Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:10-13

Bird's-eye view

In this dense portion of his argument, the Apostle Paul is driving a sharp wedge between two kinds of wisdom, two kinds of spirits, and consequently, two kinds of men. He has just finished explaining that the wisdom he preaches, the wisdom of Christ crucified, is utter foolishness to the perishing world. The princes of this age, in their supposed brilliance, crucified the Lord of glory. Why? Because the wisdom of God was a hidden mystery, inaccessible to natural human reason. Now, in our text, Paul explains how this previously hidden wisdom is made known. It is not through superior intellect or philosophical inquiry, but through divine revelation. The central actor in this entire process is God the Holy Spirit. He is the one who searches, who knows, who receives, who teaches, and who enables spiritual understanding. This passage is a foundational statement on the doctrine of illumination, explaining not just that Christians can know the things of God, but how they come to know them. It is an entirely supernatural affair from start to finish.

Paul establishes a tight, logical progression. The Spirit knows the mind of God because He is God. This same Spirit has been given to believers. The purpose of this gift is so that we might understand the things freely given to us by God. And finally, this spiritual understanding is communicated through spiritual words, taught by the same Spirit. This creates a closed system of divine truth: revealed by the Spirit, understood by the Spirit, and spoken by the Spirit. There is no room here for the natural man; he is deaf, dumb, and blind to the entire transaction. This is a radical, God-centered epistemology that leaves no place for human pride.

Outline

Context In 1 Corinthians

This section is the heart of Paul's argument against the factions and worldly wisdom that were tearing the Corinthian church apart. In chapter one, he identified their divisions (I am of Paul, I of Apollos) as a sign of carnal thinking. He reminded them that God's method is to choose the foolish, weak, and despised things of the world to shame the wise and strong. The cross is the ultimate expression of this divine foolishness. Chapter two continues this theme. Paul reminds them that his own preaching among them was not with eloquent wisdom but in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so their faith would rest in God, not men. The passage we are examining (2:10-13) is the positive explanation that follows this negative critique. Having torn down the pretensions of human wisdom, he now builds up the glorious reality of divine revelation. This sets the stage for his rebuke in chapter 3, where he will bluntly call them "carnal" and "babes in Christ," unable to receive solid food precisely because they were not walking according to the Spirit they had received.

Key Issues

The Divine Search Committee

When we think of a search, we usually think of looking for something that is lost or unknown. But that is not the sense here. The Holy Spirit is not on a voyage of discovery, as though there were things in the Godhead He is trying to figure out. He is God, and so His knowledge is perfect and complete. The language of "searching" is anthropomorphic, used for our benefit, to convey the exhaustive and penetrating nature of the Spirit's knowledge. He sounds the absolute depths; nothing is hidden from Him. This is a statement about His deity. Just as the spirit of a man knows what is going on inside that man, so the Spirit of God knows what is going on inside God. This is because He is not an outside observer, but rather an eternal member of the Triune Godhead. This searching, therefore, is the basis of revelation. The things revealed to us are not secondhand reports. They come from the one Being in the universe who has perfect, inside knowledge of the mind of God, because He is the mind of God in action.

Verse by Verse Commentary

10 But to us God revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

The word "but" marks a sharp contrast. The princes of this age did not know this hidden wisdom, BUT God revealed it to us. The "us" refers to the apostles in the first instance, and by extension to all believers who receive their testimony. The revelation is not a human achievement but a divine gift. The instrument of this revelation is the Holy Spirit. Paul then gives the reason, the Spirit's qualification for the job: He "searches all things." This is not a search of ignorance, but a search of infinite comprehension. He penetrates everything, even the "depths of God." This is a profound statement of the Spirit's deity. The "depths" refer to the innermost counsel, the eternal plan, the very being of God. These are things that are utterly inaccessible to any created being. But the Spirit knows them perfectly, which is why He is the only one who can reveal them.

11 For who among men knows the depths of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the depths of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

Paul now uses an analogy from human experience to illustrate his point, prefacing it with "for," indicating he is explaining the previous statement. No one can truly know your inmost thoughts, motives, and being except you, your own spirit. An outsider can observe your actions and listen to your words, but he cannot directly access your consciousness. There is a realm of privacy within every man that is opaque to the outside world. Paul applies this principle to God, but with an infinite upgrade. "Even so," in the same way, the depths of God are known by no one except the Spirit of God. This analogy powerfully establishes both the personality of the Spirit (He is to God as a human spirit is to a man) and His unique, exclusive knowledge of God. This verse slams the door on all forms of mysticism or philosophy that claim to have a secret path to knowing God apart from the Spirit's revelation.

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the depths graciously given to us by God,

The argument takes a crucial step forward. This Spirit, who alone knows the mind of God, is not a distant entity. "We have received" Him. This is the great promise of the new covenant, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Paul immediately sets up a stark antithesis. The spirit we received is "not the spirit of the world." The world has a spirit, a animating principle, a mindset. It is a spirit of pride, rebellion, ignorance, and self-reliance. It is the spirit that motivated the princes of this age. We have not received that. On the contrary, we have received the Spirit who is "from God." And there is a purpose for this gift, indicated by "so that." We have been given the Spirit so that we might know. Know what? The things "graciously given to us by God." This is not just abstract theological data. It is a knowledge of our salvation, our inheritance, our adoption, our justification, all the glorious gifts of grace that are ours in Christ. Without the Spirit, these realities would remain unintelligible to us.

13 of which depths we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual depths with spiritual words.

The process of revelation is now complete. It moves from the mind of God, to the Spirit, to the apostles, and now out through their words. The apostles "speak" these things. But the method of communication is just as supernatural as the source of the knowledge. They do not take this divine content and then package it in the latest philosophical jargon or rhetorical flourishes of "human wisdom." No, the very words they use are "taught by the Spirit." This is a robust doctrine of verbal inspiration. The Spirit who revealed the thoughts also superintended the vocabulary. The final phrase is dense, but the meaning is clear. They were "combining spiritual things with spiritual words," or perhaps "interpreting spiritual truths to spiritual men." Both are likely true. The point is that the entire enterprise is spiritual. The truth is spiritual, the words are spiritual, and as we will see in the next verse, the audience must be spiritual. You cannot put this new wine of the gospel into the old wineskins of worldly communication.

Application

This passage should cultivate in us a profound humility and an unshakable confidence. The humility comes from recognizing that we know nothing of God except what He has graciously chosen to reveal by His Spirit. There is no room for intellectual pride in the Christian life. The smartest theologian and the simplest new believer both drink from the same well, and neither of them dug it. Our knowledge is a gift, pure and simple. If you understand anything of the gospel, it is because the Spirit of God has opened your eyes. Thank Him for it.

The confidence comes from knowing that the Spirit we have received is the very Spirit of God. He knows the mind of God perfectly. This means that when we come to the Scriptures, we are not dealing with human opinions or religious guesses. We are dealing with Spirit-taught words that reveal the very depths of God. We can have confidence that the Bible is sufficient. We don't need to supplement it with worldly wisdom or modern psychology or political theory. The Spirit's words are adequate for the Spirit's truth. Our task is not to be clever, but to be faithful. We must pray for the Spirit's continued work in us, that He who revealed the truth in the Word would illuminate our minds to understand it, and shape our hearts to love it, and embolden our lips to speak it, combining spiritual truths with spiritual words to a world that desperately needs to hear them.