1 Corinthians 2:9-16
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.”
It is commonly believed that these “things” are the things that pertain to our achievements, material possessions, prosperous lifestyle, earthly attainments, and anything else that give us happiness, power, and glory in this life. And often times we thought that these physical gains that we have received shows and determines God’s favor and love to us. “Man’s wisdom teacheth” that these earthly, temporal, physical things are the real blessings of God, and the more the saints has, it shows just how blessed he really is in the sight of man.
But rather, these things: “Things which God prepared” (v. 9), “deep things” (v. 10), “things of God” (v. 11), and the “things that are freely given” (v.12) are all spiritual things according to verse 13. As revealed in the Scripture, God has not promised to give us the “physical things” of this earth, but it is with all “spiritual things” that we are blessed of (Eph. 1:3) and to set our affections upon (Col. 3:1-3).
This is an important doctrine that we need to understand and appreciate with, but sadly many of us are ignorant of these “spiritual blessings” that we have in Christ (Eph. 1:3), “the things that are freely given to us of God” (1 Cor. 2:12). The things supposedly will give us real joy and contentment. Many of the things that we set our affections upon, things we follow after are things that are empty, a waste of time, and abominations in the sight of God. Many of the professing believers have no appetite of these things. But just like the Scripture says, the natural man looks at “these things” as foolishness.
I Corinthians 2:9—tells us that our eyes have not seen, our ears have not heard, neither has the heart of man even entered into an understanding of what God as prepared for those that love him. The point here is that mankind by his own efforts is incapable of perceiving the ways of God. There is no way for us to fathom, through our own means, the way God loves those that are his.
I Corinthians 2:10—“But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.” Note the contrast with the previous verse, things that we are incapable of entering into in verse 9 on our own, have been revealed and made known unto us by the Spirit of God. God the Holy Spirit reveals or makes known things to us regarding how God views us that we could never understand on our own.
I Corinthians 2:10—“for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” It is only the Spirit of God that is capable of entering into and comprehending the “deep things of God.” However, since the Holy Spirit dwells within in us God has now given us the capacity to know and understand the deep things of God. God the Holy Spirit has revealed and make know things unto us that we are otherwise incapable of knowing.
I Corinthians 2:11— the “spirit of man” knows only the “things of a man.” So my spirit knows only what is going on inside my inner man. I don’t know what is going on inside of anyone else unless they tell me. So it is with the Spirit of God, the things of God are only known by the Spirit of God. In other words, mankind cannot know the things of God apart from God’s spirit.
I Corinthians 2:12—“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God.” When we trusted in and relied exclusively upon the finished work of Christ we received God the Holy Spirit. For what purpose? “That we might know the things that re freely given us of God.”
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God wants us to know the hidden wisdom which He ordained before the world unto our glory (v. 7).
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God wants us to know what our eyes, ears, hearts could not enter into (v.9).
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God wants us to know the things He prepared for us (v. 9)
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God wants us to know and appreciate what he has done and provided for us.
This is why he gave us his Spirit, so that we can know these things. God does not want us to be ignorant of what he has done for us; our Christian lives are not designed to function on the basis of ignorance.
I Corinthians 2:13—Paul says these are the things he has been speaking about (the things freely given to us of God – v. 12). Paul was not using man’s words/wisdom to speak about these things but the words/wisdom by which the Holy Ghost teaches. The method of instruction used by God the Holy Spirit is to compare spiritual things with spiritual or scripture with scripture. Thus, the only way we are going to know the things freely given us of God is by reading and studying God’s word.
I Corinthians 2:14—“the natural man,” cannot receive “the things of the Spirit of God” because he does not possess the Spirit of God. Therefore, they are foolishness unto him and he cannot know them. For the things of the Spirit of God are only spiritually discerned and examined. And since the lost man does not possess the Spirit of God he is not capable of receiving these things.
I Corinthians 2:15—the words “judgeth” and “judged” means to “discerned” in verse 14. The spiritual man is constantly judging, searching, examining, and discerning things with the help and aid of the Spirit of God that is in him.
I Corinthians 2:16—who knows the mind of the Lord that he may instruct the spiritual man in the deep things of God. There is no one in the world (v. 8), no natural man that can instruct the believer in the things freely given us of God this instruction only comes through the mind of Christ. We already possess the mind of Christ.
Having the Holy Ghost, the believer now can KNOW, RECKON, and YIELD to the “things that are freely given us of God.”
1. Know – there are some spiritual truths and realties that we need to know (Romans 6:3,6,9). We cannot walk in what we do not understand.
2. Reckon – we need to reckon as true in our lives the things that we know and learn (Romans 6:11). We need to see ourselves that way Christ sees us. We no longer need to serve sin any longer. We have been made alive unto God through Jesus Christ.
3. Yield – we need to yield and submit to the truth of God’s Word (Rom. 6:13,16,19). Now that we know, and have reckoned it to be so, we need to yield to God’s truth in our lives as “dear children” (Eph. 5:1).
Evangelist Rodgie Quirante
The Workman’s Treasure Study Series