Lessons #55 and 56
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Paul’s preaching involved revealed secret wisdom (1 Cor 2:6-12)
6 We 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. 7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
We have come to the last verse of the section of 1 Corinthians 2:6-12 that we have be considering. Recall that we indicated the section contains three major assertions of Apostle Paul regarding the wisdom associated with his preaching/teaching of God’s word. A first major assertion is that the wisdom associated with his teaching is usually directed to those who are spiritually matured. This assertion is conveyed in the sentence of verse 6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature. A second major assertion of the apostle regarding wisdom associated with his preaching/teaching the word of God is that its nature should be understood. This assertion involves four sub assertions. A first sub assertion is that the wisdom associated with the apostle’s preaching/teaching is not that associated with our present world, that is, a wisdom that characterizes the world of humanity. A second sub assertion is that in contrast to human wisdom, it is in form of a secret revealed only to the elect. A third sub assertion of the apostle regarding wisdom with which he preaches/teaches is that in contrast to human wisdom, it is hidden and destined for our glory which here refers to our salvation that will be ultimately realized in eternal state. A fourth sub assertion of the apostle regarding wisdom with which he preaches/teaches is that it is not understood by rulers of this world. A third major assertion of the apostle regarding wisdom associated with his preaching/teaching the word of God is that it involves the Holy Spirit. This assertion, he expounded with two sub assertions. A first sub assertion is that the wisdom is revealed through the Holy Spirit. The apostle implied the Holy Spirit is God. This implication is supported with two reasons that lead to the conclusion the Holy Spirit is God. A first reason is that Holy Spirit examines or searches out the secrets of God, that is, He examines all the plans or purposes of God. A second reason is His knowledge of things of God. It is this reason that we considered in our last study of 1 Corinthians 2:11 and so we continue with the second sub assertion of the third major assertion.
A second sub assertion of the third major assertion of the passage we are considering is that believers have received the Holy Spirit to help us understand God’s gracious provisions for us. This sub assertion is given in 1 Corinthians 2:12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
Why is the declaration of 1 Corinthians 2:12 the second sub assertion of the third major assertion, you may ask? It is because the first sub assertion of the third major assertion of the passage we are considering was introduced in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 2:10 God has revealed it to us by his Spirit but the second sub assertion was not immediately stated. Instead, the first sub assertion was followed by explanations/reasons the Holy Spirit revealed God’s secret wisdom or His plan to believers with focus on the apostles. The reasons the Holy Spirit was able to reveal God’s secret wisdom, or His plans are those that prove His deity. These reasons/explanations are given in the second half of verse 10 and in verse 11. These reasons/explanations are in a sense parenthetical in that the apostle digressed from his assertion regarding Holy Spirit’s role in revealing God’s secret wisdom or plan to reasons for that function of the Spirit that prove His deity Therefore, after expounding on these reasons/explanations, the apostle returned to make further assertion about the Holy Spirit.
That the apostle resumed his assertion regarding the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 2:12 is borne out by the Greek particle the apostle used to begin the verse but not translated in the NIV. The apostle began verse 12 in the Greek with a Greek particle (de) that is used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation. The Greek particle is most often translated “but” as a marker of contrast between clauses. The particle may be translated “and” when it is used to connect clauses when a simple connective is implied without any clear contrast between them. However, the particle is sometimes left untranslated probably if one judges that it is used to indicate a transition. Sometimes, our English versions do not translate it when it is used to indicate a continuation of a narrative or to resume a discourse that has been interrupted by a parenthetical discourse. We see this approach in the NIV regarding the narrative of Jesus’ activities recorded by Luke, as we read in Luke 4:1:
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,
The translators of the NIV or even the NASB that is often literal in their translation did not translate the Greek particle but the ESV translated the particle with the word “and” while the NET used the word “then” in their translation with a footnote that says it is used for continuity with a “previous topic.” Although the previous topic may not be easy to identify for the average English reader, but the translators of the NET recognized that our Greek particle should be translated to indicate a continuity. Actually, the Greek particle is used to resume a discourse that was interrupted. Luke started narrating about Jesus’ baptism and the Holy Spirit descending on Him, as we read in Luke 3:21–22:
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
But then he digressed beginning in verse 23 and continued to verse 38 with the genealogical record of Jesus. After that digression, Luke continued to say something related to the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus in the first verse of the fourth chapter. This requires that verse 1 of the fourth chapter should begin with a word that indicates Luke was returning to the narrative concerning Jesus and Holy Spirit that he started in verse 21 of the third chapter and digressed. Thus, the English versions that began the verse with “and” or “then” recognized this but it is still up to the teacher to explain what such usage means.
Another example of where our Greek particle should be translated with a connective but was not is in in 2 Corinthians 10:2:
I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.
Again, the NIV and majority of our English versions did not translate our Greek particle but the NKJV translated it with “but” while the NET and the LEB used the word “now” to begin verse 2. To leave the particle untranslated may give the impression of a transition to something else but that is not the case. Apostle Paul used our Greek particle to indicate he has resumed his plea to the Corinthians that he started in verse 1 but digressed to say something about himself, as we read in 2 Corinthians 10:1:
By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” when away!
After the apostle said something about himself, he resumed his plea in verse 2. Thus, our Greek particle can be used to indicate a resumption of narrative that has been interrupted. This being the case, the apostle used it in our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:12 to indicate that he was continuing to make a second sub assertion about the Holy Spirit that he began in verse 10 with stating His involvement in revealing God’s secret wisdom or plan but digressed to give reasons/explanations of such activity of the Holy Spirit. So, upon completing his reasons or explanation, the apostle returns to state the second sub assertion that concerns the Holy Spirit. What we have explained implies that when we do not follow complex thought during the teaching of the word of God, it is because we have lost touch with the Holy Spirit who enables us to understand God’s word. You lose touch with the Holy Spirit during the teaching of the word of God if you allow your mind to wonder off into something else.
Be that as it may, we have stated that the second sub assertion of the third major assertion of the passage we are considering is that believers have received the Holy Spirit to help us understand God’s gracious provision. Of course, the apostle began with a negative assertion in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 2:12 We have not received the spirit of the world.
What did the apostle mean to convey in the sentence We have not received the spirit of the world? To begin, we should recognize that the pronoun “we” is used to refer to the apostles, as those who preach and teach the word of God, and the Corinthians, and so it is a reference to all believers. That aside, there are two factors that will enable us to understand what the apostle meant. The first factor concerns the relationship between the word “spirit” and “world” because of the phrase the spirit of the world. The Greek syntax suggests that the phrase could be taken either as “the spirit from the world” or “the spirit that characterizes the world.” It is true that the second half of 1 Corinthians 2:12 would support the interpretation of the spirit from the world because in the second clause we have the phrase the Spirit who is from God but the Scripture does not indicate that there is any spirit from the world. It indicates we have spirits in the world that are associated with falsehood, as in 1 John 4:1–3:
1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Consequently, we are left with the interpretation that takes the phrase the spirit of the world as meaning. “the spirit that characterizes the world.” This interpretation would help in understanding what the apostle meant in the sentence We have not received the spirit of the world. In any event, there is a second factor that helps us to interpret what the apostle meant. This second factor involves understanding of three words the apostle used in the sentence we are considering.
The first word is “received” that is translated from a Greek word (lambanō) that may mean to get hold of something by laying hands on or grasping something, directly or indirectly hence means “to take, take hold of, grasp, take in hand,” as it is used to describe sin’s hold on Apostle Paul in Romans 7:8:
But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead.
Here the Greek word is translated “seizing.” The word may mean to take into one’s possession and so means “to take, acquire.” It is in this sense our word is used to indicate that whatever we possess is from God, as stated in John 3:27:
To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
Although the word “receive” is used in the NIV but the sense in this passage is that of acquiring or having something. This is probably the reason the TEV translated the sentence of the NIV A man can receive only what is given him from heaven as No one can have anything unless God gives it to him. The word may mean to receive in the sense of “to come to believe, to accept as true” as it is used in John 12:48:
There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.
The word may mean “to put on” as it pertains to clothes as Jesus did after washing His disciples’ feet, as recorded in John 13:12:
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.
The word may mean “to receive” in the sense of get something or come into the possession of something as it is used regarding the receiving of the Spirit in Galatians 3:14:
He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
It is in the sense of to receive or to obtain or put on something that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:12. The exact meaning is to be determined by the words that follow.
A second word is “spirit” that appears twice in the verse. It is translated from a Greek word (pneuma) that we examined last week but we repeat it here. The word may mean “wind”, as in the description by our Lord of one that is born again in John 3:8:
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The word may mean “breath” as Apostle Paul used it to describe the manner of the destruction of the future lawless one by the Lord Jesus in 2 Thessalonians 2:8:
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The word may mean “spirit” as that which after death lives as independent being in heaven, according to Hebrews 12:23:
to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
It may mean “spirit” as part of human personality with various nuances. For example, it may refer to a person’s “very self” or “ego” as it is used by Apostle Paul in describing the assurance of the Holy Spirit to believers regarding salvation in Romans 8:16:
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
According to the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG, the sentence The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit is better translated the Spirit (of God) bears witness to our very self. The word may refer to the immaterial part of a person in contrast to the material body, as Apostle Paul used it in his statement in Colossians 2:5:
For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
Under this meaning of the immaterial part of a person, it could refer to the source and seat of insight, feeling, and will, generally as the representative part of human inner life so that it may mean “mind”, as the word is rendered in Apostle Paul’s description of his state when he could not find Titus, as we read in 2 Corinthians 2:13:
I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.
The phrase peace of mind is literally rest in my spirit. Still in this meaning, it could refer to “spiritual state, state of mind, disposition”, as it is used to describe the disposition that a believing wife should have to be considered beautiful in 1 Peter 3:4:
Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
As suggested in the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG, the phrase quiet spirit may be translated quiet disposition. The Greek word may mean “spirit” as an independent noncorporeal being, in contrast to a being that can be perceived by the physical senses. Consequently, it is used for created spirit-beings whether their function is good or bad. Apostle Paul used it to describe harmful spirits that will attempt to deceive people, as he presented in 1 Timothy 4:1:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
The word may mean God’s being as controlling influence, with focus on association with humans hence means “Spirit.” Accordingly, Apostle Paul used it to describe God the Holy Spirit using different phrases. For example, he described the Holy Spirt as the Spirit of God in Philippians 3:3:
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
He described the Holy Spirit as “Spirit of Jesus Christ” in Philippians 1:19:
for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
In its first usage in our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:12, our Greek word means “spiritual state, state of mind, disposition,” but in its second usage, it refers to the Holy Spirit.
A third word is “world.” It is translated from a Greek word (kosmos) from which we get our English word “cosmos” that may mean that which serves to beautify through decoration hence means “adornment, adorning” as it is used negatively to describe the kind of beauty that should not be the focus of a believing wife in 1 Peter 3:3:
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.
It may mean “world” in the sense of planet earth as a place of inhabitation of humans as the word is used in 1 Timothy 6:7:
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.
The word may mean “world” in the sense of “humanity in general” as that is the sense our word is used in 1 John 4:14:
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
Clearly, Jesus Christ did not come to save planet earth but its inhabitants and so “world” here refers to humanity or those who live on the earth. The word may simply refer to “unbelievers” of this world as that is the sense of the word when Apostle Paul speaks of believers judging the world in 1 Corinthians 6:2:
Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
The word may mean “world system, world’s standards” in the sense of the system of practices and standards associated with secular society (that is, without reference to any demands or requirements of God). It is this meaning that Apostle Paul indicated was crucified to him in Galatians 6:14:
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
It is in this sense of world system that is characterized by sin and so hostile to God that our Greek word is used to indicate what believers should not be a part of in James 4:4:
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
Of course, when believers are not part of this world system then they will be hated by unbelievers as that is implied in 1 John 3:13:
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
Unfortunately, many of us believers want to belong to the world in contrast to the assertion of our Lord in His priestly prayer, as recorded in John 17, specifically in John 17:14–16:
14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
The word may refer to creation in its entirety and so means “universe” as in Philippians 2:15:
so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
It is in this sense of the universe, consisting of angels and humans, that the word is used by Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:9:
For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.
The phrase to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men is literally to the world and to angels and to people. In 1 Corinthians 2:12, it is used in the sense of “world system” or “the people constituting the world whose values, beliefs, and morals are in distinction and rebellion to God’s.” In other words, the “world” in 1 Corinthians refers to unbelievers.
Our examination of the Greek words used enables us to interpret what the apostle meant in the sentence We have not received the spirit of the world. He means that believers do not put on the spiritual state of or that characterizes unbelievers. In effect, the apostle meant to convey that believers are different in that they are not in the same spiritual state as unbelievers. We were like them prior to salvation but after salvation we are now in a different spiritual state. Thus, we could say that we do not put on the same spiritual state as unbelievers. This means that the Greek word translated “received” is better understood as “put on” since originally, we received the same spiritual state as all unbelievers but that changed at salvation. Because we have a different spiritual state from unbelievers, it is more fitting to say that we do not put on or possess the same spiritual state as unbelievers. The implication is that we should not have the same mindset or thinking as unbelievers. We can only do that if our thoughts are guided by the Scripture. This then brings us to the positive statement the apostle makes regarding the believers’ relationship to the Holy Spirit in the passage we are considering.
We are certain that the next declaration of the apostle is a positive one because of the word but that begins the next clause of 1 Corinthians 2:12 but the Spirit who is from God. The word “but” is translated from a Greek particle (alla) that is generally used to indicate a difference with or contrast to what precedes. In our passage, it is used to express contrast between the immediate clause and the one preceding it. This being the case, since the preceding clause We have not received the spirit of the world is a negative one then the clause that follows is a positive one, implying a positive declaration about believers’ relationship with the Holy Spirit.
Believers’ relationship with the Holy Spirit is presented in terms of having the Holy Spirit as in the clause but the Spirit who is from God. Literally, the Greek reads the Spirit the One from God. The apostle used the article “the” to indicate that he meant the Holy Spirit that he had mentioned previously in verse 10 of our passage of study.
Be that as it may, there is the question of what it is the apostle meant to say about the Holy Spirit when he wrote literally in the Greek the Spirit the One from God. Its interpretation hinges on the preposition from that is translated from a Greek particle (ek) that means “from.” The meaning “from” has several usages. It could be used to mark persons and things with whom a connection is severed or is to remain severed as in the decision of the church in Jerusalem regarding the kind of practices of pagan world the Gentile churches should avoid, as stated in Acts 15:29:
You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
The meaning “from” may denote origin as it is used to describe the humanity of Jesus Christ in Romans 1:3:
regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David,
The verbal phrase was a descendant of David is literally from the seed of David according to the flesh. The Greek particle may be used to indicate that someone or something is a part of another, so it may be translated “from, of” although in some contexts, it has the sense of “belong.” This is the case when it is used in the description of believers in the household of Caesar in Apostle Paul’s greetings recorded in Philippians 4:22:
All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.
The clause those who belong to Caesar’s household is literally those of Caesar’s household. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:12, it is probably that the apostle used the Greek particle in a sense to indicate that the Spirit is member of the Godhead or to indicate that the Spirit is sent by God. There is a problem with the interpretation of the Spirit being sent by God. It is that the sending of the Holy Spirit is specifically referenced to God the Father or the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, the Lord Jesus spoke of the Father sending the Holy Spirit in John 14:26:
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
The Lord Himself promised to send the Holy Spirit but from the Father in John 15:26:
“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
Because Apostle Paul did not make any reference of the Spirit being sent by God the Father, it is probably that when he wrote the clause the Spirit who is from God he intended to indicate that Holy Spirit is a member of the Godhead and so established His deity.
In any case, Apostle Paul makes the positive declaration that believers have the Holy Spirit in the clause but the Spirit who is from God. This may not appear to be a declaration of the Holy Spirit residing in believers, but it is, because the Greek word translated “receive” in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 2:12 applies to our clause. In effect, we could fully translate the clause as “but we received the Spirit who is from God” to reflect the apostle stated the believers have the Holy Spirit. The apostle here either reiterates truth he had communicated to the Corinthians about the Holy Spirit living in them because they have received Him or he here teaches that truth for the first time. It is very likely that the apostle had communicated this truth of the Holy Spirit living in the Corinthians when he stayed among them for a while to teach them. So, the truth he asserted here is intended to reiterate doctrine he had taught them prior to this epistle. This we can deduce from the question the apostle posed to the Corinthians later in this epistle. I am referring to the question concerning the Holy Spirit’s relationship to the Corinthians given in 1 Corinthians 3:16:
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
This question was again posed in 1 Corinthians 6:19:
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
The doctrine of the Holy Spirit living in the believer because believers have received Him is one the apostle taught to various groups of believers. He taught that truth to the Romans, as we read in Romans 8:15:
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
It is also because of both his teaching of this doctrine of Holy Spirit being in the believer and the experience of the Galatians with the Holy Spirit that he posed to them a question that indicates they had received the Holy Spirit in Galatians 3:2:
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?
The truth of the Holy Spirit living in the believer is an important doctrine and so believers should know and accept it. It is not only Apostle Paul that taught this doctrine so did Apostle John, as indicated in 1 John 4:13:
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
The doctrine is important because unless the Holy Spirit lives in a person that individual is not a child of God, that is, the person does not belong to Christ as Apostle Paul conveyed in Romans 8:9:
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Of course, if a believer does not have the Holy Spirit the individual could not have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and so could not live the life of a Christian. Hence, it is not surprising that it is after Apostle Paul brought to the attention of the Galatians that they have received the Holy Spirit that he commanded them to live their lives under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:16–17:
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
Anyway, Apostle Paul conveyed to the Corinthians (and so to all believers) that they have received the Holy Spirit, implying that the Holy Spirit lives in them. Again, it is an important doctrine that believers should know and believe to live the Christian life.
The Holy Spirit that believers have carries out several functions, such as, empowerment to live the Christian life but, in our passage, the apostle provides a specific function or reason for the Holy Spirit living in believers. It is to help us comprehend the things God has given us in His grace. It is this function that is given in the final clause of 1 Corinthians 2:12 that we may understand what God has freely given us. Before we comment on this clause, it seems that the Holy Spirit brought into the apostle’s mind the teaching function of the Holy Spirit the Lord Jesus stated when He promised the Holy Spirit in the passage we cited previously, that is, John 14:26:
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
In any case, when the apostle wrote that we may understand what God has freely given us, he meant for us to understand that without the Holy Spirit no one could truly grasp the significance of the things believers have received. You see, the word “understand” is translated from Greek word (oida) that may mean “to know” in the sense of having information about someone or something. It may also mean to grasp the meaning of something or to comprehend, that is, “to understand, recognize, come to know, experience.” It is in this second sense of “to comprehend” or “to grasp the meaning of something” that the word is used by Apostle Paul since he knows that it is not within human ability to perceive the significance of the things God has provided for believers. It is because of this he prayed for the Lord to enable the Ephesians to grasp the significance of Christ’s love in Ephesians 3:18:
may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
That aside, the apostle informs us that the Holy Spirit will enable us to understand or grasp the things God has given us since the phrase what God has freely given is more literally the things having graciously given.
The apostle did not define the things God has given to believers, but he meant every blessing of salvation or the things God has prepared for us he mentioned in verse 9 of our passage. Of course, the apostle was more concerned to focus the attention of the Corinthians (and so all believers) on God’s grace that is involved in all He has done for us in salvation. This he conveyed in the expression “has freely given” of the NIV. This is translated from a Greek word (charizomai) that may mean “to cancel” a debt, as it is used in Jesus’ question to Simon the Pharisee who hosted Him for dinner to underscore the point that those who understand what forgiveness means are very appreciative of it, as recorded in Luke 7:42:
Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
The word may mean “to give graciously” as Apostle Paul used it to remind us that God who gave His Son, Jesus Christ, will not withhold His blessings to those who seek Him in Romans 8:32:
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
The word may mean “to forgive, pardon” as in the instruction for believers to forgive one another in keeping with the forgiveness we have received from God as demonstration of His grace, as stated in Colossians 3:13:
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
It is in the sense of “to give graciously” that the word is used in our passage. In effect, the apostle wants the Corinthians (and so all believers) to focus their attention on God who has shown His favor in everything that is involved in our salvation. Thus, it is important that we never forget that everything related to our salvation is God’s grace demonstrated to us. Furthermore, we should remember that we have the Holy Spirit living in us to guide us in spiritual matters. Our responsibility is to ensure He is in control of our souls through resisting of temptation or confession of sins when we fail. Keep reminding yourself that you are not the same spiritual state as unbelievers and so you should dare to be different.
07/06/18