1 Corinthians 2

1 Corinthians 2:1

2:1 The apostle now reminds the saints of his ministry among them and how he sought to glorify God and not himself. He came to them proclaiming the testimony of God, not with excellence of speech or of wisdom. He was not at all interested in showing himself off as an orator or philosopher. This shows that the Apostle Paul recognized the difference between ministry that is soulish and that which is spiritual. By soulish ministry, we mean that which amuses, entertains, or generally appeals to man’s emotions. Spiritual ministry, on the other hand, presents the truth of God’s word in such a way as to glorify Christ and to reach the heart and conscience of the hearers. 2:2 The content of Paul’s message was Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ refers to His Person, while Him crucified refers to His work. The Person and work of the Lord Jesus form the substance of the Christian evangel. 2:3 Paul further emphasizes that his personal demeanor was neither impressive nor attractive. He was with the Corinthians in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. The treasure of the gospel was contained in an earthen vessel that the excellence of the power might be of God and not of Paul. He himself was an example of how God uses weak things to confound the mighty. 2:4 Neither Paul’s speech nor his preaching were in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Some suggest that his speech refers to the material he presented and his preaching to the manner of its presentation. Others define his speech as his witness to individuals and his preaching as his messages to groups. According to the standards of this world, the apostle might never have won an oratorical contest. In spite of this, the Spirit of God used the message to produce conviction of sin and conversion to God. 2:5 Paul knew that there was the utmost danger that his hearers might be interested in himself or in his own personality rather than in the living Lord. Conscious of his own inability to bless or to save, he determined that he would lead men to trust in God alone rather than in the wisdom of men. All who proclaim the gospel message or teach the word of God should make this their constant aim. 2:6 First of all, the wisdom shown in the gospel is divine in its origin (vv. 6, 7). We speak wisdom among those who are mature or full-grown. Yet it is not the wisdom of this age, nor would it be wisdom in the eyes of the rulers of this age. Their wisdom is a perishable thing which, like themselves, is born for one brief day. 2:7 We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. A mystery is a NT truth not previously revealed, but now made known to believers by the apostles and prophets of the early Church Age. This mystery is the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. The mystery of the gospel includes such wonderful truths as the fact that now Jews and Gentiles are made one in Christ; that the Lord Jesus will come and take His waiting people home to be with Himself; and that not all believers will die but all will be changed. 2:8 The rulers of this age may refer to demonic spirit beings in the heavenlies or to their human agents on earth. They didn’t understand the hidden wisdom of God (Christ on a cross) or realize that their murder of the Holy Son of God would result in their own destruction. Had they known the ways of God, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 2:9 The process of revelation, inspiration, and illumination are described in verses 9-16. They tell us how these wonderful truths were made known to the apostles by the Holy Spirit, how they in turn passed on these truths to us by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and how we understand them by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. The quotation in verse 9 from Isa_64:4 is a prophecy that God had treasured up wonderful truths which could not be discovered by the natural senses but which in due time He would reveal to those who love Him. Three faculties (eye and ear and heart, or mind) by which we learn earthly things, are listed, but these are not sufficient for the reception of divine truths, for there the Spirit of God is necessary. This verse is commonly interpreted to refer to the glories of heaven, and once we get that meaning in our minds, it is difficult to dislodge it and accept any other meaning. But Paul is really speaking here about the truths that have been revealed for the first time in the NT. Men could never have arrived at these truths through scientific investigations or philosophical inquiries. The human mind, left to itself, could never discover the wonderful mysteries which were made known at the beginning of the gospel era. Human reason is totally inadequate to find the truth of God. 2:10 That verse 9 does not refer to heaven is proven by the statement that God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. In other words, these truths foretold in the OT were made known to the apostles of the NT era. The us refers to the writers of the NT. It was by the Spirit of God that the apostles and prophets were enlightened, because the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. In other words, the Spirit of God, one of the members of the Godhead, is infinite in wisdom and understands all the truths of God and is able to impart them to others. 2:11 Even in human affairs no one knows what a man is thinking but he himself. No one else can possibly find out unless the man himself chooses to make it known. Even then, in order to understand a man, a person must have the spirit of a man. An animal could not fully understand our thinking. So it is with God. The only one who can understand the things of God is the Spirit of God.2:12 The we of verse 12 refers to the writers of the NT, although it is equally true of all the Bible writers.

Since the apostles and prophets had received the Holy Spirit, He was able to share with them the deep truths of God. That is what the apostle means when he says in this verse: Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. Apart from the Spirit who is from God, the apostles could never have received the divine truths of which Paul is speaking and which are preserved for us in the NT. 2:13 Having described the process of revelation by which the writers of Sacred Scripture received truth from God, Paul now goes on to describe the process of inspiration, by which that truth was communicated to us. Verse 13 is one of the strongest passages in the word of God on the subject of verbal inspiration. The Apostle Paul clearly states that in conveying these truths to us, the apostles did not use words of their own choosing or words dictated by man’s wisdom. Rather, they used the very words which the Holy Spirit taught them to use. And so we believe that the actual words of Scripture, as found in the original autographs, were the very words of God (and that the Bible in its present form is entirely trustworthy). A howl of objection arises at this point since to some people what we have said implies mechanical dictation, as if God did not allow the writers to use their own style. Yet we know that Paul’s writing style is quite different from Luke’s, for example. How, then, can we reconcile verbal inspiration with the obvious individual style of the writers? In some way which we do not understand, God gave the very words of Scripture, and yet He clothed those words with the individual style of the writers, letting their human personality be part of His perfect word. The expression comparing spiritual things with spiritual can be explained in several ways. It may mean (1) teaching spiritual truths with Spirit-given words; (2) communicating spiritual truths to spiritual men; or (3) comparing spiritual truths in one section of the Bible with those in another. We believe that the first explanation fits the context best. Paul is saying that the process of inspiration involves the conveying of divine truth with words that are especially chosen for that purpose by the Holy Spirit. Thus we could paraphrase: presenting spiritual truths in spiritual words.It is sometimes objected that this passage cannot refer to inspiration because Paul says we speak, not we write. But it is not uncommon to find the verb to speak used of inspired writings (e.g., Joh_12:38, Joh_12:41; Act_28:25; 2Pe_1:21). 2:14 Not only is the gospel divine in its revelation and divine in its inspiration, but now we learn that it can only be received by the power of the Spirit of God. Unaided, the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him. He cannot possibly understand them because they can only be spiritually understood. The colorful Vance Havner advises: The wise Christian wastes no time trying to explain God’s program to unregenerate men; it would be casting pearls before swine. He might as well try to describe a sunset to a blind man or discuss nuclear physics with a monument in the city park. The natural man cannot receive such things. One might as well try to catch sunbeams with a fishhook as to lay hold of God’s revelation unassisted by the Holy Spirit. Unless one is born of the Spirit and taught by Him, all this is utterly foreign to him. Being a Ph.

D. does not help, for in this realm it could mean Phenomenal Dud!2:15 On the other hand, the man who is illuminated by the Spirit of God can discern these wonderful truths even though he himself cannot be rightly judged by the unconverted. Perhaps he is a carpenter, or plumber, or fisherman; yet he is an able student of the Holy Scriptures. The Spirit-controlled Christian investigates, inquires into, and scrutinizes the Bible and comes to an appreciation and understanding of its contents (KSW). To the world he is an enigma. He may never have been to college or seminary, yet he can understand the deep mysteries of the word of God and perhaps even teach them to others. 2:16 The apostle now asks with Isaiah the rhetorical question: Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? To ask the question is to answer it. God cannot be known through the wisdom or power of men. He is known only as He chooses to make Himself known. However, those who have the mind of Christ are able to understand the deep truths of God. To review then, first there is revelation (vv. 9-12). This means that God revealed previously unknown truths to men by the Holy Spirit. These truths were made known supernaturally by the Spirit of God. Secondly, there is inspiration (v. 13). In transmitting these truths to others, the apostles (and all other writers of the Bible) used the very words which the Holy Spirit taught them to use. Finally, there is illumination (vv. 14-16). Not only must these truths be miraculously revealed and miraculously inspired, but they can only be understood by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.