~ 1 Corinthians 2 ~
Paul's Message by the Spirit's Power
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I
proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I decided 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 persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the
Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
Spiritual Wisdom: "Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the
wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He
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.
As it is written:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love Him.
But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit."
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among
men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, 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. And 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.
The natural man 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 judges all things,
but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 'For who has known the
mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ."
'Praise God'
Paul's Message by the Spirit's Power
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I
proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I decided 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 persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the
Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
Spiritual Wisdom: "Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the
wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He
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.
As it is written:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love Him.
But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit."
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among
men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, 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. And 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.
The natural man 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 judges all things,
but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 'For who has known the
mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ."
'Praise God'
