1 Corinthians 2 explained: God's Wisdom Versus Clever Words

Paul's plain arrival (vv. 1-5)

Corinth admired skilled public speakers, but Paul says he came without impressive speeches, focused only on Jesus and his execution on a cross, a death the Roman world saw as utterly shameful. He wanted their trust to rest on God's power at work among them, not on how persuasive he sounded.

A hidden wisdom (vv. 6-8)

Paul says there is real wisdom in his message, but it is God's long-hidden plan, not the kind of wisdom the powerful of his day valued. The 'rulers' who missed it are usually taken to be the authorities behind Jesus' execution, though some scholars think Paul also means unseen spiritual powers.

Revealed by the Spirit (vv. 9-13)

Paul quotes loosely from Isaiah to say God has prepared things no one could imagine, and that God's Spirit now makes them known. Just as only you know your own inner thoughts, only God's Spirit knows God's, so Paul says his words come from that Spirit rather than from human training.

Two ways of seeing (vv. 14-16)

Someone without God's Spirit, Paul says, will find this message foolish, because it can only be grasped with the Spirit's help. Quoting Isaiah's question about who could ever advise God, he claims that believers share something of Christ's own way of thinking.

Key verse: 1 Corinthians 2:5

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether 'the mature' and 'the spiritual' in this chapter describe a special group of more advanced believers or simply anyone who has received God's Spirit.

Something to think about

When an idea convinces you, how much of that comes from the idea itself and how much from the way it was presented?