1 Corinthians 2:10-11 “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. (11) For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”
Scripture reveals to us that the spirit of man has spiritual understanding. The understanding of man’s spirit however is not to be confused with the mind of man which forms part of man’s soul. To understand the concept of the spirit of man having its own understanding outside of the mind of man, we can look at the Spirit of God as an example. For the Spirit of God, being a separate personality in the Godhead also has His own understanding, which is why this passage declares that the Spirit searches all things even the deep things of God. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us that a man’s spirit knows everything about the man, which would include his whole spirit, soul and body. And so we see that in this life the spirit of man has far greater understanding than the mind of man, for man’s mental understanding of themselves i.e. their spirit, soul and body, is extremely limited. The reason our spirits have far greater understanding than our minds is because the Holy Spirit resides in our spirits and as this passage declares, it is He that gives our spirits their understanding. So how do our spirits acquire their understanding? Although not expressly stated, it is nevertheless implied in this passage that just as the Spirit of God searches the deep things of God, so our spirits also search the things of the Spirit of God who resides within us. And it is as a result of our spirits searching the things of the Spirit of God that He gives to our spirits their understanding of all things. When our Lord Jesus walked the earth He made a comment that confirms this particular truth to us, for He stated that His spirit made diligent search to know God’s counsel (Psalm 77:6). And so, just as the New Testament saints today, the Lord’s spirit would have searched the Spirit of God, who was residing in His spirit at that time, to have understanding of God’s counsel.
1 Corinthians 2:6-16 “However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. (7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory … (12) now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (13) These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (15) But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. (16) For "Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
In the passage of scripture quoted above the apostle Paul contrasts the natural man with the spiritual man. In this passage Paul tells us that the natural man does not understand the things of the spirit and they are in fact foolishness to him. The reason that the things of the spirit are foolishness to the natural man is because the things of the spirit are hidden from them, which is why this passage speaks of the hidden wisdom of God. And so we see that the natural man is constrained in their understanding to that which can be understood with natural human wisdom, whereas the spiritual man has great advantage in this life, for he has spiritual understanding. So what does it mean to have spiritual understanding? The above passage of scripture tells us that one who is spiritual understands all things (the word translated “judge” carries with it the meaning of understanding). In other words the spiritual man knows what to say and how to act in every situation they encounter. The natural man on the other hand doesn’t understand half of what’s going on in their lives or the reasons why. Have you ever heard someone say “I just don’t understand why this is happening to me”? The spiritual man observes and listens to the natural man and fully understands what is going on in their lives and why. On the other hand, when the natural man listens to the spiritual man and observes their lives they fail to comprehend what they are saying or why they act the way they do. Paul ends the above passage with the question, “Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” followed by the statement, “but we have the mind of Christ”. Paul is not saying that because believers have the mind of Christ that they can therefore instruct the Lord, he is simply saying that the Lord has given us His understanding. His understanding is in our spirits however, which is why it is only those who are spiritual who have access to that understanding.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments