Bible Verse of the Day Saturday January 14th, 2023

1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore, I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

When we are saved and become followers and believers in Christ Jesus, we must abandon certain presumptions, assimilated preconceptions, and maybe even some social traditions. In other words, we will have to put off the "old person" that we were and put on the new person we are in Christ Jesus. Not all of the behaviors and actions we engaged in before our salvation were wrong. However, we became a new person; the old person is dead, and we should bury him or her in the grave they are assigned to. Right after I surrendered my life to Christ Jesus, someone close to me said you do not seem like the person you used to be. They asked me if I was going to die, and I responded, "no, I have already done that" (Romans 6:9-11). 

There were many false teachers in Corinth when Paul sent this letter to them. They turned the Corinthians from the one true God back to the stone and wooden idols. This false mysticism had the effect of stunting their spiritual growth, and although they possessed many spiritual gifts, their spiritual growth was all but non-existent. The lack of spiritual growth made them susceptible to apostate teachers. Paul was well aware that many false teachers were roaming around in the world and he told them in no uncertain terms that: "no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit."

 Many false teachers in the world today are very charismatic, speaking in "inspired utterances," but that does not indicate spirituality. Paul was warning the Corinthians and, by extension, warning us today to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. These false teachers are being led by Satan, who roams around seeking all that he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). Satan can appear as a deceptive angel of the light or a roaring lion. Still, in either case, he seeks to devour spiritually immature believers and discourage them from continuing in their faith in Christ Jesus. 

 Jesus told us that when the Holy Spirit came upon us, He would point us toward God's love, grace, and mercy in and through Christ Jesus. There should be some danger sign that appears where a supposable messenger of God is promoting himself or herself instead of pointing their flock to God. The only way for any of us to tell the difference in a charlatan's lie and the truth of God is familiarity with The Word of God. However, it does not stop there; it must accompany a consecrated prayer life and the study of God's Word, both individual and group study. 

When the U.S. government trains people to spot counterfeit bills, they do not focus on the false currency; they familiarize the trainees with the real money. The idea is that the best way to spot counterfeit bills is to be remarkably familiar with the real deal. The gospel works somewhat the same; the best way to recognize the lies of the counterfeit or false teachers is to be familiar with the truth of God's Word (1 Peter 3:15).