramount importance for him. He is oriented to them and lives by them, and apart from them, nothing exists for him. And what goes beyond the limits of worldly problems, what comes from the Spirit of God, seems to a natural person to be "madness."

As follows from the previous chapter of 1 Corinthians, natural people by "folly" specifically mean the word about the cross and Jesus Christ crucified on it. And not because from the point of view of common sense it is insane, but because it contradicts the egoism of a person who boasts of his own wisdom. He cannot have more than the spirit of this world that is in him gives. Therefore, he does not understand the love of God, who gave Christ to death. Therefore, he does not understand the disastrous state of people.

And what fills the HEART of a sincere person? That which is inherent in the spirit of this world that lives in it: "Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, theft, false witness." The Bible defines such a person as "dead in sins" - Eph. 2:1. This charming outside, very "soulful" dandelion is not just an empty flower. This is a spiritual weed, a rebellious sinful nature, living as if there is no God, and therefore no responsibility for one's actions. And if the Spirit of God does not prompt the natural man to open his heart, our efforts will not be in vain.

I have one beautiful sister in the Lord, the German missionary Gertrude Wehl. For many years she visited gypsy families in Hamburg, witnessing to them about God. But no one listened to her. Moreover, the gypsies broke the windows in Gertrude's house, cut the tires of her car. Despite this, she continued to go to them, testify of salvation and pray. So she did for 9 years, and it seemed to no avail. Once in Hamburg there was a big flood that caused loss of life. However, none of the Gypsies were hurt. It was then that they opened their hearts to the Spirit of God and became new people. And then a gypsy church arose, now numbering more than 300 believers.

Such an example encourages us to pray fervently for our relatives and friends, for our city and country, and expect a change, about which the Apostle Paul writes: "And you, who are dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once lived, according to the custom of this world ... fulfilling desires flesh and mind ... God ... made alive with Christ" - Eph. 2:1-5.

2. Spiritual person

It is precisely this change that the spiritual man experienced, about which the Apostle Paul speaks further. The change came when he openly confessed his sins before God, opened the door of his heart and "received the SPIRIT FROM GOD" - 1 Cor. 2:12, and closed the other door, with the help of God, so that the spirit of the world would not enter, and with it sin. And in such a heart the Spirit of God creates His holy fruit: "Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, mercy, faith, meekness, temperance" - Gal. 5:22-23.

And since the Spirit of God penetrates everything, explores everything, even the depths of God (1 Cor. 2:10), then the spiritual person filled with it penetrates everything and "judges everything" (1 Cor. 2:15). God reveals to him His will, plans and deeds. The knowledge of the spiritual man has no limits. He knows his past, that he was created by God. He knows his present, that he lives not for himself, but for the Lord. And he knows what a natural person has no idea about - his future, that "eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and that has not entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love Him" ​​- 1 Cor. 2:9. And the reason for this is not his curiosity or outstanding mental abilities, but the Spirit of God, Who revealed all this to him.

Once I came across the dissertation of an atheist philosopher who was trying to find ideological means of combating evangelical Christian Baptists. To do this, he attended a church in Moscow in Malovuzovsky Lane, listened to sermons and talked with believers. And this is the conclusion he draws: "It is impossible to convince them, especially old men and women. They talk about such lofty spiritual concepts that it is difficult for the unprepared to understand!" Here, it turns out, who are the real enlightened scientists - old women and old men who shame the wise of this world! And all this is done by the Spirit of God.

The spiritual man obeys only this Spirit living in him. This was especially important for the Apostle Paul. After all, there were many judgments about him, including incorrect ones, even in the Corinthian church itself. No one has the right to judge a spiritual person. Because "no one can judge him" - 1 Cor. 2:15. He is judged only by God, whose thoughts are higher than the thoughts of men.

The Spirit of God unites the spiritual man with the Lord, and he acquires "the mind of the LORD ... the mind of Christ" - 1 Cor. 2:16. He knows His thoughts and desires. He knows what is given to him in Christ, as Ephesians 1:4-13 says: “God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, having predestined us to be sons to Himself through Jesus Christ… in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace... In Him we have become heirs... In Him... we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." And all these concepts are not empty phrases, but gifts of God, the reality of which the spiritual person experiences every day.

I think many of you have experienced that change that the Bible speaks of, when "the old sinful things have passed away, and now all things new have come." And to be an eyewitness of such experiences is a special joy when a natural person, thanks to the action of the Spirit of God, becomes spiritual. And therefore, whoever has not yet experienced such a change, who has not confessed his sins to the Lord and has not left them, can survive it, as those who are here have experienced Christians. How did I experience this change? Today is an auspicious time, today is the day of salvation!

So, the Apostle Paul speaks of two groups of people - carnal and spiritual. And we see them all around us. And that seems to say it all. But the Apostle does not put an end to this and points to a third possibility. He also speaks of carnal people.

3. Carnal man

The church in Corinth, to which the Apostle Paul wrote this epistle, was convinced that it was special. After all, so much work was done in it, there were so many different groups and gifted employees, and the services were lively, varied, with the singing of joyful rhythmic songs. Various spiritual gifts were practiced here, including speaking in tongues and healing. At the same time, Paul, with pain in his heart, addresses such Christians: "... I could not speak to you, brethren, as to spiritual ones, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ" - 1 Cor. 3:1.

Who is a carnal person? More precisely, the carnal Christian in the church, whom Paul calls a brother, an infant in Christ? In contrast to the spiritual, this is a WEAK, limited, sinful person. He opened the doors of the heart to the Spirit of God and the spirit of this world. When such a person turned to God, the Spirit of God entered his heart. The Apostle Paul speaks of this fact in 1 Cor. 3:16: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" But this does not mean that the Spirit of God owns the whole heart, the whole personality. Figuratively speaking, many rooms - the bedroom, the kitchen, the cellar and the attic - remain closed to Him. And therefore there is disorder, indecency, darkness.

So, a carnal Christian is a person who once gave his life to God and at the same time continues to manage it himself further. Therefore, the Spirit of God cannot expand its sphere of influence here, since He is constantly being resisted. Such a person serves both God and the world, and therefore he has a serious delay in spiritual growth. He cannot take complete spiritual food. HE HAS A LIMITED DIET - baby milk, which corresponds to his spiritual infancy. He assimilates only the beginnings of faith, the spiritual alphabet. And there is no desire to study the Bible and the will of the Lord more deeply, as well as to pray regularly, and therefore everything remains the same. And although he is in Christ, he does not grow spiritually.

And what are the consequences for the church because of the presence of carnal Christians in it? Then there is "envy, strife and dissension" in it - 1 Cor. 3:3. After all, carnal Christians are more attached to the authority of people, and not to Christ and the Word of God. They pursue their own goals and interests, and therefore create groups in the church and divide it, selfishly declaring themselves: "I am Pavlov ... and I am Apollos" - 1 Cor. 3:4. And it seems that they shamelessly indulge in their passions and live as non-Christians. With all the diversity and apparent spirituality of church life, the Corinthians remained carnal, about which the Apostle Paul writes in detail in the 5th and 6th chapters of our epistle.

But HOW to get out of the carnal state and become spiritual people? This is possible only when life is given to God. Everything is given away, without a trace. But that's the hardest thing to do. For this is directed against the selfish, carnal nature, when a person seeks to dominate, and not to obey. And if you, dear brother, dear sister, feel like a carnal Christian, then God calls you to leave your selfishness and close the door of your heart to the spirit of the world. However, here you cannot do without the help of God Himself. You can't be a rock and a hard place at the same time.

In the cities of many countries there are so-called rotary transport circles-platforms. When a tram enters such a steep circle, the circle turns it in the opposite direction. Using this comparison, I want to tell you, my friend: "If you commit yourself to God and ask for His help, then a good change will take place in your life: you will be guided by the Spirit of God from a carnal state to a spiritual state." And now it's time for prayer. Whoever has the desire to pray - there is an opportunity for that. The Lord is ready to answer and help you. AMEN.

http://www.blagovestnik.org/books/00321.htm #10