Bird's-eye view
In this crucial section of his letter, the Apostle Paul draws a sharp, unyielding distinction between two kinds of wisdom. Having just declared that his preaching was not in the clever words of human wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, he now clarifies that this does not mean the Christian faith is anti-intellectual or simplistic. On the contrary, Christians possess a profound and glorious wisdom, but it is a wisdom of an entirely different order. It is a wisdom from another realm, a "mystery" hidden for ages and now revealed. This wisdom is not accessible to the world's elite, the "rulers of this age," whose entire worldview is bankrupt and headed for the ash heap of history. Their ignorance of this divine wisdom is proven by the ultimate historical blunder: the crucifixion of the Lord of glory. Paul concludes by quoting Isaiah to emphasize that God's plan for His people transcends all human imagination and experience, a plan now unveiled to those who love Him through the Spirit.
The central thrust is the absolute antithesis between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man. The world's wisdom is grounded in this present, passing age and is characterized by pride, self-reliance, and a fundamental blindness to spiritual reality. God's wisdom is centered in the person and work of Jesus Christ, specifically the cross, which appears as foolishness to the world. This divine wisdom is not discovered through human ingenuity but is received by revelation. It is a predestined, glorious plan that culminates in the salvation and glorification of God's people. This passage is a foundational text for understanding the nature of Christian knowledge and the radical reorientation of the mind that the gospel requires.
Outline
- 1. The Two Wisdoms (1 Cor 2:6-9)
- a. A True Wisdom for the Mature (1 Cor 2:6a)
- b. A False Wisdom for the Perishing (1 Cor 2:6b)
- c. The Nature of God's Wisdom: A Hidden Mystery (1 Cor 2:7)
- d. The Blindness of the World's Rulers (1 Cor 2:8)
- e. The Unimaginable Glory of God's Plan (1 Cor 2:9)
Context In 1 Corinthians
This passage follows directly from Paul's renunciation of worldly rhetorical techniques in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. The Corinthian church was plagued by divisions, with factions forming around various Christian leaders (1 Cor 1:12). This factionalism was driven by a worldly mindset that evaluated leaders based on superficial criteria like eloquence and philosophical sophistication, standards imported from their surrounding Greco-Roman culture. Paul confronts this head-on by reminding them that the central message of the cross is, by worldly standards, foolishness (1 Cor 1:18, 23). He deliberately avoided "excellence of speech or of wisdom" so that their faith would rest not on human cleverness but on God's power. Now, in verses 6-9, he pivots to show that this "foolishness" is actually the deepest wisdom. He is correcting a potential misunderstanding. In rejecting their worldly wisdom, he is not rejecting wisdom altogether. Rather, he is replacing their counterfeit wisdom with the genuine article, a wisdom revealed by God Himself.
Key Issues
- The Antithesis between God's Wisdom and Man's Wisdom
- The Identity of "The Mature"
- The Identity of "The Rulers of This Age"
- The Cross as the Central Mystery of God's Wisdom
- The Role of Divine Revelation in Knowledge
- The Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
A Tale of Two Wisdoms
The world has its wisdom. It has its philosophers, its pundits, its experts, its TED talks, and its university degrees. This wisdom is all about managing, controlling, and understanding the world on its own terms, without reference to God. It is the wisdom of fallen man trying to build a tower to heaven with the bricks of his own intellect. But Paul tells us that this entire enterprise is bankrupt. It is a wisdom "of this age," which means it is temporary, provincial, and doomed. It is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
In stark contrast stands the wisdom of God. This wisdom is not a better version of man's wisdom; it is a different category altogether. Its starting point is not human reason but divine revelation. Its central exhibit is not a clever syllogism but a bloody cross. To the world, this looks like the height of folly. Why would an all-powerful God save the world through weakness, suffering, and apparent defeat? But in this "foolishness" is a wisdom so profound it reorders the entire cosmos. It is the wisdom that created the world, the wisdom that laid out the plan of redemption before the foundation of the world, and the wisdom that will bring all of history to its appointed consummation in Christ. The Corinthians were trying to have it both ways, to season their gospel with a little bit of worldly intellectual respectability. Paul's message is that this is impossible. You cannot mix these two wisdoms. You must choose one and despise the other.
Verse by Verse Commentary
6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are being abolished.
Paul begins with a crucial qualification. Having just disavowed "wisdom" (v. 4-5), he now says, "Yet we do speak wisdom." He is not an advocate for mindless ignorance. The gospel is profoundly wise. But this wisdom is only accessible to a certain kind of person: those who are mature. The "mature" (teleios in Greek) are not a special class of super-Christians, but rather all those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and have begun to see the world through the lens of the gospel. They have spiritual discernment. For them, the message of the cross is not foolishness but the very wisdom of God. He immediately contrasts this true wisdom with the counterfeit version, which he defines in two ways. First, it is a wisdom of this age, meaning it is earth-bound, temporary, and destined to pass away with the old order of things. Second, it is the wisdom of the rulers of this age. This refers not just to political rulers like Pilate or Herod, but to the entire power structure of the fallen world, both human and demonic, that sets itself up in opposition to God. And their fate? They are being abolished. The verb is in the present tense, indicating an ongoing process. The cross was the decisive blow; their final destruction is now just a matter of time.
7 But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages to our glory,
Here Paul defines the content of this true wisdom. It is God's wisdom, originating with Him, not man. He describes it with three phrases. First, it is spoken in a mystery. In the New Testament, a mystery is not a riddle to be solved, but a truth that was once hidden and is now revealed by God. The central mystery is the gospel itself, particularly the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God through Christ. Second, it is the wisdom which has been hidden. This plan was not something men could discover on their own through research or speculation. It was concealed in the mind of God, hinted at in the Old Testament shadows, but only brought into the full light of day with the coming of Christ. Third, it is the wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory. This is a staggering thought. Before creation, before time began, God laid out this intricate plan of salvation. And what was its ultimate goal? "To our glory." The whole magnificent sweep of redemptive history was designed for the express purpose of bringing redeemed sinners, like the fractious Corinthians and us, to a state of eternal glory. Our glorification is not an afterthought; it is the predetermined goal of God's eternal wisdom.
8 which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Paul now provides the definitive proof of the world's spiritual blindness. The "rulers of this age," the supposed wise and powerful, completely failed to recognize God's wisdom when it appeared in their midst. He states this with blunt finality: none of them understood it. This includes the Jewish Sanhedrin, the Roman governor Pilate, and King Herod. But it also includes the demonic powers standing behind them. They were all operating according to the bankrupt wisdom of this age. The proof of their ignorance is Exhibit A of history: they crucified the Lord of glory. This title for Jesus is breathtaking. He is the very embodiment of God's radiant presence and majesty. In their supposed wisdom, they took the source of all glory and subjected Him to the most shameful death imaginable. Paul's logic is ironclad. Had they possessed even an inkling of true wisdom, had they recognized who Jesus was, they never would have done it. The crucifixion was, therefore, the ultimate act of cosmic stupidity, the final, damning evidence of the bankruptcy of worldly wisdom. In their attempt to destroy Him, they inadvertently fulfilled God's predestined plan to save the world. They were pawns in a divine strategy they could not comprehend.
9 But just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
To cap his argument, Paul reaches back to the Old Testament, loosely quoting from Isaiah 64:4. This verse is often mistakenly applied to the wonders of heaven, as though it were a promise of things we can't know about until we die. But the context here is crucial. Paul is not talking about the future; he is talking about the present reality of the gospel. The "things which eye has not seen" are not pearly gates and golden streets, but the very wisdom of God in the mystery of the cross that he has been describing. These are the realities that no human eye could see, no ear could hear, and no mind could conceive on its own. What are these things? The predestined plan of salvation, the incarnation of the Son of God, the atonement for sin on the cross, the resurrection from the dead, the justification of sinners by faith alone, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This entire package of gospel truth is what God has prepared for those who love Him. This love for God is the mark of the regenerate, the "mature" from verse 6. And the punchline comes in the very next verse (v. 10), which says, "but God has revealed them to us through His Spirit." The unimaginable has been made known. The hidden mystery is now an open secret for the people of God.
Application
This passage throws down a gauntlet to the modern church. We live in an age obsessed with the wisdom of the world. We are constantly tempted to make the gospel more palatable, more sophisticated, more acceptable to the "rulers of this age," whether they are in the academy, the media, or the government. We trim the sharp edges of the cross, we downplay the supernatural, and we try to package Jesus as a life coach or a moral teacher instead of the crucified Lord of glory.
Paul's argument forces us to ask some hard questions. Whose wisdom are we trusting? Whose approval are we seeking? Do we believe that the simple, unadorned message of Christ crucified is truly the power of God and the wisdom of God? Or are we secretly embarrassed by it, trying to dress it up in the borrowed finery of worldly philosophy or psychology? True maturity is not found in mastering the latest intellectual fads, but in plumbing the depths of this glorious, hidden wisdom that God predestined for our glory. It is a wisdom that begins and ends with a crucified Savior. We must learn to glory in this "foolishness," for it is the only wisdom that can save us from this present evil age and bring us to glory. We must be willing to be fools for Christ's sake, knowing that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men.