Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 Corinthians
Chapter 2: Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified
1 Corinthians 2 unfolds the true wisdom of God over against the wisdom of the world. Paul came to Corinth not with 'excellency of speech' but resolved 'not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified,' preaching 'in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,' that their faith 'should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.' The gospel is 'the wisdom of God in a mystery,' hidden from the proud, which 'none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.' The things God has prepared, which 'eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,' He 'hath revealed... unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.' The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit, 'for they are foolishness unto him,' but the spiritual man discerns them, 'for... we have the mind of Christ.' The chapter shows us the cross as the wisdom and power of God, the Spirit who reveals what no human wisdom could find, and the mind of Christ given to His own.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians chapter 2. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Paul preaches Christ crucified as the wisdom and power of God, and shows that the Spirit alone reveals the deep things of God. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified
Paul preaches the cross, not human eloquence.
The Power of God
Faith rests not on man's wisdom but God's power.
The Lord of Glory
The princes crucified the Lord of glory, unknowing.
The Deep Things of God
The Spirit reveals what no human wisdom could find.
They Would Not Have Crucified the Lord of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:1-8)
Paul preaches Christ crucified in the power of the Spirit, the hidden wisdom of God unknown to the proud.
We Speak the Wisdom of God in a Mystery
"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 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: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
Word Study
"the Lord of glory," Greek ho Kurios tes doxes (ὁ Κύριος τῆς δόξης). The phrase means the Lord to whom glory belongs, the Lord who is the very possessor and radiance of glory. Paul says the princes of this world, "had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." This is a title of God, for the "God of glory" appeared to Abraham, and the glory is the LORD's own; yet Paul applies it to the crucified Jesus. He who hung on the cross is "the Lord of glory", the one God in flesh, and to crucify Him was to crucify the Lord of glory Himself. Here is the mystery hidden from the proud: the despised, crucified man was the Lord of glory, God manifest, and the rulers who condemned Him as a criminal were slaying their own Creator. The deity of Christ shines in this title; the Jesus who was crucified is the Lord of glory, and by that cross the hidden wisdom of God accomplished our salvation.
Explanation
Paul recalls that he came to Corinth not with "excellency of speech" but with a deliberate single focus: "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." He preached "in weakness, and in fear," so that their faith would rest "not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." There is a true wisdom, but it is God's hidden wisdom, "which none of the princes of this world knew" — for had they known it, "they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
Gospel Focus
Paul reminds the Corinthians, so enamored of eloquence and human wisdom, that he came to them "not with excellency of speech or of wisdom," but with one determined focus: "not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." The cross was the whole of his message. And he came "in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling," not with polished rhetoric but with plain preaching "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." His deliberate aim was that their faith "should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." Faith built on clever arguments is as shaky as the arguments; faith built on the power of God, demonstrated in changed lives, stands firm. Paul does not despise wisdom, "we speak wisdom among them that are perfect" (the mature), but it is not "the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought." Worldly wisdom and worldly rulers are passing away. Instead, "we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory." The gospel is God's own wisdom, planned before creation, hidden from human discovery, and now revealed. Its hiddenness is proven by the greatest event in history: "Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." The rulers who condemned Jesus, had they perceived who He truly was and what His death would accomplish, would never have crucified Him. They thought they were destroying a troublesome man; in truth they were crucifying "the Lord of glory," God manifest in flesh, and by that very act they unwittingly fulfilled God's saving plan. Here the deity of Christ and the wisdom of the cross meet: the crucified One is the Lord of glory, and His cross, which looked like defeat and folly, was the hidden wisdom of God for our salvation. The message that saves is not human wisdom but Christ crucified, the Lord of glory, preached in the power of the Spirit.
We Have the Mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:9-16)
What no human wisdom could find, the Spirit reveals to those who are His, giving them the mind of Christ.
The Spirit Searcheth All Things, the Deep Things of God
"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. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now 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. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But 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. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."
Word Study
"natural," Greek psuchikos (ψυχικός). The word means belonging to the psuche, the soul or natural life; it describes the unregenerate person who lives by natural faculties alone, without the Spirit of God. "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." The natural man is not merely uninformed but incapable; the things of God are "spiritually discerned," perceived only by those in whom the Spirit dwells. Human intellect, however brilliant, cannot reach the deep things of God, for they must be revealed by the Spirit and received by the spiritually reborn. This is why the gospel seems foolish to the wise of this world; they lack the organ to perceive it. But the one born of the Spirit, "he that is spiritual," discerns the things of God, for he has received "the spirit which is of God," and, wonder of wonders, "we have the mind of Christ."
Explanation
The things God has prepared, which "eye hath not seen," He "hath revealed... unto us by his Spirit," who alone "searcheth... the deep things of God." So spiritual truth requires a spiritual faculty: "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God... neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." The unbeliever cannot reason his way into what only the Spirit can teach. But the believer, indwelt by that Spirit, "hath the mind of Christ" — an inside understanding the world cannot reach.
Gospel Focus
Paul now explains why the wisdom of God is hidden from the world yet known to believers. The things God has prepared for those who love Him are beyond all natural discovery: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man." No amount of human investigation, sight, hearing, or reasoning, could uncover them. "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." What man cannot find out, the Spirit reveals, for the Spirit knows even the deep things of God. Paul illustrates: just as only a man's own spirit knows his inmost thoughts, so "the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." Only God can reveal God, and He does so by His Spirit. And believers have received that very Spirit: "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." The Spirit's ministry is to make known to us the gifts of God's grace. And the apostles spoke these things "not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth", their message and its very words were Spirit-taught, a testimony to the inspiration of the apostolic word. Then Paul draws the sharp line between two kinds of people. "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." The unregenerate person, living by natural faculties alone, is not merely ignorant of the things of God but incapable of receiving them; to him the gospel is foolishness, for he lacks the Spirit by whom alone they are perceived. "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things", the one indwelt by the Spirit discerns spiritual realities. And Paul closes with a breathtaking claim: quoting Isaiah's question, "who hath known the mind of the Lord?", he answers, "But we have the mind of Christ." The believer, through the indwelling Spirit, is given to think God's thoughts after Him, to perceive the truth as Christ perceives it. What the wisest of the world cannot grasp, the humblest Spirit-filled believer knows, for he has the Spirit of God and the mind of Christ. So the deep things of God are not reached by human wisdom but revealed by the Spirit; the natural man cannot receive them, but the spiritual man discerns them; and the people of God, indwelt by His Spirit, have the very mind of Christ.
Chapter 2 in Review
1 Corinthians 2 sets the wisdom of God against the wisdom of the world. Paul came preaching "Jesus Christ, and him crucified," not with eloquence but "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power," that their faith might rest "in the power of God." The gospel is "the wisdom of God in a mystery," hidden from the proud, "which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." What no eye has seen nor mind conceived, "God hath revealed... unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." The natural man cannot receive these things, "for they are foolishness unto him," but the spiritual man discerns them, "for... we have the mind of Christ."
For the Apostolic reader this chapter humbles human pride and exalts the cross and the Spirit. The message that saves is not clever argument but Christ crucified, and true faith rests not on the shifting wisdom of men but on the unchanging power of God. The cross, which looked like folly and defeat, was God's hidden wisdom, planned before the world, so far beyond human discovery that the very rulers who condemned Jesus did not know they were crucifying "the Lord of glory", God manifest in the flesh, whose deity shines in that title. And the deep things of God are not attained by the intellect but revealed by the Spirit, for only God can reveal God. The natural man, however learned, cannot receive them, for they are spiritually discerned; but the one born of the Spirit knows the things freely given us of God, discerns spiritual realities, and, most wonderfully, "we have the mind of Christ." So do not glory in human wisdom or eloquence, but in Christ crucified, the Lord of glory; rest your faith on the power of God; and thank God for the Spirit who reveals what no wisdom could find and gives His people the mind of Christ. The cross is the wisdom and power of God, and the Spirit is the revealer of His deep things.
- The message that saves is "Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (2:2).
- Faith must rest on the power of God, not the wisdom of men (2:5).
- The crucified One is "the Lord of glory," God manifest in flesh (2:8).
- Only the Spirit reveals the deep things of God, for only God knows God (2:10-11).
- The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit; they are spiritually discerned (2:14).
- The Spirit-filled believer has "the mind of Christ" (2:16).
Questions for Reflection
- Does your faith rest on human argument, or on the power of God?
- Do you glory in the cross of Christ, the Lord of glory?
- Are you receiving the deep things of God by His Spirit, or leaning on your own understanding?
- Do you seek to think with the mind of Christ given by the Spirit?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Christ crucified as the power and wisdom of God: 1 Corinthians 1:18-24; Galatians 6:14; Colossians 2:2-3. Faith resting on God's power: Romans 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2 Corinthians 4:7. The Lord of glory and the deity of Christ: Psalm 24:7-10; Acts 7:2; James 2:1; John 1:14. The Spirit revealing the deep things of God: John 16:13-15; Romans 11:33-34; Ephesians 3:3-5. The natural man unable to receive spiritual things: John 3:3-6; Romans 8:5-8; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. The mind of Christ: Philippians 2:5; Isaiah 40:13; Romans 12:2. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The wisdom of the cross: 1 Corinthians 2:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-24; James 2:1.
- The Spirit reveals the deep things of God: 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; John 16:13-15; Philippians 2:5.