1 Corinthians 2
1And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. 6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written:“What no eye has seen,what no ear has heard,and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For 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. 12What 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. 13This 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. 14The 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. 15The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16for,“Who has known the mind of the Lordso as to instruct him?”But we have the mind of Christ.
Study Context for 1 Corinthians 2
As you study 1 Corinthians 2, keep in mind the overarching themes of this new testament book: Unity, Love, Resurrection. Observe how the specific events or teachings in this chapter contribute to the book's broader message.
UnityLoveResurrection
Observation: What does 1 Corinthians 2 reveal about the character and nature of God? What does it reveal about humanity?
Application: How does the truth presented in this chapter change how you should live, think, or pray today?
Read in context:1 Corinthians 11 Corinthians 3
Study introductions and prompts are supplementary aids, not Scripture. They do not replace prayerful reading, the authority of Scripture, a faithful local church, or pastoral care.
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