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.
For who has known the mind of [the] Lord, who shall instruct him? But *we* have the mind of Christ.
Paul has just said that the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit. The spiritual man discerns everything. Paul now ends the argument with a challenge from the prophet: no one has known the Lord's mind well enough to instruct Him. His answer sounds almost too large to be true.
The closing question is a quotation. The prophet used it to show how far God's understanding rises above human reach.
What makes it even more striking is the quotation the apostle adds from Isaiah 40:13. There the prophet insists that the Lord's understanding is supreme, as he had already insisted on His endless goodness and power. No one can search Him out, yet He searches everything: "who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, and who, as His counsellor, will teach Him?" In divine things the Christian is just as free from man's measuring and teaching, and this comes through the Spirit of God living in him.
The question expects the answer "no one." What follows is not a boast about natural ability but about a gift.
In verse 15 the Apostle tells us that "the spiritual discerns all things". This does not mean that they know the mind of the Lord by nature, or that they can instruct Him. But the Lord has given believers His Spirit and teaches them. So they can say, "We have the mind of Christ."
Writers point to the word Paul uses for "mind". It means the power by which a person thinks.
When it comes to thinking as God thinks, Paul uses a very strong word: "But we have the mind of Christ." Others have pointed out that the word for "mind" here means "the same thinking capacity". The marvel is that we have the thinking capacity "of Christ." We can understand divine things with the same kind of mind as Christ. We have this by having the Spirit Who searches the depths of God.
This does not put the believer on a level with his Lord.
So Paul writes — not to the Ephesians or the Philippians, but even to the Corinthians — "We have the mind of Christ." He means the intelligence of Christ, the capacity of spiritual understanding. Of course we do not have it in the same measure as the Lord. He had, and was Himself, the wisdom of God, and that without limit. We have nothing except in Him and by Him, and so only in dependence on Him.
The mind of Christ is not a store of divine knowledge handed over to us to keep on our own.
In the last verse we have the same contrast with the Old Testament: "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" The prophet's challenge gets its answer: "But we have the mind of Christ." If I have Christ's mind, I have the thoughts that are in it and all that they include. We do not have the divine mind in the abstract. We have the Holy Spirit living in us, and then comes all the revelation of the mystery.
This is presented as something new, and one writer draws the line sharply between Christians and Israel — using Joseph, the son of Jacob who read God's meaning before others saw it.
The mind of Christ is more than the works or the ways of God in judgment. It is all His counsels in Christ… So we have the mind of Christ — as Joseph, before he was exalted, was the interpreter of God's revelations… But it is never said that Israel has the mind of Christ. They will see the displays of His power, and will recognise and celebrate them. But is that having the mind of Christ as we have it? The Egyptians knew what Joseph knew when the things came. But did they have the mind of Joseph?
The mind of Christ is a right to be used. Others will say that using it takes too much upon yourself.
Do you value such a gift? Do you value your right to bring every person and everything to be judged by the mind of Christ that is in you? Religion that comes from the flesh tells you that judging this way takes too much upon yourself. Religion that comes from faith tells you that this is exactly your proper place.
A possession left unused makes the claim hollow.
"But we have the mind of Christ." Marvellous, precious declaration of fact! Having the Spirit of God, this is the revelation of the mind of Christ. The believer has this. Then he should certainly seek to make use of it in daily experience. If not, he is not "spiritual."
- Question: Isaiah asks who has measured God's mind well enough to teach Him. The answer is no one. That makes what Paul says next startling.
- Gift: The believer does not reach the answer by himself. The Lord gives him His Spirit and teaches him, so he can say he has the mind of Christ.
- Capacity: The word points to the power of thought itself — the same kind of mind as Christ for divine things. But never in His measure, and only in dependence on Him.
- Reach: We do not hold divine knowledge in the abstract. The Spirit lives in us and opens up the thoughts of Christ — something never said of Israel.
- Use: Use this mind. Weigh every person and everything by it, and expect others to say you take too much upon yourself.
And *I*, brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly; as to babes in Christ.
Paul has been describing the person taught by the Spirit of God. Now he turns to the Corinthians with a painful admission: he could not speak to them on that level. They were real Christians, yet "of the flesh," and still infants.
Paul is not just sorting people into believers and unbelievers. He has a third description in view, and it applies to Christians.
It is quite a mistake to suppose that all Christians are "spiritual" in the sense that term carries in chapter 2. Chapter 3 uses it the same way. In both it means those who are not merely given life, but who walk, feel, and judge in the Spirit. The error lies in supposing that the apostle looks at only two classes. In truth he speaks of three: the natural man, the carnal, and the spiritual. The last two are Christians, but in a different state. For "babes in Christ" points not to a recent conversion, but to a lack of growth.
This has a practical edge for how you read other believers.
You have three things: carnal men, natural men, and spiritual men. You may meet a person you cannot agree with because, although he has the Holy Spirit, his practical state is "carnal," yet not "natural." When the apostle calls the Corinthians carnal, he means the particular state of certain Christians who ought to be up to the measure of their standing, but are not.
The complaint is that the Corinthians had never moved on from infancy. One word in an older translation of the next verse fixes the point: "hitherto," meaning "not yet."
The word "hitherto" in this passage shows that they had never yet been in any other condition; they had remained in the condition of babes. The Hebrews are somewhat similar, but with this difference: they had advanced, and then gone back to the state of babes.
That prolonging of infancy is exactly what Paul names carnality.
Of course there is a stage in our Christian life when we are rightly and necessarily "babes." The apostle John writes to these (1 John 2). But Paul rebuked the Corinthians for staying in that state, and for them carnality was the true name for dragging it out.
The Corinthians would not have called themselves undeveloped. But what they admired gave them away.
The apostle now gives the reason why he pressed only the elementary truths of Christ on the Corinthians: their own state. They were not spiritual but fleshly. What a blow to their self-satisfaction! If they were only babes in Christ, what other food would suit them? That craving for the world's wisdom, that admiration of it, was the sure evidence. Flesh delights in what is of man, while the Spirit gives us to enjoy what is of God.
Paul does not leave "of the flesh" as a vague charge. He points to the factions in Corinth.
Here, then, the Holy Spirit clearly teaches that sects and divisions are not of God but of man. They are the results of unspirituality, carnality, and walking as men. Yet Christians defend them as the result of man's nature. "We are only walking as men," they say. "If you are walking as men," replies the apostle, "you are carnal, and I cannot speak to you as spiritual."
Paul had more to give and could not give it.
To make progress in the things of God, two things seem necessary. First, a moral condition of soul able to receive. Second, an exercised state of mind. With the Corinthian believers the first was so lacking that the apostle could not set the deep things of God before them. The Ephesian saints, however, were in a very different state. So the apostle could gladly set before them the eternal purposes, ways and mysteries of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of this he had to withhold from the Corinthians.
Withholding was not coldness. It was care, and it carries a warning for anyone who teaches.
Far from denying it, he admits their suggestion was true. He had only brought elementary truths before them. They were not in a condition to bear more. This is full of practical meaning and importance at all times. We may do souls great damage by presenting high truths to those who need the simplest basics of divine truth.
- Three states. Paul names three — the natural man, the carnal, and the spiritual. The last two are both Christians. They differ in practical state, not in whether they have the Spirit.
- Cause. Their appetite for human wisdom kept them small. Flesh delights in what is of man; the Spirit gives enjoyment of what is of God.
- Symptom. Envy, strife and party names are not neutral human nature but the visible fruit of that carnality.
- Cost. A soul unable to receive gets milk. Paul poured the deep things out on the Ephesians, but held them back from Corinth.
- Remedy. Being a babe is a right beginning, not a resting place. The rebuke falls on staying there. Love feeds each soul what it can bear.