1Cor 2:9 But as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man's heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 10 But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the things of man, except the spirit of man which is in him? In the same way, the things of God also no one has known except the Spirit of God. 12 But we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which have been graciously given to us by God;
[Part 2 of 2]In verse 12 Paul continues, "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which have been freely given to us by God." As those who have been born of God by His Spirit, we have received the Spirit of God. Hence, we are well able to know the deep things of God which He has freely given to us for our enjoyment. Paul wanted the believers at Corinth to know that, as human beings, they had a spirit to know the things of man, and that, as believers in Christ, they had received the Spirit of God to know the things freely given by God. The Christians there lacked the proper knowledge of these two spirits. They had a keen mind and a strong soul, but they did not realize that they had a human spirit. Furthermore, they neglected the Spirit of God whom they had received. Thus, in verses 11 and 12 Paul reminds them of these spirits. He points out that they have a human spirit within them and that they have received the Spirit from God to know the things freely given by God. According to verse 9, these are the things prepared by God and ordained by Him. All these things are related to Christ. In order to know these things, the Corinthians had to pay attention to their human spirit and to the Spirit of God. (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 153-154. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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