From 1 Corinthians: The Power of Discrepancy
From the Book of 1 Corinthians.
THE POWER OF DISCREPANCY.
PART 1: THE TIME TRAP, 1:18-25.
#1. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”, v.18.
#2. To some, revelation from God was meaningless & irrelevant in the time continuum. Unknowingly, for them, time functioned as a trap: THE TIME TRAP.
#3. Those within the trap did not know that beyond their physical diminishment they were spiritually perishing, as well; terminating by a collapse into complete death.
#4. But to others, the word of God was acknowledged as “the power of God”.
#5. The starting point for those perishing was time & the experience of time. The starting point for those being saved was a revelation transcending time.
#6. Therefore, the “foolishness” of the gospel was & is the escape hatch out of the TIME TRAP. “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside”, v.19.
#7. DISCREPANCY characterizes the distance between THE TIME TRAP & THE POWERS OF REVELATION. “…the wisdom of the wise…” & “…cleverness of the clever…” refer to what can only be described as THE TRAPPED MIND.
#8. Those who were being saved used the power of revelation to break the TIME TRAP! The consciousness that breaks the trap, we may call THE BIBLICAL MIND.
#9. Part of the mechanism of the time trap is that you do not realize that you are trapped!
#10. One of the POWERS OF DISCREPANCY between time & revelation is that it allows for the development of BELIEF. Without the phenomenon of revelation, time, inexorably, functions as a trap. Those thinking they are free of religion are exhilarated, never conscious of THE TIME TRAP.
#11. “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolishness the wisdom of the world?”, v.20. Posed as rhetorical questions, they assume THE TIME TRAP & that it constitutes a way of reasoning. This trap is energized by a language manifold obligated to a unity of human reason & temporal experience.
#12. This means that the “wisdom of the world” is a single language manifold & an attempted “explanatory narrative” of human existence.
#13. But it is one made “foolish” by the wisdom of God.
From the Book of 1 Corinthians.
THE POWER OF DISCREPANCY.
PART 2: THE INSURMOUNTABLE WALL, 1:18-25.
#1. “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe”, v.21.
#2. By supernatural design the Almighty has built an EPISTEMOLOGICAL WALL into time. On the man side of this wall is the domain of human wisdom. The obverse side, there, resides the knowledge of the eternal, determinant God.
#3. By the will & purpose of God, it is not humanly possible to go beyond that wall. It is prohibited. On its own, human wisdom cannot know anything about eternal reality. The wall assures that failure. It can only ask questions that it can never answer.
#4. No one can come to know God through human reason, it is incompetent; such knowledge requires revelation. Unaided human reason runs quickly into this dimensional obstruction.
#5. The “message preached” by-passes the wall & presents to the human mind that which it cannot achieve on its own.
#6. However, anything not achieved by human reason alone, unbelievers think, is “foolishness”.
#7. “…Jews ask for signs…Greeks search for wisdom”, v.22. “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block…to Gentiles foolishness”, v23.
#8. Here are the motives for disparaging any possible word from God. (a)Some, like the Jews, pursue power & leverage over temporal circumstances. (b)Some, like the Greeks, search for the wisdom of men derived from human lived experience.
#9. If you want power & human wisdom, then, you will never come to know God, whether in or out of the church. (c)But if your motive is to seek that final truth beyond the wall, then there stands the Bible.
#10. Power & wisdom are defined differently, on either side of this supernatural wall. Trust in human reason defines power & wisdom in limited, temporal terms. But power & wisdom according to revelation are all concealed in “…Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God”, v.24. Belief is a choice; but more than that, it is a motive.
#11. Belief beyond the wall is the conviction that “…the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men”, v.24.
From the Book of 1 Corinthians.
THE POWER OF DISCREPANCY.
PART 3: THE PRIMA FACIE, 1:18-25.
#1. A PRIMA FACIE case or argument is defined as a true case, a valid argument, unless proved otherwise.
#2. Atheists try to make a Prima Facie case (first impressions, appearances) that there is no God. The Prima Facie is the result of THE POWER OF DISCREPANCY!
#3. “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe”, v.21.
#4. The Almighty has put an UNCORRECTABLE DISCREPANCY between the WISDOM OF THE WORLD |&| THE WISDOM OF GOD.
#5. They are not on the same plane. Unbelievers utter propositions founded upon the man side of this DISCREPANCY. The Prima Facie argument comes from the blind side of the wall.
#6. That line of “evidence”–>to language discredits the DISCREPANCY between the TIME TRAP & the eternal side of THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL WALL.
#7. The Prima Facie denies there is any wall, any God, any DISCREPANCY. No engagement with revelation is needed, indeed, it is superfluous. Things are as they appear to be.
#8. Problem: the Bible, revealed truth does, in fact, cross swords with Prima Facie Reasoning. Scripture records that reality is certainly not as appearances, nor the Prima Facie suppose.
#9. This form of thought, from the human side of the wall, has always been exercised, even by those who knew better.
#10. Genesis 3: Adam & Eve relied on the Prima Facie; Genesis 16: Abraham & Sarai took a faithless path using Hagar; Exodus 13-17: The desert generation persisted in distrust of God in spite of the miracles in Egypt; 2 Corinthians 1:8-11: The apostle, mistakenly, saw only the Prima Facie & responded in favor.
#11. Daily confrontation with trouble, pain & danger is our lot, but the Prima Facie flies in the face of revealed truth & its offer of hope. It appears that some believers & all unbelievers share a common proclivity for the Prima Facie. That is inconsistent with revealed truth from over the wall.
From the Book of 1 Corinthians.
THE POWER OF DISCREPANCY.
PART 4: THE DIAMETRICAL, 1:18-25.
#1. The lexical entry (a dictionary word) “foolishness” is defined differently on either side of the EPISTEMOLOGICAL WALL. Human wisdom lends one temporal, limited meaning & God on the DIAMETRICAL (opposite) side of this wall renders an opposing meaning.
#2. Revelation from the Almighty is sent into the world of human reason from across the wall & reverses the meaning (diametric, opposite) of “foolishness”.
#3. “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”, v.20.
#4. “Foolishness” is an example of all linguistic terms. Every word is to be brought subject to He on the invisible side of that wall. Every word is to be subject to revealed meaning! Human wisdom & its use of language is diametrical from the eternal wisdom of God.
#5. “Foolishness” as determined by men in time is that which men & human wisdom cannot embrace, cannot reach, cannot endorse, cannot approve, cannot generate & will not accept.
#6. “Foolishness” is a SHARED WORD”. Men use it & the Lord uses it. But the DIAMETRICAL swings the meaning & use of the term to the eternal side of the wall.
#7. And revelation from beyond the wall defines “foolishness” as anything uniquely dependent upon human wisdom & unaided human reason. The reality of God & His word precede language & its capacity to convey truth.
#8. Consequently, language & its powers must be given over to what we may call DIAMETRIC CHANGE. The supernatural, revealed absolutes affect the meaning of all lexical entries.
#9. This we may refer to as DIAMETRIC REDEFINITION. Just like the term “foolishness”.
From the Book of 1 Corinthians.
THE POWER OF DISCREPANCY.
PART 5: THE DIAMETRICAL, 1:18-25.
#1. The Lord & the word of God impose a DIAMETRICAL MEANING & THEREFORE USAGE upon human language. The Lord redefines meaning away from the man side of the wall. Terms like power, right, wrong, wisdom, insight, reason, intelligence, sin, limitation are all reassigned meaning.
#2. Human usage of language tied down to human wisdom presents the case for severe language limitation. Language without REVEALED DIAMETRICAL REDEFINITION is limited in its reach & scope.
#3. Language trapped in a human box, locked down within the human context, is dispossessed of its nature as a SHARED PHENOMENON between God & men. Thus enters into evidence LANGUAGE CUT OFF FROM GOD.
#4. Just as is the case today, the Almighty & His revelation are all represented in lower, human based meaning. The Lord’s hand is prised off of the gift of language. In this case language collapses in upon itself.
#5. Words & syntax (the order in which words are strung together) become the province of self-interested men.
#7. Terms & practices like abortion, euthanasia, philosophy, world views, conduct, behavior all fall under the approval of human wisdom.
#8. Language is a gift from God & it was to be harnessed to the service of the Lord. Taken away from that dedicated mission, then, it will be pressed into DISTORTION by human wisdom.
#9. Human wisdom leverages language into distorted purposes & uses. Contemporary science has been credited with supplying the POSITIVISTIC RULES for human thought. The rules for human reason, some claim, have been permanently altered; & human language with it! But the Lion of Judah protects that which is His. If men try to steal language from the Lord, He will take it back!
From the Book of 1 Corinthians.
THE POWER OF DISCREPANCY.
PART 6: THE DIAMETRICAL, 1:18-25.
#1. Language facility exists because it first existed with God. This facility is designed to be a SHARED/COMMON CONDITION BETWEEN GOD—& MEN.
#2. The Bible, revelation comes to bear upon the LANGUAGE INDEX (link); allowing supernatural linguistic meaning & usage to fulfill its pre-determined purpose.
#3. The purpose: To connect the human mind, human consciousness to the mind of God. Accomplishing that enables the mind of a man to transcend its natural limitations.
#4. Without this DIAMETRIC CHANGE, provided by the Scripture, then, the true purpose of human language is forfeit, perhaps lost indefinitely. One of the consequences of this is cultural & social disintegration.
#5. The two distinct meanings of “foolishness” in this passage, put into evidence this DIAMETRIC IMPERATIVE. Overcoming the designed EPISTEMOLOGICAL WALL demands this change.
#6. This means that the Bible is not primarily historical reportage. The word of God must be understood as the RULE BOOK (grammar) FOR HUMAN LANGUAGE. Revelation precedes language & controls meaning & usage. Reduction of scripture to its doctrinal content obscures the DIAMETRICAL.
#7. Neglect the REVEALED DIAMETRIC & human rationalism puts the Bible downstream from it. Language remains subordinate to human will & the vagaries of human wisdom. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”, v.18.
#8. In consequence of the DIAMETRIC MEANING, one is lead to the necessity of repentance. Because perception & comprehension have burst into personal consciousness. This how men in time are changed, are redeemed.
From the Book of 1 Corinthians. THE POWER OF DISCREPANCY. PART 7: THE DIAMETRICAL, 1:18-25. #1. It falls to believers to use REVEALED DIAMETRIC LANGUAGE, in time, circumstances & materiality. Biblical faith makes itself known, in part, by its language use. Believers are surely charged with the propagation of DIAMETRIC LANGUAGE & the defense of it. #2. In order for believers to defend biblical language, there must be a unity between personal consciousness–>& DIAMETRIC LANGUAGE. #3. The blessing of that unity is that it carries the human mind beyond the immediate historical conditions. This unity conjoins the mind of God–>& the mind of a man, it conjoins the language facility–>& ETERNAL TRUTH. #4. Under these textual conditions, then, DIAMETRIC LANGUAGE must be pushed into time & material circumstances. And this, in spite of the fact, that no one can foresee the effects of that relation. #5. This relation between DIAMETRICAL MEANING (biblical) &the temporal order affects the meaning of all categories of personal experience. It isolates the believer from tradition, heritage, education, social influences & cultural underpinnings to some non-trivial degree. #6. The practice of generalization from the Bible to time is an example of DIAMETRICAL REASONING. #7. The word of God–>comes to bear on the mind–>one’s LANGUAGE UNIVERSE undergoes a DIAMETRICAL CHANGE. #8. In every instance, there is a pre-existing language use & meaning; which is contradictory to revealed truth. DIAMETRIC DISPLACEMENT is the only solution! #9. One contributing factor in missions failure is this. Certain doctrines are inculcated, but the mind of the convert is not brought to the DIAMETRICAL. #10. “…Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”, v.20.
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