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Not with human wisdom but with God's power
1 So when I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming God's testimony* to you with a ‘superior’ speech or wisdom. 2 For I determined to ‘know’ nothing while among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 Also, I was with you in weakness, in fear, and with much trembling. 4 Yes, my message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith not be in men's wisdom, but in God's power.†
Wisdom for the mature
6 However, we do speak wisdom among the mature,‡ albeit not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are being set aside;§ 7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden* wisdom that God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 that none of the rulers of this age have understood (because if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of the glory). 9 However, as it is written:
“Things no eye has seen and no ear has heard,
and no heart of man has imagined,
such things has God prepared for those who love Him.”†
10 But to us God has revealed them by His Spirit;‡ because the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
11 Now who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? So also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world§ but the Spirit who is from God, so that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God;* 13 which things we also expound, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit,† interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people.
14 Now a soulish‡ man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; indeed, he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual evaluates everything, while not being himself subject to anyone's judgment.§ 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him?”* But we have the mind of Christ.†
* 2:1 Instead of “testimony”, less than 5% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘mystery’, to be followed by the eclectic Greek text currently in vogue (as in some versions). † 2:5 How many missionaries and pastors today are following Paul's example? How many of us know how to demonstrate God's power? Faith is to be based on power, not human wisdom. If we don't know how to use God's power, we had better cry out to Him until we learn how. Certain theological systems virtually condemn their adherents to never use God's power. ‡ 2:6 This is important. Paul is not championing ignorance or stupidity. In teaching Christians he certainly used God's wisdom. It was in his evangelizing that he avoided ‘human wisdom’. § 2:6 ‘Being set aside’ how, and when? If God's people would really be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ (Matthew 5:13-14) they could transform any culture. * 2:7 In the Bible a ‘mystery’ is something hidden, something yet to be revealed, not something ‘mysterious’. † 2:9 Wonderful! Thank you, God! See Isaiah 64:4. ‡ 2:10 To us has been granted the privilege of having a fuller understanding of God's purposes than was granted to OT saints. § 2:12 ‘The spirit of the world’ evidently must exist. If the reference is not to Satan directly, he is certainly behind it. * 2:12 Evidently one of the things the Holy Spirit wants to do is to illumine us on the subject of God's free gifts—if we would only listen! † 2:13 Note that Paul is plainly stating that he receives instruction from the Holy Spirit. If he could do it, we can too. Perhaps 4% of the Greek manuscripts omit “Holy”, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc. ‡ 2:14 That is what the Text says. A ‘soulish’ person cannot understand spiritual things, which sounds rather like a congenital defect, no spirit—the reference might be to humanoids à la Genesis 6 (Matthew 24:37). (I would say that the correct translation of Jude 19 is: “they are ‘soulish’, not having a spirit”. See the footnote at that point.) § 2:15 The same verb is used three times, to which I have given different renderings—‘discerned’, ‘evaluates’, ‘subject to judgment’ (the middle one is in the active voice, the other two in the passive). The king of interpretation is the context, and the verb (ανακρινω) covers a considerable semantic area. * 2:16 See Isaiah 40:13. Compare John 3:8, where the Lord Jesus says that the Spirit controlled person is like the wind, unpredictable—other people will have trouble figuring him out; when they expect him to ‘zig’, he will ‘zag’. † 2:16 Well now, do we or don't we? How many people do you know who think like Jesus did?