Talked Into And Out Of
Have you ever been talked into something? Surely, you know what I am referring to. Someone presented such a convincing argument that you gave in to what they were saying and either did something or bought something you shouldn’t have.
Intellectual arguments and debates are not powerful enough to hold the ground that is meant to belong to a believer. There will always be an enemy who is far more skilled at debate than we are.
Whatever you are merely talked into, you can be talked out of. Believing and experiencing, however, are different.
Three men had strong opinions on how to solve a problem. However, each one’s opinion contradicted the others. A fourth man was asked to listen to each one and judge which was the right one. He listened to the first man’s opinion and stated, “That’s a good point.” After hearing the second man, he said, “That’s a good point.” After hearing the third man, he declared, “That’s a good point.” One of the men angrily responded, “Everyone can’t have a good point. To which the man replied, “That’s a good point.” Apparently, that fourth man wasn’t truly convinced in his heart by any of the opinions. He was just unable to argue against any of them.
Anything I am intellectually talked into agreeing with, I can be intellectually talked out of agreeing with. That’s why intellectualism can be a source of doublemindedness. I am not coming against renewing one’s mind; I am focusing on the importance of believing in the heart and how the power of the Holy Spirit plays such an important role in that area. It is why Paul said what he did to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
You need to think about that word demonstration. The dictionary defines it this way: the action or process of showing the existence or truth of something by giving proof or evidence or a practical exhibition and explanation of how something works or is performed.
Another word that describes what Paul is talking about is Manifestation. The power Paul is manifesting or demonstrating is the Greek word Dunamis, which means special miraculous power, which usually manifests as a miracle.
Why was this so important to Paul? It had to do with what they based their faith on: a convincing, eloquent argument or the power of God that made God real to them through tangibly experiencing Him. We should ask why anyone would wish to do away with evidence of God’s power to establish the faith of the saints in what God can do rather than only having confidence in a reasoned argument.
When the Holy Spirit authentically ministers to a person in a real, tangible way, that is something an intellectual argument can’t take from that person. It is like the blind man who received his sight and then was questioned by the religious leaders. They sought to discredit Jesus because the man was healed on the Sabbath. But the blind man could not be convinced that Jesus was not of God or that He was some sort of sinner. The man received something supernatural in his body, and he reasoned effectively that no man could do such a thing lest God sent him. He even invited the religious leaders to become disciples of Jesus. I have faith that is real and based on His power, and no one can talk me out of what I have experienced and seen with my own eyes of His power at work.
Be aware that whatever you are talked into, you can be talked out of. Like the fourth man said, that’s a good point.
