THE DIVINE PARADOXES

THE DIVINE PARADOXES The heart is deceitful above all things. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 The sin of our fallen nature is a profound mystery. We read about the mystery of sin as well as the mystery of salvation in Jesus; and both have depths, lengths, and breadths beyond human understanding. One way to explain this is to identify the divine paradoxes that each Christian faces as we mature in the Lord:  The wiser we become, the more we realize our foolishness; Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise by the standards of the world, he should become a fool in their eyes, so that he may find true wisdom. 1 Corinthians 3:18 The stronger we grow in Christ, the weaker we feel; But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 The more we possess spiritually, the less we seem to have; Poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 2 Corinthians 6:10 The more of a sinner we are, the more fully we are forgiven; Two men were debtors to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will love him more? Luke 7:41-42 And when we are most like little children, we are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven; “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3-4 By J.C. Philpot