1 Corinthians Chapter 2: The Holy Spirit Within Us
Key Verses: (1 Corinthians 2:10–16)
10 These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Daily Message:
Paul is explaining (v. 12–13) how divine wisdom has been revealed through the Holy Spirit to him and the other Apostles and writers of the Word of God. Later (v. 14–16) he broadens this explanation to how divine thinking and wisdom are revealed to all believers.
When he initially speaks of “we” or “us” in verses 12 and 13, Paul is talking about the source of his preaching, the other Apostles’ preaching and the words written by the authors of the Word. All were guided by the Spirit of God within each of them, not by words taught through human wisdom.
For all of us believers, moreover, wisdom involves grasping God’s thoughts, revealed to us either through the words of others, through the written Word of God or through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit within each of us. The quote in verse 16 comes from Isaiah 40:13 and reminded the Corinthians (and us) that knowing the mind of God derives from the Holy Spirit within us.
A Moment to Reflect:
For many years, I have prayed as often as 15 or 20 times per day. Even in the middle of a busy work day, I seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in my decisions and actions. In so doing, I feel, like Paul, that I am tapping into the wisdom of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is amazing that we as Christians have that access at our beck and call. Do you rely on the Spirit to provide you with divine daily wisdom and guidance?