We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing. But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory, which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”
But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit. But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. We also speak these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no one. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv6–16 6. We speak wisdom Lest he should appear to…
6. We speak wisdom Lest he should appear to despise wisdom, as unlearned and ignorant men (Acts 4:13) condemn learning with a sort of barbarian ferocity, he adds, that he is not devoid of that wisdom, which was worthy of the name, but was esteemed as such by none but competent judges. By those that were perfect, he means not those that had attained a wisdom that was full and complete, but those who possess a sound and unbiased judgment. For תם, which is always rendered in the Septuagint by τελειος means complete He twits, however, in passing, those that had no relish for his preaching, and gives them to understand that it was owing to their own fault: “If my doctrine is disrelished by any of you, those persons give sufficient evidence from that very token, that they possess a depraved and vitiated understanding, inasmuch as it will invariably be acknowledged to be the highest wisdom among men of sound intellect and correct judgment.” While Paul’s preaching was open to the view of all, it was, nevertheless, not always estimated according to its value, and this is the reason why he appeals to sound and unbiased judges, who would declare that doctrine, which the world accounted insipid, to be true wisdom. Meanwhile, by the words we speak, he intimates that he set before them an elegant specimen of admirable wisdom, lest any one should allege that he boasted of a thing unknown.
Yet not the wisdom of this world He again repeats by way of anticipation what he had already conceded — that the gospel was not human wisdom, lest any one should object that there were few supporters of that doctrine; nay more, that it was contemned by all that were most distinguished for intellect. Hence he acknowledges of his own accord what might be brought forward by way of objection, but in such a way as not at all to give up his point.
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The princes of this world By the princes of this world he means those that have distinction in the world through means of any endowment, for sometimes there are persons, who, though they are by no means distinguished by acuteness of intellect, are nevertheless held in admiration from the dignity of the station which they hold. That, however, we may not be alarmed by these imposing appearances, the Apostle adds, that they come to nought, or perish. For it were unbefitting, that a thing that is eternal should depend upon the authority of those who are frail, and fading, and cannot give perpetuity even to themselves: “When the kingdom of God is revealed, let the wisdom of this world retire, and what is transient give place to what is eternal; for the princes of this world have their distinction, but it is of such a nature as is in one moment extinguished. What is this in comparison with the heavenly and incorruptible kingdom of God?”
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 On vv6–16 Those are called perfect here, not which had gotten…
Those are called perfect here, not which had gotten perfection already, but such as tend to it, as Phil. 3:15, so that perfect, is set against weak.
They that are wiser, richer, or mightier than other men are.
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Another argument taken of the nature of the thing, that is, of the Gospel, which is true wisdom, but known to them only which are desirous of perfection: and is unsavory to them which otherwise excel in the world, but yet vainly and frailly.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–16 6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are…
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
Ver. 6. Wisdom among the perfect] Or those that are grown to maturity. Some think the apostle horroweth this term from the pagans’ superstition, who admitted none to their most secret ceremonies, but only persons well prepared and purified for many years.
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Yet not the wisdom, &c.] Which is like the labour of moles, that dig dexterously underground, but are blind above ground, and never open their eyes, saith Pliny, till pangs of death are upon them. Cry we after Christ, as the blind man in the gospel did, who when he was asked, What wouldst thou have? "Lord," saith he, "that mine eyes may be opened." Philosophers observe, that lumen est vehiculum influentiae; light begets the flower in the field, the pearl in the sea, the precious stone in the earth; so the foundation of all renovation is illumination. O cry aloud to the Father of lights, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2Co 4:6. This will hold out, when the wisdom of this world and the philosophorum facile principes "come to nought."
That come to nought] That are tumbled into hell with all their learning ( nos cum doctrinis nostris, &c. Aug.), which doth but light them into utter darkness.
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 On vv6–16 Lest what the apostle had seemed to speak before…
Lest what the apostle had seemed to speak before in defamation of wisdom, should reflect upon the gospel, and give some people occasion to justify against it their impious charge of folly, the apostle here something corrects himself, affirming that he and the rest of the apostles spake
wisdom, and what would be so judged by such as were perfect; not absolutely, for so there is no man perfect, but comparatively, that is, persons who have their senses exercised to discern betwixt good and evil, Heb 5:14, or such as are of a true, sound judgment, and are able to discern what is true wisdom. To such, saith the apostle,
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we speak wisdom; and it needs must be so; for wisdom being a habit directing men to use the best means in order to the best end, the salvation of men’s souls being the best end, that doctrine which directs the best means in order to it, must necessarily be wisdom, and the purest and highest wisdom.
Yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought; but, saith he, not what the philosophers, or cunning men, or politicians of the world count wisdom; for all their wisdom is of no significancy at all, in order to the best end, the salvation of men’s souls, and it will all vanish, and come to nothing at last.
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 On vv6, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16 Our apostle here proceeds in discoursing to the Corinthins…
Our apostle here proceeds in discoursing to the Corinthins of the excellency of his ministry amongst them, to obviate the contempt which some might cast upon it for want of human eloquence, sublimity of learning, and accurateness of speech; as if the apostle had said, "Though the wise men of the world account me a fool, and my preaching foolishness, yet I speak the highest wisdom among them that are perfect, or fully instructed in the principles of the Christian faith." Although the discourses of the ablest ministers of the gospel seem jujune and dry to carnal hearts, yet they have an excellency of wisdom and depth of judgment in them, which spiritual and judicious Christians do own and acknowledge.
Here observe, 1. The title which the apostle gives to the gospel of Christ, which he preached: he styles it the wisdom of God, the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world was;--the wisdom of God, because it makes men truly wise, wise to salvation, directing us to use the best means in order to the best and highest end; and the hidden mysterious wisdom of God, because it lay hid in the secret counsels of God from all eternity, and afterwards lay hid under the Jewish types, but is now revealed by the ministry of Christ and his holy apostles; revealed in due time to our glory, that is, to be the means of our happiness and glory. The gracious purpose and design of God in the recovery of a lost world to happiness and glory, by the death and sufferings of his dear and only Son, was so mysterious and surprising, that it could never have entered the thoughts of men or angels, had not God himself discovered it by the revelation of the gospel.
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Observe, 2. The comparison which the apostle makes betwixt the wisdom of the gospel and the wisdom of this world: The wisdom of this world, and of the princes of this world, comes to nought.
By the wisdom of the world, understand the wisdom of the heathen Gentile world, the learning of their admired philosphers, all which comes to nought: that is, it is of no signficancy at all in order to the best and highest end, the salvation of the soul.
Christianity or the knowledge of the gospel, is the best knowledge of the truest and highest wisdom; ’tis the best knowledge, because it contains the knowledge of God and our duty, which is the most excellent, the most useful knowledge; and it is the truest wisdom, because it is to be wise for ourselves, and to be wise as to our chief interest; it propounds to us the noblest end, to wit, the glory of God, and our soul’s salvation; and it directs us to use the best, the surest, and wisest means, for the certain obtaining of that end.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v6 In this part of the chapter the apostle shows…
In this part of the chapter the apostle shows them that though he had not come to them with the excellency of human wisdom, with any of the boasted knowledge and literature of the Jews or Greeks, yet he had communicated to them a treasure of the truest and the highest wisdom: We speak wisdom among those who are perfect (Co1 2:6), among those who are well instructed in Christianity, and come to some maturity in the things of God. Those that receive the doctrine as divine, and, having been illuminated by the Holy Spirit, have looked well into it, discover true wisdom in it. They not only understand the plain history of Christ, and him crucified, but discern the deep and admirable designs of the divine wisdom therein. Though what we preach is foolishness to the world, it is wisdom to them. They are made wise by it, and can discern wisdom in it. Note, Those who are wise themselves are the only proper judges of what is wisdom; not indeed the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, but the wisdom of God in a mystery (Co1 2:6, Co1 2:7); not worldly wisdom, but divine; not such as the men of this world could have discovered, nor such as worldly men, under the direction of pride, and passion, and appetite, and worldly interest, and destitute of the Spirit of God, can receive. Note, How different is the judgment of God from that of the world! He seeth not as man seeth. The wisdom he teaches is of a quite different kind from what passes under that notion in the world. It is not the wisdom of politicians, nor philosophers, nor rabbis (see Co1 2:6), not such as they teach nor such as they relish; but the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom of God - what he had a long time kept to himself, and concealed from the world, and the depth of which, now it is revealed, none but himself can fathom. It is the mystery which hath been hid from ages and generations, though now made manifest to the saints (Col 1:26), hid in a manner entirely from the heathen world, and made mysterious to the Jews, by being wrapped up in dark types and distant prophecies, but revealed and made known to us by the Spirit of God. Note, See the privilege of those who enjoy the gospel revelation: to them types are unveiled, mysteries made plain, prophecies interpreted, and the secret counsels of God published and laid open. The wisdom of God in a mystery is now made manifest to the saints. Now, concerning this wisdom, observe,
I. The rise and origin of it: It was ordained of God, before the world, to our glory, Co1 2:7. It was ordained of God; he had determined long ago to reveal and make it known, from many ages past, from the beginning, nay, from eternity; and that to our glory, the glory of us, either us apostles or us Christians. It was a great honour put upon the apostles, to be entrusted with the revelation of this wisdom. It was a great and honourable privilege for Christians to have this glorious wisdom discovered to them. And the wisdom of God discovered to them. And the wisdom of God discovered in the gospel, the divine wisdom taught by the gospel, prepares for our everlasting glory and happiness in the world to come. The counsels of God concerning our redemption are dated from eternity, and designed for the glory and happiness of the saints. And what deep wisdom was in these counsels! Note, The wisdom of God is both employed and displayed for the honour of the saints-employed from eternity, and displayed in time, to make them glorious both here and hereafter, in time and to eternity. What honour does he put on his saints!
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II. The ignorance of the great men of the world about it: Which none of the princes of this world knew (Co1 2:8), the principal men in authority and power, or in wisdom and learning. The Roman governor, and the guides and rulers of the Jewish church and nation, seem to be the persons here chiefly meant. These were the princes of this world, or this age, who, had they known this true and heavenly wisdom, would not have crucified the Lord of glory. This Pilate and the Jewish rulers literally did when our Redeemer was crucified upon the sentence of the one and the clamorous demands of the other. Observe, Jesus Christ is the Lord of Glory, a title much too great for any creature to bear: and the reason why he was hated was because he was not known. Had his crucifiers known him, known who and what he was, they would have withheld their impious hands, and not have taken and slain him. This he pleaded with his Father for their pardon: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, Luk 23:34. Note, There are many things which people would not do if they knew the wisdom of God in the great work of redemption. They act as they do because they are blind or heedless. They know not the truth, or will not attend to it.
III. It is such wisdom as could not have been discovered without a revelation, according to what the prophet Isaiah says (Isa 64:4), Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for those that love him - for him that waiteth for him, that waiteth for his mercy, so the Septuagint. It was a testimony of love to God in the Jewish believers to live in expectation of the accomplishment o evangelical promises. Waiting upon God is an evidence of love to him. Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, Isa 25:9. Observe, There are things which God hath prepared for those that love him, and wait for him. There are such things prepared in a future life for them, things which sense cannot discover, no present information can convey to our ears, nor can yet enter our hearts. Life and immortality are brought to light through the gospel, Ti2 1:10. But the apostle speaks here of the subject-matter of the divine revelation under the gospel. These are such as eye hath not seen nor ear heard. Observe, The great truths of the gospel are things lying out of the sphere of human discovery: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard them, nor have they entered into the heart of man. Were they objects of sense, could they be discovered by an eye of reason, and communicated by the ear to the mind, as matters of common human knowledge may, there had been no need of a revelation. But, lying out of the sphere of nature, we cannot discover them but by the light of revelation. And therefore we must take them as they lie in the scriptures, and as God has been pleased to reveal them.
IV. We here see by whom this wisdom is discovered to us: God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit, Co1 2:10. The scripture is given by inspiration of God. Holy men spoke of old as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, Pe2 1:21. And the apostles spoke by inspiration of the same Spirit, as he taught them, and gave them utterance. Here is a proof of the divine authority of the holy scriptures. Paul wrote what he taught: and what he taught was revealed of God by his Spirit, that Spirit that searches all things, yea, the deep things of God, and knows the things of God, as the spirit of a man that is in him knows the things of a man, Co1 2:11. A double argument is drawn from these words in proof of the divinity of the Holy Ghost: - 1. Omniscience is attributed to him: He searches all things, even the deep things of God. He has exact knowledge of all things, and enters into the very depths of God, penetrates into his most secret counsels. Now who can have such a thorough knowledge of God but God? 2. This allusion seems to imply that the Holy Spirit is as much in God as a man's mind is in himself. Now the mind of the man is plainly essential to him. He cannot be without his mind. Now can God be without his Spirit. He is as much and as intimately one with God as the man's mind is with the man. The man knows his own mind because his mind is one with himself. The Spirit of God knows the things of God because he is one with God. And as no man can come at the knowledge of what is in another man's mind till he communicates and reveals it, so neither can we know the secret counsels and purposes of God till they are made known to us by his Holy Spirit. We cannot know them at all till he had proposed them objectively (as it is called) in the external revelation; we cannot know or believe them to salvation till he enlightens the faculty, opens the eye of the mind, and gives us such a knowledge and faith of them. And it was by this Spirit that the apostles had received the wisdom of God in a mystery, which they spoke. "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things freely given to us of God (Co1 2:12); not the spirit which is in the wise men of the world (Co1 2:6), nor in the rulers of the world (Co1 2:8), but the Spirit which is of God, or proceedeth from God. We have what we deliver in the name of God by inspiration from him; and it is by his gracious illumination and influence that we know the things freely given to us of God unto salvation" - that is, "the great privileges of the gospel, which are the free gift of God, distributions of mere and rich grace." Though these things are given to us, and the revelation of this gift is made to us, we cannot know them to any saving purpose till we have the Spirit. The apostles had the revelation of these things from the Spirit of God, and the saving impression of them from the same Spirit.
V. We see here in what manner this wisdom was taught or communicated: Which things we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches, Co1 2:13. They had received the wisdom they taught, not from the wise men of the world, but from the Spirit of God. Nor did they put a human dress on it, but plainly declared the doctrine of Christ, in terms also taught them by the Holy Spirit. He not only gave them the knowledge of these things, but gave them utterance. Observe, The truths of God need no garnishing by human skill or eloquence, but look best in the words which the Holy Ghost teaches. The Spirit of God knows much better how to speak of the things of God than the best critics, orators, or philosophers. Comparing spiritual things with spiritual - one part of revelation with another, the revelation of the gospel with that of the Jews, the discoveries of the New Testament with the types and prophecies of the Old. The comparing of matters of revelation with matters of science, things supernatural with things natural and common, is going by a wrong measure. Spiritual things, when brought together, will help to illustrate one another; but, if the principles of human art and science are to be made a test of revelation, we shall certainly judge amiss concerning it, and the things contained in it. Or, adapting spiritual things to spiritual - speaking of spiritual matters, matters of revelation, and the spiritual life, in language that is proper and plain. The language of the Spirit of God is the most proper to convey his meaning.
VI. We have an account how this wisdom is received.
1. The natural man receiveth not the things of God, for they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned, Co1 2:14. The natural man, the animal man. Either, (1.) The man under the power of corruption, and never yet illuminated by the Spirit of God, such as Jude calls sensual, not having the Spirit, Jde 1:19. Men unsanctified receive not the things of God. The understanding, through the corruption of nature by the fall, and through the confirmation of this disorder by customary sin, is utterly unapt to receive the rays of divine light; it is prejudiced against them. The truths of God are foolishness to such a mind. The man looks on them as trifling and impertinent things, not worth his minding. The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not, Joh 1:5. Not that the natural faculty of discerning is lost, but evil inclinations and wicked principles render the man unwilling to enter into the mind of God, in the spiritual matters of his kingdom, and yield to their force and power. It is the quickening beams of the Spirit of truth and holiness that must help the mind to discern their excellency, and to so thorough a conviction of their truth as heartily to receive and embrace them. Thus the natural man, the man destitute of the Spirit of God, cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Or, (2.) The natural man, that is, the wise man of the world (Co1 1:19, Co1 1:20), the wise man after the flesh, or according to the flesh (v. 26), one who hath the wisdom of the world, man's wisdom (Co1 2:4-6), a man, as some of the ancients, that would learn all truth by his own ratiocinations, receive nothing by faith, nor own any need of supernatural assistance. This was very much the character of the pretenders to philosophy and the Grecian learning and wisdom in that day. Such a man receives not the things of the Spirit of God. Revelation is not with him a principle of science; he looks upon it as delirium and dotage, the extravagant thought of some deluded dreamer. It is no way to wisdom among the famous masters of the world; and for that reason he can have no knowledge of things revealed, because they are only spiritually discerned, or made known by the revelation of the Spirit, which is a principle of science or knowledge that he will not admit.
2. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged, or discerned, of no man, Co1 2:15. Either, (1.) He who is sanctified and made spiritually-minded (Rom 8:6) judgeth all things, or discerneth all things - he is capable of judging about matters of human wisdom, and has also a relish and savour of divine truths; he sees divine wisdom, and experiences divine power, in gospel revelations and mysteries, which the carnal and unsanctified mind looks upon as weakness and folly, as things destitute of all power and not worthy any regard. It is the sanctified mind that must discern the real beauties of holiness; but, by the refinement of its facilities, they do not lose their power of discerning and judging about common and natural things. The spiritual man may judge of all things, natural and supernatural, human and divine, the deductions of reason and the discoveries of revelation. But he himself is judged or discerned of NO MAN. God's saints are his hidden ones, Psa 83:3. Their life is hid with Christ in God, Col 3:3. The carnal man knows no more of a spiritual man than he does of other spiritual things. He is a stranger to the principles, pleasures, and actings, of the divine life. The spiritual man does not lie open to his observation. Or, (2.) He that is spiritual (who has had divine revelations made to him, receives them as such, and founds his faith and religion upon them) can judge both of common things and things divine; he can discern what is, and what is not, the doctrine of the gospel and of salvation, and whether a man preaches the truths of God or not. He does not lose the power of reasoning, nor renounce the principles of it, by founding his faith and religion on revelation. But he himself is judged of no man - can be judged, so as to be confuted, by no man; nor can any man who is not spiritual, not under a divine afflatus himself (see Co1 14:37), or not founding his faith on a divine revelation, discern or judge whether what he speaks be true or divine, or not. In short, he who founds all his knowledge upon principles of science, and the mere light of reason, can never be a judge of the truth or falsehood of what is received by revelation. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him (Co1 2:16), that is, the spiritual man? Who can enter so far into the mind of God as to instruct him who has the Spirit of God, and is under his inspiration? He only is the person to whom God immediately communicates the knowledge of his will. And who can inform or instruct him in the mind of God who is so immediately under the conduct of his own Spirit? Very few have known any thing of the mind of God by a natural power. But, adds the apostle, we have the mind of Christ; and the mind of Christ is the mind of God. He is God, and the principal messenger and prophet of God. And the apostles were empowered by his Spirit to make known his mind to us. And in the holy scriptures the mind of Christ, and the mind of God in Christ, are fully revealed to us. Observe, It is the great privilege of Christians that they have the mind of Christ revealed to them by his Spirit.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–15 But we speak the wisdom of God,.... Not of…
But we speak the wisdom of God,.... Not of men, not of the wise politicians, the learned philosophers and Rabbins; that which human wisdom has no hand in forming, nor in revealing, nor in propagating, and which is disliked and disapproved of by it: the Gospel is the sole produce of divine wisdom, and in which there is a glorious display of it; even in those doctrines which are the most charged with folly, as salvation by a crucified Christ, justification by his righteousness, pardon by his blood, satisfaction by his sacrifice, &c.
in a mystery; it is mysterious wisdom. The Gospel is full of mysteries; there is the mystery of God, of a trinity of persons in the divine essence; the mystery of Christ, of his person, as God manifest in the flesh, of his divine sonship, and incarnation in the womb of a virgin; the mystery of the Spirit's grace in regeneration, of the saints' union to Christ, and communion with him, the resurrection of the same body, the change of living saints at Christ's coming, with many others:
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even the hidden wisdom; the Gospel lay hid in God, in the thoughts of his heart, in the deep things of his mind, the counsels of his will, and purposes of his grace; it was hid in Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; it was hid under the types and shadows of the ceremonial law; and is hid in the Scriptures, which must be diligently searched for it, as for hidden treasures. It was hid from angels, and from Adam, until revealed; it was in some measure hid from the Jews under the former dispensation, to whom it was made known; and in some sense from believers, under the present dispensation, who as yet know it but in part; and is entirely hid from natural men, even from the most wise and prudent among them. This epithet expresses the preciousness, secrecy, and also security of the Gospel; hidden things being commonly of value, and being kept secret, are also safe; hidden and secret wisdom has been always esteemed, both by Greeks and Jews: hence that saying (u) of the latter,
"he that would be rich in learning of the law, "and that wisdom which is hidden", in a hidden and secret place, should hide and secrete himself from the children of men.''
The apostle adds,
which God ordained before the world. The Egyptians and Grecians boasted much of the "earliness" of their wisdom, but neither of them are to be mentioned with the Gospel for the antiquity of it; it is the birth of God's counsels of old, the produce of his purposes, which he purposed in Christ before the world was; a scheme of things he drew in his eternal mind; it is a transcript of the council of peace and covenant of grace, which were from everlasting; what the Jews (w) say of the law, is much more true of the Gospel,
"that it was treasured up with God (they say two thousand years, and sometimes nine hundred and seventy four ages), before the world was created;''
and often speak of it as one of the seven things created before the world was (x). Moreover, this was to our glory; under the present dispensation, which by reason of the Gospel has a glory in it surpassing the former; it is to the glory both of the ministers of it, whose honour it is to be employed in preaching it, and in being by it the instruments of converting such who will be their glory another day, and to the glory of all believers who are by it called to the obtaining of the glory of Christ Jesus.
(u) Caphtor, fol. 81. (w) T. Bab. Zebacbim, fol. 116. 1. Zohar. in Exod. fol. 20. 4. & 35. 1, 2. & 66. 3. & in Numb. fol. 66. 3. (x) T. Bab. Pesachim. fol. 54. 1. Nedarim, fol. 39. 2. Zohar. in Lev. fol. 14. 4. Targum Jon. ben Uzziel in Gen. iii. 24.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv6–16 Yet we speak wisdom - Yea, the truest and…
Yet we speak wisdom - Yea, the truest and most excellent wisdom. Among the perfect - Adult, experienced Christians. By wisdom here he seems to mean, not the whole Christian doctrine, but the most sublime and abstruse parts of it. But not the wisdom admired and taught by the men of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, Jewish or heathen, that come to nought - Both they and their wisdom, and the world itself.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6–16 Verse 6. We speak wisdom among them that are…
Verse 6. We speak wisdom among them that are perfect] By the εν τοις τελειοις, among those that are perfect, we are to understand Christians of the highest knowledge and attainments- those who were fully instructed in the knowledge of God through Christ Jesus. Nothing, in the judgment of St. Paul, deserved the name of wisdom but this. And though he apologizes for his not coming to them with excellency of speech or wisdom, yet he means what was reputed wisdom among the Greeks, and which, in the sight of God, was mere folly when compared with that wisdom that came from above. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that the apostle mentions a fourfold wisdom.
1. Heathen wisdom, or that of the Gentile philosophers, 1Co 1:22, which was termed by the Jews חכמה יונית chokmah yevanith, Grecian wisdom; and which was so undervalued by them, that they joined these two under the same curse: Cursed is he that breeds hogs; and cursed is he who teaches his son Grecian wisdom. Bava Kama, fol. 82.
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2. Jewish wisdom; that of the scribes and Pharisees, who crucified our Lord, 1Co 2:8.
3. The Gospel, which is called the wisdom of God in a mystery, 1Co 2:7.
4. The wisdom, του αιωνος τουτου, of this world; that system of knowledge which the Jews made up out of the writings of their scribes and doctors. This state is called העולם הזה haolam hazzeh, this or the present world; to distinguish it from העולם הבא haolam habba the world to come; i.e. the days of the Messiah. Whether we understand the term, this world, as relating to the state of the Gentiles, cultivated to the uttermost in philosophical learning, or the then state of the Jews, who had made the word of God of no effect by their traditions, which contained a sort of learning of which they were very fond and very proud, yet, by this Grecian and Jewish wisdom, no soul ever could have arrived at any such knowledge or wisdom as that communicated by the revelation of Christ. This was perfect wisdom; and they who were thoroughly instructed in it, and had received the grace of the Gospel, were termed τελειοι, the perfect. This, says the apostle, is not the wisdom of this world, for that has not the manifested Messiah in it; nor the wisdom of the rulers of this world-the chief men, whether philosophers among the Greeks, or rabbins among the Jews (for those we are to understand as implied in the term rulers, used here by the apostle) these rulers came to nought; for they, their wisdom, and their government, were shortly afterwards overturned in the destruction of Jerusalem. This declaration of the apostle is prophetic. The ruin of the Grecian superstition soon followed.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv6, 9, 12, 14, 15 1Co 2:6-8. Howbeit, we speak wisdom — Yea, the…
1Co 2:6-8. Howbeit, we speak wisdom — Yea, the truest and most excellent wisdom: for the subject matter of our preaching is the most wise contrivance and counsel of God concerning the salvation of mankind by Christ crucified, which will be acknowledged to be the highest wisdom, though not by learned philosophers, yet by humble, sincere, and well- instructed Christians. Such are here meant by them that are perfect — That is, perfectly enlightened by the Word and Spirit of God, and renewed by his grace, so as to have attained to a maturity of Christian knowledge and experience: being no longer children, but men in understanding, (1Co 14:20,) having arrived at spiritual manhood, called, Eph 4:13, the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. See also Heb 5:14; Heb 6:1, where τελειοι, perfect, is taken in the same sense, and is rendered, of full age, and signifies those who no longer need to be fed with milk, being able to digest strong meat, having, by reason of use, or habit, their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. What the apostle here calls wisdom, includes, as Macknight justly observes, “the doctrine concerning the person and offices of Christ, treated of in his epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians; the justification of sinners by faith counted to them for righteousness, explained in his epistle to the Romans; the rejection and resumption of the Jews, foretold in the same epistle; the coming and destruction of the man of sin, foretold 2 Thessalonians 2.; the priesthood, sacrifice, and intercession of Christ, explained in his epistle to the Hebrews; and the resurrection of the dead, foretold in this epistle: in short, the whole doctrine of the gospel, taken complexly.” Yet not the wisdom of this world — The wisdom admired and taught by the men of this world, such as that which teaches men how to manage their temporal affairs properly, in order to their living comfortable lives upon earth, and the various branches of human learning. Nor of the princes — Or rulers; of this world — The wisdom admired and sought by the great politicians of the age, whether Jews or Gentiles; that come to naught — Both they, and their wisdom, and the world itself. But — Being taught of God to despise the transient vanities which delude the generality of mankind; we speak the wisdom of God — Infinitely more worthy, surely, of the attentive consideration and regard of all rational and immortal beings, than the short-lived wisdom of this world: in a mystery — Such as no creature could discover without supernatural revelation, Eph 3:9-10, and which was especially kept secret from the wise and learned of the world, 1Co 2:8: even the hidden wisdom — Hidden formerly under holy mysteries and Jewish types, and but darkly revealed to and by the prophets; and altogether unknown to the heathen: which God ordained before the world — Purposed from everlasting to reveal in the gospel; unto our glory — To bring us to glory by the saving knowledge of it: glory arising from the glory of our Lord, and then to be revealed when all worldly glory vanishes. So far is this wisdom from coming to naught, like worldly wisdom! Which none of the princes of this world knew — Whether Jewish or heathen; for had they known it — Had they understood this wisdom, and known that the only way to attain happiness was to receive in faith, love, and new obedience, Jesus of Nazareth, as the true Messiah and only Saviour, and the great truths of his everlasting gospel; surely they would not have crucified — Punished as a slave; the Lord of glory — The glorious Head of his church and of the world, the final Judge of men and angels, and the author of eternal salvation to all that obey him, Heb 5:9. The giving Christ this august title, peculiar to Deity, plainly shows him to be, in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the true God. Thus the Father is styled, the Father of glory, Eph 1:17, and the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of glory, 1Pe 4:14. The application of this title to all the three, shows that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are the God of glory, as the only true God is called, Psa 29:3, Act 7:2.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6–16 How be it - But δε de. This commences…
How be it - But δε de. This commences the “second” head or argument in this chapter, in which Paul shows that if human wisdom is missing in his preaching, it is not devoid of true, and solid, and even divine wisdom - Bloomfield.
We speak wisdom - We do not admit that we utter foolishness. We have spoken of the foolishness of preaching 1Co 1:21; and of the estimate in which it was held by the world 1Co 1:22-28; and of our own manner among you as not laying claim to human learning or eloquence; but we do not design to admit that we have been really speaking folly. We have been uttering that which is truly wise, but which is seen and understood to be such only by those who are qualified to judge - by those who may be denominated “perfect,” that is, those who are suited by God to understand it. By “wisdom” here, the apostle means that system of truth which he had explained and defended - the plan of salvation by the cross of Christ.
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Among them that are perfect - (ἐν τοῖς τελείοις en tois teleios). This word “perfect” is here evidently applied to Christians, as it is in Phi 3:15, “Let us therefore as many as be perfect, be thus minded.” And it is clearly used to denote those who were advanced in Christian knowledge; who were qualified to understand the subject; who had made progress in the knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel; and who thus saw its excellence. It does not mean here that they were sinless, for the argument of the apostle does not bear on that inquiry, but that they were qualified to understand the gospel in contradistinction from the gross, the sensual, and the carnally minded, who rejected it as foolishness. There is, perhaps, here an allusion to the pagan mysteries, where those who had been fully initiated were said to be perfect - fully instructed in those rites and doctrines. And if so, then this passage means, that those only who have been fully instructed in the knowledge of the Christian religion, will be qualified to see its beauty and its wisdom. The gross and sensual do not see it, and those only who are enlightened by the Holy Spirit are qualified to appreciate its beauty and its excellency.
Not the wisdom of the world - Not that which this world has originated or loved.
Nor of the princes of this world - Perhaps intending chiefly here the rulers of the Jews; see 1Co 2:8. They neither devised it, nor loved it, nor saw its wisdom; 1Co 2:8.
That come to naught - That is, whose plans fail; whose wisdom vanishes; and who themselves, with all their pomp and splendor, come to nothing in the grave; compare Isa. 14. All the plans of human wisdom shall fail; and this which is originated by God only shall stand,
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 On vv6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16 Wisdom among the perfect. That is, when we first…
Wisdom among the perfect. That is, when we first came amongst you, you were incapable of understanding the great mysteries of our religion: we therefore preached to you Christ crucified; (Calmet) but to the true perfect disciples of Christ we reveal the most sacred mysteries. (St. John Chrysostom) --- By wisdom, here seems to be understood a more sublime doctrine concerning the most abstruse mysteries of faith, which the ignorant could not understand. To the same purpose he tells them in the next chapter and in the 5th chapter to the Hebrews, that milk is the proper food of little children, not solid meat, which is proper for those that are perfect. --- Yet we speak not the wisdom of this world, nor of the great men, and princes of this world, because the doctrine of the Christian faith, which we preached, is not esteemed wisdom, but folly by them, who pretend to worldly wisdom. --- We speak then in a mystery, or after a mysterious manner, according to the capacity of those that hear us, the great wisdom of God, which hidden, and not understood by the wise men of this world, God hath manifested by the incarnation of his Son, and by our redemption; which mystery, and which wisdom, none of the princes of this world knew, that is, the devils, according to the common interpretation; or Pilate, Herod, Caiphas, &c. according to St. John Chrysostom, or they would never have crucified, nor have permitted others to crucify, the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ, who by his divine person is truly the Lord of glory. See St. Augustine, lib. i. de Trin. chap. 12. &c. He may also be called the Lord of glory, because of that glory, which from eternity he predestinated, and decreed to give his elect; and of which it is written, that the eye hath not seen, &c. (Witham)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v6 6Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect:…
III.—THE GOSPEL, WHICH ABJURES HUMAN WISDOM, HAS NEVERTHELESS A WISDOM OF ITS OWN
2:6–16
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6Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom [a wisdom not] of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught: 7But we speak the wisdom of God [God’s wisdom]5 in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory; 8Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which6 God hath prepared for them that love him. 10But God hath revealed them unto us7 by his8 Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For what man knoweth (οῖ̓δεν) the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth [ἔγνωχεν]9 no man, but the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost [the Spirit]10 teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned [judged of]. 15But he that is spiritual judgeth11 [of] all things12, yet he himself is judged of [by] no man. 16For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.13
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
[In this section we have the other side of the matter under discussion. In view of Paul’s repudiation of “wisdom,” it might be inferred by the Corinthians that Christianity was a narrow, partial, one-sided religion, suited only to one particular portion of human nature; that while it professed to be the friend of true piety and sound morals, it was at the same time a foe to science and free thought; yea, that it stood in entire antagonism to that which both universal opinion and the declarations of the Old Testament esteemed “more precious than rubies,” and was the ally of ignorance and barbarism. Such inferences it was important to obviate for the credit of Christianity, and in the interest of truth. Hence the Apostle goes on to state that the Gospel, which ignored human wisdom, and in some of its aspects carried the appearance of folly, did not abjure all pretense to wisdom, nor put contempt on the human intellect. He shows furthermore that while he deemed it expedient to confine himself when with the Corinthians to simple preaching, there was a sermonizing which went beyond this, and before fit audience could expatiate largely on the deep things of God].
1Co_2:6. Wisdom however we do speak.—[The δέ here as is in the E. V. is to be taken as strongly antithetic]. Σοφίαν—the higher religious wisdom of Christianity. By this we are to understand not what merely concerns the form of discourse, such as an inspired way of speaking; nor yet what concerns its subject matter, such as the future relations and events of the Kingdom of the Messiah, to which the immediate context is said to point. (Meyer). The correct view has been given by Osiander, and Bengel says: “Wisdom here denotes not all Christian doctrine, but its sublime and secret principles (capita sublimia et arcana);” he also puts λαλεῖν to speak, in antithesis with κηρύσσειν to preach, making the former to mean private instruction and the latter public speaking. But his interpretation of the word “wisdom” is too atomistic, and of the word “speak” too restricted. There is no reference here to any system of secret doctrine. [What he does mean will be more fully considered hereafter, when all the characteristics given of it have been surveyed]. But traces of this true wisdom are to be seen in several of Paul’s Epistles, especially in those to the Romans, Ephesians and Colossians, also in 1 Corinthians 15. Its foundation is Christ (1:30; comp. Col_2:3).—among them that are perfect, ἐν τοῖς τελείοις—the audience for this wisdom. The “perfect” stand opposed to the beginners, “the babes in Christ” (3:1), and are identical with “the spiritual.” He means that what he had not been able to deliver to the Corinthians in the immaturity of their Christian life, because they could not as yet apprehend it, he did announce among those of riper Christian experience. Thus we see that wisdom is the same as that which he calls “meat” (3:2) as contrasted with “milk.” The same antithesis appears in 14:20; Eph_4:13 ff.; Heb_5:11-14. To the Corinthians, as they were, he could only communicate what was suited to their yet weak powers of apprehension, viz., the great facts of redemption, with their immediate practical consequences, with their christological presuppositions and their theological foundations. And this was done in the simple form of preaching, or of bare statement that the things were so, or had been so, or would be so as declared, accompanied by Scripture proofs, such as are found in the book of Acts, and with applications to the inner and outward life of the hearers. But where, on the other hand, a greater maturity of Christian life and a capacity for the deeper comprehension of truth existed, there he was able to set all this forth in their fundamental proofs and in their intimate connections. There he was able to unfold the whole Divine economy in accordance with its eternal principles and its progress through time and its fixed laws and in relation to its final consummation, so that that which Grecian wisdom was in search of within its own sphere was actually attained in a way that was incomparably higher and Divine, and better fitted to satisfy the deepest needs of a thoughtful spirit.
The interpretation we have here given, which would seem to be decisively confirmed by what follows, is opposed by another on the ground, 1, that it is one entirely foreign to the Apostle, since he nowhere in his Epistle contemplated “the perfect” as his readers (but how of Php_3:15 : Let us therefore as many as be perfect, etc)? 2, that it is in contradiction with 1Co_2:2, (where, however, he is only speaking of the first proclamation of the Gospel); and the sense given is this: that the simple, scandalizing doctrine of Christ crucified contains in itself the profoundest wisdom, encloses a Divine mystery which is intelligible only to the perfect. But this explanation, which is conveyed also in Luther’s translation, 1, has no sure grammatical support, since the preposition ἐν carries the idea of “in the judgment of,” only when the persons are mentioned, who appear to decide a ease by their own opinions (comp. Passow Wörterbuch, 1:2, p. 910), and especially in connection with, such verbs as denote to be and to appear; 2, it does not correspond with usage elsewhere to understand “the perfect” to mean true Christians who seek true wisdom in Christ, or as Calvin does: “those who possess a sound and unbiased judgment.”—[The view just given is in the main that which is advocated by Calvin, Olsh. and Hodge, who in favor of it argues, “1. that those who regarded Paul’s doctrine as foolishness were not the babes in Christ, but the unrenewed, “the wise of this world;” consequently those to whom it was wisdom were not advanced Christians, but believers as such. Throughout the whole context the opposition is between “the called,” or converted, and the unconverted, and not between one class of believers and another class. 2. If “the perfect” here means advanced Christians, as distinguished from babes in Christ, then the wisdom which Paul preached was not the Gospel as such, but its higher doctrines. But this cannot be, because it is the doctrine of the cross, of Christ crucified, which he declares to be the power of God and the wisdom of God, 1:24. And the description given in the following part of this chapter of the wisdom here intended, refers not to the higher doctrine of the Gospel, but to the Gospel itself. The contrast is between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God, and not between the rudiment and the higher doctrines of the Gospel. Besides, what are these higher doctrines which Paul preached only to the elite of the Church? No one knows. Some say one thing and some another. But there are no higher doctrines than those taught in this Epistle and in those to the Romans and Ephesians, all addressed to the mass of the people. The New Testament makes no distinction between (πίστις and γνῶσις) higher and lower doctrines. It does indeed speak of a distinction between milk and strong meat, but that is a distinction, not between kinds of doctrine, but between one mode of instruction and another. In catechisms designed for children the Church pours out all the treasures of her knowledge, but in the form of milk, i.e., in a form adapted to the weakest capacities. For all these reasons, we conclude that by “the perfect” the Apostle means the competent, the people of God as distinguished from the men of the world; and by wisdom, not any higher doctrines, but the simple Gospel, which is the wisdom of God as distinguished from the wisdom of men.” The argument is not convincing. It seems obvious on the very face of his exposition, that the Apostle is here making a distinction between that simple “preaching” of Gospel facts which he had been adhering to among the Corinthians, and what he calls “wisdom” which he had thus far held in reserve at Corinth by reason of the incapacity of the converts there to apprehend it. And surely the distinction is one which is practically observed by all preachers. There is a Christianity embodied in facts which a child may learn and profit by; and there is a philosophy of Christianity, a system of doctrine, a theology, which is dispensed only to those of mature intellect and experience. And so far from admitting the custom of the Church in teaching children the Assembly’s Catechism, which surely cannot be called “milk,” as a valid argument in support of the exposition, it may be a question whether the custom itself does not fall under condemnation through the Apostle’s argument. The contrast is indeed between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God; but there is also another contrast indicated by the “however” with which the verse is introduced—a contrast between κήρυγμα and σοφία, preaching and wisdom]. Accordingly we hold to the first exposition as the only one well established: “In order to obviate all misapprehension of his language, Paul here asserts that the Gospel does include in itself the true wisdom. It is altogether foreign to his intent to set up an opposition here between reason and revelation. On the contrary he here distinctly expresses the validity of a demand for a science that is to be unfolded out of Christianity; a science which must be the sole, true and all-satisfying science.” Neander.—but a wisdom not of this world.—He here distinguishes that profounder development of the fulness of Christian truth designated as “wisdom” from all that which passes for such in the world without. It was not anything which sprang up in the natural progress of the race, either before or apart from Christ. The δέ as in Rom_3:22. “Like the German aber, it is used in particular when something is annexed in illustration as the complement of a sentence. Thai by “this world,” he does not mean simply the great mass of mankind, the commonality only, but has in mind especially its leaders as those to whom this Christian wisdom was utterly foreign, is shown in the added words—nor of the prince of this world.—Does he mean by this the demons mentioned in Eph_6:12, as κοσμοκράτορας? Hardly ̓́Αρχων with this sense appears only in the Sing, Joh_12:31; Eph_2:2. And in any ease these are not intended in 1Co_2:8. According to Bengel the expression embraces the leaders both of the Jews and of the Greeks. Not simply influential, learned men, philosophers; also not merely the members of the Jewish Sanhedrim, but all those of high station in general, the multitude of those who bear sway either by their authority or by the respect which they command. These are described as persons who come to naught.—That is, they are bereft of all authority and consideration in the kingdom of God, in the world to come. He is not speaking here of their being overcome by the higher wisdom and power of Christianity, but of the utter destruction of their importance as leaders in that higher economy, at the institution of which everything which springs out of this lower order of things is done away, however respectable it may appear.
1Co_2:7. Now comes the positive part of the description, which is introduced by an emphatic repetition.—But we speak God’s wisdom, i.e., a wisdom which He has, and which He has imparted to us.—in a mystery.—It is doubtful with what this should be connected. Certainly not with the following participle, “hidden,” which would be hardly grammatical and also tautological, but rather either with “we speak” or with “wisdom.” The first is to be preferred, because in connecting it with “wisdom” the article in the Greek should be put before it for the sake of distinctness; and then the sense would be: we speak the wisdom of God as a mystery, i.e., as “something which does not proceed from the human understanding, but from the Divine revelation.”—Neander. Or “handling it as a mystery.”—Meyer. Not however in the sense of any esoteric communications analagous to the Grecian mysteries to which neither here nor yet in the expression “perfect” (=initiated) is any allusion to be sought. But does not the explanatory participle following, viz., “the hidden,” which certainly relates to wisdom, require us to connect the words “in a mystery” with “wisdom?” The article after the anarthrous σοφίαν is neither necessary nor admissible if we translate it: “a wisdom consisting in mystery” [although, as Meyer says, “its omission would be at the cost of perspicuity.” Paul would, in that case, have expressed himself ambiguously which he might easily have avoided by the use of the article.” But, it may be asked, whether it is not quite in the Apostle’s style to put nouns in relation through a preposition in this way? Is not the σοφίαν ἐν μυστήρῳ exactly analogous with σοφία ἀπὸ θεοῦ in 1:30. What is meant by “speaking a thing in a mystery,” we cannot comprehend, unless it is speaking it secretly or in a dark and obscure manner. Such must be the meaning of the term when made to qualify a verb. But certainly this was not what Paul intended to say, nor is it in accordance with the use of the term in the N. T. Here “mystery” denotes not a quality or condition of obscurity but a fact or truth which is made known by revelation. Hence it would exactly express the very thing in which Paul’s mission consisted, and instead of being connected with “speak” seems to us most naturally associated by the preposition “in” with “wisdom.” This view would seem to follow from Kling’s definition of the word “mystery.”] This in the N. T., and especially in Paul’s phraseology denotes something unknown to man—shut out from his comprehension, and which is made known only through Divine revelation. It is used in particular of the Divine purpose of redemption, especially in respect to the participation of the Gentiles in the salvation wrought by Christ (Eph_3:3 ff.; Col_1:26 ff.) of the final restoration of Israel (Rom_11:24), and of the physical change which is to take place at the resurrection (1Co_15:51).—the hidden means either that which was concealed or is concealed. It is the first, when a statement is added of the thing having been made known as in Rom_16:25; Eph_3:9; Col_1:28. But it is the second, when it is meant, that the thing in question is withdrawn from human knowledge. In our passage, where the fact of concealment is first enlarged upon (1Co_2:8), and then afterwards a revelation to the elect of God is spoken of in contrast with a concealment from others, the latter meaning is to be preferred.—which God ordained.—This expression shows still more conclusively that “wisdom” is to be understood in an objective sense, not of the knowledge of the enlightened and of the doctrine flowing from it as such, but of its subject matter, that which elsewhere is called “a mystery;” the Divine plan of salvation itself, in reference to the wisdom revealed therein; or we may say, the work of redemption including in itself its chief end and the sure means of accomplishing it.—before the ages.—He here goes back to the original ground of this redemptive scheme in the eternal purpose of God formed before the world was (comp. Rom_8:29 ff; and Eph_1:5). The supplying of “to make known,” or “to reveal,” for the purpose of filling out a supposed elipsis, is not necessary. On the expression, “before the ages,” compare the similar expressions in (Rom_16:25; Eph_1:4; Eph_3:9-10; Col_1:26; 2Ti_1:9). “God determined on redemption before creation, i.e., already at the very foundation of creation there existed a Divine purpose to establish a kingdom of God in the world and therefore He made it.” Neander.—unto our glory.—From the eternal ground of salvation he here turns to its final end, which also stretches forward into eternity. The glory he here speaks of is not the glory of the Church of the New Testament as compared with the Old, but as everywhere with Paul, when discoursing of believers, it denotes their full restoration to the Divine image. It is the state of redemption completed, wherein the spiritual life shines out in the effulgence of an incorruptible state. (Comp. Rom_5:2; Rom_8:18; Rom_8:21; Rom_9:23; Col_1:27; Col_3:4; 1Th_2:12; 2Ti_2:10.) What is said in 2Co_3:18 does not justify us in including here that inward glorifying of the soul which is involved in our regeneration, and which takes place in this life. If, with Meyer, we interpret the wisdom of God to mean “His spiritual philosophy which He has revealed to His ministers,” then we must understand this clause thus: which God has fore-ordained so that it should redound to our glory. This glory, which stands in contrast with the utter evanishment of this world’s princes, is supposed by some to be that destined to be revealed at the coming of Christ in which Christians are to be partakers through that Divine wisdom. But is this thought Pauline? It may be doubtful. Unquestionably, however, this thought is, that God’s eternal purpose, which comprises His plan of salvation, or in other words His wisdom, which proposes salvation for its object and devises the best means for its accomplishment, has for its final end our glorification. (Com. Rom_8:29 ff.)
1Co_2:8, Shows more fully how thoroughly hidden this wisdom was—which none of the princes of this world (or age) knew.—[The relative “which” is taken by Billroth and Stanley and others to refer to “glory.” “That which belonged to eternity and was before the ages, was not likely to be known to those who lived in time or in this age,” and this is still further justified by supposing an allusion to this in the expression “Lord of glory.”] But we are neither compelled nor justified in adopting this construction. The main thought of the passage is “God’s wisdom,” and it is to this that the relatives refer both in this and in the previous verse. What the Apostle here brings to view is the concealment in which God’s wisdom was kept, by showing how entirely it remained unknown and unsuspected by even the leaders of this world, who were deemed persons of keen insight and took the management of affairs, and the argument for this was,—they would not otherwise have crucified the Lord of glory.—For it was through Him that this Divine wisdom, which devised the plan of salvation and aimed at the glorification of believers, was made known and carried out. And this, it were fair to suppose, they would not have done could they have seen the fulness of Divine wisdom and power which shone in him and which was flowing out upon others. “Paul here contemplates those who directly took part in the crucifixion as the representatives of that worldly spirit which was exhibited in the Greek philosophy. They acted in the name and in the entire spirit of the ancient world.”—Neander. “The Lord of glory.”—So also in Jam_2:1. This expression is not to be taken as equivalent to ‘glorious Lord,’ but, as in the analogous expressions, “Father of glory” (Eph_1:17); “The God of glory” (Act_7:2), “The Lord is the possessor of glory.” The genitive case used here in the Greek is the genitive of possession. “Lord of glory” is a title of Divinity. It means possessor of Divine excellence. “Who is the King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory” (Psa_24:10; Act_7:2; Jam_2:1; Eph_1:17). The person crucified, therefore, was a Divine person. Hence the deed was evidence of inconceivable blindness and wickedness. It was one that could only have been done through ignorance. “And now, brethren,” said the Apostle Peter to the Jews, “I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers,” Act_3:17. The fact, that the princes of this world were so blind as not to see that Christ was the Lord of glory, Paul cites as proof of their ignorance of the wisdom of God. Had they known the one, they would have known the other. This passage illustrates a very important principle or usage of Scripture. We see that the person of Christ may be designated from his Divine nature, when what is affirmed of Him is true only of his human nature. The Lord of glory was crucified; the Son of God was born of a woman; He who was equal with God humbled Himself to be obedient unto death. In like manner we speak of the birth or death of a man without meaning that the soul is born or dies, and the Scriptures speak of the birth and death of the Son of God without meaning that the Divine nature is subject to these changes. It is also plain that to predicate ignorance, subjection, suffering, death, or any other limitation of the Son of God, is no more inconsistent with the Divinity of the person so designated, than to predicate birth and death of a man is inconsistent with the immateriality and immortality of the human soul. Whatever is true either of the soul or body may be predicated of a man as a person, and whatever is true of either the Divine or human nature of Christ may be predicated of Christ as a person. We need not hesitate therefore to say with Paul, the Lord of glory was crucified; or even in accordance with the received text in Act_20:28, “God purchased the Church with His blood.” The person who died was truly God, although the Divine nature no more died than the soul of man does when the breath leaves his body.”—Hodge]
1Co_2:9. Confirmatory citation.—But, as it has been written, what things eye hath not seen, and ear hath not beard, and into the heart of man have not entered, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him.”—[We have here given a literal translation of this passage as nearly as possible in the order of the Greek text]. The first point to be considered here is the connection both logical and grammatical. This has been attempted in various ways. One is, by supplying a supposed ellipsis after “but,” either by inserting the words “it has happened,” be as to make it read, “but it has happened as is written” (Bengel); in which case a demonstrative clause would have been required after the relative clause; or by inserting “we speak,” taken from 1Co_2:7. It would be more correct, however, without supplying any thing, to go back directly to 1Co_2:7, and connect there, and to find in 1Co_2:9 an expansion and enhancement of what is said in 1Co_2:8. “which none of the princes knew,” so that ἀλλά instead of being translated “but” might be rendered “yea, rather.” [This rendering is adopted by Stanley], The reading would then be, “we speak God’s wisdom, which none of the princes knew, yea, which no eye hath seen.” In this case the clause, “for if they had known they would not have crucified, etc.” would be taken as a sort of parenthesis, in order to facilitate the connection with what precedes. We would then connect 1Co_2:10, “but God hath revealed them to us” directly with the previons words, “what things he hath prepared,” inserting only a comma after “him.” In this case, only, the repetition of the name “God” would appear strange, and would have to be regarded as done for the sake of emphasis. If this does not suit, then we may either assume an anacoluthon, so that in this break the sentence would seem to lose itself in mystery and distance inaudible (so de Wette and Osi.), or we may find the sentence completed in 1Co_2:10, the proper antecedent being introduced with δέ, but, as in 1Co_1:23, to signify the antithesis there to 1Co_2:8. It would then read “but what eye hath not seen, etc.;” these, “on the contrary, God hath revealed to us” (so Meyer and Alford).—Since the last mentioned mode of connection seems forced, and the reason assigned for the anacoluthon is not very clear, we prefer to assume a climax as above stated, introduced by “yea, rather,” without joining 1Co_2:10 directly to the preceding clause. [Hodge prefers the anacoluthon, and very justly Bays, in reference to this citation and to that in 1Co_1:31, “in quoting the Old Testament the Apostle frequently cites the words as they stand, without so modifying them as to make them grammatically cohere with the context.”].—There is yet another difficulty to be considered. Whence is the citation taken? Since no passage in the Old Testament is found exactly corresponding to it, the patristic expositors supposed that the words were taken, either from some Old Testament Scripture now entirely lost, or from some apocryphal prophecy; and Z. Chrys. asserts that he had read these words in the apocalypse of Esaias. Grotius, however, supposes that they were taken from the writings of the Rabbis who had preserved them out of an old tradition. But in opposition to these opinions it must be regarded as settled that Paul uses the formula “as it is written” only in introducing citations from the Old Testament. Accordingly Meyer has adopted the solution that Paul quoted an apocryphal passage under the idea that the words were in the Old Testament. But before we resort to any such explanation, it is to be seen whether the dissimilarity between our passage and the Old Testament texts in question is so great, as to prevent us from supposing that he quoted freely here, as he has also done elsewhere, and as other New Testament writers have also occasionally done. Certainly Paul could hardly have had in mind Isa_52:15. “For that which hath not been told them should they see, and that which they had not heard, should they consider;” nor yet 65:17; “For behold I create new heavens, and a new earth, and the former should not be remembered nor come into mind,” unless perhaps the last clause, in the ring of the expression. But he may have had in mind Isa_64:4, according to the original text: “For since the world have men not heard, nor perceived, nor hath an eye seen, O God, besides Thee; he will do it for him who waits upon Him”14—here there is a transition from the second person to the third, as is frequently the case in prophetic diction—since the formula, “as it is written,” admits of a free quotation, and Paul is not always precise in adhering to the words (1:19, 31; 14:21; Rom_9:33). We therefore unhesitatingly accord with Osiander in maintaining a reference here to Isa_64:4. The sense common to both passages is, that God has prepared for His people who wait for Him, things far exceeding all human experince or observation. ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀναβαίνειν Heb. עָלָה עַל לֵב lit. to come upon the heart, to become a matter of experience and thought.—In the word, “prepare” we have the carrying out of the “fore-ordination” mentioned in 1Co_2:7.—But what does the Apostle mean by “the things prepared?” Meyer says the salvation of the Messianic kingdom (comp. Mat_25:34.) Very well, but not simply in its future glories. What is intended is the whole work of redemption in all its essential particulars, from the foundation laid for it in Christ, on unto its final consummation. They are the benefits never before known or imagined, and far transcending all conception and surmise which are contained in God’s revelation, and the glory aimed at and procured by it. “They are the gracious gifts and disclosures of blessedness, an insight into which, and an enjoyment of which are afforded us even here in faith, whose full fruition is reserved for a higher world.” Osiander. That deliverance from exile to which the passage in Isaiah primarily refers, is in truth only a faint image of that which is to be considered as the literal fulfilment of all such expression (comp. also Mat_13:17).
1Co_2:10-12. The revelation of this wisdom and its means.—But to us God bath revealed them through His Spirit.—“To us,” that is, Paul himself and his fellow-Apostles; for of Christians in general he is not speaking. See 1Co_2:6; 1Co_2:16—also 3:1. [So Hodge; Stanley, however, says “believers generally, but with a special reference to himself”]. The communication here is not of an external, but of an internal sort. (Comp. the expression, “to reveal in me,” Gal_1:15). This is clear also from the agency employed. This agency is the Spirit, who executes God’s purposes of redemption and is the means of enlightening them in the knowledge of their nature. He does this work so far as He is “freely given of God,” 1Co_2:12. The possibility of this revelation by the Spirit is shown in the following words—for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.—“The Spirit” here is evidently, by reason of the connection, the same as “His Spirit” in the previous clause. Only there He is introduced as proceeding outwards and working ad extra, but here and in what follows as imminent or existing within the Godhead. An analogous expression occurs respecting the Son of God in Joh_1:18, where the phrase “who is in the bosom of the Father” corresponds with “the Spirit searcheth all things,” etc.; and the word “declare” with “hath revealed by His Spirit.” The ability to make known the thoughts of God unto the Apostles is here grounded upon the knowledge the Spirit has of these things in their inmost source and profoundest depths. This is expressed by ἐρευνᾷν: lit. to explore, to search through and through; but here, and wherever else it is used of Divine knowledge, it denotes the result of that exploring, i.e. a complete and thorough knowledge (comp. 139:1; Rom_8:27=καρδιογνώστης of Act_1:24; Act_15:8 and Rev_2:23. Chrys. ἀκριβὴς γνῶσις κατάληψις.) Βάθηθεοῦ: inmost recesses of God, the otherwise unexplorable depths where His thoughts and volitions have free play, the hidden mystery of His personality which correspond to those mysteries of His kingdom and of all His works and ways which the Spirit reveals. The image is drawn from the sea, whose depths are supposed to be unfathomable and bottomless. (Psa_36:7; Psa_92:6; Job_11:8). Meyer says: “The entire abounding fulness which God has in Himself, every thing which goes to make up His being, His attributes, thoughts, plans, decrees.” (Not the latter exclusively). See also the phrase “depths of Satan,” Rev_2:24. That such must be the office of the Spirit, and of Him alone, is now illustrated by an analogy.
1Co_2:11. For who of men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God no one knoweth save the Spirit of God.—The logic is this: “The Spirit and only He can know the depths of God. For as the spirit of man which is in him can alone know what is of him, so only the Spirit of God can know what is of God.” The Apostle puts the first member of the comparison in the form of a question. “Who of men knoweth, etc.?” Here the gen., ανθρώπων, of men, is not superfluous. The ignorance here implied is not an absolute one, inasmuch as God is to be excepted from it (Osi.); or, we may say, it carries a prominent emphasis: “no man knows what is of man” (Meyer)—τὰτοῦἀνθρώπου not βάθη : “the things of a man” in general; not his “depths.” According to the context, the things alluded to must be limited to those of his inner life, his secret thoughts and purposes. The “spirit” of man is the breath of God in him, “the candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of his belly” (Pro_20:27), the inner eye or light (Mat_6:23), that whereby he becomes evident to himself, recognizes his own distinct individuality, is conscious of himself, and of his thoughts and acts as belonging to himself, the Divine image in man, the principle of his personality. (See Delitzsch, Bibl. Psychologie, S. 116 ff.; Beck, Bibl. Seelenlehre, S. 947). By the words “which is in him,” the spirit, as the principle of self-consciousness, is distinguished from the spirit in others, as the principle of objective knowledge. A like additional qualification to “the Spirit of God” would be out of place, either because God is absolutely one, or because His Spirit is also dispensed to others, as seen in the next verse: “which is from God” (Meyer). De Wette says: “Paul conceives of the Spirit not as being in God, as though He were the principle of God’s self-consciousness; but he very wisely says merely “the Spirit of God” in order that he might thus hold the way open for saying afterwards “the Spirit from God.” The substance of the comparison is this: as the knowledge of the inward man is possible only through self-consciousness, so is the knowledge of God possible only through the consciousness of God obtained by means of the Holy Spirit. De Wette, however, overlooks an important element in the Apostle’s course of thought, in that the Apostle makes the immanent beholding of the depths of God on the part of the Spirit the ground of his function as a revealer. But the Spirit of God (in accordance with the analogy of the human spirit which is derived from Him and is his image) is the principle of the Divine self-knowledge, the ground of God’s life as a self-conscious existence—that whereby God is personal life, is the One who is eternally and absolutely cognizant of Himself in all His thoughts, volitions and decrees, in His doing and working,—the One who is revealed unto Himself and then reveals Him abroad to others—the One who sees through Himself and also shines through the human spirit and so qualifies it for looking into the work of God. [“The analogies of Scripture, however, are not to be pressed beyond the point they are intended to illustrate. The point here is the knowledge of the Spirit. He knows what is in God as we know what is in ourselves. It is not to be inferred from this that the Spirit of God bears in other points the same relation to God that our spirits do to us.” Hodge.] Having thus shown the ability of the Spirit to reveal the things of God, he reaffirms and corroborates the declaration of 1Co_2:10.—Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God.—The expression is antithetic. But what are we to understand by “the spirit of the world?” Certainly not any mental peculiarity; as most imagine, (Beza: ingenium humanum, [Barnes and others]: doctrina humana; [de Wette and Stanley: spirit of human wisdom; Hodge: a paraphrase for human reason]), since the thing contrasted with it cannot be explained in this manner. Neither can it be construed ironically, as denoting an utter want of that which is spiritual, or that show of spirit which the world calls spirit (see Osi.), nor yet as the finite spirit, in so far as it sets up independently for itself (Billroth). But it means that principle which controls the world in its thought and volition, and which is elsewhere termed “the prince of this world (Joh_12:31); also “the god of this world” (comp. Eph_2:2; Eph_6:11 ff.; 1Jn_4:3; 1Jn_5:19), Meyer says: “The diabolic spirit under whose control the world is held, and which profane humanity possesses.” Osiander discovers in it “a demonic element, blending in with, however, and manifesting itself in connection with splendid natural powers—a principle of selfish curiosity which excites and stimulates the mental faculties to knowledge, but does not overcome their weakness, and which, while alienated from God, ever remains involved, not merely in weakness and ignorance, but also in perverseness and error.”—but—Inasmuch as he is treating no more of operations imminent in the Godhead, but of acts of external revelation, the subject in contrast is denominated—the Spirit which is from God.—“He brings to view the spirit as having been already bestowed.” Neander. This spirit, coming as it does from God, and the bestowment of which conditions the knowledge of Divine things, and which belongs only to the children of God (comp. Rom_5:5; Rom_8:9 ff; Romans 14 ff.; Joh_15:26), is to be entirely distinguished from the “spirit of man” which belongs to us as men, and makes us akin to God (Act_17:29), and which constitutes our personality (1Co_2:11), and which is the immediate organ of the Spirit of God, needing, however to be renewed, and, because of its weakness, requiring to be strengthened. (Eph_4:23; Rom_7:22 ff.; 1Th_5:23; comp. Mat_2:15-16). The object of the bestowment of the Spirit is—that we might know the things which are freely given to us by God.—These things are the same as those spoken of in 1Co_2:9 as having been “prepared” for us (comp. 1:30; Rom_8:24; Rom_6:23; Eph_2:8-9). τὰχαρισθέντα, (from χαρίζεσθσι as Rom_8:32)=gifts of free grace. By these are meant the blessings of God’s kingdom which Christians already possess in faith and hope, but which they will enjoy in full perfection when the kingdom of God has been set up in glory. [Hodge very singularly says: “not so. The connection is with 1Co_2:10, and the subject is the wisdom of God, the Gospel as distinguished from the wisdom of this world.” But what are the topics of this Gospel but the spiritual blessings here seen and known in part, but afterwards to be known as we also are known? A distinction here is untenable]. The persons to whom they are given (ἡμῖν) are Christians generally, as must appear from the very nature of the case [and the knowledge they obtain is “the assurance of confidence.” Calvin. Those who receive the Spirit not only have a clear apprehension of the blessings God hath provided, but discern them as “freely given unto them.” This must be so, as knowledge in the Scriptures is one with experience. There is no real perception without possession].
1Co_2:13. Having indicated the source of Gospel-wisdom, Paul proceeds to show how he proclaimed it, taking up the thought of 1Co_2:4.—Which things we also speak.—That the speaking here is directly connected with the fact of having received of the spirit from the purpose of knowing and declaring, and proceeds from it, and is of a sort corresponding to the nature of the objects received, is shown by word, καί: “also.” How he spake is exhibited antithetically.—Not in words taught of human wisdom, οὐκ ἐν διδακτοῖς ανθρωπινης σοφίας λόγοις—The Gen. here is governed not by λόγοις but by διδακτοῖς. (Comp. διδακτοὶ θεοῦ taught of God, Joh_6:45). [Most of the older English versions and Calvin construe the other way. Wiclif: not in wise wordes of mannes wisdom. Tyndale: not in the connyuge wordes of mannes wysdome. Rheims: not in learned wordes of humane wisedom. Cranmer and Geneva translate very nearly as the authorized version]. He means not in an artificial style of discourse, fashioned after the rules of scholastic rhetoric and dialetics, but in those taught of Spirit.—Πνεύματος without the article as in 1Co_2:4, because it is to be taken qualitatively as denoting a principle higher than that of human wisdom. We are not here to suppose that any actual dictation of the language is intended, but only an operation of the Spirit upon the mind, “which strongly pervades and controls even the speech and modes of exhibition:” in short a simple discourse which proceeds directly from a heart possessed by the Spirit of God. [Hodge says: “This is verbal inspiration, or the doctrine that the writers of the Scriptures were controlled by the Spirit of God in the choice of the words which they employed in communicating divine truth. This has been stigmatized as the mechanical theory of inspiration. It is objected to this, that it leaves the diversity of style which marks the different portions of the Bible, unaccounted for. But if God can control the thoughts of a man without making him a machine, why not also his language?—rendering every writer infallible in the use of his characteristic style? If the language of the Bible be not inspired, then we have the truth communicated through the discoloring and distorting medium of human imperfection. Paul’s direct assertion is that the words he used were taught by the Holy Ghost.” Wordsworth adds: “Here is a sufficient reply to the assertions of those who allege that the inspiration vouchsafed to St. Paul was limited to a general perception of divine truth and that he was left himself without divine guidance as to the form in which that truth was to be expressed. A caution also is thus supplied against the notion that there are verbal inaccuracies, and blemishes, and defects in St. Paul’s representations of the supernatural truths which he was commissioned to deliver. Comp. Hooker, II. 8:6, and Serm. 5:4; also Routh, Relequiæ Sacræ, Vol. V. pp. 336–341”]. This is clear from the explanatory clause [which we render—Combining spiritual things with spiritual.]—πνευματικοῖς πνευματικὰ συγκρίνοντες. The interpretation of this depends on the explanation we give to συγκρίνοντες. This signifies originally, to combine together with judicious selection, then to unite in general, to join, the opposite of διακρίνειν; with this then comes the idea to hold together, i. e., by way of comparison (2Co_10:12), [this is the meaning adopted in the E. V.]; out of this there follows the idea of measuring, estimating according to something; and then of interpreting or expounding, as it is used in Gen_40:8 and Dan_5:12 in reference to dreams, in which cases the signification to judge must be referred back to the idea of holding together the various elements of the process so as to get a proper view of them. At any rate there is nothing in these last passages to justify our taking the word in the text to mean unqualifiedly to explain [as Stanley does] whether we take πνευματικοῖς as Masculine [rendering as Bengel, Rückert, Stanley: “to spiritual men”] (which is by no means required by the 1Co_2:14, since a new paragraph opens there), or as Neuter; rendering it “by spiritual things,” meaning thereby either the Old Testament types used to explain the New Testament (as Chrysostom and others), or the testimonies of the Prophets, which, being inspired by the Spirit, are the fit illustrations of the things which Christ has revealed, by His Spirit (as Grotius and others), both which ideas are remote from the connection, or “with spiritual words” (as Elsner and others). [Wordsworth interprets this clause comprehensively. “Blending spiritual things with spiritual,” i.e., not adulterating them with foreign admixtures (2Co_2:17; 1Pe_2:2) also “combining.” for the purpose of comparing and explaining, e.g., the things of the New Testament by the Old Testament, or one spiritual truth by another]. Nor yet do we agree with Neander’s view, “that which has been communicated to us by the Divine Spirit we explain in a form which is suited to that communication.” The only correct interpretation is to take συγκρίνειν in its original import, and πνευματικοῖς as Neuter, and to render as above, carrying the meaning: uniting the spiritual matters which are the subject of our discourse (λαλοῦμεν 1Co_2:12) with words and forms that are taught of the Spirit. So Castalio, Calvin, Osiander, Meyer. [Hodge and Barnes]. Thus understood the clause serves to illustrate still further the suitableness of the style of discourse just before advocated, and as Osiander rightly observes, contains no tautology, since rather “the thought is here stated in the form of a fundamental principle, and is taken up and set forth with stronger emphasis.”15
1Co_2:14. [Explains the reason why this higher spiritual wisdom is not indiscriminately imparted, but “spoken only to the perfect.” It is seen in the incapacity of multitudes to apprehend it, and to discern “the Divine impress it bears both on its contents and style of delivery.” It is an inability arising from “their essential character, which is as opposed to the Gospel as it is in every respect harmoniously consistent with itself.”].—But the natural (or psychical16) man.—ψυχικὸς δὲ ἄνθρωπος. Here we have the character described. Luther explains it thus: “the natural man is one who, though he stands apart from grace, is still endowed to the fullest degree with understanding, sense, capacity and art.” He is the opposite of “the spiritual man,” see Jud_1:19. ψυχικοί, πνεῦμα μὴ ἔχοντες lit.: “psychical, not having the spirit.” ψυχή: Psyche, soul, Latin, anima, is the intermediate between πνευμα spirit, and σωμα body (1Th_5:23). It is the personal life of the individual (Ichleben) arising from the entrance of the spirit into the earthly organ of the body as its breath of life, in which personal life the spiritual and the sensuous elements are combined, the one entering into the other. The spiritual element, by becoming psychical or natural, forms a power of consciousness and volition, sinks into the life of sensation and impulse and embodies itself in the man and becomes organic. The sensuous element on the other hand (which taken out of the world of sense the soul fills with its life of sensation and impulse), being possessed by the spiritual power, becomes itself spiritualized in conscious self-directed activity and made capable of intelligent knowledge and volition. By reason of this its double nature, the soul becomes dependent on springs of life that belong as well to the world of sense as to the spiritual world. But, with particular individuals, the soul exercises a free choice in regard to the degree and order in which from time to time these influences from above and below shall be appropriated and employed. It depends on its pleasure whether it shall isolate itself, and, with this, sever its own spiritual part from the Divine life of the Spirit, or whether it shall receive this life into itself. Now in separating from the life of the spirit, man, as a natural or psychical creature, gets divested of his spiritual character and becomes fleshly. There is, indeed, in him still a spiritual element but then it no longer rules as a controlling principle, regulating his impulses and desires. On the contrary, being in subjection to the soul (ψυχή), the spirit becomes more and more subservient to the soul’s perverse and carnal tendencies, from whence there springs deceit, falsehood, defilement in spirit, through contact with corresponding evil, and also that earthly and worldly wisdom spoken of in Jam_3:15. The soul, in itself robbed of the spiritual element, as a personal life (as spirit), is also unable to work out the spiritual things into a clear, intelligent apprehension by a free conscious effort of its own. Hence the mere soul-man, in other words the psychical or natural man, has neither inclination nor eye for the spiritual. He is closed up against all higher wisdom as if it were but folly. (Comp. Beck, Bibl. Seelenlehre, § 14 ff, 33 ff; Lehrwiss, §§ 207 and 213. From all this it will be seen that the translation “sensuous,” “sinnlich,” is not exhaustive. With this there is included also the idea of the selfish. Besides, both the intellectual and ethical aspects are also to be taken into account. See Osiander, de Wette, Meyer17.—The ethical side of “the psychical man,” viz., his disinclination towards the higher sphere of life, appears in what is affirmed of him.—receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.—For δέχεσθαι here is not=to understand, which thought is afterwards expressed by γνῶναι but it means: to accept, to receive, as always in the N. T. (Luk_8:13; Act_8:13; Act_11:1; Act_17:11; 1Th_1:6; 1Th_2:13, etc.). οὐ δέχεται=ἀπωθεῖται Act_13:46. “He will not accept them, although they are offered.”—Bengel. The phrase, “the things of the Spirit of God,” combines what was distinguished in 1Co_2:13, the Divinely spiritual both in form and substance. The reason of this rejection is explained,—because they are foolishness unto him.—“Whereas,” adds Bengel, “he is seeking after wisdom.” And these things seem foolish, because they conflict with his narrow, foregone conclusions and prejudices.—and he is not able to know them.—This clause is either to be joined to the previous one, as assigning an additional reason for the natural man’s not receiving spiritual things, q. d., “he considers it absurd, without being able to understand it” (Meyer, [Alford, Stanley, Tischendorf]); or to be taken as parallel to the clause, “he receiveth it not,” and expressing the intellectual side of the case in an independent manner, so that the following words stand related to it alone ([Calvin, Hodge, Barnes, and others, in accordance with 1 e. v.]). The first is the more correct. The natural man contemns spiritual things through prejudice and lack of apprehension,—because they are spiritually judged of.—The reason here assigned bears upon both the previous clauses which together explain why the Gospel is rejected. It appears all foolish and incomprehensible, alike from the fact that it requires to be looked at in a way for which the natural man in unfitted. ἀνακρίνειν, to judge of, as in 4:3; 9:3; 14:24. It denotes the result of investigation and proof, which it primarily in fact signifies (Act_17:11; Act_4:9; Act_12:19.) πνενματικῶς: spiritually (i.e.) either by the spirit of man (not soul: ψνχή) quickened and filled by the Spirit of God, or in a spiritual manner, so that the Holy Spirit, whose are the things to be judged of, both as to form and substance, directs likewise in the judgment of them by His illuminating grace. In either case, the sense is essentially the same, although the latter comports better with the use of the word “spirit” in the context. [While it is the office of the Spirit to take of the things of Christ and show them unto us, it is His also to purge the mental vision so that it can see the objects presented, for the eye of the natural man is blinded by the god of this world, and to him, however presented, the Gospel is hidden. Hence the manifestation towards the man must be supplemented by a change in him, rendering him spiritually minded, and so producing “a congeniality between the perceiver and the thing perceived.”]
1Co_2:15. Presents a contrast.—But the spiritual man. i.e. he who, in conformity with the image of God (Col_3:10), has been renewed to an existence in the Spirit, Who, in turn lives in him as his life and to a constant exercise of his power in the strength of the Spirit; in other words, he who has the Spirit as rule, guidance and might (Beck, Seelenl. S. 35 ff.);—judgeth of all the things—τὰ πάντα [see Crit. obs.] all the things. By these we are to understand in accordance with the context, at least for the most part, or preeminently the things of the Spirit which the natural man is not in a condition to judge of. This reference is indicated yet more distinctly by the article τά: the [if genuine]. Besides the saying of Beck (Lehrwiss S. 210) here holds good. “Only by being made spiritual is a man capacitated for the apprehension of spiritual objects. Such as God and Divine things, and only by the energy thus obtained is he able critically to test, and spiritually to govern all the remaining portion of his being as something inferior and subservient to the Spirit.” So also Meyer (ed. 3) [only giving the passage a much broader scope, since he refers the “all things” not simply to those of the Spirit, but includes under it “all objects which come within the sphere of his judgment”]. “On all this can the spiritual man pass a correct estimate by means of a judgment enlightened and controlled by the Holy Ghost.” [In illustration of this, Meyer alludes to instances of Paul’s nice spiritual discrimination, exhibited “in matters not belonging to doctrine, and under the most varied conditions, e. g. in his wise improvement of circumstances amid persecutions and prosecutions, and during his last voyage, etc.; also in his judgments respecting marriage cases, judicial causes, slavery, and the like; in all which he understood how to place every thing under the level of a higher spiritual point of view with wonderful clearness, certainty and impartiality; also in his estimate of different personages, etc.” But it may be fairly questioned whether Meyer does not here go beyond the proper scope of the passage. The object in view throughout the whole of it is a Divinely revealed spiritual “wisdom,” which transcended the apprehension of “the natural man;” and it is not easy to see how affairs altogether prudential could be brought into the account]. The acceptation of παντα as Acc. Sing. Masc. is against the previous context (see Meyer).—But he himself is judged of by no man.—The previous clause leads us to supply here, “who is not spiritual.” For such as these the position of the spiritual man is too high. They cannot comprehend the inner life, or pronounce suitable judgment upon it. “Undoubtedly Paul said this with special allusion to such in the Corinthian Church as took the liberty of criticising him.” Neander. Of course what is affirmed in this verse of the spiritual in general, must in particular cases be limited according to the measure and degree of perfection attained in the spiritual life (comp. Calvin and Osiander). One proof of the sense perverting exegesis of the Romish Church may be seen in their reference of this passage to the hierarchy and its judicial office in doubtful questions (Corn. a Lapide, Estius).
1Co_2:16. Proof of the foregoing.—For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?—The question is taken from Isa_40:13; according to the LXX, with the omission of the words καὶ τίς σύμβουλος αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο “and who hath become his counsellor,” which come in between the words “Lord” and “that.” The “mind of the Lord” is here identical with “the mind of Christ” in the following clause. We might, indeed, on looking at the passage in Isaiah, refer it to God; but since the words are introduced freely without a formula of citation, there is no necessity for this, and the identification of them with “the mind of Christ,” is more in accordance with the course of thought. The νοῦς, mind, is the spirit as the source of thoughts, counsels, plans. The spirit, not however, as shut up within itself, but, so far as what is contained therein, is imparted and operates abroad. Hence it is not absolutely the same as πνεῦμα spirit (as Billroth and Neander). [“This is rather the substratum of the νοῦς,—mind, and which being imparted to the man, makes his mind one with the mind of Christ.” Meyer]. Ὃςσυμβιβάσει=ὥστε συμβιβάζειν [Buttmann, § 143, I., or Kühner § 334, 2]. Συμβιβάζειν, to bring together, metaphorically, to put one’s self to rights, to make oneself intelligible; and hence transitively, to prove, to instruct; elsewhere, with τι, in the Hellenic idiom, also with a personal object; io teach some one. [This use of the word, Alford says belongs to the lxx; in the New Testament it means to conclude, to prove, to confirm]. The object in this case is not any spiritual truth, but the Lord,—but we have the mind of Christ.—[“We,” the Apostles, himself included, and in the view of his issue with the Church, perhaps emphasized. Of course other spiritual persons are not excluded, but they are not now brought into the account]. Hence, ἔχομεν, not=perspectum habemus. The word denotes that inward possession which is founded upon communion with Christ, upon having “put on Christ” (Gal_3:27).—The thought now brought out is this, the judgment of the spiritual man on the part of him who is not spiritual, would require such a knowledge of the mind of the Lord as would qualify a person to instruct the Lord Himself, since the persons who are to be judged are such as have the mind of Christ, inasmuch as His Spirit dwelling in them, and directing their thought, fashions them to His mind, and identifies their thinking with His thinking. [“Syllogistically stated, the argument would stand thus: no one can instruct the Lord. We have the mind of the Lord. Therefore no one can instruct and judge us.” Hodge.]
[Obs. We are now prepared to consider what this wisdom is, that is spoken of in this passage, according to the characteristics given by the Apostle. 1. It is a system of objective truth analogous to that taught by the Greek philosophers, and destined to supplant it: the true σοφία sent to supersede the false. 2. It is one that can be advantageously taught only to persons who by a practical faith in the rudimental facts of Christianity, have made some advances in the Divine life. 3. It is a wisdom beyond the reach of human reason or conjecture to discover—a veritable mystery preserved in God’s keeping until He should choose to make it known. 4. It is one which has been revealed By the Holy Spirit out of the depths of the Godhead; hence 5. It must comprise such things as are found there, and carry the mark of the Divine personality, viz.: the nature, attributes, and constitution of the Divine Being, His plans and purposes as Creator, His laws as the Supreme Ruler, His aims and methods, and decrees, and works as Redeemer; all these more particularly as bearing upon man, and shedding light upon his condition and destiny. And these are truths both ontological and ethical; truths for the intellect and moral sense at once; truths spiritual and eternal in their highest and broadest sense. 6. The forms in which this wisdom is communicated, are also Divinely cast. They are they the words and illustrations suggested to the minds of the Apostles by the Holy Ghost, who inspired them, and which must ever constitute the best statements of this wisdom. It is a wisdom whose truth and excellence are not directly obvious to the natural man. In order to discern intuitively its force and beauty, and to perceive its Divine character, there is required the spiritual eye that is conformed to the light of the glory of God as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ, and can by direct vision recognize its truth and heavenly source.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
[1. There is and must be a Divine philosophy in Christianity. The historical facts on which the Gospel rests embody living and eternal truths, which it is the life and joy of the spiritual man to contemplate and explore. In Jesus, the Son of man, there is incarnated the Word of God the Logos, from whom emanate all those Divine archetypal ideas which inform and regulate the whole created universe. By Him all things consist. His province it is also, as the Son of God, the Father’s express image, to reveal that Father in the glory of His perfections, in His laws, purposes and workings, and thus to exhibit the principles on which the world is governed. Moreover, as the Son of Man, it is His office to show what man properly is in his true ideal, and what are the problems of his destiny. Still further, as the Son of God and the Son of man combined to constitute the mediatorial King, He becomes the centre of all human history, the Head of that kingdom with reference to which all things in the world are controlled and governed. Christianity, therefore, carries in itself the substance of all sound theology, and anthropology, and ethics, and historical science. Jesus Himself being the absolute Truth and Life, in Him there must be hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and these treasures it will be the province of an enlightened intelligence to explore, and bring forth, and make known to the apprehension of mankind as that which is alone worthy of study and fitted to nourish alike the mind and heart. Thus it will be found in the end that the researches of right reason are directly in the line of faith’s leading—that the scheme of Christianity as set forth in the doctrines of the Gospel is in accordance with true science—yea, its very substance—and that “religion passes out of the ken of reason only when the eye of reason has reached its horizon, and that faith is but its continuation,” revealing to the devout worshipper the things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man to conceive].
[2. This Divine philosophy is distinctly apprehended only by a renewed sanctified intelligence. Here life and light coincide. We believe in order that we may understand, and experience becomes the only fit guide and teacher. Sin and the remains of sin prove a disqualification for knowledge and beget folly. Hence it is that the communication of this Divine wisdom is suited only to such as have made attainments in piety, and must be measured out in proportion to their attainments by a wise economy. Christ being our light, so far as He is our life, it must follow] that with the unfolding of this new life in us, and to the degree in which the principle of this life, even the Divine Spirit, mortifies the works of the flesh and breaks down our narrow-minded selfishness, and clears our intelligence of all prejudices, and emancipates us from human authorities, and from our self-complacency, and from our delight in whatsoever flatters and pleases self, will this Divine, wisdom dawn with ever-growing clearness upon our apprehensions, and our understanding of God’s thoughts and ways become enlarged, and our susceptibility for still further disclosures be increased. If on the awakened conscience of the sinner there arises at the start the light of God’s pardoning and restoring grace beaming from the person of Christ evidently crucified before his eyes, and under its radiance he sees the follies of the past and the obligations of the future, and learns his indebtedness to redeeming love, and experiences its saving and gladdening influences, and feels in himself the quickening of a new and higher principle with all its uplifting powers and emotions, then in all this there will be laid the foundation of a knowledge of Christ, and what He is, and what is the nature of the life that proceeds from Him, to which each day’s experience and reflection will constantly contribute. As his piety matures, the more he will come to understand something of the riches that are to be found in Christ—of His relations to the Godhead as the Eternal and Only-Begotten of the Father—of His relations to humanity as its Prince and Head—of the atonement founded upon the intimate union of His two natures—of the method and means by which His redeeming work was begun and is carried on and will be perfected at last—of the operations of the Holy Spirit in the instrumentalities of the Gospel—of the gifts of grace—of the foundation and increase of the Church—of God’s superintendence over the race in guiding it to a participation in the blessings of his salvation—of the way in which these things condition each other, and how they all come to rest upon the decree of the all-wise and merciful God which infinitely exceeds all human imaginings, and to the realization of which the whole history of the race in all its main branches, both before and after Christ, must tend—of the manner in which God will consummate His redeeming work, both in its direct progress and in its remoter connection with what precedes, and in its resemblances to the work of creation (1 Corinthians 15), and finally of the immanent relations of the Godhead which lie at the foundation of this whole process. These are some of the truths which will gradually unfold their glorious meanings upon the mind of the growing Christian, making his path shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day. Mere beginners cannot be expected to comprehend them. They transcend the apprehension even of the most distinguished sages of the world, and range beyond the scope of man’s natural experience and observation—yea, beyond the flights of human imagination and hope. But to the sincere believer they are made known with ever greater clearness through the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
3. The office of the Holy Spirit as the revealer rests upon essential distinctions in the being of God. His external operations and His indwelling in the hearts of men are owing to an earlier and independent existence in the Godhead, by virtue of which. He is called “the Spirit of God” in a manner analogous to “the spirit of man which is in man.” Hence he must be supposed to exist in God not merely as a power or an attribute, but as an essential life-factor in the Divine nature, maintaining at the same time that independence which is already seen to follow from His independent activity abroad, and from the perfection of the Divine nature. He is God’s proper self, as certainly as man’s spirit is his own self; yet not however the entire God, just as the spirit of man is not the entire man. More exactly defined in the light of 1Co_2:11, He is God as looking through and recognizing Himself, even as we may define the Logos to be God imaging and expressing Himself objectively. And if the Divine fiat which creates life abroad is, when contemplated inwardly as the Logos, a self-subsistent and creative Life, so is the Divine cognition which illuminates and creates truth abroad—when contemplated inwardly as Spirit, an independent and creative truth or light. God’s being and begetting as Spirit, i.e., the Spirit in God and the Spirit from God, is Truth—is the Light and the Father of Lights. On the ground of these essential distinctions within the being of God, there is ascribed to the Spirit in 1Co_2:10 a vision and a knowledge, which not only penetrates all God’s works in their profoundest depths, and comprises in its scope all creaturely perception and all the mysteries of the kingdom of God (1Co_2:9), but also comprehends the inmost secrets of the Divine personality and most hidden attributes of God’s own self. And precisely because He is this inwardly illuminated inmost self of God, and the all-penetrating vision of God, is He the Truth. Spirit is God (Joh_4:24) as being a personality which is in itself invisible, but which is conscious of itself in the whole circumference of its being and which thoroughly discerns and reveals every thing external to itself. And the Lord is that Spirit, in so far as He taketh away the veil from the heart and discloses His glory unto the believer, from one degree of splendor unto another, until the fulness of His light shines upon them (2Co_3:17 ff; cf. 2Co_4:6).” Accordingly inasmuch as God is throughout transparent to Himself, and manifest in His own peculiar and hidden self, shining through every thing, and glorifying all who are devoted to Him in Himself, He is Light in Himself, Light through Himself on all abroad, and Light to Himself. This is the inward significance of the Divine Spirit, and such is He in godlike self-subsistence as the living and creative truth,” etc. (Beck, Lehre., S. 103 ff.).
4. While the psychical (ψυχικός) man imprisoned: as he is in his own natural selfishness, living and moving ever outside of the sphere of God’s enlightening Spirit, has no sense to receive the Divine spiritual communications so that they all appear to him irrational and absurd, the spiritual (πνευματικός) man, who has received the Spirit of God and is controlled by him, carries in himself a standard for determining that which is of the Spirit; so that he is able to estimate it, both according to its substance and its form of expression, and is therefore qualified to judge of everything which comes within his sphere, by this the highest measure of all true worth. But he himself is exalted above the judgment of the unspiritual. Persons of this sort are capable of comprehending or instructing him so far as he is governed in his conduct by the Divine spirit, about as little as they are in condition to know the mind of Christ, which the spiritual man hath, and so to instruct Christ Himself. But the spiritual man judgeth of all things, because he hath received the anointing of the Holy One, even Christ, and knoweth all things (1Jn_2:21-22). These are they who are “taught of God.” (θεοδιδακτοι, Joh_6:45.) This exalted state is maintained in the same manner in which it is won, in true, humble self-denial, in poverty of spirit, in steadfast, determined mortification of all selfish desires and unrestrained devotion to do what is good and wise, and in that simple-hearted abandonment which allows the Spirit of God to work in the heart, to will and to do of his own good pleasure. So far as these qualities fail, and self is suffered to hold sway, the man is betrayed into spiritual pride and into gross errors which arise from commingling and confounding what is human with what is Divine.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. Rieger: The great distinction between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God.—1. a. The former changes its opinions and principles well nigh faster than its fashions. b. It is ambitious to give the tone to that which shall be esteemed proper and conducive to the public good, and to fill every sphere with its own taste and judgment so as to be in favor with the princes of this world. c. But, alas! those to whom it so devotes itself soon fade and pass away but too apparently. The greater part of them outlive their own credit for wisdom, and a false garnish of their youth is soon succeeded by the lustrelessness of an old age which is all the more wretched from the contrast. 2. a. The hidden wisdom of God emerges out of eternity, and is on this account liable to no change. b. Its benefits also stretch onward into eternity, and when the work of redemption shall be completed it will be found in glory long after the fashion of this world has utterly vanished. c. Its instruction flows with such purity that only those who lay the foundation for it in the fear of God are introduced therein, step by step, along the path of obedience. d. Against its demands the heart of man is so apt to be hardened that it is a rare thing for one of the princes of this world to attain unto the knowledge of it (1Co_2:6-8).
2. The mystery of the Divine wisdom.—What is here held up to faith transcends the sight and hearing, the knowledge and understanding of men (e. g.) the manifestation of the Son of God in this world, the mysteries of the kingdom of leaven declared by Him, His sufferings, death, and resurrection, the setting up of His Church through the power of the Holy Spirit dispensed in such lowly vessels, the ways and judgments of God with His people on earth hitherto and the numerous humiliations of the cross which yet issue in the clearer victory of the truth. Nothing of all this could have entered the heart of man, had it not been first declared by the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, and afterwards more fully disclosed by the Spirit (1Co_2:9).
3. The revelation through the Spirit of God.—1. Its indispensableness to the knowledge of God, because God is alone, and is known only to Himself, therefore less capable of being “searched out” than men are by each other, since they possess a common nature. 2. Its sufficiency; what the Spirit searches out and can consequently impart is perfectly substantiated, since He as certainly belongs to the being of God as our spirit belongs to our human nature, and knows every thing respecting God with as much certainty as our consciousness reports to us what is in us. 3. Its contents and operation; what God has in mercy ordained respecting us, the reason why He has made us His children, and what He prepared for us for all eternity, this we learn from the Spirit of God. He teaches it; He awakens also our desires for it; He works faith in us, and He establishes and quiets the heart in this knowledge (1Co_2:10-12).
4. The preaching that is acceptable to God.—a. Is one that follows the lead of the Spirit, and b. It is attainable by the diligent perusal of the words of the Apostle, learned from the Holy Ghost, by inquiring into their meaning, and also by submitting our hearts and minds to the discipline and guidance of the Spirit. In other respects at the same time we are not to omit reflection upon the suitable construction of the discourse and the right use of all human aids, yet aiming, however, always to keep aloof from all that is purely our own, or is prized by the world, or is extravagant in diction, and to bring forth whatever is impressive and soberly considered, according as the Spirit of God has expressed it to us in the Scriptures. c. But even for this reason, can the true preacher not expect to please every person; for in preaching spiritual doctrines he is obliged to direct his attention largely to the spiritually-minded, who are assisted in the apprehension of his message by the help of the Spirit working in them also (1Co_2:13).
5. The natural man neither receives nor apprehends what the Holy Spirit teaches in the Gospel.—Such is every person who rests in his own natural powers and has not bowed his heart to the influences of the Holy Ghost, since in his love of self he trusts too much to his own understanding, whose insight and evidence he over-values, and is thereby betrayed into an aversion to Divine things. But such corruption is not simply a bondage to carnal lusts. It is also a wisdom that is after the flesh (1Co_2:12-13); and the words of human wisdom excite an opposition to the doctrines taught by the Spirit, as well as to the simplicity of preaching. But this has its degrees: a, strong prejudice even to the avowed rejection of Divine truths; b, neglect of spiritual things; so as not to deem it worth while to lay aside prejudices and candidly to confer with any one in reference to them; c, assent to the truth, but without any strong faith wrought by the Spirit of God to the entire change of mind, hence accompanied still by hostility to the light, and by an incapacity to judge spiritual things spiritually.
6. The spiritual man: a, his ability to judge; b, his elevation above the judgment of others.—a, He who has been brought by the Spirit of God to the knowledge, faith and obedience of the truth, and daily learns, under Divine tuition, the things which are given us of God, judges everything which is presented to him appertaining to the knowledge and service of God, not indeed with entire infallibility, yet according to correct grounds, b, But in this he is neither subject to the judgment of any man, nor bound to allow himself to be governed by it. For with the force of the declaration, “Who has known the mind of the Lord? but we have the mind of Christ,” he can swing himself clear of all human judgments and repose in that which Christ has revealed. But it must be remembered, that in order to be able properly to boast that we have the mind of Christ there must be in us daily communion with the word of God, an entire indifference to human glory, fervency in prayer, and a patient love towards others. O God, teach me by thy Spirit, for thus it is I live.
7. Starke:—The longer and more truly a Christian serves God, the more spiritual wisdom he obtains (1Co_2:6). Christ and everything that is in and with Him, is an incomprehensible mystery; fail but to explore it, and thou art but a fool; but believe what is revealed to thee of it, and it is enough for thy salvation (1Co_2:7). Wonder not that the greatest in the world, the most gifted, the wisest, do not only not accept Christ, but on the contrary altogether torture and crucify Him. They understand no better, and think themselves able by means of their reason to comprehend the faith and religion of Christ, just as they do everything else (1Co_2:8). The. royal dignity of the children of God is shown in the fact, that they perceive and spiritually judge all things, especially the internal state of the godless, while they themselves are wholly unknown to the latter; and hence it is that they will one day become, as it were, occupants of the great judgment seat as Christ’s associate judges in the world’s assize (Lg.). Oh, how unqualified is the unconverted teacher for the office of the Spirit, especially for judging correctly of the true state of the souls of his hearers (Lange), (1Co_2:15). The mind of Christ is the mind of the Father and of the Holy Ghost, and it is revealed in the Scriptures. Whoever then wishes to know the mind of Christ need not climb on high and seek it from far (Rom_10:7), but let him hold fast to the revealed word. There he will learn what God means and what he intends to do with us (1Co_2:16).
8. Hedinger:—Listen how a man ought to preach: Not in the stilted phraseology of romance, nor in the use of wretched wit; but he should utter the mysteries of God in the form of sound words (1Ti_6:3), and as the Holy Ghost lays them to the heart and brings them to the tongue of His faithful servants (Mat_10:20). (1Co_2:13).—Is he that judges unregenerate? What better is he than a blind man undertaking to judge of colors? Is he regenerate? Then he has a mind akin to that he judges. And although opinions in reference to topics that are aside from Christ, the foundation (3:11), may be divided, yet will he pass no judgment on these contrary to love and mildness, much less set himself up to be the lord and judge of another’s faith, in an arrogant, unbecoming manner (1Co_2:15).
9. Gossner:—It is not well to communicate everything to all. There are truths which can fitly be expressed only in certain circumstances and in certain degrees (1Co_2:6). Only to those who have come to the just consideration of their sin and misery will the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, become the foundation and centre from which everything proceeds and to which everything returns (1Co_2:7-8). Best of all is it to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving and for every breath a song, until all come together at last, and we can praise our Redeemer for everything with one accord in the right place and in society of the right persons (1Co_2:9). A glance into the deep things of God might awaken in us proud thoughts, as if it were possible for us to scan the Divine Majesty. But within this depth there is nothing else to be discovered but infinite love; that love whereby God condescended so low and stooped to commune with wicked, fallen, degraded humanity. These are the deepest depths and the most indescribable mysteries of the Godhead. This is what the natural man cannot understand—that God should make Himself so small. A glance into this mystery therefore does not elate, but it humbles (1Co_2:10). As we are obliged to learn man through men, so can we learn God only through God, or through His Spirit (1Co_2:11). The spirit of the world is at bottom the evil spirit, Satan, the god of this world, who has his seat in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and rules the world from thence. He must be expelled by the Spirit of God. He who has this Divine Spirit knows out of his own experience and inward observation what is given to him of God. He believes not at random, but what he believes that he knows, possesses, and enjoys (1Co_2:12). If a preacher surrenders his whole heart and mind and conduct to God, he will become so possessed by the Holy Ghost that it will be obvious to all that the Spirit speaks through him (1Co_2:13). There are honorable people with whom we can converse on many truths of Christianity, such as the omnipresence of God, etc., and they will hear and understand gladly. But as soon as we speak a word concerning the Saviour and His meritorious sufferings and death, then they say: “Ah, that I don’t understand; that is too high for me.” This doctrine does not suit one who has, not the Holy Spirit. To the old man in us it is only foolishness (1Co_2:14). If we “have the mind of Christ,” think as He thinks, will as He wills, put all matters before us as He puts them, then will it be granted us to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God (1Co_2:16).
9. Heubner:—The man who is enlightened by the Spirit is able to estimate and judge all things, even the moral worth of the principles and acts of the unconverted, and the vanity of the earthly mind with its pursuits, because he knows what sin is from his own experience, and has torn himself loose from it, and because in the knowledge of the will of God, the absolute Good, he has a standard to measure everything else according to its real value (1Co_2:15).
10. On 1Co_2:10-12. Schleier. Serm. 5th coll. Vol. 2d. From what the Apostle has said of the inmost nature and origin of the Spirit of God, it follows 1. that the operations of the Spirit are unique in their kind; 2. that every thing which comes to us from the Spirit is perfectly certain and reliable; 3. that it is amply sufficient for all our spiritual needs. On 1. To all other matters the world arouses us by means of our common understanding; but to “search the deep things of God,” and to cry “Abba Father,” this is vouchsafed to us only by the Spirit when He descends into our spirits. On 2. Since the knowledge imparted by the Spirit, respecting what is in God is as eternal and unchanging as the Spirit of God Himself, the conviction thus obtained that “God is Love” becomes also the deepest and most reliable truth of our existence, etc. On 3. There is nothing wanting to our most blessed communion with God,—if only the Holy Spirit reveal to us the love of God as the innermost depth of his nature,—if only we are made to see that benevolent purpose of God, which has been actuating his paternal heart towards the race from the beginning,—if only it become evident to us that all the wounds of our nature may be healed through the fulness of the Godhead which dwells in Christ as He has become partaker of our nature,—and if only through Him the Spirit of God, who is poured out upon all who believe in Christ as a quickening and strengthening power, glorifies the Saviour in their view and causes them to realize the presence of Christ in Him.
11. [We must be cautious not to pervert these statements into arguments for the disparagement of human reason and learning in the matters of religion. See this point argued in extenso by Richard Hooker (III. 8:4–11). So Wordsworth].
12. [Tholuck: 1Co_2:6-13. Apostolic Preaching. I. Its source—derived: a. not from the teaching of men, but b. from the revelation of the Divine Spirit. II. Its form: a. not a demonstration of the human understanding, but a witness of the Divine Spirit; b. not the product of an acquired eloquence, but the offspring of a Divine necessity. 1Co_2:12-14. Apostolic preaching. I. It proceeds out of the Spirit of God in the preacher. II. It addresses itself to the Spirit of God in the hearer.—R. South. 1Co_2:7. Christianity mysterious,18 and the wisdom of God in making it so. I. The Gospel is the wisdom of God. II. It is this wisdom in a mystery. The reasons of the mystery; a. the nature and quality of the things treated of, being surpassingly great, spiritual and strange; b. the ends designed with relation to their influence on the mind in impressing with awe and reverence, and humbling pride, and engaging our closer search, and reserving fuller knowledge as a source of blessedness hereafter. Inferences: 1. The reasonableness of relying on the judgment of the Church and on spiritual teachers. The unreasonableness of making intelligibleness the measure of faith. 3. The vanity and presumption of pretending to clear up all mysteries in religion.—J. Spencer: 1Co_2:7. Wisdom of God in mystery.19 I. The matter of mysteriousness which the Apostle had in mind. Christ slain for us. II. This mysteriousness is wisdom, as being what might be expected in accordance with other mysteries, such as: a. Sin: b. Incarnation; c. Christ’s person and history; d. The mode of God’s treatment of Christ; e. The mode of the believer’s restoration to God.—J. Barrow: 1Co_2:6. The Excellency of the Christian Religion as suited for “the perfect:” 1, in the character it gives of God; 2, in the description it gives of man; 3, in the rule it prescribes; 4, in the service it appoints; 5, in the living example it affords; 6, in the solid grounds it gives us to build on; 7, in the help it affords; 8, in the way it satisfies conscience; 9, in the simplicity of its communication.—F. W. Robertson: 1Co_2:9-10. God’s Revelation of heaven. I. Inability of the lower parts of human nature, the natural man, to apprehend the higher truth: a. “Eye hath not seen”—not by sensation; b. “Ear hath not heard”—not by hearing; c. “Neither have entered the heart”—not by imagination or affection. II. The Nature and Laws of Revelation: a, by a Spirit to a spirit; b, on the condition of Love.—N. Emmons: 1Co_2:12. The peculiar spirit of Christians. II. Describe the Spirit. II. Show the peculiar knowledge it gives.
Footnotes:
[5]1Co_2:7.—[θεον͂ σοφίαν so in all the best authorities, A. B. C. D. E. F. Cod. Sin., instead of σοφίαν θεον͂. The emphasis being on θεον͂ Then σοφίαν εν μνστηρὶω come together, forming one complex idea.]
[6]1Co_2:9.—ä is better than ὅσα [the former, as it is found in A, B. C., Meyer, Stanley and Lach. prefer. But the Text. Rec. is supported by D. E. F. G. Cod. Sin. and is adhered to by Words, and Alf.]
[7]1Co_2:10.—[The proper order, supported by all the best authorities, is ἡμῖν δἑ ἀπεκάλνφεν ὅ θεος. The emphasis is on the first words. “To us, however, hath God revealed them.”]
[8]1Co_2:10.—Many good authorities omit αν̓τον͂ his. The omission is more explicable on the ground of what follows (τὸ γὰρ πνεν͂μα) than the omission of αν̓τον͂. [Yet it is omitted by A. B. C. Cod. Sin., doubted by Alf., rejected by Stanley.]
[9]1Co_2:11.—Instead of οἶδεν So the best MSS. and editions. [“There is a difference between the two words οί͂δεν and ἔγνωκεν.” The former simply means “knoweth;” the latter “to know by acquisition.” Words. Yet we hare in 3:20 κν́ριος γὶνὠσκει.]
[10]1Co_2:13.—αγίον holy, is not well attested. A Gloss. [Omitted by A. B. C. D1. F. G. Cod. Sin. and rejected by Words., Alf., Meyer.]
[11]1Co_2:15.—μὲν after ἀνακρίνει is not original: has been inserted on account of the δὲ in the following clause [yet it is found in B. D³. B. J. Cod. Sin., and is retained by Words., De Wette.]
[12]1Co_2:15.—τά before πάντα is well supported. The omission is probably to be explained from the fact that some thought it necessary to take πάντα as accusative masc. in antithesis to ον̓δενὸς. (Some have it πάντας.) [Τά is not found in B. Dª. E. J. Cod. Sin.]
[13]Lach. instead of χριστον͂ reads κνριον͂. This is neither paramountly supported nor internally probable. [So also Stanley; but Meyer, Alf., Words., sustained by A. C. Cod. Sin, adhere to the received text. Meyer regards it as a mechanical repetition of νοῦν κνριον͂ above.]
[14]The margin of the E. V. renders the last part of this verse, “neither hath seen a God besides Thee, that doeth so for him, etc.” This version is given by Ewald, de Wette, and Lowth. It is found also in the lxx. Luther’s version, following the Vulgate, gives it as in the English text. Unquestionably the former are correct in putting “God” in the accusative case. It is also noteworthy that the clause “nor perceived by the ear,” is not in the LXX, and Lowth thinks either that this passage has been corrupted by the Jews, or that Paul quotes from some apocryhal book, either “The Ascension of Esaias,” or “The Apocalypse of Elias,” in both of which the passage is found as cited by Paul. It will be seen, likewise, that this clause is omitted by Paul, and that he has inserted another phrase instead—“Neither have entered into the heart of man;” καὶ επὶ καπδίαν ἀνθρώπου ουκανέβη; and these words are so similar to ον̓ μή επέλθῃαυτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν found in the lxx. Isa_65:17, that one can hardly avoid the belief that the two passages were blended together in the Apostle’s mind, and were freely quoted to suit his case.]
[15]The view given, but not advocated by Bengel and Stanley, seems deserving of more attention than Kling has bestowed upon it, and may fairly dispute the ground with that he has given. Συγκρὶνειν, whatever may be its classical meaning, is used in the LXX. in six places at least, with the unquestioned signification of: to explain, to make that which was mysteriously hinted in visions clear to ordinary minds. This was what Joseph did to the chief butler and chief baker, and to Pharaoh, and what Daniel did to Belshazzar. And Paul is here speaking of dealing with things of like nature, i.e., supernaturally revealed, which eye had not seen, etc. And what more natural than for him to use σνγκρίνειν in precisely the same sense as in the former cases. The allusion is almost palpable. Rendering the word then explaining, the train of thought requires that we take πνενματικοῖς as Dative Mas: to spiritual persons. Here, then, we see the Apostle reverting back to the thought with which the paragraph opens, “that of speaking wisdom among the perfect.” “The spiritual things” here are the contents of this wisdom, “the perfect” are “the spiritual.” And thus we have a hinge on which the course of thought passes easily over into what follows, and the δε of 1Co_2:14 has its natural antithetic force. “Explaining spiritual things to the spiritual, but the natural man,” etc. This, it is interesting to note, is the first construction given of this passage in an English version. Wiclif renders: “Maken a liknesse of spiritual things to goostli men, for a besteli man persuyued not through thingis,” etc. Here, however, we have a new meaning to συγκρίνοντες, equivalent to: making spiritual things match with spiritual men. And is this the meaning of the Rhemish version: “comparing spiritual things to the spiritual?” This evidently is a literal transferring of the Vulgate “comparantes,” which is derived from “compare,” and has for its first meaning to match to pair. Calvin has still another interpretation: “adapting spiritual words to spiritual things,” which Beza snbstantially adopts. Here there is simply an inversion of ideas.]
[16]It is to be regretted that there are no adjectives in English which distinctly preserve the important distinctions observed in Scripture between body, soul, and spirit. Much obscurity oftentimes arises in consequence, and we fail to perceive the profound philosophy which underlies Paul’s doctrine. The adjective corresponding to the noun soul our translators render “natural.” This is not a bad translation if we bear in mind the equivocal use of the word nature: that it either may mean, the course of things as they are, or the course of things as they ought to be,” and that it is in the former sense the text takes it.]
[17]See also Owen, vol. iii. p. 257, where, basing his exposition on 1Co_15:44, he says: “The φνχικός (i.e.) the natural man, is one that bath all that is or can be derived from the first Adam, one endowed with a rational soul and who hath the use and exercise of nil his rational faculties.” He takes strong ground against those “who tell us that by this ‘natural man’ is intended ‘a man given up to his pleasures and guided by his brutish affections and no other.’ ” See his citations from Augustine and Chrysostom to the same effect. A profound analysis of this important subject, in all its connections, is given also in Müller on Sin, vol. i. p. 457, vol. ii. p. 367. Calvin: “The natural man (i.e.) not merely the man of gross passions, but whoever is taught only by his own faculties.” And Bengel quotes Ephraim Cyrus: “The Apostle calls men who live according to nature natural, φνχικον́ς, those who live contrary to nature, carnal, σαρκικον́ς; but those are spiritual, πνενματικοί, who even change their nature after the spirit.” An able disquisition on the “Tripartite Nature of Man,” in all its bearings on Christian doctrine has lately been issued by Rev. J. B. Heard, of England.]
[18][An evident misapprehension of the word “mystery,” as used in the text.]
[19]A mistake, as above.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6–16 Yet the Gospel preaching, so far from being at…
Yet the Gospel preaching, so far from being at variance with true "wisdom," is a wisdom infinitely higher than that of the wise of the world.
we speak--resuming "we" (preachers, I, Apollos, &c.) from "we preach" (Co1 1:28), only that here, "we speak" refers to something less public (compare Co1 2:7, Co1 2:13, "mystery . . . hidden") than "we preach," which is public. For "wisdom" here denotes not the whole of Christian doctrine, but its sublimer and deeper principles.
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perfect--Those matured in Christian experience and knowledge alone can understand the true superiority of the Christian wisdom which Paul preached. Distinguished not only from worldly and natural men, but also from babes, who though "in Christ" retain much that is "carnal" (Co1 3:1-2), and cannot therefore understand the deeper truths of Christianity (Co1 14:20; Phi 3:15; Heb 5:14). Paul does not mean by the "mystery" or "hidden wisdom" (Co1 2:7) some hidden tradition distinct from the Gospel (like the Church of Rome's disciplina arcani and doctrine of reserve), but the unfolding of the treasures of knowledge, once hidden in God's counsels, but now announced to all, which would be intelligently comprehended in proportion as the hearer's inner life became perfectly transformed into the image of Christ. Compare instances of such "mysteries," that is, deeper Christian truths, not preached at Paul's first coming to Corinth, when he confined himself to the fundamental elements (Co1 2:2), but now spoken to the "perfect" (Co1 15:51; Rom 11:25; Eph 3:5-6). "Perfect" is used not of absolute perfection, but relatively to "babes," or those less ripe in Christian growth (compare Phi 3:12, Phi 3:15, with Jo1 2:12-14). "God" (Co1 2:7) is opposed to the world, the apostles to "the princes [great and learned men] of this world" (Co1 2:8; compare Co1 1:20) [BENGEL].
come to naught--nothingness (Co1 1:28). They are transient, not immortal. Therefore, their wisdom is not real [BENGEL]. Rather, translate with ALFORD, "Which are being brought to naught," namely, by God's choosing the "things which are not (the weak and despised things of the Gospel), to bring to naught (the same verb as here) things that are" (Co1 1:28).
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 On vv6–16 6. Howbeit—Notwithstanding all this depreciation of sophia.
6. Howbeit—Notwithstanding all this depreciation of sophia.
Perfect— Not to the carnal or babes, (1Co_3:1,) but to the adult, (for such is the meaning of the word perfect) in Christ, and who are, therefore, called spiritual, 1Co_2:15, and who have attained a higher Christian life. The carnal, 1Co_3:3, are under influence of evil passions, 1Co_3:4, are to be rebuked for sin, 1Co_3:17, and threatened with judgment, 1Co_4:21. See note on 1Co_3:1. The privileges of the perfect are now described, 9-16.
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Princes… nought—Notes on 1Co_1:26-28.
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 On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 6. Howbeit we speak wisdom] Is there, then, no…
6. Howbeit we speak wisdom] Is there, then, no wisdom possible for a Christian? no sphere for the exercise of those faculties of the intellect which we received from God? the hearer may say. Certainly, says the Apostle, (for to say otherwise would be to contradict the Jewish Scriptures, especially Proverbs 1-9), but it must take as its starting-point the truths revealed by Christ, and it will be proportionate, not to the secular knowledge or intellectual power of the inquirer, but to his moral and spiritual attainments, that is, to his proficiency in the doctrine of Christ.
among them that are perfect] Perfect, i.e. full-grown, that which has reached its end. The great majority of the Corinthians were at present babes in Christ (ch. 1Co_3:1). Their notion of wisdom was earthly—argument, disputation, “free inquiry.”
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 On vv6–16 (6) Howbeit we speak wisdom.—Nevertheless, there is a wisdom…
(6) Howbeit we speak wisdom.—Nevertheless, there is a wisdom in the gospel. The assertion is in the Greek a more striking contrast to 1Co_2:4 than appears in the English. In the original (1Co_2:4) the word is “wisdom,” and not “man’s wisdom,” as in the English. Thus the statement here is a verbal contradiction of that in 1Co_2:4. In using the plural “we,” St. Paul implies that he did not stand alone among the Apostles in the method of his teaching.
Them that are perfect—i.e., those who are grown up, and not “babes” (1Co_3:1; see also 1Co_14:20). The “wisdom” of the gospel is that deep spiritual truth which only those whose spiritual natures have been trained and cultivated were capable of understanding. This “wisdom,” however, the Apostle had not taught the Corinthians; he had only taught them the alphabet of Christianity, for they were still but “babes”—they were still only “fleshly” (1Co_3:3). That the Apostle himself not only grasped the higher truths which he designates the “wisdom” of the gospel, but taught them gladly when there were hearers capable of appreciating them, is evident from many passages in the Epistles to the Romans, Colossians, and Ephesians, where he unfolds the “mysteries” of the gospel. (See Rom_11:25; Rom_16:25.)
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Yet not.—Better, a wisdom, however, not of this world.
That come to nought.—Better, which are being brought to nought, the reference here being, not to the inherent transitoriness of human wisdom and teachers, but to the fact that they are being brought to nought by God’s rejection of them, and His choice of the “weak” things as the means of spreading the gospel (1Co_1:28).
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 On vv6–16 Vers. 6-16. The apparent foolishness is the only wisdom.
Vers. 6-16. The apparent foolishness is the only wisdom.
Howbeit. In this passage he shows that in reality a crushing irony lay in his description of the gospel as being, in the world"s judgment, "weak" and "foolish." It was the highest wisdom, but it could only be understood by the perfect. Its apparent folly to the Corinthians was a proof of their blindness and incapacity. Among the perfect. The word either means (1) the mature, the full grown, as opposed to babes in Christ; (1Co_3:1) or (2) the fully initiated into the mysteries of godliness. (ejpoptai 2Pe_1:16) A wisdom not of this world; literally, of this seen. The word kosmos means the world in its material aspect; aeon is read for the world in its moral and intellectual aspect. "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God". (1Co_3:19) Nor of the rulers of this world. Some have taken these "rulers" to be the same as "the world rulers of this darkness," i.e. the evil spirits, in Eph_6:12 (Joh_13:27; Luk_22:53) Ignatius(?) seems to have understood it thus; for he adopted the strange notion that "the prince of this aeon" (i.e. Satan) had been deceived and frustrated by the incarnation from a virgin, and the death on the cross (Ignat., "Ad. Ephesians," 19). It means more probably "wisdom," as understood by Roman governors and Jewish Sanhedrists, who treated the Divine wisdom of the gospel with sovereign contempt. (Act_4:27) That who come to nought; literally, who are being done away with. Amid all the feebleness of the infant Church, St. Paul saw empires vanishing before it.
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Vers. 6, 7.
The gospel: its description, preachers, and hearers.
we speak wisdom," etc. In these words we have three things concerning the gospel.
I A DESCRIPTION OF ITS NATURE. Paul calls it the" wisdom of God." The wisdom of a system may be determined by two things.
1. By the character of the end it contemplates. A system which aims at an insignificant or unworthy end would scarcely be considered wise. What is the end the gospel aims at? The restoration in human souls of supreme
2. sympathy with God. The absence of this sympathy is the cause of all the crimes, evils, and sorrows that curse humanity.
1. By the fitness of the means it employs. Though a system contemplate a grand end, yet if the means it employs are unadapted, it could scarcely be called wise. What are the means Christianity employs to generate this love for God in unloving souls? Ask what the souls destitute of this love must have in order to get it, and our answer will be three things:
1. a personal manifestation of God;
2. a human manifestation of God;
3. a loving manifestation of God.
These things we think essential in the nature of the case, and these three things the gospel gives. It is, therefore, emphatically the "wisdom of God.
II A RULE FOR ITS PREACHERS. "We speak wisdom among them that are perfect." The apostle clearly means by the word "perfect" those in the Christian community who were more advanced in the knowledge of Christ, who stood most in contrast with those who are but" babes in Christ." One of these ideas may be attached to the language of the apostle. Either that he had an exoteric and esoteric doctrine for men, or that the most advanced Christian alone could discern the wisdom of his doctrine, or that he adapted his teaching to the capacity of his hearers. The last is the idea which I think we are to accept as the meaning. In another place he tells the Christians at Corinth that he had hitherto "fed them with milk, and not with meat, because they were not able to bear it" His conduct is, I take it, a rule for all true preaching.
III AN OBLIGATION UPON ITS HEARERS. If the higher aspects of gospel religion can only be appreciated by these who are "perfect," those who have attained to a high stage of Christian knowledge, it is manifestly their duty to advance beyond the "first principles of the oracles of God." This duty hearers owe
(1) to themselves;
(2) to their minister;
(3) to the system of Christ.
Vers. 6-13.
Contents of the revelation.
But the apostle claims "wisdom" for the gospel. The counterfeit has been exposed, and the genuine coin is now presented. And how does he proceed to verify his right to use a term that, in the estimation of all thinkers, commanded respect and admiration? He will honour the Word; he will restore its meaning and clear it of obscurity, nay, expand its significance and invest it with a charm not known before. Solomon had used his splendid intellect to give the word "wisdom" a wide currency among his people, and Socrates had laboured for the Greeks in a similar way, each of them an agent of Providence, to teach intellect its legitimate uses and rescue it from bondage to the senses. And there was that old world in which these men, under very different circumstances and sharing very unlike illumination, had taught their countrymen what they knew of wisdom, and this remnant of its former state the mere effigy of earlier grandeur stood confronting St. Paul at Corinth, with its conceits, prejudices, and animosities, arrayed most of all against him, because he resisted, so bravely its earthly arts and methods. From a far loftier standpoint than Greeks and Jews acknowledged, an infinite distance, indeed, between the disputants of either side, he preached wisdom that came from God a wisdom long hidden and hence called "a mystery," but now revealed in the fulness of the times. Yet, during the ages when this wisdom had been concealed, when eye and ear and the subtlest imagination had been unable to probe the secret, when human thought had exhausted itself in vain research, and had sunk at last into unnatural content with its own imbecility, through all this probation of intellect in the school of the senses, God had reserved "the hidden wisdom" for "our glory." The demonstration of man"s utter weakness had to be made, and Judaea and Greece had been chosen to make it. Rome"s task was to gather up the results and exhibit them in a solidified form; nor could there have been such a Rome as that of the Caesars unless the experiment with the "wisdom of this world," and of the "princes of this world," had proved a failure disastrous in the extreme. That time had passed. And now this "hidden wisdom" had been made known as a spiritual certainty, which was nothing less than a "demonstration of the Spirit and of power." "There is a spirit in man," and it "knoweth the things of a man." Who can gainsay its consciousness? Who can appeal from its testimony to anything higher in himself? So too the Spirit of God "searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God," and, furthermore, the Holy Spirit is given to our spirit so that we "might know the things that are freely given to us of God." Just before St. Paul had stated that the mystery, the hidden wisdom, had been held back for "our glory." And is not the truth of that statement now attested? Understand wherein "our glory" lies. It is in this man has a spirit, and God communicates his own secret intelligence unto it in the shape of a "demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Not wisdom alone, not only perception and reflection, but realization and assimilation in the attending form of power, the act of the recipient of grace not being the functional act of a faculty, but of the whole mind; "comparing spiritual things with spiritual the spirit of the renewed man most fully conscious of itself, because of the presence of God"s Spirit and the expansion thereby of its own consciousness, What a comparing power suddenly wakens! What an outreaching process begins! This capacity of comparing, beginning our development in childhood and continuing till old age, is one of the mind"s foremost activities. It is susceptible of more culture than any mental property. The inventive genius of poets and artists, the skill of the great novelist, the discriminating power of the sagacious statesman, are alike dependent on the diversified energy of comparison. Accuracy of judgment, depth of insight, breadth of sympathy so essential to largeness of view, are mainly due to this quality. Give it fair treatment, and three score and ten years witness its beautiful efflorescence. But its spiritual uses are its noblest uses. "Comparing spiritual things with spiritual" is its grandest office. When the human spirit receives the Divine Spirit, what a glorious enlargement, by reason of the superaddition of "the things of God," to the domain of thought, emotion, impulse! Calmly the mind works on; its laws never disturbed, its strength invigorated, its ideal of greatness opened in fuller radiance, its range and compass widened by a new horizon, a motive power brought to bear it never knew, and the repose of strength deepening evermore in the peace of Christ. L.
Vers. 6-16.
True wisdom.
I IS FOUND IN CHRISTIANITY. Paul has been speaking slightingly of" wisdom." Might lead some to suppose that Christianity was unwise, or at all events a one-sided system; that it was a religion for the heart only, and unfriendly to the intellect. The apostle guards against this damaging supposition by claiming true wisdom for Christianity. What he has been decrying is the ineffective wisdom of the world. Christianity is for the whole man. When a man is in a right condition, Christianity satisfies both his head and heart. Christianity is the sublimest philosophy. Its creed contains the profoundest truths, and under its influence we are placed on the high road to the solution of all that is mysterious in the universe. We are in alliance with, and under the teaching of, the Eternal Mind, which will at last lead us into all truth. An intricate piece of mechanism may baffle the intelligence of careful students, but those on terms of intimacy with the inventor may obtain from him a lucid and all satisfactory explanation. God is the great Inventor of the universe, and all its puzzles are very plain things to him. Those who are on terms of sacred intimacy with him not those who are estranged are likely to enter into the higher knowledge of things. Christianity places us in this all advantageous position. We are on the road of knowledge. One day we shall know even as we are known. Perhaps to the lost the disheartening puzzles and mysteries will continue evermore.
II ITS CONTENT. The knowledge of God"s redemptive work in its widest significance (ver. 7). Showing how man is restored to the Divine favour; his relation to God upon his recovery; the plan of his new life; shedding much light upon the Divine character and upon the Divine working in nature and in providence, since these are allied to and influenced by his working in grace; leading to the knowledge of many deep things of God (ver. 10), profound doctrines, etc. Man learns whence he came; the meaning of his present life; whither he goes; the cause of the disorders which he beholds in the world and realizes in himself; how this cause may be dealt with so far as he and others are concerned; how he and they may escape from its control and rise from it to God. Christianity solves now the mysteries attaching to practical moral and spiritual life. It shows man how to live. The Christ of Christianity could say, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men". (Joh_1:4) Life wisdom was the wisdom the world needed; it was found in Christianity. The wisdom of the world was powerless to answer the great question of life in this province it was mere folly. Christianity answered every question that really required an answer; and, in its marvellous plan of salvation, exhibited the sublimest wisdom, seeing that the Deity is hereby glorified and man"s rescue from sin, ennoblement, purification, and present and future well being are secured. When Paul expounded the doctrines of Christianity, he was not speaking folly, hut setting forth the truest and highest wisdom the world had ever listened to; and those who truly embraced Christianity became "wise," seeing that they then possessed true views of God and of human life, and moreover yielded themselves to the control of an influence which would make them practically wise in every day conduct. Let us realize that Christianity contains the profoundest wisdom. Men laugh at Christianity, not because it is foolish, but because they are. Let us guard against being laughed out of Christianity; for if we are, we shall be laughed out of wisdom and laughed into folly,
III ITS ORIGIN.
1. Not of this world. The true wisdom is heaven born, not earthborn. The world is at enmity with God, and omits him from its schemes of wisdom; no wonder that these develop into utter folly.
2. Not of the rulers of this world. The world"s great men did not produce Christianity; it sprang not from philosophers, rhetoricians, politicians, or conquerors. World powers tend to come to nought and their wisdom with them (ver. 6). The true wisdom revealed in Christianity never entered the heads of the wise men of the world (ver. 9); it was alien to their natures and notions. They were natural; it was supernatural.
3. God. It is true wisdom because it is Divine wisdom; its origin proves its quality. It springs from the Supreme Mind; it conveys his thoughts; it reveals his purposes and acts. In Christianity the finite mind runs upon the lines of the infinite. The human occupies the standpoint of the Divine. We see with God"s eyes.
4. Ancient. We speak of the wisdom of the ancients: this is the wisdom of the Ancient of days. Older than the worlds. Thought out by God in a past eternity. Conceived then for our well being. Wondrous thought! Here Divine love takes its place by the side of Divine wisdom. For us; and shall we miss it after all? Because fools call it folly, shall we? It is the eternal wisdom, prepared for us before time was. It comes to us down through the ages unshattered, unshaken, by the assaults of the centuries.
IV BY WHOM UNDERSTOOD. By the spiritual. It is spoken amongst "the perfect" (ver. 6), the spiritually minded, the matured. Every believer has some comprehension of it; but the more spiritual a man is the keener is his perception of its beauty and force, the greater his delight in it. The carnal understand it not. Once they were tested in its close and striking approach to them in the person of the Lord Jesus, but him they sought to destroy (ver. 8); and, could they have done so, they would have robbed the world of light and left it to interminable darkness. To the "natural man" the true wisdom is folly (ver. 14); as the ordinary wisdom of men might seem to creatures of lower grade. The spiritual man is exalted, and sees clearly what to the man beneath appears blurred, unsightly, puzzling, and undesirable. The carnal man has a valley view, and gazes through thick and distorting mists; the spiritual man has a mountaintop view, and the more spiritual he is the clearer is the atmosphere through which he looks. Many men who quarrel with Christianity should rather quarrel with themselves; the fault is not in it, but in them. We need alteration, not God"s revelation. We must not think lightly of Christianity because many reject it; an imbecile throws away bank notes. Honesty is good, but a thief will have none of it. A blind man has a poor opinion of pictures. When the mouth is out of condition, the sweetest meats are unsavoury. When God revealed the true wisdom in Christianity, he announced that it would be unappreciated by many, and explained why this would be so. (Rom_8:7)
V ITS POSSESSION AND EXERCISE BY THE SPIRITUAL. 1.
Possession.
(1) The spiritual possess the Spirit (vers. 10, 12, 16). This is the cause of their being spiritual. By nature we are all carnal the children of darkness and of wrath. Our carnality is dissipated by the coming of the Divine Spirit into our hearts. He is light, we are darkness; the light chases away the darkness. The Divine Spirit commences the work of grace in our hearts and carries it on to the end. How eagerly should we open our hearts to this Divine Guest! How heedful should we be to the command, "Quench not the Spirit"! (1Th_5:19) To quench the Spirit would be to involve ourselves again in the darkness from which we had escaped.
(2) The Splint reveals the true wisdom to the spiritual. We are taught of the Spirit. Here we tread the road of the highest and truest knowledge.
teacheth like him?" Here is the school for all Christians; only as they learn here do they learn truly. Men have boasted of their teachers. How many sat at the feet of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle! and one very familiar to us sat at the feet of Gamaliel. But what an honour is reserved for the children of God to have as their Teacher the Holy Spirit! A Teacher, too, always with us, for he dwells within us; and ever ready to instruct. How diligent should we be in learning the lesson set for us by this Teacher!
(3) The Spirit is qualified for this office. What a striking testimony to the divinity of the Holy Ghost we have in ver. 11! God is represented under the figure of a man; the Holy Ghost under the figure of the spirit of that man. How full the knowledge! how intimate the association! how indissoluble the connection! the two are one! We are taught by God, and who can teach God"s wisdom, the true wisdom, like God himself?
2. Exercise. The Spirit not only reveals wisdom to the spiritual, but makes them practically wise. As led by him, all their actions are wise; their foolish deeds are the fruits of refusing to be so led.
(1) They compare spiritual things with spiritual (ver. 13). This expression is obscure. Some have thought the meaning to be, comparing passages of Scripture together, all being recognized as inspired by the Spirit, and one being expected to shed light upon the other. And surely such "comparing" is wise. Single text men have a profound impression of their own wisdom, but no one else has. It has been well said that the best commentary on Scripture is Scripture. The Spirit has certainly made us wise when we have a special fondness for his own teaching. Men are apt to search everything before they search the Scriptures. We want more Bible students. Many know a good deal about the Bible, and very little of the Bible. The passage has been thought to mean, joining spiritual truths to spiritual (not worldly wise) words, thus causing it to continue the thought of the preceding clause upon which, by the way, adherents of the verbal inspiration theory lay much stress as supporting their views. As for ourselves, if we are wise, we shall certainly desire to be led by the Spirit, not only in thought, but in utterance. Preachers and teachers need to attend the Divine school of language. Words are a great power; they hinder or help according to their suitability. How many sermons of noble and useful thought have been thrown away because of unsuitable diction! How much truth has been suffocated under masses of verbiage! How much reproof, exhortation, incitement, has been made pointless by being expressed in carefully rounded periods! The edge has been taken off; the sword has been blunted. How often "eloquence has hidden Christ! And further, how often false doctrine has been fostered by carelessness of expression! We need a "wisdom of words;" though not that false wisdom of words which Paul so vigorously condemned. The modern Church requires a "gift of tongues," and must look for it whence the ancient gift came. The ministers of Christ should speak "as the Spirit gives them utterance.
(2) They form true judgments. In the degree in which they possess the true wisdom, according to the measure in which they are taught and led by the Divine Spirit. The reference is, no doubt, to matters moral and spiritual; but it must be remembered that all things in this life have a moral or spiritual bearing, and it is in this respect that the spiritual have true discernment. The truly spiritual man cannot be judged by the carnal The carnal cannot form a true estimate of spiritual matters, because these are spiritually discerned (ver. 14). So that the world"s judgment of the Christian, per se, need not distress him; it is the judgment of ignorance. (see 1Co_4:3) This true wisdom, so priceless, is within the reach of all. By believing in Christ we may become "wise unto salvation," and, under the Spirit"s teaching, wise for all time and for all eternity. H.
Vers. 6-10.
Spiritual wisdom.
While disclaiming a gospel based on the wisdom of men, Paul is careful to show that he does not disparage true wisdom. The facts of Christianity are the embodiments of great principles; the story of the cross has behind it the sublimest philosophy. Hence the gospel is at once milk for babes and meat for men; (1Co_3:2) and a wise teacher knows how to adapt his teaching to the capacities of his pupils. Among the newly converted, the apostle confined himself to a simple presentation of truth; but among the "perfect," or more advanced, he exhibited that truth in its higher relations. The Epistles to the Romans and the Ephesians are examples of the wisdom which he communicated to the full grown in the Christian Churches. The child and the philosopher find a common point of interest in Christ crucified.
I THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SPIRITUAL WISDOM. These are set forth negatively and positively.
1. It is not of this world. It is not a natural product springing out of earthly soil. It is not the invention of this world"s princes, the leaders of thought and the wielders of power, who control the ongoings of the age. They and their works belong to a state of things that is coming to nought. They have no place as such within the kingdom of God, and their wisdom shall perish with them. Christianity derived nothing from this source, and all attempts to improve upon it by human wisdom have been futile.
2. This wisdom is of God. The plan of salvation is a product of the Divine mind. At every step in it we mark his impress. Its conception as a whole, and all its details, speak of him. The characteristics here enumerated are in keeping with its Divine origin.
(1) It is "a mystery." This is a favourite word with Paul in describing the way of redemption. (cf 1Co_4:1; Eph_1:9 Eph_6:19, etc.) Some ancient religions had their so called mysteries, into which their votaries required to be initiated; and the wisdom of God so far resembles these that it needs a Divine preparation in order to understand it. Mere natural reason cannot receive it; it must be revealed to us by God himself.
(2) It "hath been hidden in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested. (Rom_16:25, Rom_16:26) God"s secret purpose of mercy has, been revealed, in the gospel. God has broken the silence and has spoken.
(3) It was "foreordained before the worlds ages." Redemption is a forethought, not an afterthought. Before the world was, before man was made, before all time, the thought of God was upon sinners, and he purposed to save them. Follow the broad river of salvation back to the cross of Christ, back through all the stages of its development, and you come at last to the spring of infinite love in the heart of God. This great tree, which in the course of the ages has grown into strength and sent out many branches, has its roots in the timeless past, and its fully ripened fruits in the eternal future. Who shall overturn it? (Rom_8:29, et seq.)
(4) It was foreordained "unto our glory." Here are the first and last links of the golden chain of redemption. Glory is the final completion of salvation, the full blown flower of grace. God gives all his sons a "crown of glory," and for this his wisdom and power in Christ are working. The Divine origin of evangelical wisdom is confirmed by the treatment it received at the hands of men. When the hidden mystery was revealed in Jesus Christ, they knew it not. Even the Lord of glory had no charm in their eyes beauty that they should desire him." The rulers of this world, the representatives of its wisdom and power, counted him worthy of a cross. And this has been the case whenever the gospel has encountered human wisdom. Acting on its principles, men have rejected Christianity and sought to crush it by force. Every day the same blindness is seen in those who do not embrace the Saviour, leading now to indifference and now to active hostility.
II HOW SPIRITUAL WISDOM IS REVEALED. To give point to the contrast he has been drawing out, Paul quotes freely from Isa_64:4, to show whence our knowledge of heavenly wisdom is derived. "Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him" is a beautiful description of the blessings of salvation pardon, peace, renewal, life eternal. All these have been made ready in the working out of the scheme of redemption. During the Old Testament period they were in course of preparation, the great plan step by step unfolding itself, till in the fulness of the time the Christ appeared, to turn shadow into substance, prophecy into history. And these prepared blessings are for them that love him; for they alone can receive them. Love has an eye to see, an ear to hear, a heart to embrace, the things of salvation; and to love they are revealed.
1. The knowledge of these things is not attained by the exercise of natural faculties.
(1) Not by sight: "Eye saw not." What wealth of beauty has God prepared for the eye! Sky and earth and sea teem with fair forms from the Creator"s hand. Much knowledge comes to us through this noblest of our senses; but spiritual things lie in a region where it cannot enter. They belong to the invisible. (2Co_4:18)
(2) Not by hearing: "Ear heard not." Many sweet sounds in nature has God prepared for the ear. We learn much through the medium of words, spoken or written; but spiritual knowledge does not come thus. "Faith cometh by hearing , but hearing alone does not produce faith. The Pharisees heard Jesus, but they did not believe on him. The men of Athens and Corinth heard Paul, but how few under stood his message! Thousands listen to the gospel again and again without entering into its real meaning.
(3) Not by thought: "And which entered not into the heart of man." Wonderful things have been conceived by man. Think of the progress he has made in wresting from Nature her secrets (the sciences), and of the triumphs of inventive genius (telegraph, telephone, electric light, spectroscope, etc.). Think of the speculations of philosophers in their efforts to understand all mysteries, the dreams of poets in creating new worlds of imagination. But here is something which science could not discover, nor genius invent, nor imagination create.
2. They are revealed to us by the Spirit of God. It is his office, as the Spirit of truth, to guide us into all the truth. (Joh_16:13) Spirit can be touched only by spirit. Our inner being lies open to the access of God, who can put his finger on its secret springs and move it as he pleases. The influence of one human mind upon another is similar to this. The process by which the things of God are made known to us is here called revelation. A twofold unveiling is requisite. The Holy Spirit presents the truth to our spirits, holds up before us Jesus Christ and his salvation; whilst at the same time he with draws the veil from the mind, touching the closed eye and opening the deaf ear. Of Lydia it is said, "Whose heart the Lord opened, to give heed unto the things which were spoken"; (Act_16:14) and Paul says, "It was the good pleasure of God to reveal his Son in me". (Gal_1:15, Gal_1:16) By this spiritual unveiling, and not by natural sense or reason, do the things of God become to us realities. B.
Who are the perfect?
The word is used in various senses in the New Testament. Our Lord applied it to God, saying, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." It is used to express what a Christian ought to he, and is pledged to be, and is striving to be, very much as the term "saints" is used in the Old Testament. Perfection, as presented by the apostles, is the idea, the aim, to be kept in the soul of the Christian, there to work as a perpetual inspiration to the seeking of perfection in the life. St. Paul presents the distinction between full grown men and little children. The full grown men are the perfect; they have reached the fulness, the standard of Christian manhood. St. John has a similar kind of expression; he addresses several classes the fathers, the young men, the little children; viewing these as different stages on the way to the perfect, that "perfect being kept as the thought and aim in the soul of each. In one passage we read, "That ye may be perfect and entire." The idea of "perfect comes out more plainly when it is set beside another word. A man "entire: is one who has preserved or regained a lost completeness, or one in whom no grace is wanting that ought to be found in a Christian man; but a man really "perfect is one who has attained his moral end, the standard according to which he was made; or one in whom no grace that ought to be found in a Christian is lacking, none are imperfect or weak, but all have reached a certain ripeness and maturity. St. Paul"s idea of the "perfect, to whom he could speak freely the "wisdom," the higher spiritual mysteries of the gospel, may be considered under three figures they are the whole, the sound, and the full grown. It was not likely that the young Church at Corinth could furnish very many answering to this description; for most of them the simpler instruction in the commonplaces of gospel truth was still needful.
I THE WHOLE; or the entire, the complete. Those having all the Christian faculties and graces, and all of them harmoniously cultured. The figure suggests the complete animal, with every limb well formed, and every organ efficiently working. Too often we find Christians who are incomplete; some sides of their natures are quite uncultivated, and some axe over cultivated; they are strong in some things, but weak in others. Just as we see in animals, there are Christian "monstrosities, one sided growths, deficiencies of some important members. Wholeness, perfectness, requires the due culture of the large as well as the small graces and powers. And such "completeness," when reached, is a most important witness to Christ"s grace, and appeal to men to seek their perfection through him.
II THE SOUND; that is, the healthy. It is not enough that the different parts are present, and fitted together in good and practically efficient proportions; all the parts must be free from disease and full of vitality. Perfection demands health as well as completeness. Christians often fail of the standard by reason of sin disease affecting various organs of their spiritual life, e.g. their prayer; their activity in Christian service; their watchfulness over personal habits, or their tendency to depression and doubt. St. John very tenderly writes to the well beloved Gains, "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
III THE FULL GROWN; or the developed and matured, who have quite passed out of the infantile or childish stage. This is probably the precise form of the figure as it was presented to the mind of the apostle. He elsewhere speaks of adapting his teachings to the uncultured and unspiritual, making them like milk that is suited to the nourishment of babes. He means to press on the Corinthians that, while it is quite right that they should be babes, and as such be fed with the simplicities of Christian doctrine, it is not right that they should remain babes; they should reach Christian manhood, and want man"s food of truth and mystery.
Impress how reasonable these views of the "perfect" are, and how contrasted with the vague and sentimental notions of an absolute freedom from sin, of which enthusiasts sometimes dream. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect,…
1Co_2:6-8
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world.
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The wisdom of God, as preached by the apostles of Christ
I. Explain the character here mentioned as necessary to discern true wisdom.
1. The apostle means by them that are perfect, such as have attained that measure of understanding which is necessary to comprehend the wise design of the whole, and perfect consistency of the several doctrines of Christianity.
2. Perfect men conveys the idea of minds unprejudiced, and free from the bias of irregular passions and affections; and this is indeed necessary to a just understanding of things: for truth can never appear as it is through a gross and fallacious medium.
3. A sincere and upright heart is another character essential to the perfect man. Wisdom flies the grasp of a dishonest mind; and, though it were possible he could find it, he would soon let it go; for the double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
II. Show the wisdom of God manifested in the redemption of man by Jesus Christ, according to the doctrine of His apostles.
1. We read clear characters of Divine wisdom in the discovery that the gospel has given man of his true state.
2. The wisdom of God, by the gospel, is visible in the glorious end it purposes and publishes to the world, that is, the salvation of sinners.
3. Our thoughts might trace with pleasure a vast variety of topics to illustrate the wisdom of God in the means He hath chosen to accomplish the mighty design of His mercy to mankind. To reconcile sinners to Himself, He hath chosen the fittest Mediator that could possibly be, His only begotten and well-beloved Son: the only one who could approach God without terror, and converse with men without pollution; who alone could make up the peace by laying His hand upon both. But another thought, which I cannot pass, to magnify the wisdom if God in the redemption of man discovered by the gospel, and that is to observe how it draws the greatest good from the greatest evil, taking occasion from sin to honour God, by raising man to a more exalted state.
4. The wisdom of God discovers itself in the honourable terms of mercy which the gospel hath established.
(1) Faith, or a firm persuasion of all that God hath recorded in His Word: the most plain and speedy way to truth, particularly in those matters which the bulk of mankind have not time or capacity to trace; and the only way in matters which the reason of man could not discover or comprehend.
(2) Repentance, or amendment of life, is another term of salvation wisely fixed, because without it the guilty can never be fit objects of mercy, or capable of happiness.
5. As it exceeds the power of man to work such a change of heart and life in himself, the wisdom of God is manifested in the direction and assistance He hath provided to bring His mighty purpose to effect.
(1) For his direction, He hath given him such a system of precepts, such an assemblage of illustrious examples, as the wisdom of man could never devise, as the history of mankind could never furnish.
(2) That men, seriously concerned to be saved, might not fall short of the end of their faith, the gospel hath done what no other law or doctrine so much as pretends. It hath assured us of sufficient help and ability to practise the duties it teacheth. And we may come boldly to the throne of grace, not only to obtain mercy, but to find grace to help in the time of need.
Conclusion:
1. The folly of infidels, who spend all their wit and learning to oppose the gospel of Christ, the plan of Divine wisdom, a system so friendly to virtue, which they pretend to patronise; a scheme so directly calculated to purify the hearts and refine the manners of mankind.
2. Since the gospel of Christ reveals the wise counsels of God for the salvation of men, it must be our duty, who preach it, to understand more and more of the unsearchable riches of Christ, that we may speak to others with greater success and better hope.
3. To the hearers of the gospel let me only say (Jam_1:21). (Wm. Beat.)
The contrast between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God
I. That is--
1. Changeable.
2. Presumptuous.
3. Fallible.
II. This is--
1. Divine.
2. Eternal.
3. Enjoyed by the perfect. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Wisdom, human and Divine
A blind tortoise lived in a well. Another tortoise, a native of the ocean, in its inland travels happened to tumble into this well. The blind one asked of his new comrade whence he came. From the sea. Hearing of the sea, he of the well swam round a little circle, and asked, Is the water of the ocean as large as this? Larger, replied he of the sea. The well tortoise then swam round two-thirds of the well, and asked if the sea was as big as that. Much larger than that, said the sea tortoise. Well, then, asked the blind tortoise, is the sea as large as this whole well?Larger, said the sea tortoise. If that is so, said the other, how big, then, is the sea? The sea tortoise replied, You having never seen any other water than that of your well, your capability of understanding is small. As to the ocean, though you spent many years in it, you would never be able to explore the half of it, nor to reach the limit, and it is utterly impossible to compare it with this well of yours. The tortoise replied, It is impossible that there can be a larger water than this well; you are simply praising up your native place in vain words.(J. Gilmour, M. A.)
The hidden wisdom
I. Is glorious in its nature.
1. Apprehensible only by the perfect.
2. Not of this world.
3. Divine in its origin.
4. Adapted to secure eternal happiness.
II. Is undiscoverable by human reason (1Co_2:8).
1. Proved by the ignorance and conduct of the princes of this world.
2. By the unsearchableness of the Divine purpose.
III. Is revealed by the Spirit of God (1Co_2:10).
1. He searcheth the deep things of God.
2. Communicates them to man.
IV. Can only be communicated by the help of the Spirit of God (1Co_2:13).
1. We must use the words of the Spirit.
2. He must create spiritual discernment.
V. Is realised and enjoyed by those who abe spiritually enlightened (1Co_2:15-16). Who--
1. Judge all things.
2. Are understood by none.
3. For God is unsearchable.
4. Have the mind of Christ. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Pauls view of spiritual wisdom
It is necessary to bear in mind that the wisdom with which the apostle was confronted was not the vigorous and lofty aspirations of Aristotle and Plato, but the hollow and worn-out sophistries of the last days of the Greek rhetoricians. Still, although a different turn would doubtless have been given to the whole argument if the living power of the gospel had been met not by a dead form, but by a power which, though of lower origin, and moving in a different sphere, was still living like itself, the general truth here urged remains the same. It is not by intellectual, but by moral and spiritual excellence, that the victories of the gospel have been achieved. Religion is not philosophy. But although the two spheres of intellect and Christianity are thus distinct, the apostle also wishes to show that there is in Christianity an element analogous to that by which intellectual wants are gratified; as though he had said, Although the Christian lives in a world of his own, yet in that world he is independent of all besides (what the philosophers would have called αὐταρκης), and the more fully his Christian stature is developed, he will find every craving of his nature the more completely satisfied. This element he here introduces under the names of wisdom, the Spirit, and solid food as distinct from milk. Taking into comparison the other passages (Joh_3:12; Joh_16:12; Heb_6:1), where a similar contrast is drawn between the higher and lower stages of Christian progress, the reference seems not to be to any exhibition of new doctrines, but to the deep spiritual intuitions which have always been regarded as the highest privilege of advanced Christian goodness. Thomas a Kempis says that a pure heart penetrates the secrets of heaven and hell; the beatific visionhas always been regarded as the consummation of our intellectual and moral perfection; and the analogy which is here drawn between the perceptions of the human intellect and those of the enlightened spirit might be illustrated abundantly from the biographies and devotions of good men in all ages. What this was in its highest or most extraordinary form may be seen in the account of St. Pauls rapture (2Co_12:1; 2Co_12:4) or of St. Johns (Rev_1:10; Rev_4:2). What it was in its more ordinary form may be seen in the whole atmosphere of St. Johns first Epistle, especially in the connection between love and knowledge which pervades it, and which is illustrated in chap. 13:8, 12 of this Epistle. See also Rom_11:33-34; Eph_1:8; Eph_1:17-18. This use of the passage--
I. Accords with the words employed. Wisdom, although suggested in the first instance by the contemporary philosophy, derives its religious sense chiefly from its use in Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus, where it is applied not to the gaining of new truths, theological or natural, but to a deeper practical insight into moral truth. This general sense is further limited in this passage by the indication of its subject, viz., the glory or blessedness of Christians, which in verses 8, 10 assumes such a prominence as to be almost identified with the wisdom itself that seeks it. And the faculty by which this wisdom is obtained is described emphatically as spiritual--the Spirit. The word is chosen partly from the frequent use of the phrase both in Greek and Hebrew, to express the intellect-chiefly as expressive of a direct connection with God. It is the inspiration which in Scripture is ascribed to every mental gift (Exo_31:3; Job_32:8, &c.), but which is specially applicable to the frame of mind (to use the modern form of speech founded on the same metaphor) breathes the atmosphere of heaven. The same sense also--
II. Agrees with the general context and occasion. When the apostle says, But to us God revealed it by His Spirit, the use of the first person, here as elsewhere, indicates that, though speaking of believers generally, he especially refers to his own experience. The consciousness of his spiritual gifts, especially of his spiritual insight into things invisible, was always present with him, and never more so than at the period of these two Epistles (1Co_14:18; 2Co_12:1; 2Co_12:4). And this tendency to dwell on the inward, as distinct from the outward blessings of the gospel--on the things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, as distinguished from the things which the eyes of the first apostles had seen and their ears had heard--was a peculiarity of St. Pauls teaching.
III. It best suits the circumstances of the Corinthian Christians, who had no especial need of new intellectual truths, nor, if they had, was there any especial impediment to their reception. But higher consciousness of the Divine presence; a knowledge deep and comprehensive, as being grounded in love; an insight into the spiritual world--were gifts which, on the one hand, the apostle might well long to give them, and which were yet, on the other, most alien to their state of faction and bitterness. How could they, who were absorbed in their contentions, enter into the atmosphere of peace which surrounds the throne of God? How could they, who were for ever insisting on particular names and party watchwords, enjoy the vision where all else is lost in the sense of communion with Christ? Controversy and party spirit may sharpen the natural faculties of shrewdness and disputation, but few sins more dim the spiritual faculty by which alone all things are rightly judged. These disputes and rivalries were of the flesh, no less than the sensual passions which are commonly so classed; and, if so, they have no place in heaven, they are directly opposed to the Spirit.(Dean Stanley.)
The wisdom of God as displayed in the gospel
I. In relation to its great end. The gospel is glad tidings of good. This good is--
1. Most suitable. God, who well knows our nature, has adapted His gifts to its wants.
2. Permanent. God has formed us to endure for ever; and the good which He has prepared for us is enduring also.
3. Divine. God has revealed Himself as the chief, the only satisfying good. He only can fill the powers of the soul--He only subsists through every changing scene. Let us admire the wisdom of God in proposing such a good to us; and let us recollect that such a good as is proposed to us in the gospel is to be found nowhere else.
II. In relation to the medium through which it is communicated.
1. The salvation of the race is made to turn on the death of an individual. This is above all the ideas of men; it never could enter the human mind that one man could be saved through the mediation of many, much less that all could be saved through the mediation of one. This was a stumbling-block to the Jews, &c. But this displays the highest wisdom. It is not an individual merely, but an individual fashioned expressly for the work. In the person of Christ we see a man with a person capable of suffering; and a Divine person, to make His sufferings meritorious. Had Christ been mere man, there could have been no merit; had He not been man, He could not have suffered. Had the question been asked, How shall man be just with God? it could not have been answered to eternity; but, in the fulness of time, God sent forth His Son, &c. The way to reconcile the justice and the mercy of God could never have been conceived but for the wisdom of God in fitting this God-man and sending Him to suffer for the sins of the world.
2. The wisdom appears in Christs defeating Satan by the very weapons which he employed to subvert His designs. By the Cross of Christ God has, as it were, reversed the order of things. In the first Adam man fell by aspiring to be as God; Jesus Christ, the second Adam, saves by condescending to become man. Man was indebted for his ruin to an evil spirit; he owes his recovery to a good Spirit. As man was ensnared by deceit and vanity and became miserable, he is liberated by truth and purity and becomes happy. The machinery of Satan is thus turned upon himself.
III. In the dispensation of the gospel the wisdom of God appears--
1. In the manner in which the truths of the gospel are taught. There are two modes of communicating instruction: the one is by facts, the other is by argument. The latter mode is generally considered the most efficient, and was most commonly employed by the ancients in their schools of learning. But many subtleties were resorted to in this mode of teaching. Learning was clothed in such a garb that it did not even attract the attention of the common people; they could not comprehend it, they could not be benefited by it. But God taught by facts. I came declaring unto you the testimony of God. Such were the facts the apostles asserted, that the truths they taught must stand or fall by those facts. And these facts are the very soul of the gospel. He who believes that the apostles spake truth, that Jesus Christ really came, and died, and rose again, and ascended, must also believe that He died for the salvation of sinners. And he who considers the number of these witnesses, their character, the harmony of their testimony, their miracles, and refuses to believe their testimony, will be found turning the gospel of the Saviour against himself. In all this the wisdom of Gods teachings appears above the teachings of the philosophers. They retired from the crowd; but heavenly wisdom is addressed to all, and is founded upon facts that all may understand.
2. In committing the dispensation of the gospel to men. They can enter into the states of those whom they address; they can comfort those that mourn by the same consolations with which they have been comforted; they can have access to them at all times. And not only was the dispensation of the gospel committed to men, but to men of obscure station and mean talents (1Co_1:26; 1Co_1:31). Had God employed the great and the wise to propagate His gospel, suspicions might have been raised in the minds of men that its success was to be ascribed to the elevated talent and station of its propagators. But the greatest effects have been produced more by piety than by talent. God will not divide His success with any human being. (R. Hall, M. A.)
The wisdom of the gospel
I. The wisdom of the gospel is--
1. Divine.
2. Transcendent.
3. Spiritual.
4. Practical.
II. Its reserved communication.
1. Among the perfect who believe, study, practise it.
2. Because they only can understand, appreciate, and profit by it. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The superlative wisdom of the gospel
is demonstrated--
I. By its origin. It proceeds--
1. Not from the wise and mighty of this world.
2. But from the hidden depths of the Godhead.
II. By its purpose, which is--
1. Not realised in time.
2. But in eternal glory.
III. By its essential mystery.
1. Unknown to the greatest in times past.
2. Undiscoverable by reason or sense.
IV. By the mode of its revelation.
1. Through the Spirit of God.
2. To the spirit of man. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The gospel
I. Its nature. Wisdom. The wisdom of a system may be determined--
1. By the character of the end it contemplates, A system which aims at an insignificant or unworthy end would scarcely be considered wise. The end the gospel aimed at was the restoration in human souls of supreme sympathy with God. This man lost in the Fall. Its absence is the cause of all the evils that curse the world; its restoration is the souls salvation. When the value and the influence of one soul are considered, is not this restoration, even in one case, a grand end? But the gospel aims at it in all souls.
2. By the fitness of the means it employs. Though a system contemplate a grand end, yet ii the means are unadapted it could scarcely be called wise. The means Christianity employs to generate this love for God are--
(1) A personal manifestation of God.
(2) A human manifestation of God. God in the form of an angel, e.g., would not awaken this affection. God in any form but mans would rather terrify and repel than inspire with confidence and hope.
(3) A loving manifestation of God. A manifestation of coldness or anger would never awaken love. Love alone begets love. These things are essential, and the gospel in Christ gives us a personal, human, loving manifestation of God. It is, therefore, emphatically the wisdom of God. It is Divine philosophy.
II. A rule for its preachers. We speak wisdom among them that are perfect. The word perfect has, some think, an allusion to the heathen mysteries. These mysteries were religious observances of a secret kind, open only to the initiated. The apostle clearly means by the word perfect those in the Christian community who were more advanced in the knowledge of Christ, who stood most in contrast with those who are but babes in Christ. One of three ideas may be attached to the language of the apostle. Either that he had an exoteric and esoteric doctrine for men, or that the most advanced Christian alone could discern the wisdom of his doctrine, or that he adapted his teaching to the capacity of his hearers. Which of these ideas are we to accept? Not the first, for Paul had not two messages, one for those who were without the Church, and one for those within--one for those who had high capacity, and one for those who had weak. His message to all was one--Gods love to the world through Christ. Not the second, for the man who was the least advanced in the Christian life must have some appreciation of the gospel. It was the last, namely, that he accommodated his teaching to the capacity of his hearers. In another place he tells the Christians at Corinth that he had hitherto fed them with milk, and not with meat, because they were not able to bear it. His conduct I take as a rule for all true preachers. The great saving facts of the gospel are few and simple, viz., that Christ died and rose again. But the doctrines connected with these facts and their relation to man, God, the universe, and phases of truth which can only be appreciated by those who have attained to certain stages in Christian knowledge and experience. The Great Teacher has said, I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
III. An Obligation Upon Its Hearers. If the higher aspects of gospel religion can only be appreciated by those who are perfect, those who have attained to a high stage of Christian knowledge, it is manifestly their duty to endeavour to advance beyond the first principles of the oracles of God. This duty hearers owe--
1. To themselves. The more knowledge man has of the wisdom of the gospel, the more power he has within him to purify his affections, exalt his character, and bless his being. The ignorant Christian is feeble, fickle, uninfluential.
2. To their minister. The man who has to minister to hearers who make no progress in Divine truth is limited in his thoughts to the mere rudimentals of the gospel. His motives for pulpit study weaken, and he becomes the commonplace utterer of platitudes.
3. To the system of Christ. The glorious system of Christ, which is the wisdom of God, will only grow in power, influence, and extent in the world as mens knowledge of it increases. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The gospel and the intellect
1. It must not be thought that the gospel despises wisdom. The gospel is itself wisdom, only it is Gods wisdom and net mans. We speak wisdom … yet a wisdom not of this world. There is nothing which some of us need more just now than a demonstration of this sort.
2. It is constantly assumed that the progress of knowledge has exploded the gospel; that the cultivated intellect leaves faith behind; that the triumph of reason means the overthrow of religion.
3. This is bad enough, but what is worse is that some Christian people countenance such a view. They look askance at science, believing it to be an enemy of the faith. Huxley and Tyndal are very terrible names to them. They are uncomfortable when they find their sons are beginning to question and to think. Reason has an unpleasing suggestion of The Age of Reason and the French Revolution. Then these good people quote, Not many wise are called, omitting the qualifying after the flesh.
4. Does Christ relinquish His claim on able men? No. The Christian religion is distinguished from all other religions in this, that it is an appeal to the reason, it calls into play all its powers and welcomes all the established results of science. It asks us to believe that we may know and understand. It calls for faith, but only that faith which reason allows or requires. And as the religion differs from other religions, so our Scriptures are distinguished by their constant eulogy of wisdom. The Bible is not only an appeal to the conscience; it is also an appeal to the brain. It is so constructed that it demands diligent study.
I. Who are the natural men nowadays who correspond to those who, in St. Pauls time, were incapable of receiving the things of the Spirit of God?
1. Those who tell us that matter can explain Spirit, that thought is a mere function of a grey, unthinking substance called the brain. Now they cannot receive the wisdom of the gospel--not because they are wiser than every one else, but because their wisdom is after the flesh, and a limited and foolish kind of wisdom. So far from being really wise, they do not even comprehend the question which agitates all earnest men, viz., the meaning of the spiritual world of which you are all more or less conscious. They say, The spiritual world is only part and parcel of the material world with which we are familiar. But if thought comes from brain, then it must be already a thinking brain from which it comes. If spirit is a mere outcome of matter, then it must be already a spiritual matter which produces it. Materialism cannot apprehend the wisdom of the gospel, for it has juggled away the very meaning of its terms--spiritual and material.
2. Those who speak as if the understanding could answer all the questions and meet all the needs of the human spirit. The understanding ,cannot comprehend God; therefore, say they, God does not exist. The understanding cannot explain the freedom of the will; therefore the will is not free. And not admitting the existence of God or the freedom of the will, moral responsibility is quickly discredited. On the same showing love and hope and self-sacrifice ought to be dismissed as chimeras--and perhaps by some they are. Now, such people cannot understand the wisdom of the gospel; not because they are so much cleverer than all the world, only because they have made a rather childish mistake, they have not noticed the limits within which the understanding is able to work; they are like men who should deny that the atmosphere exists because they cannot walk on it as the birds of the air can. The understanding is only a part of our being. Every man is more than understanding; he is also heart, conscience, will. The understanding is only absolute within its own sphere.
II. The wisdom which Paul speaks among the perfect is nothing less than the indwelling of the Spirit of God in the spirit of the Christian man. Just as consciousness alone can be aware of our own inward life, so Gods consciousness alone can understand the depths of God; and only by being made partakers of Gods consciousness can we search those depths.
1. Such an indwelling Spirit will rescue us from the two errors on which we have been reflecting: of materialism and the undue exaltation of the powers of our own understanding. This indwelling Spirit forces us to recognise that the world and life, as we see them, stand forth out of an encircling sea of mystery in which their origins and issues are hidden. It makes us glad to learn from science all about the process of development, but it clearly teaches us that in the last resort it is only in the will of God that either the world or the life upon it could have its birth and find its issue.
2. But this wisdom of the gospel is more than an admission of mystery and of our own limitations. It comes to us as the explanation of the mystery and as the aid of our limitations. The gospel gives us the key to creation, culminating in humanity, the Incarnate God-Man--Christ Jesus; the key to mans great dumb longing for God in Gods great uttered longing for man; the key to the heavy sorrow which oppresses the life of man, in the suffering of the God-man; the key to the dead weight of sin in the complete and voluntary sacrifice of Christ.
3. Nor is this all; in the mind of Christ, an intellect in which there meets the fullest understanding of God with the most tender sympathy for man, is really hidden a treasure of wisdom, a solution of all the questionings of our imperfect spirits. We have the mind of Christ. The humble and unlearned believer is made partaker of that wonderful mind, is allowed to share its workings, and so to apprehend the answer which it is always giving to the searchings of man.
III. Thus, as we reflect on Pauls pregnant sentences, we become aware that the gospel does not suppress wisdom; it is a wisdom far surpassing the wisdom of the world. It would be the greatest mistake to suppose that by the wisdom of 1Co_1:20-21; 1Co_1:26 Paul means the reason, or the exercise or products of reason. Indeed, there is not a little almost unintentional irony in his use of the word, and his comment on its rarity among the called. He speaks rather as one might speak to a number of miners who have just come out of the bowels of the earth into the broad light of day. You see your calling, my friends; not many torchbearers among you; not many people carry safety-lamps. No; and, indeed, under so glorious an expanse of sunlit blue there is not for the general purposes of life much need of them. We have had among us in this generation many brilliant natural men, highly gifted with wisdom after the flesh. There was the late Professor Clifford; there are Haeckel, Maudsley and Spencer. Have they thrown light upon the universal question? Why are we-intelligent spiritual beings, with conscience, will, and hearts--why are we here at all; whence coming, whither going? So far from superseding this wisdom of which Paul speaks, they fall very short of it. For the most part they modestly confess they have no answer to the question. But Paul has an explanation; and to spiritual minds reason is satisfied. (R. F. Horton, D. D.)
Christianity a system of wisdom and mystery
I. A system of consummate wisdom.
1. Devised by God.
2. Before the world began.
3. To our glory.
II. A system of mystery.
1. Hidden from the world.
2. Mysteriously communicated.
3. Among the perfect, who believe and act upon it. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Mystery revealed
I. The revelation of this mystery is made--Them that are perfect, i.e., those who have qualifications for receiving the wisdom.
1. Of course, we are told at once that this is the ignorant conceit of religious people. But why ignorant conceit? You do not speak of the ignorant conceit of the physician, or of the engineer, or of the chemist, or of the artist, or of the poet. Nay, does not the ignorant conceit belong rather to those who think that without faculty, without study, they can understand as well as the most assiduous and learned? A spiritual man must know that he has a faculty of spiritual discernment, just as a poet knows that he has a faculty of poetic discernment. And an unspiritual man should know this also, that he has not the spiritual faculty which the other man has. The great doctrine of the apostle is that in religious things right feeling, a right disposition, is the condition of all knowledge. If any man will do His will, &c. If you begin with an ignorant or unspiritual man by simply instructing his understanding in the hope that his heart will be affected, you have this difficulty--his hardened spiritual feeling will hinder understanding. We all know how difficult it is to make men understand what they do not like. All the training of a university will not make some men mathematicians. Again, if a man does not love truth and honesty, you cannot make him true and honest by expounding truth or honesty; you must begin by creating within him a feeling of truth and honesty; then you can easily teach him what things are true and honest. You must have a moral faculty for discerning moral things.
2. I think, therefore, we may see the profound wisdom of the gospel method. It begins by setting mans feeling right, producing in him a desire for holiness and a hatred of evil. The apostle tells us that this is the working of the Spirit of God. Take the little faults of men; you cannot reform a habit or a temper by merely teaching about it--nay, by a mere resolution of the will. The root of the thing is in the love for it, and you must begin by destroying this and cultivating love for good, or you will never succeed. You can cure a bad passion only by producing a good one; you can expel an evil affection only by the Spirit of God.
3. The way of the world in seeking religious truth and life is to investigate evidence, to exercise the reasoning faculties--just as you would investigate a problem of history, or demonstrate a proposition in mathematics or logic. Hence it is that so many learned philosophers and theologians never attain to Christianity; to them it is simply an intellectual study; they study it as they would study Buddhism or Mohammedanism. They can understand theology as a science of God; they can understand religion as a theory and a morality; but they have no conception of its spiritual character. The natural man discerneth not the things of the Spirit; they are discerned only by a spiritual faculty.
II. But then it is wisdom, even to the perfect, of a mysterious kind.
1. A man cannot reason out such a system as Gods salvation by Christ; it is discerned, as Paul says, by spiritual recognition, just as the poetry of a landscape cannot be discerned by a mere mathematician, by a mere engineer. Christianity is a revelation of facts, not a mere notion; Christ tells us what God is, that He is our Father in heaven; what God has done, that God has given His only begotten Son, because He so loved the world. Now these facts could not have been imagined, could not have been demonstrated by human reasoning. But when they are testified by God, when they are proved by evidence to be facts, then, if I am a perfect, i.e., a spiritual man, I at once feel that this revelation of God in Christ is true; that it is exactly suited to my personal need; it commends itself to every mans conscience in the sight of God. None of the princes of this world in thought or in politics have believed. They did not see the principles of truth, righteousness, and love that were manifested by Jesus Christ. Had they seen these as the man of spiritual feeling sees them, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Pilate had some philosophical knowledge; he felt even an interest in and wanted to save Christ. He talked with Him about His kingdom and about the truth; but Pilates corrupt selfishness, his political interests, permitted him to sentence a man to crucifixion--whom he knew to be innocent. There was the moral blindness in close conjunction with the philosophical intelligence.
2. Every teaching about God must have mystery pertaining to it that can never be revealed. This is true, indeed, of everything in human life. Let a man begin to think about God and about moral being, and how soon he comes to a blank wall that he cannot penetrate! Well, it is not that God purposely conceals things, it is that we cannot comprehend them. Instead of adding to the mystery of God, we understand more of God through Jesus Christ than we can on any other theory. And yet how much remains that is impenetrable! We are compelled to exclaim, Oh! the depths, &c. Who can fathom the mystery of the incarnation, of the atonement, of the quickening of spiritual life in men, &c. In the love of Christ, in the love of God, there are heights and depths that pass knowledge. And yet observe--
(1) That there are no mysterious things in Christianity. Christianity has no sacred rites, inscrutable puzzles, artificial concealments.
(2) That Christian mysteries are revealed to men so far as they are qualified to discern them. Nothing in Christianity is purposely concealed. The religious life of us men and women who have to do with the business of this great city, is never so powerfully moved, so loftily inspired, so practically directed, as when we simply stand before the great Christian doctrines.
(3) What a practical temper this gives to the religious life! What a passionate desire for God, for the study of God, in His Word, in prayer, in worship!
(4) The domain of the knowable is sufficient for all the practical needs of man. It is so in science. We eat without knowing the chemistry of food; we act without knowing the philosophy of motion. It is so in religion. I may, however ignorant of the higher mysteries of being, practically realise the life of virtue and piety. The way of life through Christ is plain. (H. Allon, D. D.)
The foundation of faith
In the verses which precede the text, St. Paul reviews the motives which actuated him, and the line of conduct he had pursued during his ministry at Corinth. When he went there, two courses were open to him. He might have aimed to gain personal adherents, merely using Christianity as a means of displaying the extraordinary powers of mind. Nor can we doubt that he would have been successful. The other course was for him to gain believers in the gospel he preached, and disciples for the Master whom he served. Without the least hesitation, he chose the latter as his aim. Self was studiously kept in the background. This faithful man could say, with perfect sincerity, We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; whilst he assigns this as his motive, That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Now the steadfast pursuance of this plan, by St. Paul and his colleagues, gave a marked feature to the early Churches. I refer to their singular and rapidly acquired independence of apostolic care. Scarcely was a community of believers gathered, although it might be in the midst of some heathen city, before the little flock were left to themselves, to be instructed by their native teachers, and to preserve their fidelity by mutual oversight. Indeed, but for this, the progress of Christianity could not have been so rapid as it was. Its chief original agents were very few, and if they had been compelled to remain long in one place, only a much smaller portion of the world could have been covered by their labours. Here, in the text, we have described two foundations on which our faith may rest--the wisdom of men, and the power of God, and we have to make our election between them.
I. The human foundation. The wisdom of men.
1. The personal influence of good and wise men in the Christian Church is an ordinance of God, and when kept within proper limits, is an incalculable blessing. It is perfectly right, as well as perfectly natural, that any man who is endowed with eminent gifts, added to sincere piety and fervent earnestness, should win the respect, affection, and confidence of brethren. They involuntarily place themselves under his direction, taking him as their guide and teacher. He becomes a high authority in their estimation. So far all is lawful; but go beyond this, and the most serious consequences follow. If any man was ever entitled to the kind of authority I have described, it was St. Paul, who not only had these personal excellences, but possessed supernatural inspiration. Yet hear how he limits that authority, and indicates a point where it would fail him--Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Again, Be ye followers of me; but observe, he adds the qualification, even as I also am of Christ. These limits to human influence, however, are commonly disregarded. There are human teachers who are not only allowed to be influential, but omnipotent; not only good, but perfect; not only wise, but infallible. Respect for them passes into blind obedience; affection into something very much like idolatry. Their utterances are regarded as above criticism. Whatever they say is taken as gospel; not because of its intrinsic truth and reasonableness, but because they say it. This is clearly a form of the evil which St. Paul so earnestly deprecated when he wrote, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom ,of men.
2. This undue influence of men in matters of religion is not only exercised through their oral teaching, and over those who are personally acquainted with them, but also through their writings. No man who is sincerely anxious about his spiritual culture, and is glad of light, from any quarter, upon the most important of all subjects, can afford to neglect the stores of Christian thought which have come down to us as precious legacies from the past, or which are still issuing from the press. And yet the teachers, however wise and good, who speak to us through their books, ought to be listened to with the same cautious reserve as those who address us in an audible voice. They ought to be treated as helps, not as final authorities. Is it not a very common thing to hear the inquiry, not What saith the Scriptures? but, What say the fathers? What saith St. Chrysostom? What saith St. Augustine? And the answer obtained is considered as final. The opinions of commentators, the systems of theologians, and even the beautiful dreams of Christian poets, may be useful to us, but to take our religion from them alone is to let our faith stand in the wisdom of men.
3. A faith which rests on such a foundation must of necessity be insecure. If men have given us our faith, men can take it away from us. What one has built up, another can destroy. Are there not multitudes continually undergoing such changes of religious belief? They are ever passing from one teacher to another; the last and newest is sure to have them. No anchorage, no stability for them! Staggered by each new scientific theory, which appears hostile to religion, or captivated by the last vagary of superstition, they are children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men. But insecurity of belief is not the only evil in their case. The life they live is as unstable as the faith they hold. Character degenerates, and every semblance of piety disappears, when the influence which gave birth to it is withdrawn.
II. The Divine foundation. The power of God. We recognise this phrase as one which the apostle uses elsewhere. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation. In the previous chapter he had said--We preach Christ crucified.., the power of God. When, therefore, he desires that faith should stand in the power of God, he means that it should rest upon the gospel, and especially upon Christ, who is the gospels central Object. This grand revelation has been made to the world once for all. It is open to universal, to individual inspection. We may be very thankful to another for telling us what he sees in Christ. For if he is a man of eminent piety, who has looked long and earnestly, with an eye whose perceptions love has quickened, and holiness has purified, he may point out to us some features which would otherwise have escaped our dimmer vision. But what he tells us should rather stimulate than supersede our personal observation. All such helps should be like the guide books which a traveller takes with him when he ascends a mountain. If he did not consult them now and then, he might miss some points of interest in the panorama which lies around him. But then he does not allow them to prevent him from using his own eyes. It is evident, however, that St. Paul meant something more than the contact of individual minds with Divine truth, when he speaks of faith standing in the power of God. The power of God can never give stability to faith until it actually enters the soul and exerts its mighty influence there; until Christianity ceases to be a mere set of opinions, and becomes a vital experience. It may seem very satisfactory to say--my religion is not to be found in the teaching or writings of men, it is contained between the covers of the Bible. But if your religion is shut up there it is a worthless thing. It is not the perception, but the entrance of Gods Word that giveth light, and heat, and life, to our dark, cold, dead nature. It is when the power of God brings peace to our conscience, and submission to our wayward will, and purity to our sinful heart, that it makes our faith a strong and indestructible thing. (B. Bird.)
Obedience begetting faith
According to Scriptures there are two remedies for unbelief; one the way of argument, the other the way of experiment. In these two ways it is possible to establish the great doctrines of revelation. A careful investigation of the Evidences of Christianity is exceedingly helpful to some persons. But it is well to remember that historical knowledge is one thing, belief another. They may quicken the intellect; they do not necessarily enkindle devotion in the soul. Again, Christs Church has had a noble history--one with which we do well to acquaint ourselves. Still, a knowledge of its sufferings, sorrows, trials, losses, triumphs, and glories does not necessarily produce faith. There are some, not a few, who endeavour by a process of speculation to strengthen their faith in God and in His revealed will. It is admitted that in matters of religious faith reason should be satisfied. Intelligent service is what our Heavenly Father demands. Commending most heartily the application of reason to the solution of questions connected with religion, we are nevertheless justified in severely condemning the spirit of rationalism. Ratienslistic speculation has accomplished but little good in the world. Some persons are disposed to view truth in abstract form. They endeavour to comprehend what is, always has been, and for ever must remain incomprehensible to finite minds. Argument, it is true, has its place in the defence of Scripture. It establishes Gods people in the truth. It by no means follows, however, that arguments, however potent they may be, will convince the prejudiced. Proof is not conviction. The establishment of the facts is not the removal of antagonism to the facts. Moreover, the way of argument, when exhaustive, is exceedingly laborious. We would find it quite inconvenient to believe nothing till we had established it by unanswerable arguments. May I believe nothing in astronomy, nothing in geology, nothing in chemistry until I have possessed myself of all the arguments bearing upon the subjects? Must I analyse every species of food before eating anything? Supposing I have the ability to do so, will I ever have the opportunity of examining critically all the arguments bearing upon Christianity? There assuredly must be some more direct method of establishing the truth. Yes, says Christ, If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of Myself. Yes, says Paul, Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Stand in the wisdom of men. How could our faith rest secure on such a tottering foundation? Mans wisdom is folly. Look at the seething whirlpool of opinions, philosophies and elaborate systems, all driven by the breath of some new metaphysical nondescript into the gurgling vortex of endless oblivion. What metaphysical truth has been so firmly established that no defiant caviller has presumed to call it in question? Shall we found our faith on this ever-heaving ocean? No. Do and know. Stand in the power of God and live. There is then a more direct way of securing faith than by the toilsome process of argumentation. The seeker after truth may experiment. He may test God. He may test doctrine. He may test religion. He may test prayer. He may test piety. He may do and know. Does he lack faith in the efficacy of Christs merit? Let him come to Christ. They who have cordially accepted the Saviour have never questioned His saving ability. Do any question the preciousness of Jesus love? Oh taste and see that the Lord is gracious. God, then, has seen fit to allow His system of faith to be tested by actual experiment. He invites us, commands us to try it in our own experiences. In this age the inductive method of philosophising is universally accepted. Scientific truths are established by a carefully conducted series of experiments, not by a priori reasoning. The ancient philosophers endeavoured to determine the facts of each science by reasoning from first principles. Cease your blind reasoning, said Bacon. Sit as learners at the feet of Nature and listen to what she has to say. Gather up the facts. Arrange them logically. Form generalisations. Interpret nature. As a result of the adoption of this method, the physical sciences have made gigantic strides in these last days. To most of us, therefore--for we insensibly imbibe the spirit of the age--it is a question of no small moment: Are the doctrines of revealed religion open to experiment? We answer, Yes, we may make a scientific investigation of the truths we are asked to adopt. In adopting this method of establishing truth, however, it should be borne in mind that we have no right to make our own selection of the tests. I have no right to say, If there is a sovereign ruler of the universe, let Him speak to me in an audible voice from heaven. Are we justified in imitating the cavillers of the Saviours time and exclaiming, We would see a sign? To such no sign shall be given. Though there are experiments that would be irreverent, there are others that are entirely proper. (J. S. Van Dyke, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv6–16 6–9. Howbeit we speak wisdom. “We” refers to Paul…
6–9. Howbeit we speak wisdom. “We” refers to Paul and his fellow-preachers. Though the gospel abjured carnal wisdom, yet it has a wisdom of its own, a divine wisdom, which is imparted to and recognized by those who have become full-grown Christians. “The perfect” are the full-grown in Christ, instead of babes. Babes must be fed on milk, but the grown can endure strong meat. For such there is a depth of wisdom revealed in the gospel, but not the wisdom of this world. Princes of this world. Leading men of the Jews, Greeks and Romans. They had not learned this divine wisdom.
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 On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 6. “We speak wisdom among the perfect.” “Perfect” is…
6. “We speak wisdom among the perfect.” “Perfect” is from the Latin per, “complete,” and facio, “make.” Hence it simply means “made complete,” i. e., Christ has done a complete work in you. What is the work of Christ?
“He came to destroy the works of the devil” (1Jn 3:8).
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All sin is the work of the devil. Therefore He came to destroy all sin. Since He is omnipotent, He is certainly abundantly able to do it. When that work is done in your heart, then you are what the Bible calls a perfect Christian. Perhaps you are but a babe in Christ, and have much to learn before you progress into spiritual adult age. “And not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are destined to come to naught.” This belongs to the Satanic ages of the world, which began with the Fall and will wind up with the Tribulation.
“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit” (Dan 7:9).
In this and many other prophecies in the Old and New Testaments we see a corroboration of the Pauline prediction in this verse, setting forth the fact that the dominion of the world’s rulers, both political and ecclesiastical, is simply conterminous with Satan’s reign upon the earth. He is the god of this world (2Co 4:4), ruling it through his human subordinates. When he is cast out (Revelation 20) all of his Myrmidons will go out simultaneously with the toppling and falling of all human thrones, amid the awful retributive judgments of the Ancient of days, who will come down in the great Tribulation, shaking every usurper from His throne (Act 2:35), and thus preparing all the world for the coronation of His Son, King of kings and Lord of lords.
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 On vv6–16 We [as an inspired apostle] speak wisdom, however, among…
We [as an inspired apostle] speak wisdom, however, among them that are fullgrown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought [Paul here begins to correct the impression which his semi-ironical language about the foolishness of God might have made, and proceeds to show that the gospel is the highest wisdom--a wisdom which he had not yet been able to impart to the Corinthians because it could only be comprehended by mature Christians, and so was above the receptive powers of the Corinthians who as yet were mere babes in Christ ( 1Co_3:1 ). But if the Corinthians who were developing in spiritual manhood could not receive this heavenly wisdom, much less could the world-rulers who were moving backward, crab-fashion, into nothingness, in accordance with the plan of God outlined in the last section. Thus the apostle reveals the startling fact that progression in philosophical and political worldliness is retrogression as to the kingdom of God, so that the Corinthians in seeking to better their religious condition by bringing these worldly elements into the church, were not only retarding their spiritual growth, but were actually associating themselves with those who were shrinking and shriveling toward the vanishing point]:
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 12, 13, 14 i.e. full grown. (See Scofield "Mat 5:48").
perfect
i.e. full grown. (See Scofield "Mat 5:48").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv6, 10, 13 The Gospel itself true wisdom:
The Gospel itself true wisdom:
v. 6. Howbeit, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to naught;
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v. 7. but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory,
v. 8. which none of the princes of this world knew; for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.
v. 9. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.
The apostle had said that his Gospel is foolishness according to the standard of this world, but all the while he makes it felt that it is wisdom, God’s wisdom: Yet wisdom it is that we speak of among the full-grown, among the mature, that are qualified to understand it, the believers. Let other people decry and condemn the preaching of the Cross as unreasonable, utter nonsense, those whose hearts and minds the Spirit has prepared through faith are able to comprehend its unspeakable wisdom. But it is not a wisdom of this transitory world nor of the rulers of this world that pass away. The wisdom of the Gospel has nothing in common with the results of philosophic study and research, as they are so widely heralded. All the greatness of man’s intellectual achievements will share the fate of the secular rulers of this world: they will vanish, their wisdom and power will come to naught. It is rather so that we, Paul and all true preachers of the Gospel, speak the wisdom of God in a mystery; the message of God is a divine secret which only the Spirit of God can reveal, Eph 3:3, which remains hidden and incomprehensible for human reason until God opens up its glories and its power. It is this wisdom which God predetermined before the ages, before the foundation of the world and the beginning of time unto our glory. The entire plan of salvation was determined upon by God from eternity, and its final aim and object, as put into execution by Jesus Christ, is the final glory which shall be revealed to the believers in heaven. Of that glory we have a foretaste and guarantee in the blessings of the Gospel at the present time.
The Gospel-message with all its glorious benefits is intended for all men without exception, but it is realized only in the believers, as Paul shows by the contrast: Which wisdom none of the rulers of this present, transitory world knew; for if they had known it, if they had a proper understanding and conception of its glories, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. If the leaders of the Jews and Pilate had any inkling of the Gospel-truth, of the message of salvation as it was embodied in Jesus Christ; if they had understood and realized the object of His work; if they had been conscious of the splendor clothing the Lord Jesus as He stood before them, then they would not have condemned Him to death on the cross. Note that the appellation "Lord of Glory" is here applied to Christ according to His human nature. "Therefore the Son of God truly suffered for us, however, according to the property of His human nature, which He assumed into the unity of His divine person and made His own, that He might be able to suffer and be our High Priest for our reconciliation with God. " "Therefore that God was crucified and died who became man; not the separate God, but the God united with the humanity; not according to His deity, but according to the human nature which He assumed."
The fact that this wisdom of the Gospel is absolutely beyond the comprehension and understanding of natural man, no matter what learning he has acquired, no matter what position he holds, is substantiated by a passage from the Old Testament: What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not come into the heart of man, that God has prepared for them that love Him, Isa 64:4. The passage is taken from the Advent call and Messianic prophecy which attempts to picture the inexpressible glory of the promised salvation. No man’s senses can conceive of, no man’s mind and heart can comprehend, the glory, the unspeakable bliss which is contained in the proclamation of redemption as it is revealed to those whose heart has received the gift of faith and is turned toward God in fervent love. It is a magnificence of blessing, undreamed of in former ages, unknown to all men by nature, which comes all prepared to the believers. Salvation is not completed by the faith of man, but its wonderful assurances are appropriated. "Not as though we had loved God before did God in His eternal wisdom of love prepare salvation for us, but because He out of pure grace has prepared that of which our reason has no conception or faintest intimation, therefore His love toward us through the evangelical call has kindled love in our believing hearts, and as such that love Him in the obedience of His Word has He revealed Himself and His gifts, the full preparation of our heritage, to us through His Spirit."
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 8, 10, 12, 14 General Information:
General Information:
Paul interrupts his main argument to explain what he means by "wisdom" and to whom he desires to speak.
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Now we do speak
The word "Now" is used here to mark a break in the main teaching. Paul begins to explain that true wisdom is God's wisdom.
speak wisdom
The abstract noun "wisdom" can be stated as the adjective, "wise." AT: "speak wise words" or "speak a wise message" (See: Abstract Nouns)
the mature
"mature believers"
before the ages
"before God created anything"
for our glory
"in order to ensure our future glory"
translationWords
wise
world
rule
age
mystery
predestine
glory
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 2:6-16 Paul emphasizes God’s wisdom in contrast to the…
2:6-16 Paul emphasizes God’s wisdom in contrast to the world’s wisdom. Real wisdom is not mere human wisdom but the wisdom of the Spirit, expressed in the so-called “foolishness” of the Good News (see 1:20-25).
2:6 Only the spiritually mature will recognize God’s wisdom; many of the Corinthians would have been unable to recognize it (see 3:1-3). • The rulers of this world (see also 2:8) . . . are soon forgotten because Christ now rules—his enemies have been defeated by his death on the cross (see 15:24-25; Col 2:15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.