1 Corinthians 2:12, 1 Corinthians 2:13 ESV

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:10-16

The Holy Spirit as the Revealer. In this section the apostle develops more fully the subject of revelation through the Spirit of God. The things prepared by God for them that love him have not been discovered by human wisdom, nor can they be apprehended by natural reason. As they come from God, they are made known to us by God through the operation of the revealing Spirit. I. THE COMPETENCE OF THE REVEALING SPIRIT . "For the Spirit searcheth all things," etc. He is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:12

The spirit of the world. The heathen world in its heathen aspect is regarded as under the power of the devil ( 2 Corinthians 4:4 ; Ephesians 6:11 , Ephesians 6:12 ). Freely given to us by God. The word "freely" is here involved in the verb ( χαρισθέντα ) "graciously bestowed." It is different from the phrase used in "Freely ye have received," which is gratuitously ( δωρεὰν , Matthew 10:8 ). All God's gifts are "without money and without price" (Is 55:1), and not "to be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:12-14

Speech in the power of the Spirit. The personal references in St. Paul's Epistles are suitable to the epistolary style of correspondence, and necessary as the vindication of a man who was seriously attacked and slandered. Generally his allusions arc more or less directed to his claim as an apostle. Because this did not take precisely the same grounds as the claims of the earlier apostles, it was easy for his enemies to question and even deny his rights. St. Paul's chief argument is that... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:12

Now we have received - We who are Christians; and especially we, the apostles. The following verse shows that he had himself and the other apostles chiefly in view; though it is true of all Christians that they have received, not the spirit of this world, but the spirit which is of God.Not the spirit of this world - Not the wisdom and knowledge which this world can give - not the learning and philosophy which were so much valued in Greece. The views of truth which we have, are not such as this... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Corinthians 2:12-13

1 Corinthians 2:12-13. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world Which suggests worldly wisdom; the spirit that is in worldly, carnal people, and which guides and governs them; a spirit which is earthly, sensual, and devilish. This spirit is not, properly speaking, received, for the carnal and unregenerate always had it; but true believers properly receive the Spirit of God, which before they had not. That we might know Might discern, understand, form just ideas of, and be... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

Worldly and spiritual wisdom (2:1-16)Paul reminds the Corinthians that when he was among them he did not try to impress them with any great show of learning. He preached the plain gospel without trying to make it attractive to any one class of people (2:1-2). During his time in Corinth, Paul had been physically weak and lacked his usual boldness. As a result his preaching was not at all impressive. Yet this was no great disappointment to him, because he wanted his converts to stand in the power... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 Corinthians 2:12

have . Omit. world . Greek. kosmos. App-129 . spirit . App-101 . of = by. App-104 . freely given . App-184 . of = by. App-104 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:12

But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God.Not the spirit of the world ... By this, Paul did not mean that such a spirit of the world, comparable in a sense to the Holy Spirit and opposed to him, actually exists. Nor can we agree with Marsh that "It may mean Satan."[31] What Paul had in view here was the secular, materialistic thinking of unregenerated people. The Germans had a word for it,... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:12

1 Corinthians 2:12. Now we have received— We, the true Apostles, or rather I; for though he speaks in the plural number to avoid ostentation, as they might interpret it, yet he is here justifying himself, and shewing the Corinthians, that none of them had reason to forsake and slight him, in order to follow and cry up their false apostle. That he speaks of himself, is plain from the next verse, compared with 1Co 2:1 and ch. 1 Corinthians 1:17.—As he puts "princes of the world," 1 Corinthians... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:12

12. we . . . received, not . . . spirit of . . . world—the personal evil "spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" ( :-). This spirit is natural in the unregenerate, and needs not to be received. Spirit which is of God—that is, which comes from God. We have received it only by the gift of God, whose Spirit it is, whereas our own spirit is the spirit that is in us men (1 Corinthians 2:11). that we might know . . . things . . . freely given . . . of God—present experimental... read more