1 Corinthians 2
2
1Brothers and sisters, when I came to you I didn't try to impress you with wonderful words or great wisdom when I told you what God had to say to you. 2I decided that while I was with you I didn't want to concentrate on anything except Jesus Christ, and that he was crucified. 3I came to you in weakness, fearful and trembling. 4I didn't speak to you with persuasive words of wisdom to convince you. I just explained it all to you through the evidence and power of the Spirit. 5That way your trust in God wouldn't rely on human wisdom but on the power of God.
6However, we do use words of wisdom when we speak to those who are spiritually mature, but this isn't wisdom that comes from this world, or from the rulers of this world who soon fade from the scene. 7On the contrary we explain God's wisdom in terms of a revealed mystery#2:7. When the word mystery is used in the New Testament it is normally referring to a revealed mystery—particularly in reference to God becoming human in the person of Jesus Christ. that was previously hidden which God planned for our glory before the creation of the worlds.
8None of the rulers of this world understood anything about this—for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But as Scripture says, “No one has ever seen, and no one has ever heard, and no one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”#2:9. From Isaiah 64 and Isaiah 65. 10But God has revealed this to us through the Spirit, because the Spirit delves into the depths of God. 11Who knows anyone's thoughts except the actual person?#2:11. Literally, “who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him?” In the same way no one knows God's thoughts except the Spirit of God. 12For we have received the Spirit from God, not the spirit of this world, so that we could understand what God so generously gave us. 13That's what we speak about—not using words taught by human wisdom, but what the Spirit teaches. We explain what is spiritual using spiritual terms. 14Of course people who are not spiritual don't accept what comes from God's Spirit. It's just foolish nonsense to them, and they can't understand it, because what is spiritual has to be properly examined. 15People who are spiritual investigate everything, but are not placed under investigation themselves.#2:15. “Investigate/investigation”—the same word is used in the original, and can also mean to examine or to judge. It is also related to the word translated “examined” in verse 14. English does not capture the subtlety of the original. 16For “who understands the Lord's mind, and would think to instruct him?”#2:16. Quoting Isaiah 40:13. But we do have Christ's mind!
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
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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