1 Corinthians · chapter 2 of 16
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1 Corinthians 2 explains how Paul preached in Corinth: not with eloquent words, but resolved to know only Jesus Christ and him crucified, in weakness and with the power of the Spirit. He then shows that God's wisdom, hidden from the rulers of this age, is revealed by the Spirit to believers, who have the mind of Christ.
In chapter 1 Paul declared that the cross is the wisdom of God and that God chooses what is weak in the world. Now he returns to his own ministry in Corinth to show that his way of preaching matched that message. The chapter is about how God is known: not through human talent, but through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Paul recalls that when he came to Corinth he did not announce the testimony of God with superior speech or wisdom. He decided to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and him crucified. He was with them in weakness, fear and much trembling, and his preaching did not rest on persuasive speeches but on a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that their faith would rest on the power of God and not on human wisdom.
Among the mature, Paul says, they do speak wisdom, but not the wisdom of this age or of its passing rulers. They speak God's wisdom, mysterious and hidden, which God destined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Paul backs this with a quotation from Scripture: what no eye has seen nor ear heard, God has prepared for those who love him.
God revealed it to us through the Spirit, who searches everything, even the depths of God. Just as only a person's own spirit knows that person's thoughts, only the Spirit of God knows God's. Believers have received that Spirit so that they may understand what God has freely given them, and they speak of it in words taught by the Spirit. The natural person does not accept these things, for they are foolishness to him and are discerned only spiritually. The spiritual person judges all things, and Paul concludes that believers have the mind of Christ.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Paul decided to know nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ and him crucified. He does not mean he knew nothing else, but that the cross was the center and the measure of his message.
His speech and preaching did not rest on persuasive words of human wisdom but on a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The purpose was that their faith would rest on God's power and not on a speaker's skill.
God revealed these things through the Spirit, who searches everything, even the depths of God. True knowledge of God is not reached by our own intelligence but by revelation.
No one has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him, yet believers have the mind of Christ. Paul is not claiming personal superiority but saying the Spirit gives us access to the thoughts and purposes of Christ.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified. — 1 Corinthians 2:2
Answer: In weakness, fear and much trembling. — 1 Corinthians 2:3
Answer: The wisdom of men, but on the power of God. — 1 Corinthians 2:5
Answer: They would not have crucified the Lord of glory. — 1 Corinthians 2:8
Answer: The Spirit of God. — 1 Corinthians 2:10
Answer: The mind of Christ. — 1 Corinthians 2:16
1 Corinthians 2 frees us from the pressure to impress. Paul did not trust his eloquence but the Spirit, who makes the message of the cross reach hearts. A Sunday school teacher or small group leader can prepare carefully and still pray humbly, knowing that only God opens eyes.
It also reminds us that understanding the Bible is a gift to be asked for. Before studying, it helps to pray that the Spirit would illuminate the text. And when someone seems hard to convince, remember that the natural person does not accept these things alone: patience and prayer matter more than argument.
1 Corinthians 2 ends by affirming that believers have the mind of Christ through the Spirit. But the Corinthians, as Paul will show in chapter 3, were not yet living up to that reality: they were still acting like immature people who divided over their leaders.
Paul speaks of the person without God's Spirit, who sees the gospel as foolishness because it is discerned only spiritually. It is not a verdict on that person's intelligence but on the need for the Spirit to open understanding, something God gives to those who believe.
Paul draws on a text from Israel's Scriptures about what no eye has seen nor ear heard, which God has prepared for those who love him. Commentators link it to passages in Isaiah, and Paul applies it to what God has now revealed through the Spirit.
They are believers who have grown in the gospel and can receive deeper teaching about God's wisdom. Paul is not creating a higher class of Christians: he will soon tell them they have not yet grown up, and the wisdom he teaches is the same message of Christ crucified.