LESSON 4
(2:6 -16)

GOD’S MESSENGERS

6 Yet among the mature we do import wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.  7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification.  8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,”
10 God has revealed to us through the Spirit.  For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.  11 For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him?  So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.  13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.  14 The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.  15 The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.  16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”  But we have the mind of Christ.

God’s choice of message content having been discussed, Paul ties that in with the way the message came, and through whom it came.
2:6 – the mature – This word appears many times in the New Testament as well as in this book (2:10; 13:10; 14:20).  The general idea is of perfectness, completeness, perfection, etc.  Note Mr. 5:48; Eph. 4:13; Heb. 5:14.  Context will help determine which word is best.
While the choice of the word is not so difficult, the person or thing intended is often difficult.  It is so here and in 13:10.  In 14:20, the ones involved were the Christians, who were being admonished to improve their thinking.  If the same idea applies here, the reference is to those who accepted the wisdom of God, revealed by the apostle Paul, which appears to be the best position exegetically.
wisdom – See 1:18.  Men come and go, and the same old ideas, perhaps clothed in new forms, are amalgamated or divided asunder.  As Solomon observed in his own day, nothing is new, Eccles. 1:9, in the sense of philosophies of life and the thinking of men about life.  All is meaningless, transitory, doomed even before it starts.  The reason is, of course, that man’s wisdom is futile, limited, earth-bound, and will pass away, In Jn. 2:17; II Pet. 3.  Contrastively, God’s wisdom in Christ is forever. Hear! Hear!
V. 7 – secret and hidden wisdom of God – The idea is that God’s wisdom, long hidden from men and thus a mystery to them, is being openly and plainly proclaimed, by the determined act of God, through men of His own choosing (see v. 11).
One of the grand blessings in God’s wisdom is man’s glorification.  While it si true that man was created in God’s image, Gen. 1, and but a little lower than Himself, Ps. 8:5, or angels, Heb. 2:7; yet man sinned both in Adam and personally.  Sin brought death, James 1:15, and ultimate doom, Mt. 25:46.  All sinned, and thus fell short of god’s glory, Rom. 3:32.  A tragic picture indeed.
Against such a backdrop God painted a beautiful possibility: life abundant and eternal, with glory regained.  As Paul wrote in Rom. 2:7-8, to all who seek for glory, honor and immortality, God will give eternal life, which includes glory, etc.  (We might do well to meditate on the Revelation, with all its portraits of the glory to come, and then spend some time thumbing through a hymn book and singing all the songs with “glory” in them. (See on 11:7 for more texts, and reread 6:20.)
V. 8 – Peter declared that the Jewish rulers who were primarily involved in Jesus’ death were ignorant, Acts 3:17.  Pilate failed to rise to the challenge, and King Herod only made of himself a fool.  they were all guilty in some way.
V. 9 – From the midst of a long section about the God of Israel and His relationship to those people, Isaiah beseeches God to again bless Israel, for only by His revelation can men know him, 64:4.  God begins to speak through His prophet and reveals both wrath for some and blessings for others.  He promises new things to come, 65:17.  Paul, O.T. scholar that he was and directed by God’s leading, used these sentiments to fashion a perfect picture of the gospel, created by God alone, and divine masterpiece unveiled to men everywhere which he (and the others apostles) preached.  he didn’t dream it up, nor did others; it was as new as manna from heaven, bringing life abundant, free and evermore.  Lo, everyone who thirsts; come!  Take of the water of life freely!
V. 10 – With man’s heart desperately wicked and deceitful beyond knowing.  God revealed His own “heart” to us.  As Hebrews 1 beautifully has it, God spoke!  He spoke in many ways and through various ones, but in a grand gesture of love, sent the heir of all things, His son Jesus and declared through him that the seeking and saving of the lost was the mission He had taken for Himself.
The Old Covenant has many parts and pieces in it of God’s promised age to come.  As the centuries rolled by down time’s corridor, prophets and angels alike sought and sifted God’s message very carefully and with great longing. In God’s own picked time, He sent Jesus to ransom all who would come.  In order that the message spoken would be both authoritative and clear, God personally directed the proclamation by the apostles, so that it wasn’t they who spoke, by the Holy Spirit of God speaking through them, Mt. 10:17; Jn. 16:7-15; In Thess. 2:13.  As Peter said it in II Peter 1:16ff., the apostles did not follow cunningly devised fables, but rather declared a more sure word than even the prophets of old (who were also guided by the Holy Spirit), for the apostles were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
V. 11 – To explain in terms all could understand, Paul used the illustration in this verse.  In God’s case, He had to reveal Himself in words whereby men could be saved.  He had revealed clearly his eternal power and divine nature in the created universe, Rom. 1:18-20, but the good news about Jesus had to be in the words of men.
God used men known to us as the apostles.  These included the men Jesus chose to follow Him, and also the apostle Paul.  Others were used, such as Silas, Barnabas, Timothy, Titus, and many others, Acts 8:3-4.  However, it was to the apostles alone that Jesus’ promised divine direction (so the context in John chapters 13-17.)  They were the ones who first declared God’s mystery.  It is to them that Christians must listen for the authoritative word (we personally would include companions of the apostles such as Mark and Luke in what they wrote, but would hold that when the apostolic age ceased, revelation of God’s message ceased).
V. 12 – Just exactly what or who Paul means by the “spirit” of the world is not clear.  He may mean Satan, who is the prince of the age, Jn. 14:30, and chief of the rulers of spiritual darkness, Eph. 6:10.  he may mean the “spirit” of this world such as reflected in the preceding context.  Of course, little difference really exists in either case.
gifts bestowed – The R.S.V. translates a Greek term that is normally seen in “grace” as well as “gift.”  Anything from God’s grace is a gift.  See discussion on 1:3, 7.
v. 13 – Most of the Bible versions will show two or more possible translations of this verse.  Several ways are possible, and all have some validity.  One of the reasons for this stipulation is that the Greek words are somewhat ambiguous, just like words in every language are (e.g. in English: foot, quail, pet, love, sex).
The general context of this verse is the wisdom of God revealed through men such as Paul.  He declared through them the truths needed to convict people of their sin, and the terms of pardon along with all the other information He deemed needful.  With this in mind, In take the text to be saying that God 1) gave the message to be preached, and 2) made certain it was preached/written correctly.  If you like: verbal inspiration.  The Bible is, to me, clear on both points.  Hence, the texts in New International and New American Standard, as examples, express the point better than the text of R.S.V., although R.S.V. offer an alternative in the footnotes that is preferable to the printed text.
V. 14 – Since 2:6, Paul has been speaking about the apostles in general and himself in particular, all used by God as His authorized ambassadors, sent to declare His will upon His terms.  From this general background, 2:14-16 reflect the same point: revelation is the issue, the apostles the chosen spokesmen.  As such, they are the “spiritual man” in v. 15 (who can be challenged by no one, since they alone have the backing of God, Heb. 2:3-4), and the “we” in v. 16 (since they alone had the promise of Jesus, Jn. 16:8ff.).   All others, as mentioned above in v. 11, were secondary sources of the message, but the apostles alone could give the express will of God as to what was bound or free, Mt. 16:18-19; 18:18; Jn. 20:21-23.
Many in the religious world, including some in or religious group, quote these verses as if they referred to a non-Christian versus a Christian.  This is but form of what is known as Calvinism.  If the unspiritual man can’t know God’s will since it is spiritually discerned, the implication is that said person must have a spiritual illumination to understand, and so obey.  That makes conversion a matter of God’s choice rather than man’s free will.
A third possibility is this: the text has in mind any and all Christians, who are in possession of God’s revealed will.  No one can know God’s will about salvation except it be revealed to him.  It has been revealed by God in various ways, etc.  Hence, since Christians have God’s will (= the mind of Christ), all are obligated to reveal to the non-Christians the things God has prepared for them, so that they may “know” them.

	LESSON 4 QUESTIONS

1. Why not make a brief outline of 1:1 - 2:16 that sums up the basic points?

2. Is wisdom used a variety of ways in these two chapters?

3. Can you name several things in the New Covenant that were foreshadowed, however dimly, in the Old Covenant (i.e., The Mosaic law)?

4. The text states that ignorance of the facts about Jesus (lack of knowledge) or about the meaning of the facts (lack of understanding)?

5. If God determined, prior to creation, that Jesus would come to earth and be crucified (note Acts 2:23), how could the rulers’ ignorance of Jesus be the cause of his death?

6. How do people find out for sure what you think?

7. Have you ever jotted down what Jesus promised the apostles in texts such as Mt. 10:17-20; Jn. 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15; 20:21-23; Acts 1:7-8, and then checked in the book of Acts to see if He kept his promises to them?

8. What evidence do you have for yourself or for others that God’s Word is from Him through inspired men?

9. Who had the Spirit from God so that the gifts from God might be understood?