1 Corinthians 2:12

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God:”

This verse is the development of the word by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10).

The Divine Spirit is contrasted with another, which also has the power of making revelations of another nature, that of the world. Beet understands thereby, “the spirit which worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2); Meyer: the spirit which animates unbelieving mankind, the diabolical spirit. Does the expression used authorize us to go so far? Man, at the time of his creation, received a πνεῦμα; for he participates in the spiritual nature and power which are the essence of God (Genesis 2:7; John 4:24). With the Fall, this endowment was not withdrawn from humanity. By its separation from God, the spirit of man became profane, worldly; but it remained in man, as a collective being, as a principle of knowledge and invention, enthusiasm and exaltation. This it is which Pagans called the Muse, and which is concentrated in philosophical and artistic geniuses, communicating to them marvellous insight and words of wondrous power, by which they give tone to their age. And hence the apostle does not scruple himself to quote sayings of the Greek poets, and to designate one of them by the name of prophet (Acts 17:28; Tit 1:12). But to whatever degree of power this spirit of the world may rise, it cannot give man the knowledge of the Divine plans, nor make an apostle even of the greatest genius. The expression οὐκ ἐλάβομεν, we have not received, signifies, “The spiritual power which has made us what we are, is not that.” Comp. an analogous form, Romans 8:15.

With this spirit which rises, so to speak, from the heart of the κόσμος, the apostle contrasts the Divine Spirit, literally, the Spirit which proceeds (ἐκ) from God. This form emphasizes the transcendent character of His inspiring breath. He was in God, and He proceeds from Him to enter into man; comp. Romans 5:5. This is something different from human inspiration, even when raised to its highest power.

The art. τό, after πνεῦμα, was not strictly necessary (see on 1 Corinthians 2:7). But it is put here to remind us of the contrast to the other spirit, the cosmical spirit: “We are certainly neither Platos, nor Demostheneses, nor Homers; but if you would learn what are the thoughts of God toward you, listen to us! The Spirit proceeding from God Himself is He who has revealed them to us.”

There is a very marked contrast between the two terms, εἰδῶμεν, that we might know, and τὰ χαρισθέντα, the things which have been (freely) given to us. By this second term Paul understands the gracious blessings of salvation, the gift of the Son, the expiation accomplished by Him, and all the benefits flowing from them: justification, sanctification, final redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). These blessings one may enjoy by simple faith, but without yet measuring all their greatness, because the εἰδέναι, knowing, is yet wanting in a certain degree. And hence the apostle asked for the Ephesians (1 Corinthians 3:18) that they might be able “to understand with all saints what is the breadth and length, the depth and height,” and for the Colossians (1 Corinthians 2:2-3), “that they might be brought unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Here, therefore, the εἰδέναι, knowing, denotes the account which the believer renders to himself of all that is contained in the τὰ χαρισθέντα, the facts of salvation wrought out for him. It is those higher lights the domain of which we have sought briefly to indicate (see on 1 Corinthians 2:6). Between faith in the simple facts of salvation and these more elevated views of the Divine work, there is all the distance which separates the preaching of the evangelist from the doctrine of the Christian teacher, or, if you will, all the difference which exists between the contents of the gospel history and the teaching of the Epistles.

To this teaching of Divine wisdom, the end of this whole deduction, Paul comes in 1 Corinthians 2:13.