1 Corinthians 2
2
Paul’s Reliance on Spiritual Power
1My brothers and sisters, # 2:1 Or “brothers.” when I first came to proclaim to you the secrets # 2:1 As translated from the Aramaic. Some Greek manuscripts have “testimony.” Paul, as a steward of the mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1), comes to them bringing a clear revelation of God’s mysteries. The Greek word mustērion (secret, or mystery) is found twenty-eight times in the New Testament. of God, I refused to come as an expert, trying to impress you with my eloquent speech and lofty wisdom. 2For while I was with you I was determined to be consumed with one topic—Jesus, the crucified Messiah. # 2:2 Paul could have easily impressed the Corinthians with his vast knowledge of the Torah and the Jewish laws. But he was resolved to forget every other topic and stay focused on Christ and his cross. He wanted the power of the Spirit to work through his singular message. 3I stood before you feeling inadequate, filled with reverence for God, # 2:3 As translated from the Aramaic. The Greek is “I was with you in fear and trembling.” and trembling under the sense of the importance of my words. # 2:3 Paul was not simply filled with dread or fear, but filled with how important it was to present the gospel clearly to the Corinthians. See also 2 Cor. 10:10; 11:6. 4The message I preached and how I preached it was not an attempt to sway you with persuasive arguments but to prove to you the almighty power of God’s Holy Spirit. 5For God intended that your faith not be established on man’s wisdom but by trusting in his almighty power.
Wisdom from God
6However, there is a wisdom that we continually speak of when we are among the spiritually mature. # 2:6 Or “those who have reached perfection.” The Greek term for “spiritually mature” in this verse is found in classical Greek, describing those who have been initiated into mysteries. It most likely refers in this context to those who believed Paul’s message containing the mysteries of God (2:1). Paul uses the word wisdom sixteen times in the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians. It’s wisdom that didn’t originate in this present age, nor did it come from the rulers of this age who are in the process of being dethroned. # 2:6 Or “rulers who are doomed to come to nothing” or “the nullified overlords of this present age.” This does not refer merely to human governments, but to the dethroned rulers of darkness that know nothing of God’s secret wisdom. 7Instead, we # 2:7 Many times in 1 and 2 Corinthians when Paul uses the pronoun we, he is referring to the apostles of the church, gifts of Christ who are sent to teach the mysteries of God. See 1 Cor. 4:1; Eph. 4:11–13. continually speak of this wonderful wisdom that comes from God, hidden before now in a mystery. # 2:7 That is, something so profound it is beyond the scope of human ingenuity and unattainable by human reasoning. Wisdom comes from above and is given to those who love God and live in awe of him. It is his secret plan, destined # 2:7 Or “decreed.” The Greek word proorizo means “to mark out the boundaries.” It is a form of the word horizon. God has marked out ahead of time the horizon of the ages and will finish his predetermined plan perfectly. before the ages, to bring us into glory. # 2:7 The Aramaic can be translated “for our glorification” or “so that glory may be ours.” 8None of the rulers of this present world order understood it, # 2:8 Although it is possible that this refers to human rulers, it is hard to imagine how Herod, Pilate, and the Jewish authorities could be equated to the words “rulers of [over] this present world order (aeon).” It seems clear that Paul is speaking of the principalities and powers of darkness, who were clueless about the efficacy of Christ’s crucifixion to realign the universe and initiate a new kingdom under our Lord Jesus Christ. for if they had, they never would have crucified the Lord of shining glory. # 2:8 Or a genitive of quality, “the Lord, to whom glory belongs.” This is the only place in the New Testament with the term “Lord of shining glory.” The church father Augustine translated this “the Lord who dispenses glory” (an objective genitive: Augustine, On the Trinity, 1:12:24). 9This is why the Scriptures say:
Things never discovered or heard of before,
things beyond our ability to imagine # 2:9 Or “entered the heart.” —
these are the many things God has in store
for all his lovers. # 2:9 See Isa. 64:4.
10But God now unveils these profound realities to us by the Spirit. # 2:10 Or “God has provided us with a revelation through the Spirit.” This difficult-to-translate Greek sentence may contain an ellipsis, which would render it “Yet we speak [or we know] what God has revealed to us by the Spirit.” Yes, he has revealed to us his inmost heart and deepest mysteries through the Holy Spirit, who constantly explores all things. 11After all, who can really see into a person’s heart and know his hidden impulses except for that person’s spirit? So it is with God. His thoughts and secrets are only fully understood by his Spirit, the Spirit of God.
12For we did not receive the spirit of this world system but the Spirit of God, so that we might come to understand and experience all that grace has lavished upon us. 13And we # 2:13 It is possible that Paul uses “we” in reference to apostles. articulate these realities with the words imparted to us by the Spirit and not with the words taught by human wisdom. We join together Spirit-revealed truths with Spirit-revealed words. # 2:13 Or “We explain spiritual realities to spiritual people” or “We interpret spiritual truths by spiritual faculties.” 14Someone living on an entirely human level # 2:14 Or “the natural man” or “the one without the Spirit.” The Aramaic can be translated “A man in his natural self cannot receive spiritual concepts.” rejects # 2:14 Or “does not have access to.” the revelations of God’s Spirit, for they make no sense to him. He can’t understand the revelations of the Spirit because they are only discovered by the illumination of the Spirit. 15Those who live in the Spirit are able to carefully evaluate all things, and they are subject to the scrutiny of no one but God. 16For
Who has ever intimately known the mind of the Lord Yahweh # 2:16 As translated from the Aramaic. well enough to become his counselor? # 2:16 See Isa. 40:13.
Christ has, and we possess Christ’s perceptions. # 2:16 That is, we believers possess the Holy Spirit, who reveals the thoughts and purposes of Christ. The revelation of the kingdom of God that Jesus preached was not understood by the intellect of men but by those who welcomed his truth. Humanly speaking, no one can understand the mysteries of God without the Holy Spirit. Those who have the Holy Spirit now possess the perceptions of Christ’s mind and can implement his purposes on the earth.
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1 Corinthians 2: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion Translation1 Corinthians 2
2
Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit
1And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming to you the #2:1 One early ms reads mystery.testimony of God [concerning salvation through Christ], I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom [no lofty words of eloquence or of philosophy as a Greek orator might do]; 2for I made the decision to #2:2 In reality, Paul was a highly-trained student of the Old Testament writings, Jewish law, and of logic and rhetoric; and evidently he was conversant in Roman law as well. When preaching the gospel, however, he focused on the message itself and the power of God, and not on rhetorical techniques of persuasion (see vv 4, 5; cf 1:17).know nothing [that is, to forego philosophical or theological discussions regarding inconsequential things and opinions while] among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified [and the meaning of His redemptive, substitutionary death and His resurrection]. 3I came to you in [a state of] weakness and fear and great trembling. 4And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom [using clever rhetoric], but [they were delivered] in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit [operating through me] and of [His] power [stirring the minds of the listeners and persuading them], 5so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom and rhetoric of men, but on the power of God.
6Yet we do speak wisdom among those spiritually mature [believers who have teachable hearts and a greater understanding]; but [it is a higher] wisdom not [the wisdom] of this present age nor of the rulers and leaders of this age, who are passing away; 7but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom once hidden [from man, but now revealed to us by God, that wisdom] which God predestined before the ages to our glory [to lift us into the glory of His presence]. 8None of the rulers of this age recognized and understood this wisdom; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9but just as it is written [in Scripture],
“Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, who obey Him, and who gratefully recognize the benefits that He has bestowed].” [Is 64:4; 65:17]
10For God has unveiled them and revealed them to us through the [Holy] Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things [diligently], even [sounding and measuring] the [profound] depths of God [the divine counsels and things far beyond human understanding]. 11For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So also no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the [Holy] Spirit who is from God, so that we may know and understand the [wonderful] things freely given to us by God. 13We also speak of these things, not in words taught or supplied by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual thoughts with spiritual words [for those being guided by the Holy Spirit].
14But the natural [unbelieving] man does not accept the things [the teachings and revelations] of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness [absurd and illogical] to him; and he is incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, [and he is unqualified to judge spiritual matters]. 15But the spiritual man [the spiritually mature Christian] judges all things [questions, examines and applies what the Holy Spirit reveals], yet is himself judged by no one [the unbeliever cannot judge and understand the believer’s spiritual nature]. 16For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes]. [Is 40:13]
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