1 Corinthians 2:1-12(13-16)
2:1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of
God to
you in lofty words or wisdom.
2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
2:3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
2:4 My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
2:5 so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
2:6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of
the
rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish.
2:7 But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for
our
glory.
2:8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have
crucified
the Lord of glory.
2:9 But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart
conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him"
2:10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches
everything, even
the depths of God.
2:11 For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is
within? So
also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God.
2:12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so
that we
may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.
2:13 And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the
Spirit,
interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
2:14 Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are
foolishness to
them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
2:15 Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one
else's
scrutiny.
2:16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have
the mind of
Christ.
So much here worth exegesis...
"Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are
foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually
discerned."
and
"And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by
the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual."
What do Paul's words mean... Dare one repeat or interpret this to mean that only the
regenerated, the born again, have "the mind of Christ?"
How else do we interpret "unspiritual" from the "spiritual" or the
intriguing statement "And we speak of these things in words not taught by human
wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are
spiritual."
This would logically lead to or in the least give more credence to the Scriptural
admonishment that we are to be fruit-pickers, not being judgmental but being discerning
enough to be able to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in each other.
Yea Paul, if only your words were heeded in mainline Christendom, rather than
discarded as the musings of an ancient, whose words have lost all relevancy.
Rick in Va
In Baptist circles we make a big deal out of the Holy Spirit working in the life of an
unbeliever, and the necessity of the believer to discern this work in the process of
witnessing. Verse 14, talking about the spiritual things that are only imparted by the
Spirit, because they are foolish to those who are in a "natural" state is
powerful. Perhaps this is why so much of our evangelistic efforts start with a bang and
end with a thud. Hearts are emotionally challenged, but lives are not changed because the
Spirit has not truly revealed itself to one. Just some thoughts. Scott in the Outback of
WA
The big deal with these passages is whether the "mature" (Greek
-"Perfect") of 2:6 and the "spiritual" of the following verses refers
to all Christians or a special class of Christians. 3:1-5 would lead them to believe the
second is true, but this leaves us with a problem. 2:6ff seems to imply that for the more
mature in Christ, there is special teaching from the Holy Spirit, we can know the mind of
Christ, we understand the mystery and plan of God . . . this is, accd. to Hans Conzelmann,
just a few steps removed from Gnostisism.
He suggests that Paul is tweaking the argument of the Christians in Corinth who
already believe they are special because they have "wisdom" or spiritual gifts.
Paul is saying they don't get it at all, fort the wisdom is not human wisdom, but an
understanding of what God is doing in the world.
2:16 is especially important--the quotation from Isaiah is supposed to be rhetorical,
but Paul turns it on its head. We participate in God's plan for salvation. We know the
ridiculous foolishness of saving the world by death on a cross. We even know that God is
delaying the parousia so all might be saved.
So I think . . . though I am not sure, that I am going to preach on this as our
dedication to God's plan for changing the world. We are the keepers of this mystery--that
God sent the church to be salt and light to a world, to carry the message of salvation by
the otherwise obscure death of a heretic and criminal on a cross two millenia ago, but
that death is the wisdom and power of God for the salvation of the world. And that death
is the wisdom and power of God for us.
But then again, it's only Friday night <g>
Bruce in PA
Paul's self-description of his state when he first came to Corinth really turns the
message of spirituality on its head! The truly spiritual person may not be the one who
acts the most spiritual or looks the most spiritual - the truly spiritual person is the
one who admits she/he knows nothing. She/he is the one who looks to the Spirit for
understanding, who realizes that God's truth may seem absurd to the world, but the
simplicity of which contains power and life. Ken in WV
Looks like most folk are on the gospel site this week. Saturday morning, and I'm just
sitting down to write. Paul says that he came in weakness and fear and trembing. I read
that as ordinary simplicity...not puffing himself up or using tricks and skills to get his
point across.
The power of the Spirit is best revealed in the very simple and ordinary.
Water...Bread...wine -- the details of a human's life: love ... loss.....making
dinner...tending kids...the daily things.
Though I seem to be able to remember that it's in the small and simple that God meets
me, I often don't believe that when it comes to my relating to others. I "must"
be successful: sermons that are depth filled or wonderfully crafted, meetings that are
well run models of efficiency and effectiveness.
Eye has not seen, ear has not heard..what God has in store -- because we listen and
look for the wrong things? The deep spiritual times of my life have consistenly happened
in the mundane moments, when I have let down my guard. Makes me wonder if my desperate
seeking to be "spiritual" is the biggest block to it's occuring... MaryS
"Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard what the Lord has prepared for us." seems to me to be a statement which frees and releases. Paul is working against a system of Wisdom which limits and confines. True spiritual wisdom releases us for action and "unworldly kinds of behavior," like giving away vs hoarding, compassion vs. dutiful assistance, hope vs. despair. Pauls speaks to me a message of transforming vs the worldly message of conforming.
