College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Butler's Comments

SECTION 2

Undiscoverable but Understandable (1 Corinthians 2:6-16)

6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written,

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him,

10God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For what person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. 13And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.

14 The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:6-8 Perfected: The understanding of this whole chapter hinges upon two major premises: (1) clearly, the antecedent to the repeated pronoun we and us all the way through this chapter is Paul and the other supernaturally endowed apostles, the only persons Christ ever said would be led into all truth (cf. John 16:13); (2) contextually, the subject is divinely revealed truth as opposed to the limits of finite knowledge. The context is not dealing with different levels of understanding or even with ability to comprehend. It is dealing with the impossibility of knowing the mind of God until God decides to reveal His mind to certain individuals so they might pass it on through human language (words). Whatever Paul is saying, it must conform to these two fundamental rules of understanding what someone else has written.

Notice the clear indication that Paul is speaking of the relevational aspect of the apostolic message of the cross by the continuity of the antecedent:

When I came to you. (1 Corinthians 2:1)

For I decided to know. (1 Corinthians 2:2)

And I was with you. (1 Corinthians 2:3)

... and my message. (1 Corinthians 2:3)

... Yet among the mature we do impart. (1 Corinthians 2:6)

But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom. (1 Corinthians 2:7)

God has revealed to us through the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:10)

Now we have received.. (1 Corinthians 2:12)

... that we might understand. (1 Corinthians 2:12)

And we impart this in words.. (1 Corinthians 2:13)

But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)

Paul's shift from the first person to the third person means only that he is including the other apostles as those who have received the mind of Christ by revelationit does not include all Christians.

Who are the mature? The Greek word used in 1 Corinthians 2:6 is teleiois, and is often translated, perfect, or, whole. Lenski says, teleios is the one who has reached the goal. The context invariably determines the goal referred to and the sense in which the term is employed. The present context speaks of only two classes of people: such as accept the gospel in faith and such as spurn the gospel and prefer their own wisdom. No reference has been made to undeveloped Christians.

We believe the context forces us to look back to 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 for the definition of the mature ones. The mature are those who receive the gospel message in honest, virtuous, unbiased and logical minds. They accept the message as the revelation of God on the basis of the evidence presented. The immature are those who are prejudiced and dishonest and who deliberately refuse to acknowledge that there is an Absolute Being existing outside the empirical knowledge of this world who may reveal knowledge man may not otherwise discover by his own human resources.

The immature are:

... like children sitting in the market places.. (Matthew 11:16-19)

the wise and understanding (Matthew 11:25-30)

... those who receive glory from one another. (John 5:44)

those in whom the word of Christ finds no place (John 8:37)

those who cannot bear to hear Christ's word (John 8:43-47)

those who say, We see. (John 9:35-41)

those who love the praise of men more than the praise of God (John 12:37-43)

those who think that the Deity is like gold, or silver.. a representation by the art and imagination of man (Acts 17:22-23)

those who claim to be wise and exchange glory of the immortal God for images.. who exchange the truth of God for a lie.. who do not see fit to acknowledge God (Romans 1:18-32)

those who refuse to love the truth. those who do not believe the truth but take pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

those who will listen to anybody and can never arrive at the truth (2 Timothy 3:6-7)

those who deliberately ignore the facts (2 Peter 3:1-7)

The mature are:

those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience (Luke 8:15)

those who do what is true and come to the light (John 3:21)

those who are babes and are willing to take Christ's yoke upon them and learn of him (Matthew 11:25-30)

those who acknowledge they are blind without the apostolic revelation (John 9:39-41)

those willing to be guided by divine revelation (Acts 8:31)

those who accept the apostolic message of the cross as the revelation of God for salvation (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

those who accept the word of the apostles as the word of God revealed for salvation (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

When the gospel message of the cross and the apostolic message explaining the doctrine of the cross (and resurrection) is proclaimed, those with honest and good hearts will accept it as a revelationsomething man could not know without God telling him. The revelation of God concerning eternal life is totally outside the experience of mortal man. It is not a wisdom of this age nor of any of the greatest human minds of this age. All man can know on his own is that in his present existence everything is passing away, even man himself. Man may know from the creation around him that there is an Eternal Deity (cf. Romans 1:18-22). Man may know from his conscience that he incurs guilt and deserves judgment. But man cannot know from anything within him or around him that God atoned for his guilt in the death of Christ and that salvation may be his by faithful covenant relationship to Christ. That is known only by revelation!

The apostles impart (Gr. laloumen, speak) a secret and hidden wisdom of God. Actually the Greek word translated secret is musterio which would be literally, mystery. A mystery was not something that could not be explained or understood, but something unrevealed and unknown. A mystery, in the New Testament usage of the word, could be known when it was revealed. Paul's use of the word mystery may be seen in Ephesians 1:1-23; Colossians 1:24-29; Romans 16:25-27. For man to know the mystery of God's will for salvation requires only that the apostles (who have the mind of Christ by supernatural gift) reveal it in human language. It does not require some additional illumination or miraculous empowering of our minds to understand it.

God speaks his eternal wisdom (his plan of redemption and salvation) through human messengers, in human language. God is certainly capable of making himself understood in human language. All that is needed for man to understand God is that God, by signs and wonders, delineate and authenticate those who are his chosen messengers, and that man listen with an honest and unbiased mind.
None of the rulers of this world understood this. Actually, the Greek word egnoken may be translated either known or understood. The proper translation, according to the context, would be known, It is something they refused to know because they refused to surrender to the fact that God revealed himself incarnately in Jesus Christ. They did not want to know it. They chose to be ignorant (cf. Luke 23:34; John 15:21; Acts 3:17; Acts 13:27; Acts 17:30; Ephesians 4:18; 1 Timothy 1:13). Had they wanted to know this hidden wisdom of God they could have known it because God revealed it in his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. Many others knew it. Had the rulers been willing to know it, they would have known it and would not have crucified the Lord of glory (cf. John 7:17). T. R. Applebury puts it succinctly: Are we to say that the natural or uninspired man cannot understand the message revealed by the Holy Spirit? Some do take this position. But are we to say that God who created man, an intelligent being capable of communicating his thoughts through language, could not speak to His creatures in a manner so as to be understood? But, of course, man by his own experience and observation could never know God's mind. The only way he could know it was by the revelation through the apostles and prophets.

1 Corinthians 2:9-11 Private: God predicted his redemptive promises to the human race as far back as the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15), but the exact manner in which it would be accomplished was kept private in his own mind until he revealed it in Christ and subsequently through the Holy Spirit to the apostles. Until God decided to let it be known, no human being could know it.

1 Corinthians 2:9 does not refer to man's future state in heaven. It refers to the apostolic message of redemption through the vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ. That divine program was not conceived by man. It never occurred to man that God would save him by grace. That is evidenced by all the religions of the world, except Christianity, attempting to attain reconciliation with God through works. Man, in his pride and arrogance, refuses to acknowledge he must be saved by grace. He could never even imagine the way God would accomplish salvation. If God had chosen to keep his redemptive plan privately hidden in his own mind forever, man would never have discovered it with his own finite and limited human knowledge.

But God chose to reveal his redemptive program to the whole world through the apostles (us, 1 Corinthians 2:10) through his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, but he is the same person as the Father and the Son. Jesus plainly declared that he and the Holy Spirit were one and the same person (see John 14:15-23). The Holy Spirit of God knows everything God knowseven the deepest recesses of God's mind and heart. Everything God wanted to be revealed concerning his prepared redemption the Holy Spirit was fully capable of revealing. Therefore, Paul is saying, everything we apostles have declared to you to be God's redemptive plan is all there is. Men do not need to expect any revelation of God's redemptive program beyond what the apostles have written! There is no latter day revelation to be expected. Salvation is found by reading, believing and obeying the apostolic doctrinenot in some subjective, extra-Biblical, experience. What the apostles wrote is everything the Spirit searched from the Father's mindeven the depths.

One person can never know the mind of another person unless that person communicates his mind. Minds really never communicate until they do so by words (language). Events and deeds cannot bring about the personal encounter which the genius of language alone accomplishes. By means of the sense of hearing, as the receiver of verbal communication, one mind can make contact with the mental world of another mind and can be influenced by that inaccessible and mysterious realm of thought. But until one person decides to tell another person what is on his mind, his thoughts are inaccessible to everyone but his own spirit. This is what Paul is saying about God's mind in 1 Corinthians 2:11. Without the voluntary communication (that is, without revelation) of one person's thoughts to another by words, there is an impenetrable boundary to personal encounter. The mind of a man sitting next to you may be quite inaccessible to you, while at that very moment a friend some thousand miles away may be allowing you, by means of a letter, to learn something of what is beyond this boundary. The act of crossing this boundary (through a revelation in words) is one of the most remarkable phenomena of our experience.

No one but the Spirit of God could know what was on God's mind. God chose to cross that boundary for man so he gave his Spirit to the apostles who spoke the mind of God in human words.

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 Published: One of the big problems with this Corinthian church had to do with Paul's presentation of the gospel. Apparently, his presentation did not compare favorably with the eloquence of the philosophers and preachers of the pagan mystery cults in cosmopolitan Corinth. Some Christians in the church were probably being tempted to turn away from the gospel and classify it as not divine because it was not colored by the sophistries and verbiage of the silver-tongued orators of Greece. It just did not sound divine. It did not thrill them emotionallyit was not artisticit was not entertaining.

The apostles received the Spirit which is from God so they might know the mind of God and Christ. Christ promised them the Holy Spirit for this purpose (see John, Chapter s 14, 15, 16 and 17, and John 20:22). They claimed to be speaking by the direct inspiration or revelation of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:14-21; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13; 2 Peter 1:16-21). Their claims to divine inspiration or revelation were authenticated by the signs and wonders done by their hands (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 2:1-4). No one but the apostles were promised this revelation of the mind of Christ as his direct agents to communicate it to the rest of mankind. The apostle John makes it clear that whoever listens to the apostles listens to God, and whoever does not listen to the apostles does not listen to God (1 John 4:1-6). The only possible way to distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error is to accept the teachings of the apostles as the final and completed teaching from God!

The Bible leaves us in no doubt whatever that the vehicle of revelation is language (words). The construction of the Greek sentence in 1 Corinthians 2:13 emphasizes words as the vehicle of imparting God's mind to the world. The sentence reads literally, which things we speak, not in teaching of human wisdom words, but in teaching of the Holy Spirit. Paul, in putting words at the end of the phrase, emphasizes that the agency of apostolic revelation is not in emotions, feelings or any other subjective experience, but in human language. Language is versatile. It is unique in the reception and transmission of knowledge. It is the only means which possesses such potentiality. Mystical or subjective communication, in which the intellect is in abeyance and the object of the participant is to merge himself by a non-verbal process in the Godhead, is excluded by a word often on the lips of the writers of the Old Testament. The word is shema, translated to hear, and signifies not only to hear, but to understand and even to obey what is said. There are literally thousands of references in both Old Testament and New Testament representing God as speaking words (cf. Exodus 20:1; Deuteronomy 1:6; Psalms 33:9; Jeremiah 7:13; Jeremiah 14:14; John 6:63; Matthew 24:35; John 17:14; John 17:17). Language is the only conceivable means of communicating non-empirical places, things or concepts. It has the ability to cross dimensional limits of time and space and communicate by verbal deputies (figures of speech, analogies, etc.) the non-experienceable.

So the apostles spoke the mind of God and Christ in human words, but not in human teachings. There is a difference in the two! The devil is able to take human words and proclaim demonic teaching (see James 3:13-18). The apostles were taught what was on God's mind about redemption by the Spirit of God in human language. They, in turn, teach all who will listen to them in human language also. When a man listens to the teaching of the apostles and obeys it, he is being taught by the Holy Spirit of God. If the apostles were led into all truth (see John 16:13) and if the faith is once for all time delivered unto the saints (see Jude 1:3), then there is nothing more the Holy Spirit intends to say to mankind (this side of heaven) about redemption. The apostles have said it all!

1 Corinthians 2:13 reads literally, ... with spiritual things, spiritual things comparing. The RSV translation which reads, ... interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit, is not a good translation. Paul is not dealing with those receiving the apostolic messagehe is dealing with those giving the apostolic message. This is Paul's way. of saying here that the apostles spoke the revelation of the Spirit (spiritual things) in terms or words (comparables) which the Spirit directed them to use. In other words, the apostles spoke and wrote the very message, in the very terminology, the Spirit of God desired it to be written. As Peter explained it, men spoke as they were borne along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). The Greek word sunkrinontes is translated comparing but means, more precisely, combining, fitly joining together. It means to adapt the language to the subject. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit spoke to the apostles in some unknown tongue or that the Bible is in some heavenly language that cannot be understood by the same rules of human language used in all other communications. It simply means that the Holy Spirit guided the apostles in selecting exactly the right words in the Greek language (for the New Testament) to communicate exactly the mind of God concerning redemption.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 Privileged: Only the apostles (in the New Testament) were privileged to receive the mind of God through the Holy Spirit. And they received it as a gift from God because no man can know the mind of God unless God decides to give it. The natural man may know God's mind only if he is borne along by the Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21) because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man.

The Greek word psychikos is translated unspiritual in the RSV, but means the physical man, i.e., the natural man without the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. The natural man, limited to natural faculties, cannot know the will of God unless it is revealed to him by the Spirit. God's will for man's salvation must be revealed before any man can know it. This is precisely what Paul has already said; For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what (the revealed message) we (the apostles) preach to save those who believe (1 Corinthians 1:21). It certainly does not mean every human being must have his mind illuminated separately from the apostolic word before he can understand the Bible.

There is no need for extra-Biblical illumination or revelation for man today. As a matter of fact, the New Testament clearly teaches that a cessation of the miraculous gifts of prophecy and discerning prophecy, etc., would come soon after the first generation of Christians passed away (see our comments on I Corinthians, Chapter s 12, 13, 14).
The Greek words ou dunatai gnonai, in 1 Corinthians 2:14, mean literally that the physical man is not able to know (unless the Spirit of God reveals) the mind of God. Until God's Spirit reveals God's mind, the physical man is like a moron (Gr. moria, foolishness)he is unable to know. God's redemptive work in the world, without the Spirit's revelation of God's mind about redemption, is folly (or moronic) to the physical man. This may be illustrated by all the ancient (and modern) pagan attempts to explain history and nature without the propositional revelation (the Bible) of God. One poet said of history without divine revelation, ... it is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.. Ancient philosophers grew cynical, depressed and despairing when they tried to explain life without a direct, spoken revelation from God.

But with God's Spirit searching the deep things of God's mind and revealing them as gifts through the apostles, everything necessary for the redemption and salvation of man becomes discernable. Nothing really makes sense in this world without the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Without that, it would all be vanity (see Ecclesiastes). The physical man is not able to discover by investigation (Gr. anakrinetai, discern, critique) the deep things of God because they are discovered (Gr. anakrinetai, discerned) by God's spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 and 1 Corinthians 2:11-13 mean exactly the same thing... So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we (apostles) have received not the spirit of the world (physical), but the Spirit which is from God, that we (apostles) might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 2:14-16, is simply restating what he said in 1 Corinthians 2:11-13.

The Spirit-filled one (Gr. pneumatikos), the apostle (remember the continuity of antecedents) discerns and discriminates what the mind of God is and how God wants it taught, and teaches all things as God's Spirit chooses to reveal them. The apostles, borne along by the Spirit of God, examined and discerned the deep things of the mind of God and then spoke them in language that could be understood by the human mind.

The Spirit-filled apostles were, in their capacity as revealers of God's word, not to be judged by any one about the veracity of their message. This would not apply to the actions or life-style of the apostles. But when it came to what they preached, no one could say it was not from God. The apostolic message became the touchstone by which all other preaching was judged. The apostles proved they alone revealed the mind of the Spirit by the miracles they wrought. It was the miraculous baptism in the Holy Spirit that endowed the apostles to determine whether any teaching was from God or not (see 1 John 4:1-6). The man of the Spirit, the apostle (not the Christian), was not to be contradicted or disobeyed when he spoke God's revealed mind. In the first century, before the New Testament revelation reached its completion in written form, only an apostle (or someone upon whom the apostles had laid hands) could judge whether a purported revelation was a God-given revelation or not. Now that we have the completed revelation of God in written form, all truth purporting to be from God is to be tested as to its conformity by the written revelation of the apostles.

In 1 Corinthians 2:16 Paul summarizes this whole discussion of the problem of revelation versus the wisdom of the world. The RSV translates the first sentence, For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? Actually, the word instruct is a translation of the Greek word sumbibase. That is the only place in the New Testament where sumbibase is translated instruct. Everywhere else in the New Testament it is translated knit (see Ephesians 4:16; Colossians 2:2; Colossians 2:19) or proving (see Acts 9:22; Acts 16:10). The word sumbibase really means, to understand or know or conclude so as to be joined together with God. Thus, Paul is saying, We inspired apostles so have the mind of God through the revelation of the Spirit that we are united in Him teaching His will as no uninspired (natural) man could ever do. The second sentence of this verse leaves no doubt that Paul's subject here is divine revelation, not spiritual maturity. The Greek is constructed: hemeis de noun Christou echomen, literally, we indeed, the mind of Christ are having. The syntax puts strong emphasis on we (the apostles). That is the subjectwhat the apostles have as a supernatural gift and not what every Christian has by faith.

Now it should be clear to even the most cursory reader of this letter to the Corinthian church why Paul deals with this subject of apostolic revelation at the very outset of the letter. He must establish beyond contradiction the source of his authority. He is going to have to deal with very sensitive and controversial issues in both the corporate life of the church and the private lives of its members. What he will say must be accepted as direct revelation from the mind of God to the church and not simply human opinion, Divine revelation is the only absolute wisdom, and the deeply spiritual problems besetting the Corinthian church will not be solved with anything less.

APPLICATIONS:

The apostolic message was demonstrated to be the mind of the Holy Spirit. The written apostolic message in the books of the New Testament is as true, as authentic, as powerful now as it was then. It needs no further demonstrations any more than a fact that has been once established in court needs reestablishing (Hebrews 2:3-4).

The apostolic message needs to be preached. Edward John Carnell said, If it is true that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save sinners, have we any right to say that we love sinners if we fail to confront them with this truth? And where can we find a divinely validated account of this truth apart from Scripture? In sum, we can express no higher love to lost humanity than to preach the gospel in the precise form in which God has been pleased to reveal it.

If the apostolic message did not need humanly-limited wisdom to make it powerful (relevant) then, it does not need it today. The Gospel is relevant and applicable to all of man's problems today!

In fact, it is the only wisdom that is relevant.

By obeying it we can purify our souls (1 Peter 1:22).

By believing and obeying it we can be born anew (1 Peter 1:23-25).

By knowing and believing it we can know ourselves as God knows us (Hebrews 4:11-13).

By knowing, believing and obeying we can have His Spirit living in us (John 14:23; 1 John 2:24; 1 John 3:24, etc.).

If the mind of God, His wisdom for man's salvation, could not be known by human speculation or human sciences then, it never could.

All human religions which do not depend upon the revealed word of God (specifically the apostolic message in the New Testament alone) are powerless and irrelevant.
All human religions and philosophies which contradict or oppose the revealed apostolic message are in opposition to God, because the apostolic message is all the mind of God which He has chosen to reveal to the world about salvation.

If ever God wanted man to know anything, God had to tell manman could not read God's mind. That was true in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament covenant.

God chose to tell man what He wanted man to know in words human language. Language (symbols verbalized) makes the communication of minds possible. Without it, communication (at least to the human mind) is impossible. Language makes the imposition of one will upon another possible. Thus, human language makes personal confrontation possible. Without it personal relationships are impossible (cf. Helen Keller).

THE WAY WE HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS THROUGH HIS WORD. JUST LIKE WE HAVE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER BEINGS!
Of course, God's personality is divine, and when you let His personality come into yours through His word, you have a Person in you. Words are instruments by which a part of you becomes a resident in me. The Holy Word is an Holy Instrument by which the Holy Spirit becomes a resident in you.

God's redemptive work in the world without the Spirit's revelation (the apostolic message) is folly to the man limited by physical only.

The man who does not believe the Bible is God's divine revelation has a very limited knowledge of what life is all about. Eating, drinking, relief from all the pain possible, and vainly hoping not to die is about all he sees in life.
Why was I born?
Why do I work?
Why do I get money and spend it?
Why have children?
Why think?
Why help anyone?
Why even live?

This, in fact, is where many people end it all today when they are taught and believe that there is no divinely revealed message from a Heavenly Father.

The apostolic message (the written word of the New Testament) is the final and complete mind of God for man's salvation (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is all that is needed to make a man of God complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Every preacher, teacher, book, program or lifestyle must be tested by that apostolic revelation. If it does not conform in principle and precept it must not be followed.

APPREHENSIONS:

Why did Paul find it necessary to defend the simplicity of his presentation of Christianity?

Could preachers you-'ve heard use more simplicity?

Did Paul mean to say he did not want people to exercise their minds and think about Christianity? Is there nothing profound about God and Christ?

Did Paul limit his preaching at Corinth to only the details about the crucifixion (Christ and him crucified)? How do you know?

Why can-'t mankind know the wisdom that comes from God on his own?

Is there anything man can know about God from his environment (the world in which he lives)? (See Romans 1:18 ff.) What?

Is creation a revelation from God? Does man need the Bible to understand creation? Why?

How would you illustrate that no man can know the mind of God unless God reveals it?

How do we know those to whom God reveals his mind?

10.

Does God continue today to reveal his mind to so-called prophets? How do you know?

11.

Why did God reveal his mind through the apostles in human words?

12.

How are we to understand God's revelation in human wordswhat rules of interpretation should we use to understand the Bible?

13.

Would it be necessary to use different rules of language to interpret a cookbook than to interpret the Bible?

14.

Is it impossible to understand the Bible unless the Holy Spirit works directly (and extra-Biblically) on each individual to enlighten him?

15.

Is God able to use human language so as to make himself understood by man without extra divine aid? How do you know?

16.

Why would Paul deal with the problem of apostolic revelation at the very beginning of his letter to Corinth?

17.

Is the problem of apostolic revelation a current problem in Christendom today?

18.

Do you believe the New Testament is the final, full and perfect revelation of God to man in all things that pertain to life and godliness?

Applebury's Comments

The Apostles Speak Wisdom (6-16)

Text

1 Corinthians 2:6-16. We speak wisdom, however, among them that are fullgrown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought: 7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory: 8 which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory: 9 but as it is written,

Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not,
And which entered not into the heart of man,
Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. 10 But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. 12 But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words. 14 Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself if judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But he have the mind of Christ.

Commentary

We.It is important that we keep in mind the antecedent of this pronoun. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, it is clear that Paul is speaking of his own preaching as an inspired apostle. Beginning in verse 6, he includes all of the apostles in the statement, We speak wisdom. He does not say we just to avoid the use of the first person singular. Note 2 Corinthians 10:1 where he uses the expression, I Paul myself. In the light of the context and the history of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47), this could not possibly refer to all Christians. Only the apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit on that day. But the people, without miraculous aid, did understand what the Spirit said to them through the apostles. The only illumination they needed to realize that they were sinners of the worst sort was the light that fell on their minds through the inspired message spoken through the apostle. The force of the facts about the life, death and resurrection of Christ led them to cry out, Brethren, what shall we do? It required no operation of the Spirit other than the command issued through the apostles to let them understand that they needed to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins.

Paul, of course, had all the power of the other apostles. It was necessary for him to include all of the apostles in this reference to the manner in which God revealed His wisdom.

Keeping this antecedent in mind will help determine who the natural man is and who is meant by the expression, he that is spiritual. See notes on 1 Corinthians 2:14-15.

wisdom.Once again, Paul points out the contrast between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God revealed by Christ through the inspired apostles. The rulers of this world who crucified the Lord of glory were not acting upon the instruction of the wisdom of God. But on the Day of Pentecost, the three thousand who had been deceived by them reversed the decision they had made when they cried out for Jesus to be crucified, and they got themselves baptized for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38-39).

It is evident that man could have understood what God had revealed in the Old Testament concerning the Christ. God evidently intended that His revealed wisdom should guide the thinking of men, not some supposed inner direction of the Spirit.

God's wisdom in a mystery.Mystery in the New Testament refers to that which would have forever remained unknowable if God had not revealed it through the inspired apostles and prophets. But since it has been revealed, we are not to assume that it takes additional illumination or miraculous effort of the Spirit to enable us to understand it. Paul clearly showed the Ephesians that God had made this mystery known through him, and that the Ephesians could know of his understanding when they read what he had written (Ephesians 2:1-4).

A few simple rules will help us when we read the Bible: (1) Scripture must be understood in the light of its context. An important illustration of this is found in 1 Corinthians 2:9. Popular interpretation makes this verse refer to heaven, things which God prepared for them that loved him. But the context clearly shows that it has to do with the wonderful things revealed for us in the Bible. Scripture is always more helpful when taken in the sense intended by the inspired writers. Context refers to what goes immediately before and what follows immediately after a particular verse. It also suggests the necessity of keeping the text and its immediate context in line with the whole thought or theme of the book. In studying First Corinthians (or any other book of the Bible) it is well to read the whole book frequently, keeping in mind the progress of thought at all times. Help in doing this will be had by reference to the charts that picture the development of the theme of the book. (2) Some other rules that will help are these: Know who is speaking and to whom the message is spoken. Note carefully the purpose of the statement, the meaning of words, the antecedents of pronouns, and all other grammatical and syntactical matters. (3) A very important rule to remember is this: The New Testament interprets the Old Testament; the epistles, which were written within the framework of the history given in Acts, interprets the gospels; literal language explains the figurative; plain teaching explains the symbolic. (See Carnel, A Case For Orthodox Theology, p. 53; The Westminster Press, Philadelphia.) (4) One who seeks to understand the Bible must determine first what the particular passage says and then what is meant by the statement. After this is done one can make application of the verse to the particular problem at hand. (See Chamberlain, An Exegetical Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p. 5; The Macmillan Company, N. Y., 1941).

know.None of the rulers of the world has known the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14 states that the natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God. But according to 1 Corinthians 2:12, the inspired apostles did know the things that were graciously given them from God.

The problem involved in these statements hinges on the meaning of the two Greek words which are here translated by the one word know. The first of these words, which Paul uses in connection with the inability of the natural man and the rulers of the world to know the wisdom of God, means to become aware of through experience or observation. It may also mean to understand. In the light of the context, which of the meanings best fits this passage? Are we to say that the natural or uninspired man cannot understand the message revealed by the Holy Spirit? Some do take this position. But are we to say that God who created man, an intelligent being capable of communicating his thoughts through language, could not speak to His creature in a manner so as to be understood? What is the purpose of God's revealed wisdom if it cannot be understood? But, of course, man by his own experience and observation could never know God's mind. The only way he could know it was by the revelation through the apostles and prophets. See 2 Peter 1:17-21; Hebrews 1:1-2.

The other word which is translated know means to know by mental insight, reflection, or by information being given. The revealed wisdom of God clearly falls into this category. That is why Paul uses this word when he says that the Spirit was given to the apostles that they might know (as a result of information given them by the Holy Spirit) the things that God graciously gave to them.
While it is true that these two words are often used synonymously, it will be enlightening to keep the distinction in mind in studying this chapter. The uninspired man could never have produced the Bible; but an intelligent person can, by using the rules that apply to the understanding and interpretation of all language, understand the Bible.

A good example of the meaning of both of these words is found in John 14:7. Jesus said, If you had known me, ye would have known my Father. The first word for know is the one that means to recognize, to know by experience; the second is the word for know, meaning to know by information given. The distinction does not appear in our English translations, but according to the Greek text, what Jesus said was this: If you had recognized me, you would have known the Father I am revealing to you.

But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God.The spirit of the world is that spirit of the rulers of this age which resulted from ignorance of God's will. It was the spirit that led them to crucify the Lord of glory. But the Spirit which the inspired apostles had received was the Holy Spirit which Christ promised to them (Acts 1:8) and which they received when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). That is why Paul says, we (the inspired apostles) received the Spirit (not spirit) from God in order that we might know (by revelation) the things of God.

The spirit which is from God surely refers to the Holy Spirit. The word should be capitalized when referring to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit which is from God is the same as the Spirit referred to in 1 Corinthians 2:10. There the word is capitalized as it should be.

we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth.We refers to the inspired apostles, not to Christians in general. The apostles did not speak a message taught by human wisdom. It was divinely revealed through the Holy Spirit. See James 3:15-17 for a similar contrast between the reasoning of man and the wisdom from God.

combining spiritual things with spiritual.There are many different interpretations of this statement. The American Standard Version supplies words in italics since it is not in the Greek in this phrase. It is in the immediate context and may be correctly implied in this phrase also. In the footnote, they suggest this possibility: interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men. While there is merit in the reading in the body of the text, there is little merit to the view given by the footnote. Chrystom, who lived in the fourth century, suggest that the spiritual things revealed through the apostles are combined with the spiritual things already revealed through the testimonies, types, and demonstrations of the Old Testament. He points out that we are utterly dependent on revelation to understand God's mysteries. It is easy to see that Paul in this very chapter combines the revelation given by him with that which had been written. See 1 Corinthians 2:9. Those who hold to the verbal inspiration theory will find little support in the Greek text of this verse. It does, however, clearly support the view of revelation through the inspired apostles.

Now the natural man.Traditional theology makes it difficult for some to see what Paul is saying here. It is contended that no unsaved man can understand the deep things of the Word of God, and that even dedicated scholars are unable to use the Word successfully without illumination of the mind provided miraculously by the Holy Spirit. (See Wuest, The Practical Use of the Greek New Testament, p. 149; Moody Press, Chicago). If this is true, how can the believer be saved through the message of the cross which Paul preached? (1 Corinthians 1:21) While the natural man can not know the mysteries of God's wisdom by his own reasoning, he can understand the word revealed by the inspired apostles. It would be foolishness indeed if none but the inspired could understand the message after it had been revealed. If it takes miraculous illumination on the part of man to understand the Bible, then the Bible itself is superfluous.

The word translated natural man refers to man as an earthly being limited in his knowledge to what he can know by his own mental powers. It contemplates man as an earthly creature without miraculous powers given through the Holy Spirit. It is man by himself without the aid of divine revelation.

The context makes it clear that the natural man is the same as the rulers of this world mentioned in 1 Corinthians 2:6, that is, man to whom the mysteries of God had not been revealed. The natural man is contrasted with the one that is spiritual. The one who is spiritual is the inspired apostle or prophet. The natural man, then, is the uninspired man.

It should be remembered that while in chapter 2 the contrast is between natural and spiritual, in chapter 3 it is between carnal and spiritual. In chapter 2 the inspired apostle is contrasted with the natural man such as the rulers of this age. In chapter 3, however, the contrast is between the one who is undeveloped in Christian character and what they should have been as ones whose lives were dominated by the message revealed through the Holy Spirit. In this connection see Galatians 5:16-24 where the thought of being led by what is spirit is contrasted with what is flesh. The works of the flesh are contrasted with the fruit of the spirit. The fruit of the spirit is the Christian character of the one who permits his spirit to respond to the teaching of the Holy Spirit through the Word.

foolishness to him.See 1 Corinthians 1:25. Foolish things have no meaning. Likewise, the mysteries of God before they were revealed to man had no meaning to him.

he cannot know them.Paul has explained in 1 Corinthians 2:11-12 that no man can know what is in the mind of another except, of course, as it is told to him. So man cannot know what is in the mind of God except through the revelation by the Spirit through the apostles and prophets.

spiritually judged.The word judged in this verse means to sift, examine, investigate. This particular Greek word translated judge in our Bible is found in the following verses of First Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; 1 Corinthians 4:3-4; 1 Corinthians 9:3; 1 Corinthians 10:25; 1 Corinthians 10:27; 1 Corinthians 14:24. It will be rewarding to read these in the light of the above definition.

The word is often used to describe a preliminary examination or investigation before a decision is rendered. Such investigations may have to do with (1) sifting evidence to be presented at a trial, or (2) investigating the qualifications of one who is to be a witness or who is to sit as judge. It is the word used to describe Pilate's preliminary investigation of charges against Jesus before he pronounced Him innocent. It is used to denote the action of the inspired apostle who by the Holy Spirit investigated the deep things of God and then spoke in language that could be understood by their hearers.

he himself is judged of no man.Since the word judge is used with reference to the investigation of one's qualifications for a task, it is appropriate to say of the one who is spiritual that he is judged of no man. Of course, God passed on the qualifications of His apostles. The Corinthians were not qualified to pass on Paul's fitness to be an apostle, for only the Lord could do that (1 Corinthians 4:3-4).

The spiritual one is judged by no man. The context makes it clear that this is the inspired apostle, but this does not mean that the apostles were above criticism for mistakes in personal conduct, Peter's action at Antioch for which he was rebuked by Paul answers this objection (Galatians 2:11-12). Paul does not say that the world cannot judge the actions of a Christian. Jesus said that men were to see their good works and glorify the Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). The investigation, however, of the fitness of one to be an apostle of Christ is not the right of any man; only the Lord can do this (1 Corinthians 4:3-4). Thus the inspired apostle, by the power of the Holy Spirit, investigates the deep things of God before he speaks them in Spirit-taught words, but no man passes on his qualifications to be an apostle.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord?This is the same word for know as in 1 Corinthians 2:14. The question is: Who, by his own reasoning power and without revelation from God, has known the mind of the Lord? This is the same thing that was said of the natural man and the rulers of this world. No man could know the mind of the Lord apart from His revealed message. This same thing was made clear in 1 Corinthians 2:10-13 which deal with the revelation of God's message through the inspired apostles.

But we have the mind of Christ.We has the same antecedent throughout this section (1 Corinthians 2:6-16). It cannot refer to all Christians; context requires us to relate it to the inspired apostles and prophets. They had the mind of Christ because the Holy Spirit revealed it to them (see 1 Corinthians 2:10 and 1 Corinthians 2:12). How thankful we should be that God created us with a mind capable of reading and understanding the message revealed through the inspired apostles of Christ.

Summary

Chapter two continues the contrast of worldly wisdom and the word of the cross. It presents Paul's own explanation of the nature of his preaching in Corinth. He came to Corinth just after his experience in preaching Jesus and the resurrection in Athens. Although Corinth was a city of the worldly wise, he was determined to do exactly what he had been doing from the moment of his conversion: preach Christ and Him crucified. This is what he did at Damascus, at Athens, at Corinth, and ultimately at Rome, for even there he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
The Greeks loved to indulge in long and involved argumentation, not so much with a view to discovering truth as with a display of oratorical skill that enabled them to win the argument. Paul, however, was not concerned with their methods; he was convinced that he had the revealed truth of the gospel and was content to preach that alone. He freely recognized his own weakness and depended on God for the revealed wisdom he preached. Like a slave who feared to disobey his master, Paul preached the word of the cross with fear and trembling lest he fail to do so in a manner pleasing to his Lord. His message was not in persuasive words of the wisdom of man, but in the truth of the gospel which was supported by the divine approval of the miracles that accompanied the preaching of the apostles. Thus the faith of the Corinthians had a solid foundation in the revealed wisdom of God rather than a sandy foundation of human speculation.
Lest some might be led to assume that the message of the cross was inferior to worldly wisdom, Paul explained that it was wisdom among the mature, implying a state of arrested mental development on the part of those who followed the wisdom of that age. No one who has followed the cogent reasoning of Paul in his epistles can doubt the validity of his claim. The conduct of the rulers of the world and the quotations from the Scriptures prove his statement. The mysteries of God which were hidden through the ages would have remained hidden forever if God had not chosen to reveal them through the inspired apostles and prophets. Just as one man can not know the mind of another except he be told, so man cannot know the mind of God except through the revelation God made by the Holy Spirit. The apostles spoke the truth of the gospel in clear and understandable language. The salvation of the sinner depends on his believing that message.
The rules of interpreting all language apply to the Bible also. Man does not need to have some miraculous illumination of his mind by the Holy Spirit to read and understand the Bible any more than a book of history. God created man with a mind which is capable of understanding and responding to His directives for life here and hereafter as they are given in the Bible. While there are things in the Bible that will challenge the greatest of minds, it is evident that it can be understood and followed as easily as Adam understood what God told him to do in the Garden. We cannot safely claim that the sin of Adam so corrupted the mind of man that he cannot understand and obey the truth God revealed in the Bible.
What then is the natural man? Paul's own example of what he meant by this phrase is the reference to the rulers of the world who crucified the Lord of glory. They had no means of knowing about God's wisdom until it has been revealed by the inspired servants of God. Natural man is simply man left to himself without the benefit of inspired revelation to direct his way of life. The natural man is contrasted with the inspired apostles. God selected them. No man passed on their qualifications to be apostles of Christ. And because they were the inspired apostles of Christ, Paul could say we have the mind of Christ.
In this way Paul led to the subject matter of the third chapter. He is now ready to rebuke them for failure to heed what he had taught them; the result of that failure was the sin of division.

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