I Corinthians 2, Wisdom of the Spirit

Paul began his letter to Corinth by reminding his readers of the life available in the Holy Spirit and confronting them for divisions based on various Christian leaders.  He continues to discuss these issues, focusing on spiritual wisdom.

1 Corinthians 2: 1-5
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

Jesus is the priority; it is to his kingdom, his country, to which we belong.  This membership, and the accompanying wisdom, is much simpler (and yet much deeper) than any temporary eloquence of speech or philosophy.

1 Corinthians 2:6-10a, A different wisdom

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" -- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The short-term "wisdom" of the world is very different from the longterm eternal wisdom offered by the crucified and resurrected Messiah.

The Old Testament quote in verse 9 is from Isaiah 64:4.

1 Corinthians 2: 10b-13
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

Paul emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, acting internally, aiding the believer to begin to see things from God's perspective.  This follows an argument similar to that expressed in Romans 8 (which was written from Corinth.)

1 Corinthians 2: 14-16
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

This is a significant theme of Paul's: if one is constantly immersed in the temporary social and intellectual realm of "earth" then one has a mindset very different from that given by the Holy Spirit, given to those who are part of the kingdom of heaven.  (In this way -- as to be elaborated later -- the followers of the Messiah are to be "ambassadors", remembering our "true country" while living in this one.)

The Old Testament quote in verse 16 is from Isaiah 40:13.