1 Corinthians 2

Paul reminds the Corinthians that he came to them with no polished speech, preaching only Christ crucified, so that their faith would rest on God’s power. He then explains that God’s true wisdom is hidden from the world but revealed by the Holy Spirit. Those who have the Spirit can understand God’s gifts and share the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:1

Paul reminds the Corinthians of how he first came to Corinth. He did not rely on impressive speaking or clever philosophy. He simply announced what God had done. The message itself was the point, not the messenger’s skill.

BSA: eloquence (“wise words, lofty speech”): Paul refused the polished, showy speech that Greek audiences admired.

1 Corinthians 2:2

Paul made a firm decision to keep his preaching centered on one thing: Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. He did not leave other truths behind, but the cross was the heart of everything. It was the very thing the world found shameful.

BSA: resolved (“determined, made a decision”): Keeping the cross central was a deliberate choice, not an accident.

See also: Galatians 6:14.

1 Corinthians 2:3

Paul did not arrive as a confident, powerful speaker. He felt weak and anxious. Yet his honesty shows that the results in Corinth could not be credited to his strength. God worked through a frail messenger.

BSA: trembling (“quaking, shaking”): Paul’s nervousness was real and visible, not just a figure of speech.

See also: 2 Corinthians 12:9.

1 Corinthians 2:4

Paul’s preaching did not depend on clever arguments meant to win people over. Instead, the Holy Spirit made the message powerful and convincing. God himself gave proof that the message was true by changing lives.

BSA: demonstration (“proof, evidence”): The Spirit’s power was visible evidence that the message came from God.

Greek: ἀποδείξει (apodeixei, G585) — “showing forth, proof.” This word was used for solid proof in an argument. Paul says the Spirit’s power was a stronger proof than any rhetoric.

1 Corinthians 2:5

Here is the purpose. If people were won by skillful speech, their faith could be talked away by the next skillful speaker. Faith built on God’s power stands firm because it rests on God himself, not on a human being.

BSA: power (“miraculous ability, strength”): True faith rests on God’s real, active strength, not on human cleverness.

1 Corinthians 2:6

Paul does speak wisdom, but it is a different kind from the world’s. It is for the mature, those who are growing in Christ. The world’s rulers and their ideas will not last. They are already fading away.

BSA: mature (“spiritually mature, complete in knowledge”): These are believers who have grown in Christ and are ready for deeper truth.

See also: Hebrews 5:14.

1 Corinthians 2:7

God’s wisdom was once a hidden secret, but he is now making it known. It is his plan of salvation in Christ. He planned it long before creation, and its goal is to bring his people into glory.

BSA: mysterious (“hidden, secret”): This is a secret that human reason could never discover, but God has now revealed.

Greek: μυστήριον (mystērion, G3466) — “secret, mystery.” In the New Testament a mystery is not a puzzle but a secret once hidden and now made known by God.

See also: Romans 16:25-26; Ephesians 1:4.

1 Corinthians 2:8

The powerful people of the day did not recognize who Jesus was. If they had, they would never have crucified him. The one they killed was the Lord of glory. Their blindness shows how far the world’s wisdom falls short.

BSA: understood (“knew, recognized”): The rulers did not truly recognize who Jesus was.

See also: Acts 3:17; Luke 23:34.

1 Corinthians 2:9

Paul quotes the prophet to show that what God has prepared is beyond all human sight, hearing or imagination. No one could find it out alone. It is prepared for those who love him.

BSA: prepared (“made ready, arranged”): God has already made these blessings ready for his people.

See also: Isaiah 64:4.

1 Corinthians 2:10

What no one could discover, God has revealed. He did it through his Spirit, who knows God completely. Nothing about God is beyond the Spirit’s reach, so he can show believers what they could never find themselves.

BSA: revealed (“uncovered, disclosed”): God pulls back the curtain on truth that was hidden.

Greek: ἐραυνᾷ (eraunā, G2045) — “searches, explores.” The word pictures a careful, thorough investigation. The Spirit knows God’s depths fully.

1 Corinthians 2:11

Paul uses a simple comparison. Only you know what is really going on in your own mind. In the same way, only God’s Spirit truly knows God’s thoughts. So we can know God’s mind only if the Spirit shares it with us.

BSA: thoughts (“the mind”): The Spirit knows God’s inner purposes and mind, not just facts about him.

1 Corinthians 2:12

Believers have received God’s Spirit, not the outlook of the fallen world. The purpose is that we may grasp what God has given us by grace. Understanding the gospel is itself a gift.

BSA: freely given (“bestowed as a gift”): Everything God gives us is grace, not something we earn.

Greek: χαρισθέντα (charisthenta, G5483) — “freely given as grace.” It shares its root with the word for grace. These are gifts that come purely from God’s kindness.

See also: Romans 8:15-16.

1 Corinthians 2:13

Paul speaks about God’s truths in words the Spirit teaches, not in the world’s fancy language. The phrase about spiritual words can be read in more than one way. Its plain sense is that God’s truth is carried by God-given words.

BSA: taught (“given by the Holy Spirit, spiritually inspired”): The Spirit guides both what Paul says and how he says it.

See also: John 14:26.

1 Corinthians 2:14

A person without the Spirit does not welcome God’s truth. It seems foolish, and he cannot grasp it, because such things must be recognized through the Spirit’s help. Here understanding comes from God’s help, not human intelligence.

BSA: discerned (“examined, investigated”): Spiritual truth has to be weighed and judged with the Spirit’s help.

Greek: ψυχικὸς (psychikos, G5591) — “natural, soul-governed.” This describes a person who lives only by natural human life and has not received God’s Spirit.

See also: 1 Corinthians 1:18.

1 Corinthians 2:15

The person who has the Spirit can discern the true worth of all things. Yet the world cannot properly judge such a person, because it does not see with the Spirit’s eyes. This does not make believers proud; it simply means that they see by God’s light.

BSA: judges (“investigates, discerns, carefully examines”): The spiritual person examines and weighs matters carefully, not harshly.

1 Corinthians 2:16

No one can teach the Lord, since no one can fully know his mind. Yet Paul says we have the mind of Christ. Through the Spirit, believers are given Christ’s own way of thinking and his purposes.

BSA: mind (“thoughts, feelings, will”): Christ’s mind includes his purposes and outlook, not just ideas.

See also: Isaiah 40:13; Philippians 2:5.