1 Corinthians 2

1. Dear brothers and sisters, when I first came to you I did not use big words and did not try to impress you with wisdom as I spoke about God’s secret plan.

Paul agrees that he is not a very good speaker. Do not be so quick to defend yourself when you are attacked. God gives extra grace to the humble, He will defend you. James 4:6

2. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.

We do not need to entertain people to get them to come to church. If we cannot depend on the Gospel to save them, then why would we think that entertainment will do the job?

3. I came to you in weakness, timid and trembling.

For some say, “Paul’s letters are deep and powerful, but in person he is weak, and the way he talks is hard to listen to!” 2 Corinthians 10:10

4. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is more important to have God's anointing than it is to be a good speaker.

What does this seed–picker [farmer] want to say? Acts 17:18

5. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

A message prepared in the mind will reach someone's mind. A message prepared in the Spirit will reach someone's Spirit.

6. Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten.

Do not talk over people's heads, give them what they are able to understand. Sometimes people are not at a place in their lives where they are ready to listen. If they need to know something God will bring them to the place where they are ready to listen.

7 – 8

No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God, His plan that was previously hidden, even though He made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord.

But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.


This shows us that the Pharisees (and the demons who controlled them) did not understand the reason for the cross. The devil does not know everything. John 11:51

9 –10

That is what the Isaiah means when he says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

But God has revealed these things to us by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

People read verse 9 and say that we can never know what God has made ready for us, but they forget to read verse 10 and see that He has shown us! Unbelievers do not understand what God has prepared for us but we do! Isaiah 64:4

11. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.

Be slow to speak because we do not know what someone else is thinking. For this reason we cannot tell someone else what they should do. We can tell them to fill themselves with God's Word and He will show them what to do. James 1:19

12. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can understand the wonderful things God has freely given us.

We cannot understand what God is doing with us unless His Spirit shows it to us.

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. Romans 8:9

13. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, comparing the Spirit’s Words to other spiritual truths.

Some men have natural gifts (like speaking or singing) and they think they are doing pretty good. They are thinking about these gifts, but they are not thinking about what is in their spirit.

Ask God how you can use what He has already taught you to help you understand some new truth He is showing you.

14. But people who are not spiritual cannot receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they cannot understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

Do not argue about the Bible with people, only God can change a man's mind, we cannot.

Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what He meant. John 10:6

Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard Him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind? Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty. But you remain guilty because you claim you can see. John 9:40–41

A servant will not be corrected by words: for even if he understands he will not answer. Proverbs 29:19

15. Those who are spiritual can understand all things, but they themselves cannot be understood by others.

There might be something going on in their life that we do not know about.

We cannot decide what we think about another man from what we see on the outside. 2 Corinthians 5:16

16. Isaiah says, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not know it as he should know. 1 Corinthians 8:2, Isaiah 40:13