Paul s Testimony of His Purpose to the Corinthian Church: A Study of Wisdom 1 Corinthians Chapter 2 Commentary Verse 1: And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God Verse 2: For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified Verses 3-5: I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. {4} And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, {5} that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Wisdom is defined in Oxford s English dictionary as follows: the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise. It is the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. It also may mean the body of knowledge and principles that develops within a specified society or period. Let s speak of wisdom in simple terms. First, it s the quality of the decisions we make because of our experience and knowledge. Second it s the quality of the actions we take based on applying this experience and knowledge. If we stop here, then we leave ourselves vulnerable because this kind of wisdom is a human quality alone. Wisdom takes on a different dimension when we seek out, receive and apply knowledge and understanding from God and His Word. Proverbs 4:7-8 (NKJV) Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. {8} Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. As Paul writes his epistle, his words imply to his Corinthian brothers and sisters that though he is a learned and experienced man, he has made a decision to base his thinking and actions on the overriding fact of his encounter with Christ, the Lord of Glory, who chose to be suffer and be crucified to enable (to propitiate ) our salvation. That s what Paul keeps his focus on, and it determines how he applies God s wisdom in his (Paul s) daily walk. Paul reminds his Corinthian brothers and sisters that he was not some boastful, self-serving intruder, trying to manipulate or control them with the kinds of vain arguments they were used to hearing in their Corinthian society. Everything Paul said to them was a simple, honest, yet power-filled demonstration of the truths of God and His Word. His purpose and the results of his honest and pure motivations was that the Corinthians would have faith. This faith would be properly directed toward the true living God, in the person of Jesus Christ. Paul desired that, having received this, the Corinthians would no longer have faith in the vain wisdom their society asked them to believe in and rely upon. Paul would go on to explain that the wisdom of God was not natural and therefore, not subject to error. It was (and is) infallible. It may be subject to our own human condition in its application, but it remains completely infallible. It s never wrong, always right. It s impeccable. 1 of 5
Verse 6: However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. Verses 7-8: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory {8} which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Paul refers to speaking God s wisdom to those who are mature. He implies that the Corinthians ought to be well schooled by the Word of God and by what has been taught by mature leaders in the church (including him). Paul contrasts this with the senseless idiocy of those who speak only the Corinthian society s contemporary wisdom, which was actually foolishness. Paul says that such people were heading toward a time when their words would come to nothing. They and their words would have no lasting positive effect for the good of the society in which these words were spoken. They were empty and useless words. (Vain babblings) Paul continues his contrast between the senselessness of the concepts and ideas so often spoken of by the Corinthians outside the church. He talks of wisdom that is a God-ordained mystery. He is referring to God s wisdom wrapped in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Gospel message of truth, which Paul has preached and taught to them. Paul finishes in Verse 8 by telling the Corinthians that this wisdom of God in a mystery, (the Gospel of Christ and all it teaches us) is so profound and life-changing that those who pronounced the death sentence over Jesus and crucified Him would never have done so had they known who it was they were crucifying. Instead, their sense of dread at such a thought would have kept them from doing it. However, the plan of God (again - the wisdom of God in a mystery) had to be fulfilled. Christ never lost control over His destiny. He fulfilled the eternal plan of redemption, to bring us salvation. Verses 9-10a: But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. {10a} But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. Paul s Explanation of the Mystery as Spiritual Wisdom As we study Paul s writings, we find him constantly providing us with a scriptural foundation for the principles he puts forth. Here in Verse 9, Paul gives validity to his message by referring to the Prophet Isaiah s words in Isaiah 64:4: Isaiah 64:4 (NKJV) For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. Paul again refers to that hidden mystery of the Gospel. No one has seen or understood it in its fullness until the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ had occurred. What was a mystery is now made known through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He moves on our hearts and reveals the mystery in all the wonder of its fullness. The Gospel is a heart issue. It rests in the 2 of 5
hearts of people who embrace it by faith in the Savior whom they come to love and follow. In the beginning words of Verse 10, Paul makes a clear doctrinal statement, directing his Corinthian brothers and sisters (and us) to the Holy Spirit. He is the divine person who fills our willing hearts with the truth, which can only be revealed Spirit to spirit. Thus, we need the born-again experience to bring us the possibility of this exchange. Paul s Explanation of Spiritual Wisdom in its Personal Application for Christians Verses 10b-11: For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. {11} For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Paul goes on to explain how it is that the Holy Spirit reveals what God has prepared for His people. In the remainder of Verse 10, Paul affirms that the Spirit of God searches the deep things of God. This is difficult to fully understand, as we have our human limitations, but in Verse 11, Paul attempts to form an easy to understand parallel. It s common sense. He says that only a man can know the secrets of his own heart. Everyone would agree with this. Then Paul says, in the same manner, the Holy Spirit (being the third Person of the Holy Trinity) knows all that s in God s heart. Again, it s common sense. Verse 12-14: 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. {13} These things we also speak, not in words which man s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. {14} But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Paul forms a conclusion, which makes the previous two verses complete. He says that we are God s people, having had the bornagain experience. We now know, by His Spirit and with great freedom, all that God has given us concerning His plan. This includes access to the wisdom of God. (This is in direct contrast to the wisdom of the world.) In Verse 13, Paul reminds his readers that he and likeminded other leaders in the church are speaking with the same wisdom that the Holy Spirit teaches. Here is the Revised Standard Version of Verse 13: 1 Corinthians 2:13 (RSV) And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. The Revised Standard Version of Verse 13 gives us a way to add to the understanding we get from the New King James Version. Unpacking the RSV allows us to gain further understanding of what Paul has said, which is that essentially that Christians have the ability to interpret spiritual truths from what spiritually alive, bornagain people of God speak. Spiritual truths provide wisdom that never fails us. This clearly contrasts with the limitations of the wisdom taught by the unsaved. Verse 14 assured the Corinthian church (and us) that the world is 3 of 5
dead to the voice of the Holy Spirit and thus, finds the words of people like Paul to be foolishness. Therefore, they reject the Gospel and all its wisdom. Again, only a spiritually alive, born-again believer can spiritually discern these truths. Verse 15: But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. Verse 16: For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. To more clearly consider the meaning of Verse 15, we can turn to the New Living Translation. It provides an unambiguous alternative view of what Paul has said. 1 Corinthians 2:15 (NLT) Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. People will wrongly evaluate the truths presented in the Bible and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit if they are without Christ and His gift of salvation. Paul also says such people cannot correctly judge what a Christian means when he or she speaks things of the Spirit. It takes born-again spirit-to-spirit communication to correctly understand what the Holy Spirit says in us and does through us. Paul ends the chapter with the conjunction For. This justifies his statement in Verse 15. It s a rhetorical question that might be stated as, Who could possibly know what God is thinking so he might give the Lord instructions? Such a thing would be preposterous, even to those without a relationship with God. The New Living Translation puts it this way: 1 Corinthians 2:16 (NLT) For, Who can know the Lord s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him? Paul again quotes the Scriptures to give validity and authority to his words: Isaiah 40:13 (NLT) Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? Paul continues to use Scripture to validate and authorize his words to the Corinthians. He also provides us with an example for our own speech. When we, as did Paul, speak those things we can back up with Scripture, we can know that what we speak has substance and truth to it. This is a good lesson for our approach to wisdom. Look back once more to Verse 4 and recall what Paul has already written: 1 Corinthians 2:4 (NKJV) And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, {5} that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 4 of 5
In these sixteen verses, Paul has given us many spiritual truths. They all have a particular foundation for Christian living worth noting. It seems to summarize his message to the Corinthian church. The foundation is this: When our speech and our life s message are demonstrations of our faith in God, they will carry the wisdom of God in all its power. They will reflect the fact that we have the mind of Christ. (We think just as Christ thinks because we have embraced His Word in our hearts and applied its wisdom to our lives.) This is an appropriate way to conclude this teaching. May the Spirit of God always help you to think, speak and act just as Jesus would, in every situation and with the same grace and loving responses He has provided to you. Dr. Bob Abramson 5 of 5