But [the] natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him; and he cannot know [them] because they are spiritually discerned;
This verse cuts the human race in two: the man born with only natural life, and the man who has the Spirit of God. The problem is not that God's things are too hard to follow; the natural man has nothing in him that can take them in.
So who does Paul mean? The answer covers every person from birth, and learning does not move anyone out of the class.
By the "natural man" the apostle means man as he is born and grows up, without being born of God or the Holy Spirit given to him. He may be very learned, scientific, intellectual and refined. Still, until the Spirit gives him life, he is the natural man. He does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for to him they are folly. Nor can he learn them and make them his own, grasping their truth, because they are spiritually discerned. He does not have the Spirit of God, since he does not believe in Christ.
Behind "natural" stands one Greek word. It tells us where a man's life comes from.
The adjective ψυχικός, animal, appears in 1 Corinthians 2:14; 15:44, 46; and James 3:15. Its meaning may present some difficulty when applied either to a man's moral condition or to his body. We think it well, then, to note what the word points to in these passages. It points to that which, like the first Adam, lives by having a soul, and not by the mighty energy of the Holy Spirit.
So why can he not know them? The answer is a missing sense.
A blind man does not know for himself what the beautiful colours of a flower are. He has no sense of sight to perceive this loveliness of God's handiwork. Our power for discerning divine things lies in having the Spirit of God within us, who is like eyes to our souls. … The simplest believer on earth, with the Spirit of God within him, knows more of God's things than the wisest of men without the Spirit. The natural man may sit in judgment on God's Word and God's character. But to the Christian his pride is like that of a council of deaf men giving their opinion on harmony.
That has a hard edge for anyone who reviews the Bible as a critic:
He is not speaking of any special class of men. He means man in his unconverted state, man without the Spirit of God… it is man in nature, whether he is a learned philosopher or an ignorant clown. He cannot know the things of the Spirit of God. How then can he form or give a judgement about the word of God?
The verse leaves no middle ground. Even sincere religion can fall on the wrong side of the line.
In the Spirit's estimate there is no place for the large group who in practice waver between two opinions. Not to receive the witness of God is to reject it. … Knowing the gospel, and even agreeing with its truth in the mind, is not the same thing as receiving it. … A religious profession may be quite sincere, and yet the person making it is still a natural man.
God makes Himself known morally. That is what man's conscience refuses to face.
Man's thoughts differ so far from God's that man can see nothing but foolishness — even in the most wonderful display of God's saving power. No wonder. If man is to know God at all, he must know Him morally. But men's consciences shrink from looking at God in His moral character… We must know God, not as fallen man can understand Him, but as He has revealed Himself. Only the soul taught by the Spirit can grasp this.
Commentators add a caution: having the Spirit and being spiritual are not the same thing.
We do well to remember that it is the "spiritual", not simply the one who has the Spirit, who discerns all things. A man must, of course, have the Spirit to be spiritual. But being spiritual means a condition in which a man is under the control of the Spirit. Such people discern all things, yet they themselves are discerned by no one.
- Source. "Natural" means a life drawn from the soul alone — the life of the first Adam, not the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Scope. It covers every man as born, philosopher and labourer alike. Learning changes nothing while the Spirit is missing.
- Sense. Missing the Spirit is like missing sight. The simplest believer knows more of God's things than the wisest man without Him.
- Stance. Not receiving is rejecting. There is no neutral seat, and even sincere religion can leave a man in this class.
- Shift. Only God's work changes this: new birth and the gift of the Spirit. Then the man under the Spirit's control discerns all things.
but the spiritual discerns all things, and *he* is discerned of no one.
Paul has just described the natural man, who cannot receive the things of God's Spirit. Now he turns to the opposite case: a believer who can weigh everything, yet whom no one else can weigh.
Everything turns on the word "judges." One writer points to the plainer word in the margin of a reference Bible:
The word "judges," occurring twice in verse 15, is just the word "discerns," as the margin of a reference bible shows. Read discerns and the sense is clearer. It is only the spiritual believer who has spiritual eyesight to see all things clearly.
Another writer traces the term Paul uses:
The simple form of the word means "to judge." Anakrisis was the technical term for the inquiry or preliminary investigation that comes first.
The word does not just mean "Christian." The same letter later says some believers are still of the flesh, and that difference decides who enjoys this promise:
"The spiritual person" does not describe every believer, for some believers are "of the flesh," even though they have the Spirit of God (ch. 3:1). It refers to those who in practice depend upon the leading of the Spirit, as every believer ought to. A believer who is of the flesh will not discern all things. Some of his thoughts may be spiritual, but the flesh is so mixed in with them that his outlook will be confused. But the one who is spiritual discerns all things… He is a puzzle to men, for he thinks and acts on a different level, not driven by self-centeredness, but by a genuine regard for the glory of God.
This discernment is not sharper human reasoning. It belongs to the Spirit who lives in the believer and directs him:
The Holy Spirit in man is a real and divine power. But He also works morally, and in the understanding of the person in whom He lives. The spiritual man discerns all things. All means are at his disposal. He judges all things. He takes notice of all things when needed, according to the Spirit and by His direction. It is not his reason which judges; he judges spiritually of all things. He judges himself instead of pretending to judge God, as if he had a capacity independent of Him.
That order matters. No one can separate right judgment from being spiritual:
If a man is spiritual, he judges all things, and he must be spiritual to judge. If he is not spiritual, he cannot judge; but if he is spiritual, he first judges himself.
The second half of the verse follows from the first. The same Spirit who makes his judgment sound also shapes a life others cannot read:
The power of the Spirit in him makes his judgment true and just. But it also gives him motives and a way of life that make no sense to anyone who does not have the Spirit.
Kelly connects this standing to what the apostle goes on to quote from the prophet Isaiah:
It is because of the Spirit of God that the believer now stands in such an astonishing place. He can discern all things, yet no man can discern him. How foolish, then, for any believer in Corinth or anywhere else to long for human wisdom! What makes it even more striking is what the apostle adds from Isaiah 40:13. There the prophet insists on the supremacy of the Lord's understanding. He is unsearchable Himself, yet He searches everything. The Christian is just as independent of man's measuring and teaching in divine things, and this comes through the Spirit of God dwelling in him.
One writer notes the apostle using this judgment on ordinary matters of home life:
He applies the judgment of the Spirit in him to circumstances of the most domestic character. This is how he judges all things. He is only a looker-on, so he can calmly see what those caught up in it cannot… A great principle may be at stake in a very small matter.
Some read Jesus' words "Judge not" as cancelling this verse. Commentators answer that the two speak of different things:
The Lord does not blame spiritual discernment of people or things at all. It is a clear and weighty privilege of the Christian, for his own guidance and for the help or warning of others… What the Lord warned the disciples against is the bad habit of fault-finding. It so often leads people to suspect evil motives without grounds, against the holy instincts of love.
- Discern, not condemn. The word means to examine and discern, so the verse gives the believer spiritual eyesight, not a judge's bench.
- Spirit-led, not merely saved. The promise belongs to the believer who depends on the Spirit in practice. Where the flesh mixes in, the outlook blurs.
- Self first. The one who judges all things starts by judging himself. The Spirit directs that judgment; his own reasoning does not.
- Down to the smallest matter. He stands outside the situation, so he sees calmly what those inside it cannot. A great principle can hang on a very little thing.
- Unreadable to others. His motives and his way of life make no sense to anyone without the Spirit. That is why no one can judge him.