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
1 AS FOR myself, brethren, when I came to you, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony and evidence or mystery and secret of God [concerning what He has done through Christ for the salvation of men] in lofty words of eloquence or human philosophy and wisdom;
2 For I resolved to know nothing (to be acquainted with nothing, to make a display of the knowledge of nothing, and to be conscious of nothing) among you except Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and Him crucified.
3 And I was in (passed into a state of) weakness and fear (dread) and great trembling [after I had come] among you.
4 And my language and my message were not set forth in persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of wisdom, but they were in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit and power [a proof by the Spirit and power of God, operating on me and stirring in the minds of my hearers the most holy emotions and thus persuading them],
5 So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the power of God.
6 Yet when we are among the full-grown (spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding), we do impart a [higher] wisdom (the knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden); but it is indeed not a wisdom of this present age or of this world nor of the leaders and rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing and are doomed to pass away.
7 But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God–[that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence].
8 None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed]. [Isa. 64:4; 65:17.]
10 Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny].
11 For what person perceives (knows and understands) what passes through a man's thoughts except the man's own spirit within him? Just so no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.
13 And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].
14 But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.
15 But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].
16 For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart. [Isa. 40:13.]
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