“For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.
Parallel Translations
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“For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.
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For who knoweth the mynde of the Lorde other who shall informe him? But we vnderstonde the mynde of Christ.
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For who hath knowen the minde of the Lord, that hee might instruct him? But we haue the minde of Christ.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to 1 Corinthians 2:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 40:13-14 Who has directed Yahweh’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor? Who did he take counsel with, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?
- Romans 11:34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
- John 16:13-16 However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. All things that the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes of mine and will declare it to you. A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me.”
- John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.
- Job 15:8 Have you heard the secret counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
- Jeremiah 23:18 For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has listened to my word, and heard it?
- Ephesians 3:3-4 how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words, by which, when you read, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ,
- Job 40:2 “Shall he who argues contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
- John 17:6-8 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word. Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you, for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
- Job 22:2 “Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
- Genesis 1:12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 16. For who hath known? It is probable that…
16. For who hath known? It is probable that Paul had an eye to what we read in the 40th chapter of Isaiah. The Prophet there asks,
Who hath been God’s counselor? Who hath weighed his Spirit, (Isaiah 40:13,)
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or hath aided him both in the creation of the world and in his other works? and, in fine, who hath comprehended the reason of his works? Now, in like manner Paul, by this interrogation, designs to teach, that his secret counsel which is contained in the gospel is far removed from the understanding of men. This then is a confirmation of the preceding statement.
But we have the mind of Christ. It is uncertain whether he speaks of believers universally, or of ministers exclusively. Either of these meanings will suit sufficiently well with the context, though I prefer to view it as referring more particularly to himself and other faithful ministers. He says, then, that the servants of the Lord are taught by the paramount authority of the Spirit, what is farthest removed from the judgment of the flesh, that they may speak fearlessly as from the mouth of the Lord, — which gift flows out afterwards by degrees to the whole Church.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Lay his head to his, and teach him what…
Lay his head to his, and teach him what he should do.
A reason of the former saying: for he is called spiritual, which hath learned that by the virtue of the Spirit, which Christ hath taught us. Now if that which we have learned of that Master, could be reproved of any man, he must needs be wiser than God: whereupon it followeth, that they are not only foolish, but also wicked, which think that they can devise something that is either more perfect, or that they can teach the wisdom of God a better way than they knew or taught, which undoubtedly, were endued with God’s Spirit.
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We are endued with the Spirit of Christ, who openeth unto us those secrets, which by all other means are unsearchable, and also all truth whatsoever.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 16 For who hath known the mind of the…
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Ver. 16. But we have the mind of Christ] This is a privilege confined to the communion of saints, to have communication of Christ’s secrets, to be as it were of his court and council. One saith of Dr Sibbs, that he was a man spiritually rational, and rationally spiritual, one that seemed to see the insides of nature and grace, and the world and heaven, by those perfect anatomies he had made of them all.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain For who hath known the mind of the Lord,…
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? This phrase is taken out of Isa 40:13, and was quoted by our apostle before, Rom 11:34; the sense of it, as here used, is: For what natural man, that never was taught and enlightened by the Spirit of God, could ever know the secret counsels of God, and the Divine mysteries of man’s salvation? Nor can any instruct him what to do. It is by some observed, that συμβιβασει signifies, by arguments to bring one over to be of his mind, which indeed is a kind of instruction.
But (saith the apostle) we, who have the Spirit of God given to us, dwelling and working in us, and instructing us, we have the mind of Christ; for the Spirit of Christ, which is our teacher, knoweth his mind, and hath revealed it unto us.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain That is, "What man, without divine revelation and spiritual…
That is, "What man, without divine revelation and spiritual illumination, ever knew or understood the mind of God so well, as to be able to instruct, direct, and inform the spiritual man about it? But we who are spiritual have the mind of Christ, and so are able to discern and direct, to guide and instruct, others about it."
Learn hence, That none are fit and sufficient to interpret the mind of God unto others, who are not acquainted with it themselves. We have the mind of Christ, saith the apostle of himself, and his fellow-labourers in the gospel: his meaning is not only this, that they had the mind of Christ written in a book, but that they had a clear understanding of it, and so were fitted to interpret it to others.
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There is no such knowledge as the knowledge of experience, no teaching like unto experimental teaching.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Who - What natural man. We - Spiritual men;…
Who - What natural man. We - Spiritual men; apostles in particular. Have - Know, understand. The mind of Christ - Concerning the whole plan of gospel salvation. Isaiah xl, 13
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. For who hath known the mind of…
Verse 16. For who hath known the mind of the Lord] Who that is still an animal man can know the mind of God? so as to instruct him, viz. the spiritual man, the same that is spoken of, 1Co 2:15. But the words may be better understood thus: How can the animal man know the mind of the Lord? and how can any man communicate that knowledge which he has never acquired, and which is foolishness to him, because it is spiritual, and he is animal? This quotation is made from Isa 40:13.
But we have the mind of Christ.] He has endowed us with the same disposition, being born again by his Spirit; therefore we are capable of knowing his mind and receiving the teachings of his Spirit. These teachings we do receive, and therefore are well qualified to convey them to others.
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The words, that he may instruct him, ος συμβιβασει αυτον, should be translated that he may teach IT: that is, the mind of God; not instruct God, but teach his mind to others. And this interpretation the Hebrew will also bear.
Bishop Pearce observes: "The principal questions here are,, what συμβιβασει signifies, and what αυτον is relative to. The Hebrew word which the Septuagint translate by these two is יודיענו yodiennu: now, since ידיע yodia signifies as well to make known as to know, (and indeed this is the most frequent sense of it in the Old Testament,) the suffix (postfix) נו nu, may relate to a thing, as well as to a person; and therefore it may be rendered not by him, but by it, i.e. the mind of the Lord. And in this sense the apostle seems to have used the words of the Seventy; for, if we understand αυτον here to be the relative to κυριου, Lord, this verse contains no reason for what went before; whereas, if it be a relative to νουν, mind, it affords a reason for what had been said before, 1Co 2:14." The true translation of the passage, as used by the apostle, appears to be this: For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should TEACH IT? And this translation agrees with every part of the context, and particularly with what follows.
1. THIS chapter might be considered a good model for a Christian minister to regulate his conduct by, or his public ministry; because it points out the mode of preaching used by St. Paul and the apostles in general. This great apostle came not to the people with excellency of speech and of wisdom, when he declared unto them the counsel of God. They know little, either of the spirit of St. Paul or the design of the Gospel, who make the chief excellence of their preaching to consist in the eloquence of language, or depth of human reasoning. That may be their testimony, but it is not God's. The enticing words of man's wisdom are seldom accompanied by the demonstration and power of the Holy Spirit.
2. One justly remarks, that "the foolishness of preaching has its wisdom, loftiness, and eloquence; but this consists in the sublimity of its truths, the depth of its mysteries, and the ardour of the Spirit of God." In this respect Paul may be said to have preached wisdom among those which were perfect. The wisest and most learned men in the world, who have seriously read the Bible, have acknowledged that there is a depth and height of wisdom and knowledge in that book of God which are sought in vain any where else: and indeed it would not be a revelation from God were it not so. The men who can despise and ridicule this sacred book are those who are too blind to discover the objects presented to them by this brilliant light, and are too sensual to feel and relish spiritual things. They, above all others, are incapable of judging, and should be no more regarded when employed in talking against the sacred writings than an ignorant peasant should be, who, not knowing his alphabet, pretends to decry mathematical learning.
3. A new mode of preaching has been diligently recommended,- "Scriptural phraseology should be generally avoided where it is antiquated, or conveys ideas inconsistent with modern delicacy." St. Paul did not preach in the words which man's wisdom teacheth- such words are too mean and too low for a religion so Divine. That which the Holy Spirit alone can discover, he alone can explain. Let no man dare to speak of God in any other way than he speaks of himself in his word. Let us take care not to profane his truths and mysteries, either by such low and abject ideas as are merely human, or by new and worldly expressions altogether unworthy of the Spirit of God.
4. It is the glory of God, and ought to be ours, not to be acceptable to carnal men. The natural man always finds some pretence to excuse himself from believing, by looking on the mysteries of religion as being either too much above man or too much below God; the spiritual man judges them to be so much the more credible, the less credible they are to the natural man.
The opposition, contempt, and blindness of the world, with regard to the things of God, render all its judgments concerning them liable to exception: this blindness in spiritual things is the just punishment of a carnal life. The principal part of the above is extracted from the reflections of the pious Quesnel.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For who hath known ... - This passage is…
For who hath known ... - This passage is quoted from Isa 40:13. The interrogative form is a strong mode of denying that anyone has ever known the mind of the Lord. The argument of Paul is this, “No one can understand God. No one can fully comprehend his plans, his feelings, his views, his designs. No one by nature, under the influence of sense and passion, is either disposed to investigate his truths, or loves them when they are revealed. But the Christian is influenced by God. He has his Spirit. He has the mind of Christ; who had the mind of God. He sympathizes with Christ; he has his feelings, desires, purposes, and plans. And as no one can fully understand God by nature, so neither can he understand him who is influenced by God, and is like him; and it is not to be wondered at that he regards the Christian religion as folly, and the Christian as a fool.
The mind of Christ - The views, feelings, and temper of Christ. We are influenced by his Spirit.
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Remarks On 1 Corinthians 2
1. Ministers of the gospel should not be too anxious to be distinguished for excellency of speech or language, 1Co 2:1. Their aim should be to speak the simple truth, in language pure and intelligible to all. Let it be remembered, that if there ever was any place where it would be proper to seek such graces of eloquence, it was Corinth. If in any city now, or in any refined and genteel society it would be proper, it would have been proper in Corinth. Let this thought rebuke those, who, when they preach to a frivilous and fashionable auditory, seek to fill their sermons with ornament rather than with solid thought; with the tinsel of rhetoric, rather than with pure language. Paul was right in his course; and was wise. True taste abhors meretricious ornaments, as much as the gospel does. And the man who is called to preach in a rich and fashionable congregation, should remember, that he is stationed there not to please the ear, but to save the soul; that his object is not to display his talent or his eloquence, but to rescue his hearers from ruin. This purpose will make the mere ornaments of rhetoric appear small. It will give: seriousness to his discourse; gravity to his diction; unction to his eloquence; heart to his arguments; and success to his ministry.
2. The purpose of every minister should be like that of Paul, to preach Christ and only him crucified. See the note on 1Co 2:2.
3. If Paul trembled at Corinth in view of dangers and difficulties; if he was conscious of his own weakness and feebleness, then we should learn also to be humble. He is not much in danger of erring who imitates the example of this great apostle. And if he who had received a direct commission from the great Head of the church, and who was endowed with such mighty powers, was modest, unassuming, and diffident, then it becomes ministers of the gospel now, and all others to be humble also. We should not, indeed, be afraid of people; but we should be modest, humble, and lowly; much impressed, as if conscious of our mighty charge; and anxious to deliver just such a message as God will approve and bless.
Would I describe a preacher, such an Paul,
Were he on earth, would hear, approve, and own,
Paul should himself direct me. I would trace.
His master-strokes, and draw from his design.
I would express him simple, grave, sincere;
In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain;
And plain in manner, decent, solemn, chaste,
And natural in gesture: much impress’d.
Himself, an conscious of his awful charge;
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds.
May feel it too. Affectionate in look,
And tender in address, as well becomes.
A messenger of grace to guilty men.
Task, B.
Our aim should be to commend our message to every man’s conscience; and to do it with humility toward God, and deep solicitude; with boldness toward our fellow man - respectfully toward them - but still resolved to tell the truth, 1Co 2:3.
4. The faith of Christians does not stand in the wisdom of man. Every Christian has evidence in his own heart, in his experience, and in the transformation of his character, that none but God could have made the change on his soul. His hopes, his joys, his peace, his sanctification, his love of prayer, of the Bible, of Christians, of God, and of Christ, are all such as nothing could have produced but the mighty power of God. All these bear marks of their high origin. They are the work of God on the soul. And as the Christian is fully conscious that these are not the native feelings, of his heart - that if left to himself he would never have had them; so he has the fullest demonstration that they are to be traced to a divine source. And can he be mistaken about their existence? Can a man doubt whether he has joy, and peace, and happiness? Is the infidel to tell him coolly that he must be mistaken in regard to the existence of these emotions, and that it is all delusion?
Can a child doubt whether it loves a parent? Can a husband doubt whether he loves his wife? Can a friend question whether he loves a friend? Or a man whether he loves his country? And can he doubt whether this emotion produces joy? And can a person doubt whether he loves God? Whether he has different views from what he once had? Whether he has peace and joy in view of the character of God, and the hope of heaven? And by what right shall the infidel tell him that he is mistaken, and that all this is delusion? How can he enter into the soul, and pronounce the man who professes to have these feelings mistaken? What should we think of the man who would tell a wife that she did not love her husband; or a father that he did not love his children? How can he know this? And, in like manner, how can an infidel and a scoffer say to a Christian, that all his hopes and joys, his love and peace are delusion and fanaticism? The truth is, that the great mass of Christians are just as well satisfied of the truth of religion, as they are of their own existence; and that a Christian will die for his love to the Saviour, just as he will die for his wife, and children, and country. Martyrdom in the one case is on the same principle as martyrdom in the other. Martyrdom in either is noble and honorable, and evinces the highest qualities and principles of the human mind.
5. Christians are influenced by true wisdom, 1Co 2:6. They are not fools; though they appear to be to their fellow man. They see a real beauty and wisdom in the plan of redemption which the world does not discern. It is not the wisdom of this world; but it is the wisdom which looks to eternity. Is a man a fool who acts with reference to the future? Is he a fool who believes that he shall live to all eternity, and who regards it as proper to make preparation for that eternity? Is he a fool who acts as if he were to die - to be judged - to enter on an unchanging destiny? Folly is manifested in closing the eyes on the reality of the condition; not in looking at it as it is. The man who is sick, and who strives to convince himself that he is well; the man whose affairs are in a state of bankruptcy, and who is unwilling to know it, is a fool. The man who is willing to know all about his situation, and to act accordingly, is a wise man. The one represents the conduct of a sinner, the other that of a Christian. A man who should see his child drowning, or his house on fire, or the pestilence breathing around him, and be unconcerned, or dance amidst such scenes, would be a fool or a madman. And is not the sinner who is frivilous and thoughtless over the grave and over hell equally foolish and mad? And if there is a God, a heaven, a Saviour, and a hell; if people are to die, and to be judged, is he not wise who acts as if it were so, and who lives accordingly? While Christians, therefore, may not be distinguished for the wisdom of this world - while many are destitute of learning, science, and eloquence, they have a wisdom which will survive when all other is vanished away.
6. All the wisdom of this world shall come to nothing, 1Co 2:6. What will be the value of political sagacity, when all governments shall come to an end but the divine government? What will be the value of eloquence, and graceful diction, when we stand at the judgment seat of Christ? What will be the value of science in this world, when all shall be revealed with the clearness of noonday? How low will all human attainments appear in that world, when the light of eternal day shall be shed over all the works of God? How little can human science do to advance the eternal interests of man? And how shall all fade away in the future world of glory - just as the feeble glimmering of the stars fades away before the light of the morning sun! How little, therefore, should we pride ourselves on the highest attainments of science, and the most elevated distinctions of learning and eloquence.
7. God has a purpose in regard to the salvation of people, 1Co 2:7. This scheme was ordained before the world. It was not a new device. It was not the offspring of chance, an accident, or an “after thought.” It was because God purposed it from eternity. God has a plan; and this plan contemplates the salvation of his people. And it greatly enhances the value of this benevolent plan in the eyes of his people, that it has been the object of “the eternal earnest desire and purpose of God.” How much a gift is enhanced in value from the fact that it has been long the purpose of a parent to bestow it; that he has toiled for it; that he has made arrangements for it; and that this has been the chief object of his efforts and his plan for years. So the favors of eternal redemption are bestowed on Christians as the fruit of the eternal purpose and desire of God. And how should our hearts rise in gratitude to him for his unspeakable gift!
8. One great and prominent cause of sin is the fact that people are blind to the reality and beauty of spiritual objects. So it was with those who crucified the Lord, 1Co 2:8. Had they seen his glory as it was, they would not have crucified him. And so it is now. When people blaspheme God, they see not his excellency; when they revile religion, they know not its real value; when they break the laws of God, they do not fully discern their purity and their importance. It is true they are willfully ignorant, and their crime is often enhanced by this fact; but it is equally true that “they know not what they do.” For such poor, blinded, deluded mortals, the Saviour prayed; and for such we should all pray. The man that curses God, has no just sense of what he is doing. The man who is profane, and a scoffer, and a liar, and an adulterer, has no just sense of the awful nature of his crime; and is an object of commiseration while his Sin should be HAted - and is a proper subject of prayer.
9. People are often committing the most awful crimes when they are unconscious of it 1Co 2:8. What crime could compare with that of crucifying the only Son of God? And what crime could be attended with more dreadful consequences to its perpetrators? So of sinners now. They little know what they do; and they little know the consequences of their sins. A man may curse his Maker, and say it is in sport! But how will it be regarded on the Day of Judgment? A person may revile the Saviour! But how will it appear when he dies? It is a solemn thing to trifle with God and with His laws. A man is safer when he plays on top of a volcano, or when he makes a jest of the pestilence or the forked lightnings of heaven, than when he makes fun of religion and God! In a world like this, people should be serious and revere God. A single deed, like that of the crucifixion of Christ, may be remembered, when all the circumstances of sport and mockery shall have passed away - remembered when the world shall be destroyed, and stars and suns shall rush to ruin.
10. Christians have views of the beauties of religion, and have consolations arising from these views, which the world does not have, 1Co 2:9. They have different views of God, of Christ, of heaven, of eternity. They see a beauty in all these things, and a wisdom in the plan of salvation, which the people of the world do not see. The contemplations of this beauty and wisdom, and the evidence which they have that they are interested in all this, gives them a joy which the world does not possess. They see what the eye has not elsewhere seen; they enjoy what people elsewhere have not enjoyed; and they are elevated to privileges which people elsewhere do not possess. On earth, they partake of happiness which the world never can give, and in heaven they shall partake of the fulness of that joy - of pleasures there which the eye had not before seen, nor the ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived. Who would not want to be a Christian?
11. The Holy Spirit is in some sense distinct from the Father. This is implied in his action as an agent - in searching, knowing, etc. 1Co 2:10-11. An attribute; a quality, does not search and know.
12. The Holy Spirit is divine. None can know God but one equal to himself. If the Spirit intimately knows the wisdom, the goodness, the omniscience, the eternity, the power of God, he must be divine. No created being can have this intelligence, 1Co 2:10-11.
13. Christians are actuated by a different Spirit from the people of this world, 1Co 2:12. They are influenced by a regard to God and His glory. The people of the world are under the influence of pride, avarice, sensuality, ambition, and vain glory.
14. The sinner does not perceive the beauty of the things of religion. To all this beauty, he is blind. This is a sober and a most melancholy fact. Whatever may be the cause of it, the fact is undeniable and sad. It is so with the sensualist; with the people of avarice, pride, ambition, and licentiousness. The gospel is regarded as folly, and is despised and scorned by the people of this world. This is true in all places, among all people, and at all times. To this there are no exceptions in human nature; and over this we should sit down and weep.
15. The reason of this is, that people love darkness. It is not that they are destitute of the natural faculties for loving God, for they have as strong native powers as those who become Christians. It is because they love sin - and this simple fact, carried out into all its bearings, will account for all the difficulties in the way of the sinner’s conversion. There is nothing else; and,
16. We see here the value of the influences of the Spirit. It is by this Spirit alone that the mind of the Christian is enlightened, sanctified, and comforted. It is by Him alone that he sees the beauty of the religion which he loves; it is by His influence alone that he differs from his fellow man. And no less important is it for the sinner. Without the influences of that Spirit his mind will always be in darkness, and his heart will always hate the gospel. How anxiously, therefore, should he cherish His influences! How careful should he be not to grieve Him away!
17. There is a difference between Christians and other people. One is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the other not; one sees a beauty in religion, to the other it is folly; the one has the mind of Christ, the other has the spirit of the world; the one discerns the excellency of the plan of salvation, to the other all is darkness and folly. How could beings differ more in their moral feelings and views than do Christians and the people of this world?
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain For who among the sensual men of the world,…
For who among the sensual men of the world, hath known the mind of the Lord, so as to be able to instruct him, or them, whom he guides by his spirit. --- But we, whom he has chosen to be his apostles, have the mind of Christ; having been taught and instructed by the Spirit of Christ. Some enthusiasts and fanatics pretend from this passage of St. Paul, that they being led and inspired by the spirit, can be judged by no one in matters of faith and religion. They pervert and wrest the words of St. Paul, as they do also other Scriptures, to their own perdition. (2 Peter iii. 16.) First, because no one knows by his pretended private spirit, that he is truly such a spiritual man, who has the Spirit of God in him: and many have too much reason to know by their sensual carnal lives, that they have it not. Secondly, St. Paul here speaks only of spiritual men in opposition to sensual men, and only says that they who are spiritual, have the spirit of discretion to judge what things are spiritual, and what are not; and that none can judge rightly of these matters, but they who are spiritual, guided by the Spirit. Thirdly, as to controversies about religion, the proper spiritual judge appointed by our Saviour, Christ, are the bishops, whom he has appointed to govern his Church, with an entire submission of every man’s private judgment, and private spirit, to the judgment of the Catholic Church, which he has commanded us to hear and obey, with which he has promised to remain to the end of the world, and to direct her in all things by the spirit of truth. (Witham)
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain For--proof of Co1 2:15, that the spiritual man "is…
For--proof of Co1 2:15, that the spiritual man "is judged of no man." In order to judge the spiritual man, the ordinary man must "know the mind of the Lord." But "who of ordinary men knows" that?
that he may instruct him--that is, so as to be able to set Him right as His counsellor (quoted from Isa 40:13-14). So the Septuagint translates the Greek verb, which means to "prove," in Act 9:22. Natural men who judge spiritual men, living according to the mind of God ("We have the mind of Christ"), are virtually wishing to instruct God, and bring Him to another mind, as counsellors setting to right their king.
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we have the mind of Christ--in our degree of capability to apprehend it. Isa 40:13-14 refers to JEHOVAH: therefore, as it is applied here to Christ, He is Jehovah.
Next: 1 Corinthians Chapter 3
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. We—The spiritual.
16. We—The spiritual.
Mind of Christ—We having the mind of Christ, whom none can instruct, cannot be judged by any natural man. Our experience and gifts from God the world knows not of, and has no right or power to pronounce judgment upon. High communion with God, with exalted excitement of emotions, while it has its blessedness is not without its dangers. The human imagination is therein liable to catch fire, and a wild fire it is liable to be. The experience of the Church suggests the following cautions:—
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1. Our spiritual experiences must be in accordance with the teachings of Christ, and regulated by the laws of the inspired written word. Those whose spiritual emotions, impressions, or cognitions contradict the word of God, are actuated by a delusive spirit.
2. Such spiritual exercises should accord with natural decency and becomingness; for “nature itself teaches” that decency and propriety are of God.
3. Our spiritual enjoyments should not exert themselves in mere emotional pleasure; but purify our daily life, make us honest in business, courteous in manners, faithful in our secular duties, and enterprising in good-doing. A mere contemplative or monastic piety lacks the true spirit of Christ.
4. True communion with God is modest and not boastful. It can bear with patience the pretence of the world to sit in judgment upon it. Nor does it endow its own personal opinions with the attribute of divine omniscience.
5. Our spiritual joy should give us firm faith, and a holy yet modest boldness in presenting religion to others; not obtrusively, but studying the occasion; not driving or persecuting, but winning souls to Christ and goodness. When we truly feel our religion to be a great treasure, we are most likely best to succeed in the effort to impart it to others.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. For who hath known the mind of the…
16. For who hath known the mind of the Lord] See note on 1Co_1:10. The Hebrew of Isa_40:13, here quoted, has spirit, the Septuagint mind. St Paul here follows the Septuagint, which is nearer to the original than our version, ‘Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord?’ The literal translation is, ‘Who hath measured the Spirit of the Lord?’ As none but the believer possesses the mind of the Lord, and as none can venture to assume a position of intellectual superiority to Him, the assertion in the preceding verse is established. The possession of this mind of Christ renders him who has it a mystery to him who has it not. The workings of his soul, thus enlightened by a higher power, are inscrutable to those who are destitute of spiritual vision. We must not omit to notice that in the passage which the Apostle here quotes as referring to Christ the original has Jehovah. See also Jer_23:18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) For.—This is the proof that the enlightened spiritual…
(16) For.—This is the proof that the enlightened spiritual man cannot be judged by any one who is not thus enlightened. “Who (thus uninstructed) can know the mind of the Lord Jesus, that he may instruct Him?”
But we.—That is, spiritual men, including the Apostles. The Apostle here identifies Christ with the Spirit, whom he has previously spoken of as the Teacher of spiritual things. He does not mean to assert that the Apostles knew all that the mind of Christ knew, but that all things which they did know were from Him and spiritual (Joh_15:15).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Who hath known the mind of the Lord? "The…
Who hath known the mind of the Lord? "The Lord" is Jehovah. (see Isa_40:13, LXX; Rom_11:34) This is the reason why no one can judge the spiritual man in his spiritual life. To do so is like judging God. We have the mind of Christ. So Christ himself had told the apostles; (Joh_15:15) and St. Paul always claimed to have been taught by direct revelation from Christ. (Gal_1:11, Gal_1:12) They had the Spirit of Christ, (Rom_8:9) and therefore the mind of Christ.
The mind of Christ.
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Some professed Christians have the name, and only the name, of Christ. Some are satisfied to have in sacramental bread what represents the body of Christ. "We," says the apostle, and all true Christians will in a lowly grateful spirit unite in the same profession have the mind of Christ.
I WHAT IS MEANT BY "THE MIND OF CHRIST"? His earthly ministry, his counsels and promises to his disciples, his willing sacrifice, revealed that mind; and that so fully and so clearly that we may justly say, that mind has become and. is the richest heritage and possession of humanity.
1. His was the mind that saw the truth. He did not reason it out or accept it from authority; he looked it in the face; he was naturally and perfectly and always acquainted with it.
2. His was the mind that loved the good. It was through no fierce struggle that Jesus came to admire and to appreciate moral beauty; for goodness was natural to him and perfectly congenial and delightful to his being.
3. His was the mind that chose the right. The will of man is often vacillating and varying, and in some cases it persistently chooses evil. But throughout Christ"s ministry, righteousness was not the law to which he submitted, but the very life he lived. There is no instance of his preferring the wrong; he was without sin.
4. His was the mind that thought and planned and suffered for all men. It is not a just view of the mind of the Lord Christ to regard it as personal character. For he was the Son of man, and took all humanity into the embrace of his great and comprehensive mind. He thought and spake of all men as most closely related to himself. To know his mind is to know alike the mind of man and the mind of God.
II How can WE PARTAKE "THE MIND OF CHRIST"? When we consider what that mind was, we may well be all but hopeless of possessing and of sharing it. Yet it is his will that his mind should be ours, and he has made provision for our participation in, our appropriation of, his mind.
1. We acquire knowledge of that mind through the record of the gospel. His words, his miracles, his conduct, his sufferings, were all a revelation of his mind; pondering them, we come near to the thought, to the heart, of our Saviour.
2. We receive with faith the all sufficient redemption he has effected. He is not only a Teacher, he is not only a Revelation of the Father; he is the Saviour. And it is in accepting the salvation which is through him that we are re-created in the likeness of his holy mind and nature.
3. We do his will, and learn that obedience is the method by which we attain to a more thorough sympathy with him. Thus a growing revelation on his part brings about a growing appropriation on ours.
III HOW CAN WE PROVE OURSELVES TO HAVE "THE MIND OF CHRIST"?
1. By our judgment concerning spiritual things; for these are spiritually discerned by the disciplined, the sympathetic, mind.
2. By our life of loving service; for "if a man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 16. For who hath known the mind of the…
16. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? etc. No man, not even the most spiritual, knows the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him. If there was such a one, he, and he only, might instruct those who have the mind of Christ.
Two things are learned from this chapter: (1) There is a divine wisdom or philosophy. (2) This divine wisdom, or mystery, is an absurdity or perplexity to the world, but the wisdom of God to the saints.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 16. “For who hath known the mind of the…
16. “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, who shall give him counsel? But we have the mind of Christ.” This verse tells the deep secret. As no one but the spirit which dwells in a man can know the affairs of that man, unless his spirit reveals them, even so no one but the Spirit of God knows the things of God (1Co 2:11); hence the people who have not the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, which is peculiar only to the wholly sanctified, can not possibly know the mind of the Lord. You are surrounded by a grave council of men, pre-eminent for intelligence, learning and official position, yet they are as ignorant of the Lord’s mind in reference to the matter under consideration as the illiterate Hottentot, if the things of God have not been revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. Truly spiritual people have the mind of Christ only. The wicked have but one mind, and that is a bad one. The wholly sanctified have but one mind, and that is the mind of Christ; while unsanctified Christians have the carnal mind in a subjugated state, and the mind of Christ in its incipient manifestation. Hence they are the “double minded” people (Jas 1:4; Jas 4:8); while wholly sanctified people, having been completely delivered from the last and least remains of the carnal mind, have the mind of Christ constantly abiding in them; yet it is their privilege to receive the especial intent of the Lord in every emergency of probationary life, revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. It is nonsense to depend on human wisdom, as the mind of the Lord can not be reached in that way. No one can go up to the court of Heaven, and there ascertain the mind of the Lord with reference to any special matter. For this reason human counsel, independent of the Divine mind, is an utter failure, from the simple fact that the combined wisdom and learning of the world can never ascertain the mind of the Lord in a solitary instance. Then what shall we do? Why, the Holy Ghost is right here with us. He is none other than the Spirit of the Lord. Just as my spirit knows all about my mind and my affairs, and is the only being in all the world that does know, so the Holy Spirit alone knows the mind of the Lord, the “things of God.” Hence He alone can reveal them. If you do not have the mind of the Lord in all of your enterprises, aspirations and labors, you are moving at random. Here we have it positively revealed in these Scriptures that none but the truly spiritual can know the mind of the Lord. Here you see the reason why churches cease to be the light, life and power of God. They are usurped and conducted by carnal people, who can not know the mind of the Lord. The result is, the church is turned over to the devil, and becomes a persecutor of the Lord’s true people. The New Testament clearly specifies that all the church officers, even the deacons, who have charge, not only of the spiritual interests, but also the temporal, e. g., feeding the preachers and the poor, are to be filled with the Holy Ghost and wisdom, i. e., not only sanctified wholly, but endued with that spiritual gift (Ch. 1Co 12:8) called “wisdom,” and indispensable to qualify them for the duties of their office; while the episcopos, “bishop,” i. e., pastor, leader of the band, having charge of the spiritual interests, is not only to be filled with the Holy Ghost, i. e., sanctified wholly, but endued with such spiritual gifts as qualify him for his work, especially that of “prophecy” (Ch. 1Co 12:10). While the Holy Ghost is sole arbiter and ruler of God’s Church, He prosecutes His administration through His Spirit- filled officers, i. e., the bishop or pastor having charge of the spiritual interest, the deacons in charge of the temporal interest, and elders in charge of the general interest; all of these truly “spiritual,” i. e., filled with the Spirit, and thus qualified to receive from the Holy Ghost the mind of the Lord in every case, which is always in perfect harmony with His Word and Providence. Thus God has provided a perfect organization for His Church, so that it shall never go out of the hands of the Holy Ghost. If you want to see the glory of God and a Heaven on earth, just try this New Testament economy of running the church in the clear and unequivocal leadership of the Holy Ghost, through the Spirit-filled people to whom He incessantly reveals the mind of Christ, honoring and utilizing His infallible revealed Word, and harmonizing with current providential environments.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain For who hath known the mind of the Lord,…
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ [A spiritual man, helped by the indwelling Spirit of God, is enabled to judge of things divine, and much more of things human. But he himself can not be judged of carnal men, because they have no knowledge of those things by which they should weigh or estimate him. Could a man know God so as to instruct him? Surely not. No more, then, could a man counsel, judge or instruct a man who, by the inspiring power of the Spirit, thinks the thoughts and has the mind of Christ. Jesus revealed his mind to the apostles ( Joh_15:15 ), and also to Paul as one of them-- Gal_1:11-12 ]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:16 This quotation from Isa 40:13 shows how divine…
2:16 This quotation from Isa 40:13 shows how divine wisdom transcends the limitations of human reasoning (cp. Rom 11:34). • we have the mind of Christ: Linked to Christ, believers have the Spirit of Christ to reveal Christ’s thinking to them.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.