Bible Reading and Commentary:

Read: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

In this section Paul insists that God’s glorious plan of salvation through Jesus Christ so defies human wisdom that only spiritual people, those indwelt by the Holy Spirit, are able to comprehend it. Most Protestant commentators emphasize that the phrase “spiritual persons” refers to all Christians in general, that is, those who have been reconciled to God through faith and have received the Holy Spirit, who makes known to them the hidden wisdom of God. This view would be in contrast to the Catholic view of “spiritual persons” referring to someone who holds an office in the church. Whereas spiritual persons understand the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, unregenerate “natural persons” continue to despise Christ and his cross because they trust in their human wisdom and natural affections.

This negatively affects our ability to evangelize in our day. Most unbelievers and even many Christians understand Christianity to be about subjective feelings not about objective truths. Christ’s incarnation, life, death and resurrection are true facts grounded in history. Whatever feelings we have is because the truth affects us internally. Our knowledge of our own salvation is not something we feel but something we know to be true based on the truth of Scripture. Yes, this should produce an emotional response. It will do us well to remember that Christianity is based on historical facts found in the very Word of God. Christianity is true not because I believe it to be true but because it is true. In our age of relativity we hear people say “it may be true for you but not for me” and that in itself is a false statement. No matter what Pilate or what one of our Presidents said the fact is truth is truth.

The Holy Spirit not only reveals heavenly wisdom but also applies Christ’s salvation to believers by assuring them that they are justified before God and secure as God’s beloved children. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14 “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” If Jesus had not been resurrected that Easter Sunday then he has not risen in your heart.

As we have seen, a huge gap exists between Christian and non-Christian thinking. Realizing this fact helps us understand why it is that God must grant us understanding of spiritual things. If not, the cross will remain foolish to us. This is why a true understanding of the gospel must be revealed to us by God, since the gospel can never be discovered by human wisdom. If the Corinthians fail to grasp this point, the church in Corinth will continue to struggle with the same kind of issues facing them: schism and division, sexual immorality, lawsuits, and improper conduct in worship.

Therefore, if we are in Christ, we are indwelt by the Spirit of God. Therefore, we have the mind of Christ. This is why we are to look for the wisdom of God and a demonstration of the Spirit’s power precisely in those places where we are weakest. This is why Christianity will always remain foolish to a Greek and a stumbling block to Jews. God reveals his wisdom and power in the cross, that message through which the Spirit of God demonstrates his power. But this means giving up much of what we hold dear and what we prefer. It also means admitting that God’s ways are right and ours are wrong, and this is never easy.

Philip Melanchthon: “but we have the mind of Christ”: He [the Holy Spirit] made us believe the gospel, which otherwise offends the sanctimonious and is mocked by the wise. Because we know Christ, we know the will of the Father in Christ. And knowing the will of the Father we can judge spiritually concerning God’s works both within us and outside us. For Christ is displayed before us as a sort of exemplar or mirror in which we can contemplate both the image of sin and the image of life. In his [Jesus] dying we see the wrath of God toward sin. In his coming back to life, we see his mercy. . . and so Christ is the image of his [the Father’s] will.