# 9: 11-7-14 E

1
First Corinthians 2:10-16

We have learned that in Pauls absence, the assembly in Corinth had been following the lead of certain
individuals in their midst who were standing on the authority of Paul and other former teachers - and even
Jesus Christ Himself.
These individuals had an ambition for distinction, and were apparently trying to blend some Greek
philosophical thinking into the gospel of Christ. The result what that the entire assembly had become
divided, over the various ideas being introduced.
Paul has shown the Corinthians that no worldly wisdom can add to the gospel of Christ, and is, in fact,
diametrically opposed to the gospel of Christ. To try to combine worldly wisdom with Gods wisdom is to
empty the cross of its power.
The wisdom of God - Christ - is the only wisdom that can effect salvation for a man; no other wisdom can
deliver him from sin and death. Gods wisdom, which He ordained in eternity past, was hidden until such
time as it was revealed, with the coming of Christ. But the wisdom of God remains hidden from the eyes
of those who look to worldly wisdom, to guide them in their life.
As Paul continues, he will now discuss how God made His wisdom known - by revelation, through the
Holy Spirit. As we begin to read Pauls thoughts on this, notice how he is connecting the wisdom of God true wisdom - with those who are truly spiritual.
Were going to back up a little, to gather Pauls previous thought, starting in verse 6.
[Read First Corinthians 2:6-16]
So the wisdom of God in Christ remained a mystery to men of this age - to those in Adam, who are
perishing. It never entered their minds, what God had prepared for those who love Him. Of course, they
were not part of those who love Him - because they had never received the love of God, in Christ.
Be we did receive that love, and responded to it. We believers are those who love God (v. 9). There are
things that God has prepared for us, which those in Adam are ignorant of. What things does Paul mean?
As we trace back his thoughts in this passage, we can see what he means.
In verse 6, Paul said that he and his fellow teachers speak wisdom - the wisdom of God - among those who
are mature - and who are they? The sons of God - believers. So the things have to do with the wisdom
of God, Christ.
Then in verse 7, he says this wisdom of God was ordained by Him before the ages for our glory. Thats
Gods purpose for mankind, to become His sons - through Christ. So the things which God has prepared
for us refers to all of the things which result from our receiving Christ, that God has purposed for us; all
the things that are involved in God saving us, to Himself.
We could simply say, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, as Paul wrote before (1:30); but its
so much more than that, isnt it?
Propitiation; justification; forgiveness; reconciliation; consecration; purification; holiness; regeneration;
adoption; heirship; glorification.

# 9: 11-7-14 E

But it goes so much deeper than a bunch of words, doesnt it? Its how the Father is effecting these things,
in all of us, as believers; how He is bringing about His purposes, for us, as His sons.
And in this we begin to see not just the works of God, but the ways of God; the Fathers ways, which are
always the ways of Love. These are the things - the deep things of God - which God reveals to us; and how
does He reveal them (v. 10)? Through His Spirit.
Paul says that the Spirit searches all things - the deep things of God - all of the Fathers purposes for His
sons, in Christ; all of the ways in which God will bring about their deliverance into His kingdom.
It is the Holy Spirit who searches out these things. This is meant to denote that the Spirit has an intimate
and profound knowledge of these things - things that would otherwise be secret and obscure, to men. And
the Holy Spirit reveals these things to those who love God - to believers.
In the next verse, Paul uses an analogy to explain this intimate knowledge of God, which the Spirit has.
Well read it again.
v. 11 Paul is using the spirit of man as an analogy to the Spirit of God. Its important to realize that Paul
doesnt mean they are analogous in every respect; just in the respect he presents. So lets look at his
analogy.
Man lives in a body of flesh; you dont really see the man, hes concealed from view. Man is a soul of life;
and mans spirit is the very life of his soul; his innermost being.
We can observe how a man acts, in his body; we can hear what he has to say; and that leads to certain
thoughts about the man; but do we really know the man? Do we really know whats going on, deep inside
his heart? Do we understand what motivates him; what he is planning; what he really desires; what his true
opinions are? No.
Only the man himself knows that, in his innermost being; in his spirit. Others dont really know his heart.
So in order to know anything about the real man, the man would have to reveal whats in his heart, to
others.
Paul says, even so, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God. Only the Holy Spirit knows
the heart of God. Only the Spirit knows what the Fathers plans and purposes are; what He desires and
intends for His sons.
How is it that the Spirit knows all of this? Because the Spirit Himself is God; He is one Spirit Being of
Deity, with the Father. So the Spirit fully knows and understands the things of God.
But then, in order for men to know and understand these things, what would the Spirit have to do? He
would have to reveal these things to them. And thats just what the Father has His Spirit do, with those who
love Him; with those who have believed. He is the Spirit of truth, who takes of what is Gods, and declares
it to us (Jn 16:13-15).
Paul wrote of this work of the Spirit in his letter to the assemblies in Asia. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3.
This was what he was praying for them.
[Ephesians 3:14-19]

# 9: 11-7-14 E

v. 14-15 the whole family in heaven and earth - Pauls prayer was for the sons of God - believers.
v. 16-19 the Spirit strengthens believers as He reveals to them the Fathers heart; Gods plans and purposes
for them; how He is accomplishing His salvation, in their lives; His love for them. And as His sons begin
to understand their Fathers heart, they are strengthened with might - how so?
Through the gospel, Christ was laid as the foundation of the new life of each of these sons; and as they
understand what that really means, they become rooted and grounded in the love of God; they are
established in Christ.
Once they are established, more can then be built on that - the Spirit sharing more light - so that their
understanding grows - not just their knowledge of Christ, but their experience of Him; of His love for them.
And as believers are then filled with this love - the love of God - they are enabled to fully live the life that
Christ has given them. The Spirits light has been transformed into the power to live.
[Return to First Corinthians]
As Paul continues, he indicates how this revelation is made, to believers.
v. 12 Believers have received the Spirit of God; the Holy Spirit. They received Him the moment they
believed.
Paul pointed out to the Galatian believers that they received the Spirit by the hearing of faith (Gal 3:2).
And Paul will later write in this letter that the body of each believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit; His
consecrated dwelling-place (1 Cor 6:19).
Within the believers body, the Holy Spirit shines the light of Gods thinking into the spirit of the believer,
so that he can know the things that have been freely given to him by God - so he can understand the
preciousness of all that has been graciously bestowed upon him by the Father, by virtue of him placing his
faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells right within us, to guide us into all truth (Jn 16:13).
Notice how Paul carefully distinguishes for the Corinthians the Holy Spirit from the spirit of this world. He
discussed that spirit more fully in his letter to the Asian assemblies. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Paul was
speaking about the former manner of life, of these believers, beginning with those who were Gentiles.
[Ephesians 2:1-3] All men are born as sons of disobedience. Theyre born dead in trespasses and sins,
because the entire creation of the human race has been collectively condemned to death as the judgment of
God, based on the sin of the first man, Adam.
But each man then proves that this judgment of God is fair by their own personal sin - by fulfilling the lusts
of their flesh and of their mind - as these Jews and Gentiles did, to whom Paul is writing - theyre children
of wrath.
They all walked according to the course of this world - this world system, which operates according to the
prince of the power of the air. Who is that? Satan; the ruler of this world (Jn 12:31).
Satan is the spirit of this world, and the whole world lies in him - that is, the world resides in his power (1
Jn 5:19). His influence moves unseen, traveling through the air, from one being to another - through the
communication of his thinking. He is indeed the prince of the power of the air.

# 9: 11-7-14 E

[Return to First Corinthians]

Now, we might think, surely Paul did not need to distinguish the Spirit who is from God from that spirit the spirit of this world, Satan. But Paul is making a point to the Corinthians.
Most in the assembly had recently become enchanted with Greek philosophy - the wisdom of this world.
Where did that wisdom come from? The spirit of this world.
But if they had truly believed, they had received the Spirit who is from God. What does a believer have to
do with the spirit of this world? Nothing! This should cause them to examine what it is that they really
believed.
Paul said that having received the Holy Spirit, we might know the things that have been freely given to us
by God. We might know; its conditional, in the Greek; it suggests the idea of possibility. We might know;
we might not know.
What is knowing conditioned on? It is conditioned on us as believers, wanting to know. The Holy Spirit is
ready, willing and able to share the deep things of God with us, but only if we desire to know those things,
and seek to know them, and take the time to know them.
To the multitudes, Jesus had said, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it
will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it
will be opened (Mt 6:7-8). And continuous action is indicated, in the Greek; ask and keep on asking; seek
and keep on seeking.
That was in regard to salvation; to gaining entrance into the Kingdom of God. But do you think God would
desire of those who have become His sons that they would be any less diligent?
The Holy Spirit will reveal the deep things of God to any believer who desires to know them; there are no
spiritual elites. Yet this is exactly how some in Corinth had come to see themselves - as elite, spiritually
gifted individuals who had elevated the gospel with the thinking of the great philosophers of the day - the
thinking of this world.
By showing the equal access of all believers to the deep things of God through the Spirit, Paul is dispelling
this notion of anybody being spiritually elite - and as he continues, he authenticates those whom the Spirit
had graced with the ability to teach these deep things to others.
v. 13 Paul is using the term we also to designate those believers who speak; and as we look back at
who these persons were in the letter, we understand that Paul is referring to himself and his fellow ministers
of the Word of God; those who preach the gospel as well as teach believers the fundamental doctrines of
the faith (1:23, 2:6, 7).
Once again, we find Paul making a distinction - this time between the words which mans wisdom teaches the wisdom of this world - and the words which the Holy Spirit teaches - Gods wisdom.
As Paul had stated before, he did not come to Corinth with excellence of speech or of wisdom - he
preached the gospel in a simple and straightforward way (2:1-2). And we can be sure that Paul and his
fellow teachers taught in the same manner. They shared with others what the Holy Spirit had shared with
them.

# 9: 11-7-14 E

And thats whats behind the phrase comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The Greek word translated
comparing means to compare one thing with another for the purpose of explaining its nature. The
Septuagint regularly used this word to mean interpret or explain, which is its meaning, here.
The ministers of the Word of God take the deep things of God, which the Spirit has revealed to them, and
explain it to others with words - words which the Spirit also reveals to them - whether the words are spoken
or written.
In this way, the Holy Spirit communicates to the teachers of doctrine the right words to use - words that are
adapted to the subject and the audience, because the goal is that men have understanding, of the things of
God. So as Paul is saying it here, the ministers of the Word explain spiritual things - the deep things of God
- with spiritual words.
Notice how everything depends on the Spirit - He reveals the truths, He inspires the words, He enlightens
the understanding of those who believe. And the fact that the Spirit had graced Paul and his fellow
ministers with this ability is an authentication of their ministry - which, we will learn, some in Corinth
were challenging, on the part of Paul.
Now Paul creates a contrast.
v. 14-15 This is the only usage of the term natural man. Certainly Paul is referring to unbelievers; but he
most often refers to them as being of flesh - men, in the flesh - flesh-men. The term he uses here
basically means that they are of soul; they are soul-men.
So why is Paul choosing this term? Because the soul contains the intellect, the mind, with which the
assembly in Corinth had been taking in the wisdom of this world. Paul wants to point out that it is the
creation in Adam who lives that way; as soul-men.
The creation in Adam respond through their dark minds to the things taken in by their senses, from the
world - their light is darkness. They have no other light to live by, as they have refused to take in the light
that the Holy Spirit has shone, into their hearts (2 Cor 4:6) - the light of the gospel. And most of the
believers in Corinth, in choosing the wisdom of this world, were conducting themselves in the same way.
But if those in Corinth had truly believed, they were not natural men - soul-men - they were those who are
spiritual (v. 15) - well call them Spirit-ones. Spirit-ones have the Holy Spirit to enlighten them, in the
spirit of their beings.
Paul says the natural man - the soul-man - does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. Having refused
the simple gospel, the soul-man certainly cannot take in things of God which are more profound. And just
as the gospel was foolish to the soul-man, the deep things of God would appear even more foolish. But
Paul points out that its actually impossible for the soul-man to even begin to know the deep things of God.
Why? Because they are spiritually discerned.
Discern as used here means to examine so as to understand. Paul is not referring here to special
discernment on the part of some believers (1 Cor 12:10); he is speaking of what that the Holy Spirit gives,
to all believers - light, to enlighten their understanding. Soul-men do not have the Holy Spirit, so they have
no light; and therefore, no understanding.
But that is not the case, for Spirit-ones. The apostle John wrote of this in his first letter. Turn to First John
chapter 2.

# 9: 11-7-14 E

John wrote this letter late in his life, when the heresy of Gnosticism was in its formative stages. This
thinking was influenced by Greek philosophers such as Plato, who had maintained that the material body
was inherently evil, and the immaterial soul or spirit, good. This generated the false teaching that Jesus did
not really come in a body, a perversion of the very gospel of Christ.
In his letter, John was explaining spiritual realities with words that the Spirit inspired him to write, to help
the churches discern the error of this thinking.
In chapter 2, John had just indicated that those who believed this false teaching went out from us - that is,
they had been in the assemblies - but that they were not of us - they were never genuine believers. A
genuine believer perseveres in the truth.
Then John writes of those who were continuing in the truth. Well begin in verse 20.
[First John 2:20-27]
v. 20 John is saying that they are genuine believers; and as genuine believers, they have an anointing from
the Holy One, meaning from Christ, who is the Holy One of God. This anointing is none other than the
Holy Spirit.
Because each believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, he knows all things; that is, the things which
God has revealed to believers, through His Spirit, so that they have understanding of spiritual realities.
v. 21-23 The term antichrist is unique to Johns letters (it does not appear in the Revelation given to
him). He uses the term particularly to denote those who deny that Jesus is the Messiah; that Jesus is God
come in the flesh.
Gnostic thinking held that the Christ could not have really come in the flesh, as the flesh was evil. But the
coming of the Son to earth in a flesh body is the heart of the gospel; it was the only way to put away sin and
bring forth eternal Life for the body, for men.
To deny that the Son came in the flesh is to deny the Sons work completely, and therefore the Son Himself;
and to deny the Son is to deny the Father, for the Son is realization of the Fathers purposes, for mankind.
v. 24 What they heard from the beginning was the gospel. Continuing in the truth is the proof that they
abide in the Son and therefore, the Father, as genuine children of God.
v. 25 The children of God possess the life of their Father; eternal Life.
v. 26-27 Through the Spirit, John is affirming the truth to these believers. And the Holy Spirit within them
teaches them the same truth, confirming what John says. Having this understanding of the truth, the
believers will not be deceived by the false teaching.
Later in this letter, John will tell the believers to test the spirits, whether they are of God - that is, whether
what is being taught is of the Spirit of God, or of the spirit of this world.
They are to test the spirits; examine the teaching, in light of the understanding they are given, by the Holy
Spirit; He will give them discernment as to whether what they hear is the spirit of truth, or the spirit of error
(1 Jn 4:1-6).
[Return to First Corinthians]

# 9: 11-7-14 E

In verse 15, Paul is presenting a contrast to the natural man, the soul-man; this is he who is spiritual - the
Spirit-one - the believer, having the Holy Spirit dwelling in him.
The word for judge used twice in this verse is the same word as discerned in verse 14, and is intended
by Paul as a play on words.
The believer judges all things. He examines everything by the light of the Holy Spirit within him, who
gives him right understanding of those things; right judgment.
Yet the believer is rightly judged by no one. This has been taken to mean that no one has the right to judge
the believer, but thats not true - and it is certainly not what Paul is saying. What Paul is saying is that
when the believer is examined, he is not understood by anyone - meaning by any natural men.
Why not? Because the natural man can not know the things of God; things that mark every aspect of the
life of the believer. The believer is no longer of this world, and so those of this world cannot understand
him; his thinking; his perspective; his ways; his motivation; and especially his other-worldly love.
Paul concludes his thoughts.
v. 16 Paul quotes Isaiah here (40:13), who prophesied of the LORD accomplishing His purposes for His
nation, in the Kingdom Age. There is a proclamation of the LORDs glory, in the realization of His plan for
them. Paul rephrases a portion of one verse here, that brings out his meaning.
We might say it, Who has a mind greater than Gods, that he might school Him? Who can school God?
Of course, the answer is no one.
But werent the Corinthians, in effect, doing just that; thinking that they could add to the wisdom of God,
with their worldly wisdom? Paul shows up their thinking in its proper light; incredible arrogance.
Then he finishes with a humbling thought, for believers: But we have the mind of Christ. What does that
mind look like? Lets turn to Pauls letter to the Philippians to remind ourselves. Philippians chapter 2.
[Philippians 2:5-8] Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus - the mind of complete humility,
of utter submission to the will of God, of obedience even to death.
We believers have the mind of Christ - not a mind that presumes to know better than our Father; that adds
to or detracts from His thoughts; that adapts what He says, for our convenience.
We have the mind of Christ - a mind humble and obedient. The Corinthians were given by Paul the
opportunity to examine themselves, in the light of what he was saying - by the light of the Spirit, within
them. It is an opportunity that every believer should take - to see if were in our right mind.
Reading: 1 Cor 3, 1 Pet 2:1-5, Gal 4:1-5, Heb 5:12-14,
Matt 13.