1 Corinthians 2:12 Kommentar

The apostle proceeds with his argument in this chapter, and, I. Reminds the Corinthians of the plain manner wherein he delivered the gospel to them (Co1 2:1-5). But yet, II. Shows them that he had communicated to them a treasure of the truest and highest wisdom, such as exceeded all the attainments of learned men, such as could never have entered into the heart of man if it had not been revealed, nor can be received and improved to salvation but by the light and influence of that Spirit who revealed it (Co1 2:6 to the end).

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CORINTHIANS 2 The apostle, in this chapter, pursues the same argument as before, that the Gospel needed not the wisdom and art of men: this he illustrates by his own example; and then he extols the Gospel above all the wisdom of men; and observes how it comes to be made known to men, even by the Spirit of God: hence it follows, that it is to be taught in his words, and not in the words of men; and that it can be only known and judged of by the spiritual, and not by the natural man. He instances in himself, and in his own ministry, when at Corinth, where he preached the Gospel in a plain and simple manner, without using the ornaments of speech, and human wisdom, Co1 2:1 his reason was, because he had determined with himself to preach not himself, but a crucified Christ, Co1 2:2. His manner of behaviour is more largely declared, Co1 2:3 that he was so far from being elated with his human literature, and priding himself with that, and making use of it in an ostentatious way, that he was attended with much weakness, fear, and trembling; and his discourses were not adorned with the flowers of rhetoric, but were delivered with the power, evidence, and demonstration of the Spirit, Co1 2:4. And his end and view in this method of preaching were, that the faith of his hearers should not be ascribed to human wisdom, but to a divine power, Co1 2:5 but lest the Gospel should be thought meanly and contemptibly of, because of the plain dress in which it appeared, the apostle affirms it to be the highest wisdom, as those who had the most perfect knowledge of it could attest; a wisdom superior to the wisdom of this world, or of its princes, since that comes to nothing, Co1 2:6 the excellency of which he expresses by various epithets, as the wisdom of God, mysterious wisdom, hidden wisdom, ancient wisdom, ordained before the world began, for the glory of the saints, Co1 2:7 a wisdom unknown to the princes of the world, who otherwise would not have been concerned in the crucifixion of Christ, Co1 2:8 and that this far exceeds the capacity of men, and could never have been found out by them, he proves, Co1 2:9 by a testimony out of Isa 64:4 and then proceeds to show how it comes to be known by any of the sons of men, that it is by the revelation of the Spirit of God, Co1 2:10 which is illustrated by the nature of the spirit of man within him, which only knows the things of a man; so in like manner only the Spirit of God knows the things of God, and can make them known to others, Co1 2:11. And in this way he observes, that he and others became acquainted with these things; namely, by receiving not the spirit of the world, which at most could only have taught them the wisdom of the world, but the Spirit of God, whereby they knew their interest in the blessings of free grace, published in the Gospel, Co1 2:12. And seeing the Gospel is made known by the Spirit of God, it should be delivered, not in the words of man's wisdom, but in the words of the Holy Spirit, as the apostle affirms he and other ministers did deliver it, returning to his former argument, Co1 2:13. And also it follows from hence, that the things of the Gospel, which the Spirit reveals, cannot be known and received by the natural man, who has no discerning of them, and so no value for them, Co1 2:14 and can only be discerned, judged, and approved of by spiritual men, Co1 2:15 and who are not to be judged by natural and carnal men, because they have not the mind of Christ, and so cannot instruct them; but spiritual men have it, such as the apostle and others, Co1 2:16.

Which things also we speak,.... Namely, the things which have not been seen by the eye, heard by the ear, or understood by the heart of man; the things God has prepared for his people; the deep things of God; the things of God which are only known to the Spirit; the things that are freely given to them of God, and made known to them by the Spirit of God: these things are spoken out, preached, and declared to the sons of men, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth; which are learned in the schools of the philosophers, put together by human art, and "in the taught words of human wisdom", as the clause may be rendered; such as are taught and acquired by human learning, so artificially formed in their order and structure as to work upon the affections of men, captivate the mind, and persuade to an assent. But which the Holy Ghost teacheth; or "in the taught" words "of the Holy Ghost"; in the language of the Scriptures, edited by the Spirit of God; or such as the Holy Spirit taught them, suggested to them, directed them to the use of; for he not only supplied them with matter, but furnished them with words, with proper and spiritual oratory: comparing spiritual things with spiritual; the things of the Spirit of God, the doctrines of the Gospel, with the spiritual writings of the Old Testament, whereby their truth and harmony are demonstrated; speaking as the oracles of God, and prophesying or preaching according to the analogy of faith; and adapting spiritual words to spiritual truths, clothing them with a language suitable and convenient to them, not foreign and flourishing, but pure, simple, and native; or accommodating and communicating spiritual things, as to matter and form, to spiritual men; which sense the Arabic version favours and confirms, such being only capable of them; and with these there is no need to use the eloquence, oratory, wisdom, and words of men.

The “spirit of the world” is the one by which different people are possessed. It does not know the truth but can only guess at it, and therefore it both deceives others and is itself deceived by appearances.

Paul shows by saying this that the Holy Spirit is not a creature but has his own divine nature.

I think that by “spirit of the world” Paul means human wisdom and learning.

He called the spirit of this world human wisdom. It is not this wisdom that we received, lest it render our preaching vain and useless; no, our teacher was the Spirit "from God," that is, a being consubstantial with God, proceeding from His essence. The Spirit, he says, is light, and this very light we have received, so that, being enlightened by it, we might know what was hidden until now. What is this? "That which is given to us by God," that is, everything that pertains to the dispensation of Christ, namely: how He died for us, how He made us children of God, how in Himself He also seated us at the right hand of the Father. Consequently, those who do not have the Spirit do not know those mysteries.

Then when he says, But we have received, he shows how knowledge of the Holy Spirit is obtained, saying: But we, filled with the Holy Spirit, have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is from God. By the word "spirit" is understood a definite vital power, both cognitive and dynamic. Therefore, the spirit of this world can mean the wisdom of this world and the love of this world, by which a man is impelled to do the things of this world. This is not the spirit received by the holy apostles, who rejected and despised the world; rather, they receive the Holy Spirit, by Whom their hearts were enlightened and inflamed with the love of God: "The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things" (Jn. 14:26); "But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went." (Num.14:24). But the spirit of this world can err as Is (19:3) attests: "The spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their plans." However, we received His divine Spirit, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God, i.e., that we may know to what extent God has given divine things to each of us: "Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift" (Eph 4:7). Or gifts, which are unknown to those not possessing the same Spirit, for "to him that conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, which no one knows except him who receives it" (Rev 2:17). From this it can be gathered that just as no one knows the Father but the Son and he to whom it has pleased the Son to reveal Him, so no one knows the things of the Father and of the Son but the Holy Spirit and he who has received Him (Matt 11:27). This is so, because just as the Son is consubstantial with the Father, so the Holy Spirit with the Father and Son.

The apostle makes an apology for his manner of preaching, Co1 2:1. And gives the reason why he adopted that manner, Co1 2:2-5. He shows that this preaching, notwithstanding it was not with excellence of human speech or wisdom, yet was the mysterious wisdom of God, which the princes of this world did not know, and which the Spirit of God alone could reveal, Co1 2:6-10. It is the Spirit of God only that can reveal the things of God, Co1 2:11. The apostles of Christ know the things of God by the Spirit of God, and teach them, not in the words of man's wisdom, but in the words of that Spirit, Co1 2:12, Co1 2:13. The natural man cannot discern the things of the Spirit, Co1 2:14. But the spiritual man can discern and teach them, because he has the mind of Christ, Co1 2:15, Co1 2:16.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world - We, who are the genuine apostles of Christ, have received this Spirit of God, by which we know the deep things of God; and, through the teaching of that Spirit, we preach Christ crucified. We have not therefore received the spirit of the world - of the Jewish teachers, who are all looking for a worldly kingdom and a worldly Messiah, and interpret all the scriptures of the Old Testament which relate to Him in a carnal and worldly sense. That we might know the things - We receive this teaching that we may know what those supereminently excellent things are which God has purposed freely to give to mankind. It is evident that, as the apostle means by princes of the world the rulers of the Jews, Co1 2:6-8, so by spirit of the world he here means Jewish wisdom, or their carnal mode of interpreting the sacred oracles, and their carnal expectation of a worldly kingdom under the Messiah.

PAUL'S SUBJECT OF PREACHING, CHRIST CRUCIFIED, NOT IN WORLDLY, BUT IN HEAVENLY, WISDOM AMONG THE PERFECT. (1Co. 2:1-16) And I--"So I" [CONYBEARE] as one of the "foolish, weak, and despised" instruments employed by God (Co1 1:27-28); "glorying in the Lord," not in man's wisdom (Co1 1:31). Compare Co1 1:23, "We." when I came-- (Act 18:1, &c.). Paul might, had he pleased, have used an ornate style, having studied secular learning at Tarsus of Cilicia, which STRABO preferred as a school of learning to Athens or Alexandria; here, doubtless, he read the Cilician Aratus' poems (which he quotes, Act 17:28), and Epimenides (Tit 1:12), and Menander (Co1 15:33). Grecian intellectual development was an important element in preparing the way for the Gospel, but it failed to regenerate the world, showing that for this a superhuman power is needed. Hellenistic (Grecizing) Judaism at Tarsus and Alexandria was the connecting link between the schools of Athens and those of the Rabbis. No more fitting birthplace could there have been for the apostle of the Gentiles than Tarsus, free as it was from the warping influences of Rome, Alexandria, and Athens. He had at the same time Roman citizenship, which protected him from sudden violence. Again, he was reared in the Hebrew divine law at Jerusalem. Thus, as the three elements, Greek cultivation, Roman polity (Luk 2:1), and the divine law given to the Jews, combined just at Christ's time, to prepare the world for the Gospel, so the same three, by God's marvellous providence, met together in the apostle to the Gentiles [CONYBEARE and HOWSON]. testimony of God--"the testimony of Christ" (Co1 1:6); therefore Christ is God.

we . . . received, not . . . spirit of . . . world--the personal evil "spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph 2:2). This spirit is natural in the unregenerate, and needs not to be received. Spirit which is of God--that is, which comes from God. We have received it only by the gift of God, whose Spirit it is, whereas our own spirit is the spirit that is in us men (Co1 2:11). that we might know . . . things . . . freely given . . . of God--present experimental knowledge, to our unspeakable comfort, of His deep mysteries of wisdom, and of our future possession of the good "things which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (Co1 2:9).