The 1 Corinthians 2:9 Error

Another misinterpreted verse is 2 Corinthians 2:9. I was taught, and chances you were too, that it meant the glories we'll experience in Heaven. Simple grammar and studying the previous verses proves that notion to be wrong.

The verse reads in the Bible in Basic English, "But as it says in the holy Writings, Things which the eye saw not, and which had not come to the ears or into the heart of man, such things as God has made ready for those who have love for him.,"

First of all, Paul is quoting the Old Testament. This verse is speaking of future judgement, not the joys of heaven. Isaiah 64:4 (BBE) reads,The ear has not had news of, or the eye seen, ... any God but you, working for the man who is waiting for him."

Read the previous verses and you'll find that Isaiah was prophesying judgement to come. He longed for the heavens to open and God to come down and judge the wicked. When Jesus came in the flesh, he pronounced judgement upon Jerusalem. The city was destroyed in 70 AD, just as he prophesied.

Reading ahead in Paul's letter, we see that the world doesn't have the understanding we do regarding judgement and spiritual matters. In fact, 1 Corinthians 2:16 (BBE)tells us whose understanding we have. "For who has knowledge of the mind of the Lord, so as to be his teacher? But we have the mind of Christ."

Of course we also know that a final judgement will come upon the world. All sinful things will be destroyed and only righteousness will survive. The world as we know it will be vapourized, just as Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:10 (BBE) how it will happen. "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; and in that day the heavens will be rolled up with a great noise, and the substance of the earth will be changed by violent heat, and the world and everything in it will be burned up."

I hope someday to publish my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? It's true that God is love but part of that love is giving sinners the opportunity to accept or reject his rule over them. This limited time offer ends when we die or when Christ returns. I want as many people as possible to hear this important truth.

On Saturday, I'll post about love and why we must let it rule our hearts.