1 Corinthians 2
2
1And this was the way it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I didn’t come with fancy words or human wisdom. I preached to you the truth about God’s love. 2My goal while I was with you was to talk about only one thing. And that was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 3When I came to you, I was weak and very afraid and trembling all over. 4I didn’t preach my message with clever and compelling words. Instead, my preaching showed the Holy Spirit’s power. 5This was so that your faith would be based on God’s power. Your faith would not be based on human wisdom.
God’s Wisdom Through the Holy Spirit
6The words we speak to those who have grown in the faith are wise. Our words are different from the wisdom of this world. Our words are different from those of the rulers of this world. These rulers are becoming less and less powerful. 7No, we announce God’s wisdom. His wisdom is a mystery that has been hidden. But before time began, God planned that his wisdom would bring us heavenly glory. 8None of the rulers of this world understood God’s wisdom. If they had, they would not have nailed the Lord of glory to the cross. 9It is written that
“no eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
and no human mind has known.” (Isaiah 64:4)
God has prepared these things for those who love him.
10God has shown these things to us through his Spirit.
The Spirit understands all things. He understands even the deep things of God. 11Who can know the thoughts of another person? Only a person’s own spirit can know them. In the same way, only the Spirit of God knows God’s thoughts. 12What we have received is not the spirit of the world. We have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us. 13That is what we speak about. We don’t use words taught to us by people. We use words taught to us by the Holy Spirit. We use the words taught by the Spirit to explain spiritual truths. 14The person without the Spirit doesn’t accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. These things are foolish to them. They can’t understand them. In fact, such things can’t be understood without the Spirit’s help. 15The person who has the Spirit can judge all things. But no human being can judge those who have the Spirit. It is written,
16“Who can ever know what is in the Lord’s mind?
Can anyone ever teach him?” (Isaiah 40:13)
But we have the mind of Christ.
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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1 Corinthians 2
2
My Message: Jesus Christ on the Cross
1Dear brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I told you the secret truth of God. But I did not use fancy words or great wisdom. 2I decided that while I was with you I would forget about everything except Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 3When I came to you, I was weak and shook with fear. 4My teaching and my speaking were not with wise words that persuade people. But the proof of my teaching was the power that the Spirit gives. 5I did this so that your faith would be in God’s power, not in human wisdom.
God’s Wisdom
6We teach wisdom to people who are mature, but the wisdom we teach is not from this world. It is not the wisdom of the rulers of this world, who are losing their power. 7But we speak God’s secret wisdom that has been hidden from everyone until now. God planned this wisdom for our glory. He planned it before the world began. 8None of the rulers of this world understood this wisdom. If they had understood it, they would not have killed our great and glorious Lord on a cross. 9But as the Scriptures say,
“No one has ever seen,
no one has ever heard,
no one has ever imagined
what God has prepared for those who love him.” Isaiah 64:4
10But God has shown us these things through the Spirit.
The Spirit knows all things. The Spirit even knows the deep secrets of God. 11It is like this: No one knows the thoughts that another person has. Only the person’s spirit that lives inside knows those thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows God’s thoughts except God’s Spirit. 12We received the Spirit that is from God, not the spirit of the world. We received God’s Spirit so that we can know all that God has given us.
13When we say this, we don’t use words taught to us by human wisdom. We use words taught to us by the Spirit. We use the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14People who do not have God’s Spirit do not accept the things that come from his Spirit. They think these things are foolish. They cannot understand them, because they can only be understood with the Spirit’s help. 15We who have the Spirit are able to make judgments about all these things. But anyone without the Spirit is not able to make proper judgments about us. 16As the Scriptures say,
“Who can know what is on the Lord’s mind?
Who is able to give him advice?” Isaiah 40:13
But we have been given Christ’s way of thinking.
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