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1 Corinthians 2
Paul turns to his own arrival in Corinth: he came in weakness, fear, and trembling, resolved to know nothing but "Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (v.2). He deliberately skipped polished oratory so faith would rest on God's power, not human persuasion. Then the chapter opens up: there is a hidden wisdom, decreed before the ages, that the rulers of this world missed — or they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
- 1
When I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
- 2
For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
- 3
I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
- 4
My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
- 5
that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
- 6
We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing.
- 7
But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory,
- 8
which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory.
- 9
But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”
- 10
But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
- 11
For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except God’s Spirit.
- 12
But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God.
- 13
We also speak these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
- 14
Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 15
But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is to be judged by no one.
- 16
“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.
Two kinds of knowing
Paul contrasts the "natural" person, who treats spiritual things as foolishness, with the one taught by the Spirit who searches even "the deep things of God" (v.10). Wisdom here is received, not achieved.
This answers chapter 1's puzzle: if the cross looks foolish, it is because real discernment comes by the Spirit, climaxing in the claim "we have Christ's mind."
Context layers
Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.
- FaithWhat faith means in the Bible, how it differs from vague belief, and how to read it without turning it into self-confidence.
- WisdomWhat wisdom means in the Bible, how it differs from cleverness, and where to begin reading it well.
- Fear of the LordWhat the fear of the Lord means in the Bible, how it relates to wisdom, reverence, obedience, and trust.
- Matthew 5:43Related through the topic "Love".
- Matthew 5:44Related through the topic "Love".
- Matthew 5:46Related through the topic "Love".
- Matthew 6:5Related through the topic "Love".
- Matthew 6:24Related through the topic "Love".
- Matthew 10:37Related through the topic "Love".
- Mark 10:21Related through the topic "Love".
- Mark 12:30Related through the topic "Love".
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