Much More Than Plausible             

And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

Have you ever wondered who to listen to for the best? There are so many opinions about everything that sometimes it’s hard to know who’s right. Throughout the course of a day, we are bombarded with differing opinions from what we should eat, which fragrance to wear or car to buy, to which life-plan to invest in. A lot of what we hear will sound plausible, but that doesn’t always make it wise.

Knowing who to listen to and whose advice to follow can be difficult, even within the Church. This was one of the reasons that the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth. There was division in the church because they couldn’t agree on who to follow…. Paul, Apollos, Cephas (Peter), Christ? Paul’s response to this quarrelling was striking. Verse 13 of chapter 1 says, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptised in the name of Paul?” He was telling them, quite strongly, to stop following men and follow Christ. Paul was a godly leader and a great teacher, but he wasn’t leading people to himself, he was leading people to Jesus.

We all need guidance in life, especially guidance in the Scriptures, but we need to be sure that what we listen to is more than just plausible word; those words need to be in demonstration of the Spirit. Just like the people of Corinth, our faith cannot simply rest in the wise words of others. Our faith is built on the truth of God’s Word, as He reveals it to us by the power of the Spirit.

You will know a godly leader and great teacher when you find them, for in all that they say, they will always lead you in and to the Word of God.