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Moving from Worldliness to Godliness Studies in 1 Corinthians Series [11] 1 Corinthians 3:18-23 August 3, 2014 Pastor Paul K. Kim

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RECAP: THE PROBLEM OF DIVISIONS IN THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH [CHAP 1-3] Divisions: The church was divided into four rival factions. (1 Cor. 1:10-17) Root Cause: Worldliness/Carnality in the church. (1 Cor. 2:6-3:4) Worldliness Symptom #1: Pride/boasting in worldly wisdom. (1 Cor. 1:18-2:5) Worldliness Symptom #2: Pride/boasting in human leaders. (1 Cor. 3:5-17)

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FOUR KEYS TO MOVING FROM WORLDLINESS TO GODLINESS 1)Key #1: Dont deceive yourself by being wise in your own eyes. 18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age... (v. 18a) 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. Proverbs 3:7 The first key has to do with getting rid of arrogant self- confidence in worldly wisdom, which leads to self-deception. Without God as the center of our view of the world, all of us slip into a default mode of relying on our own understanding. To move to godly perspective, our first need is this watchful self-awareness of subtle pride and arrogance in ourselves.

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FOUR KEYS TO MOVING FROM WORLDLINESS TO GODLINESS 2)Key #2: Be a fool in the world so that you may become wise in Christ. 18...If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness, 20 and again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile. (vs. 18b-20) The positive side of renouncing our self-deception of pride is to surrender ourselves unreservedly to Gods wisdom. Through the lens of Gods wisdom, worldly wisdom is foolish, full of holes, and vainthus, being a fool leads us to be wise! To move to godly way of life, we must fully trust in Gods wisdom by willingly choose to be a fool in the worlds eyes.

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Two Opposing Wisdoms There are, then, two opposing ways of thinking about the world that can be found in the West today. The one belongs to those who have narrowed their perception solely to what is natural; the other belongs to those whose understanding of the natural is framed by the supernatural. The one takes in no more than what the senses can glean; the other allows this accumulation of information to be informed by the reality of the transcendent... The one looks only to the shifting contents of human consciousness, which differ from one individual to the next; the other holds the individual consciousness up for comparison to the larger realms of meaning in which are rooted those things that are common to all human nature. The one acknowledges no ultimate certainties; the other places the highest value on ultimate certainties. All of these differences arise from the simple fact that the one perspective receives its meaning from God and the other does not. David F. Wells

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FOUR KEYS TO MOVING FROM WORLDLINESS TO GODLINESS 3)Key #3: Dont boast in human leadersboast only in the Lord. 21 So let no one boast in men... (v. 21a) 31 so that, as it is written, Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:31 Boasting in human leaders is our distorted desire to equate ourselves with their prominence and giftedness. In reality, this is arrogance in disguiseby boasting about them, we elevate our importance to their level of superiority. To move to godly character, we must resolve to boast only about the LORD who gave us everything we have.

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FOUR KEYS TO MOVING FROM WORLDLINESS TO GODLINESS 4)Key #4: Know that all things are yours in Christ. 21...For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the futureall are yours, 23 and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. (vs. 21b-23) The main reason for boasting in men is our inverted pride i.e., we desire our insecurity to be replaced by their strength. To this tendency of the inverted pridefull of insecurities and fearPaul reminds them of their possessions in Christ. To move to godly confidence, we must see that all things are ours in Christ; hence, there is no need for insecurity or fear!

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THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE 1.In what ways are you convinced more of your need for moving from worldliness to godliness in all ways? 2.How will you abandon any self-deception of worldly wisdom and seek Gods wisdom? What is your first step? 3.How will you abandon any boasting in human leaders and boast only God in whom all things are yours? What is your first step?

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