6. SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING - 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

 

In this passage Paul moves further forward in his argument concerning the wisdom of God and of not glorying in self. How is it that these Corinthians, indeed all Christians, have spiritual understanding and wisdom? This is the question that Paul now seeks to answer.

 

Please Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

NOTE: INDIVIDUAL DISCOVERY QUESTION HERE: Describe the wisdom that Paul is speaking of in verse 6?

 

Verse 6: This verse continues on from the thought of verse 5, for though Paul did not speak in a manner displaying the world’s wisdom, he did however still speak wisdom. This wisdom of course is the wisdom that comes from God (1:21,24,30) and not from the world. This is what Paul and his fellow workers spoke among the Corinthians when they ministered the gospel in those early days in Corinth and it is what they still speak.

Yet this is spoken only to those that are mature. The mature are not those on a higher plain of spiritual enlightenment, but those that have received the teachings of the apostle, or in other words the gospel message (3:16; 12:3,13). These are they that actually recognize the wisdom of God in the gospel. It is these that accept the gospel that Paul is identifying as mature, for they have embraced true wisdom (1 Cor 3:16-20; 2 Cor 4:4; Gal 1:4).

The wisdom that Paul speaks of is again separated from that of the world and its human rulers and teachers. Those who have nothing but this human and worldly wisdom will soon perish despite their wisdom, for this wisdom will prove inadequate in the end.

QUESTIONS: What does verse six actually say to the Corinthians who were caught up in these factional groups? What is Paul’s point in this verse concerning these groups and their approach to Christianity?

 

To behave in the manner of the Corinthians was to portray wisdom similar to the world. It is a wisdom that will come to nothing and that is in truth immature. For the Corinthians to behave in the way that they were, they were displaying a lack of maturity and if it persisted it could be rightly questioned as to whether they were truly wise at all, for they sought after and practiced the wisdom of the world rather than that of spiritually awakened sinners.

Verses 7,8: Rather than the world’s wisdom, Paul and his fellow workers speak God’s wisdom, which is of an everlasting nature and that will obviously, therefore not perish as worldly wisdom. This wisdom has its foundation in God Himself, being what He has revealed to men.

This wisdom of God began even before the world began. It was in what we call eternity past that God formed the plan of man’s redemption from sin. It was a plan that involved the full salvation of God’s elect, in order to bring them through all things unto the very end and full inheritance of glory in eternity. This is what is now revealed as the wisdom of God through the teaching of Paul and his fellow workers in the gospel.

It is spoken in a mystery Paul says, the meaning of which becomes very clear as we read through the text. He doesn’t speak in a code or anything like that, but to the world he may as well do so, for they do not have the wisdom necessary to understand the message that Paul brings - to them it is a mystery. It is a mystery because it remains incomprehensible and hidden from the minds of men until it is revealed with understanding to sinners through the Holy Spirit.

To the rulers of this world who have not embraced the gospel of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, the message of Paul is a mystery, for they were unable to understand the gospel at all. That the world and its leaders didn’t understand the wisdom of God was clearly demonstrated by the way in which they received the Lord Jesus Christ and in how they put Him to death. Though those worldly rulers involved in the crucifixion were only few in number, they none-the-less were representative of all rulers in the world. They failed to recognize just who Jesus was, the Lord of Glory (Ps 24:8-10; Acts 7:2; Eph 1:17; Jam 2:1).

Verse 9: Paul now quotes a combination of Isaiah 64:4 and 65:17 (and probably other Scriptures) to further buttress his argument, endeavouring to show that though the rulers of the world did not understand, believers do. The wisdom that Paul and his fellow workers taught is that which no earthly man is able to conceive of at all through human reasoning or research. Yet those things which mere human ability and wisdom cannot grasp, God has granted to those that love Him. This is a principle taught throughout the Old Testament and it appears as though this was the intention of Paul in saying that ‘it is written,’ for there is no quotation that is exactly as Paul states it.

QUESTION: What are the things that God has prepared for those that love Him?

 

Verse 10: How is it that believers understand these things when those of the world do not? The simple answer is the Holy Spirit. It is because of the Holy Spirit’s work within us that we understand the gospel and the wisdom of God. The world does not understand such things that belong to the wisdom of God, but Paul and his fellow workers do, and so do all Christians because God reveals it to them.

It is the Holy Spirit who teaches the truths of Scripture to men and it is He who knows all there is to know about God. The passage reads in such a way to suggest that the Holy Spirit thoroughly looks into all that there is about God and therefore because of that He is able to teach about God accurately. Paul simply means that the Holy Spirit knows all that there is to be known about God, simply because He is God and knows Himself completely. Therefore if we are to learn anything about God, we need Him who has looked into all things concerning God, even the Holy Spirit of God, to teach us.

QUESTIONS: How does verse 10 expose the folly of the Corinthians behaviour in forming these ‘worldly’ groups and factions?

 

Verse 11: Here Paul explains what he means by using an analogy. He explains that no man really understands another as well as that man understands himself, for he alone has access to the motives and thoughts within. So it is with God, only He within God (because He is God) can truly know what God is about, etc (Is 55:8). Indeed, human beings are unable to know God except the Spirit reveals to them this knowledge.

Verse 12: Rather than have only human wisdom, the believers in Corinth have received as all other believers have received, the Holy Spirit from God (Jn 15:26; Gal 4:6). The Holy Spirit is distinct from the world, bringing with Him divine wisdom from God Himself.

The purpose (one of them anyhow) of having the Spirit of God within us is that we might understand what we are and have in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit teaches us the nature of our salvation and of our life in Christ. Indeed all the wisdom of God as revealed to man can now be understood through the Spirit.

Verse 13: As a proclaimer of the message of God’s wisdom in Christ, Paul, as well as his fellow workers, speak the things that have been revealed and taught by the Holy Spirit. Paul’s explanation of the truth was not in any way characterised by that of the world's methods, but what was wholly given by the Holy Spirit. Paul uses all that he is to proclaim the message of the gospel, yet none-the-less it was a message that came from the Holy Spirit’s direction and teaching. These men spoke what they understood of the wisdom of God as they were taught by the Spirit of God to other people in spiritual words, words used by the Spirit to actually bring people into the Kingdom of God.

Verse 14: Those that are not believers are also characterised as being unspiritual people, therefore they do not accept those things that are taught by believers, things that have been taught to them by the Holy Spirit. To unbelieving unspiritual people, the message of the gospel is simply foolishness. Besides this, the unbeliever is completely incapable of understanding what is said anyhow, for he doesn’t have the Spirit of God to reveal it to his understanding or to teach him.

QUESTIONS: Why is it that people will not respond to the gospel as we present the message of salvation to them in our evangelism? What can we do about it?

 

Verse 15: The passage here tells us that the believer is able to judge all things, whatever they might be. What this means is that the believer is able to consider all aspects of spiritual truth and is able to understand them and apply them, for he has the Spirit of God within him. This also means that in every situation the believer is able to work out just how he should respond in a spiritual manner.

Because of this the believer himself is judged by no one, meaning simply that the unbeliever has no real ability to judge the believer in spiritual things or in a spiritual way. What the world uses as its standards are incapable of correctly judging a Christian, therefore falling a long way short of being able to do so.

Verse 16: Paul now quotes Isaiah 40:13 to further demonstrate his point. The spiritual man is seeking to live for God and according to the mind of God. What Paul is saying is that no mere human understanding can correctly judge the mind of God, for this is beyond the realm of human understanding.

Believers however have the Spirit of God within them, essentially having the mind of God at work within them. What this means is that the Holy Spirit is able to teach us the mind of God in any given situation, enabling us to rightly live in it.

 

Individual Discovery

What does Paul mean by calling the Corinthians carnal in 1 Corinthians 3?

 

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17/10/2006

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