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That is the heart of the gospel message: the very One against whom you and I have sinned has assumed the debt and offers us forgiveness. Although we have sinned against God and are hopelessly in debt, although we are bankrupt of any credit to offer to Him for our salvation, although we are deserving of the eternal judgement of God, God himself in the person of Jesus Christ came to the earth and assumed our debt. He bore our sin and received our punishment thereby satisfying the righteousness of God for all who believe in Him.
1 Corinthians 2:2 tells us that Paul's message to the Corinthians was Christ crucified. This does not mean that Paul only preached salvation messages; the saving message of the cross includes all of the blessings that flow out of what happened on the cross. All Christian doctrine is bound up in that magnificent event at Calvary. Some believers at Corinth wanted Paul to preach with the philosophy and wisdom of men. Paul's argument that human wisdom has no place in salvation may have made them wonder, "Does Paul consider the Christian faith to be totally outside the realm of the intellect? Is Paul against all wisdom?" Paul responds to that suggested thought in 1 Corinthians 2:6 by saying:
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.
The word howbeit could be translated `yet'. Paul is saying, "Even though I did not preach the philosophy of the Greeks, even though I did not preach the wisdom of men, yet we do speak wisdom among them that are perfect. In the Greek text, the word wisdom comes first to emphasize it. We could literally translate it "yet wisdom we do speak". Although Paul had repudiated worldly wisdom, his message was wisdom nonetheless; it was divinely revealed wisdom.
Paul explains the wisdom he preached in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 with two points: true wisdom is not humanly discovered (verses 6-9); true wisdom is divinely revealed (verses 10-16). Keep in mind that wisdom refers to God's wisdom of the cross, the doctrine of the Atonement and all it involves.
First of all, true wisdom is not humanly discovered. Paul says, "We speak wisdom among them that are perfect". The word perfect is translated from the Greek word teleios and it means mature or complete. At first glance, this seems to mean that wisdom of God is for mature Christians only, but the doctrine of the cross is for all believers, young and old. The word for perfect might also be translated `initiated'. Paul may be borrowing the term from the mystery religions which had initiates who had been told the secrets of that religion. If Paul is using it in this way, then teleios simply means a Christian, anyone who has believed the message of the Atonement. The second half of this verse and the following verses substantiate this interpretation. In this section, Christians are the antithesis of the unbelieving world rather than immature believers. The doctrine of the Atonement, which is God's wisdom, is not reserved for mature Christians; it was preached to the Corinthians before they were converted. The cross is only wisdom to believers, those who have been initiated.
He tells us in verse six that the wisdom he preaches is "not the wisdom of this world" or not human wisdom. The world's ideas of God come from human wisdom, human reason. Every religion and every plan of salvation derived from human wisdom is based upon works. Christianity alone is based upon grace, a gift of forgiveness from God because of what Christ has done for man. Christianity alone teaches a salvation that is not based upon a man's works, or his life but upon what God has done for him. The message of Christianity is not faith plus works, but faith alone in Christ alone. Anyone who adds an action that he performs to be saved makes Christ insufficient for salvation and is using human wisdom.
The wisdom that Paul preaches is not human wisdom "nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought". The princes of this world are those who crucified the Lord, the Jewish and Roman leaders according to 1 Corinthians 2:8. The wise men in the world cannot comprehend God and His wisdom. 1 Corinthians 15:24-25 tells us the wisdom of this world will come to nought when Christ returns:
Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. (NKJV)
The world's wisdom is still with us today. The media and sixty million pages of print per year in the Unnited States alone spew out human wisdom which espouses the philosophy of men, the wisdom of this world. In contrast, Paul says, "I am not preaching human wisdom, not the wisdom of the world."
If Paul is not preaching human wisdom, then what is he preaching? 1 Corinthians 2:7 gives the answer:
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.
The `but' which begins this verse is a strong adversative to emphasize a contrast between divine wisdom and the wisdom of the world. Paul claims that his message came not from reason but revelation. The word `Mystery' is the Greek word musterion; in its Biblical use it is not something that is mysterious but a secret that man cannot know without God revealing it. A biblical mystery is only understood by revelation. It is something that was hidden in the Old Testament but revealed in the New Testament. The mystery Paul is talking about is the cross, the doctrine of atonement as other Scripture makes clear:
1 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV) And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
The mystery revealed in the gospel is how men can become godly. Ephesians 3:1-6 reveals the mystery of the Gentiles becoming fellow heirs with Israel and partakers of the promises. The mystery is only understood through revelation:
Ephesians 3:1-6 (NKJV) For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles; if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel.
1 Corinthians 2:7 goes on to say that the mystery was ordained by God before the creation of this world. The doctrine of the atonement was not some new idea or an afterthought after man's fall; it was newly revealed in its entirety with Jesus' completed work on the cross, but it had been ordained before the world began. The word ordained is from the Greek word proorizo means to set a boundary. In this text, proorizo has a prefix which means before. So the word literally means to set a boundary before or to determine beforehand. This verb is used six times in the New Testament. It is translated `determined before' in Acts 4:28:
(v27) For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before [proorizo] to be done.
Four times this verb is translated predestinate which means to determine before hand as in Ephesians 1:4-6 (NKJV):
...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
The sixth use is in the verse we are studying, 1 Corinthians 2:7. Before the world began, God determined the message of the cross and established the plan. In the counsels of eternity, within the eternal Godhead a plan of salvation is laid out which is the wisdom of God. This is the covenant of redemption. The death of Jesus Christ was ordained by God in eternity past as we see in Acts 2:22-23 (NKJV):
Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know; Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
God ordained the hidden wisdom before the world began for "our glory" (1 Corinthians 2:7). God predetermined the course of history for the glorification of the believer. "Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." (Romans 8:30, NKJV). The doctrine of glorification is included in the cross, it is part of the atonement. We will someday share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and we will receive a glorified body like His.
Paul points out that even humanly wise people could not grasp the mystery of the cross:
Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
The word princes could be translated rulers; leaders of the Sadducees, Pharisees, teachers of the Law, and Herod Antipas, as well as the Roman rulers could not know the mystery. The Jewish leaders knew the word of God--they studied it inside and out--but they didn't know God's wisdom of salvation in the cross. The evidence of their ignorance is that they crucified the Lord of glory. The Lord of glory is a title of deity; perhaps it means "the Lord whose attribute is glory". They knew God's word but they were ignorant of God's wisdom. This is a clear example of the extreme blindness of all those who are wise only according to human wisdom. In their eyes, Jesus was anything but glorious.
Paul goes on to tell us in verse nine that this wisdom of God is not comprehended by any of the senses of man.
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.
This verse is often misapplied to talk about heaven! Paul is talking about the wisdom of God in the atonement by quoting Isaiah. He is saying that man cannot comprehend the message of the gospel through his eye-gate. He may read the Bible from cover to cover, he may read every theology book ever written and he will not understand God's wisdom. He cannot understand it through his ear-gate; he may sit under the teaching of the gospel Sunday after Sunday and he still won't understand the message of the cross. Nor is God's wisdom understood by the mind because man cannot understand the message of the cross by reason. Man's two greatest resources, empiricism (observation) and rationalism (reason), are equally useless in discovering divine truth.
How can anyone come to understand this wisdom of God if not through observation and reason? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:10-16. True wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10)
The only way man can know God is for God to reveal Himself to man. "But God"--Those are beautiful words because without God's revelation there is no way we could ever find or know God. The wisdom of God is only known by revelation. God has revealed all of the things that he has prepared for us who trust in him. The Holy Spirit makes the wisdom of God known to us. The word revealed is the Greek word apokalupto and it means to take off the cover, disclose, reveal. It is usually used in the New Testament to indicate divine revelation of certain supernatural secrets.
Matthew 16:13-17 (NKJV) "When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed [apokalupto] this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."
Many use 1 Corinthinas 2:10-16 to teach the three steps of the Spirit's transmission of God's truth which are revelation, inspiration, and illumination. They say that the words "unto us" refer to the apostles and prophets. But it is better to see the words "unto us" as a reference to all believers. Revelation and inspiration are probably not the issues here. The focus of 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 is clearly illumination. When Paul says, "God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit," he is saying that God has opened our minds through the Holy Spirit; this is illumination.
What is the difference between revelation, inspiration, and illumination? Revelation is God revealing himself to men. Had God not revealed Himself we could never have known Him. Through His general revelation in creation, we could have known He exsists, but we could not have intimately known Him. God revealed Himself specifically through the apostles and prophets. Revelation is now complete in the Bible so that all we need to learn of God is in the Bible. There are no new revelations.
Inspiration is the means whereby God secured an infallible communication of the revelation. Inspiration is the recording by men of what God has made known to us. Revelation is the content of truth and inspiration is the final act which secures the trustworthiness of the revelation. By inspiration His revelation is perfect.
Illumination means to give light. The Holy Spirit grants understanding of the inspired revelation. By the work of the Spirit we are assured that this is the Word of God and we come to understand it further. Revelation and inspiration are closed, they ceased with the completion of the Bible. The ministry of the Holy Spirit today is illumination, opening our understanding to believe what is recorded in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says that man could never understand what God has prepared for His children but the Holy Spirit has revealed it to us. He opens our understanding to the Word of God or illuminates the Word of God.
The doctrine of illumination does not mean that we know and understand all spiritual truth. It does mean that the Scriptures can be understood by every Christian that is diligent and obedient. The Bible shares three important prerequisites to illumination. They are humility, depending upon God to teach (Psalm 119:18); holiness, dealing with known sin (Hebrews 12:14); and hard work, exhibiting a willingness to study (2 Timothy 2:15). These three principles are all seen in Psalm 119, a chapter that deals with God's revelation to us. As we apply these prerequisites, the Holy Spirit will open our mind to the truths of Scripture.
Paul illustrates the Holy Spirit's work of illumination in 1 Corinthians 2:11:
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.
Who knows you like you know yourself? Nobody does, not even your spouse. We can't know the contents of a man's heart unless he reveals it to us. In a similar way, no one knows God like the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has come to us to reveal to us God.
Paul concludes his illustration by saying that we have 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. (1 Corinthians 2:12)
We Christians have received the Spirit of God and he has made God known to us. A syllogism, a three part argument in which two true premises logically entail a particular conclusion, demonstrates this point.
Major Premise- No one knows God thoroughly but God the Holy
Spirit.
Minor Premise- We have received God the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion- We have the capacity to know God and His wisdom. We
have the capacity to be illuminated through the work of the
Holy Spirit enlightening our minds so we can understand,
comprehend, and receive what He has already revealed in the
Scriptures.
The unbeliever who does not have the Holy Spirit does not have the capacity to be illuminated, to understand the Bible. He may study the Bible and listen to messages and reason over theology but he'll never understand God's wisdom of the cross apart from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit illuminates the Bible to us as we read it that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Do you spend time allowing God to teach you about the things that are yours in Christ, the things freely given to us of God? You'll never understand all the blessings you have in Christ if you do not spend time in His Word. Find buried treasure--read your Bible. Learn about all that is yours in Christ.
Paul does not teach about the things which are ours in Christ using human wisdom, but by the Spirit.
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. (1 Corinthians 2:13)
Paul's direct assertion is that the words which he used were taught by the Holy Spirit. He explained the things of the Spirit in the words of the Spirit.
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. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
The word natural is from the Greek word psuchikos and it communicates the idea of being controlled by the flesh. Its full meaning can best be seen from its usage in Scripture. It is used in James and Jude:
James 3:15 (NKJV) "This wisdom does not descend
from above, but is earthly, sensual [psuchikos],
demonic."
Jude 1:19 (KJV) "These be they who separate
themselves, sensual [psuchikos], having not the
Spirit."
The natural man is the unsaved man; he does not have the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 says, "Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."
Two things are true of the natural man. First of all, he does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. The word that is used here for receive is a word used for receiving guests. His attitude toward spiritual things is like your attitude toward an unwanted guest visiting your home. This man does not welcome the things of he Spirit because he considers them foolish. Secondly, the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit. He can't know them because they are spiritually discerned. The word discern is a legal term that was used for a preliminary hearing and it came to mean scrutinize, to examine, or make a judgement. The natural man has no capacity to spiritually evaluate these things because he does not have the Spirit of God. The natural man is like a man trying to pick up a radio station with out a radio receiver--he cannot do it. He does not have the equipment to receive spiritual things because he does not have the Holy Spirit. The Bible clearly teaches that until a person has been r egenerated by the Spirit of God he has no capacity to understand God.
John recorded a pertinent discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3:3 (NKJV):
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see [understand] the kingdom of God."
Being born again is synonymous with regeneration. Regeneration is effected by God without means. Most people think that the means of regeneration is the Word of God or faith. But regeneration is a direct act of God upon the spirit of man because the Word of God cannot mean anything until a man is born again. Truth cannot be the means of regeneration because we were blind and could not see the truth, deaf and could not hear the truth, dead and could not respond to the truth. Truth cannot be the means of the new birth when the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit. The increase of light will not enable a blind man to see; the disease of the eye must first be cured. So must a man be regenerated by the Spirit before he can receive the truth. Regeneration is solely a work of the Spirit and that's why we pray for the lost. Regeneration is a direct act of God upon the spirit of man. It is a spiritual resurrection.
In contrast to unregenerate, natural man, Paul says,
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (1 Corinthians 2:15)
The spiritual person is the saved person; he has the ability to judge or discern all things. It is important to interpret the words `all things' by the context. Verse nine refers to "the things that God has prepared for those who love Him" and verse twelve refers to the things of the Spirit. The believer cannot be discerned or understood by the unbeliever because the unbeliever cannot discern the things of the Spirit.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). The man who has the Spirit of God shares the mind of Christ; what is impossible for the unsaved person, to know the mind of the Lord, is now open to the believer.
Paul tells his readers in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, "I am speaking wisdom, the wisdom of God, and it is only understandable to those who have the Spirit of God. To any person who has not been regenerated by God's Spirit, this wisdom is foolish."
Isn't it ironic that the generation with the greatest number of translations of the Bible, with thousands of massive commentaries and study helps, with the Bible on computer, should be one of the most biblically illiterate societies in the history of the church. Wisdom is available to us, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, but we must apply ourselves to a diligent study of the Scriptures. May God help us!
For further study on the topic of regeneration, see message entitled "Regeneration" from 23 April 1995.
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