Lessons #63 and 64
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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 involves speaking of spiritual things (1 Cor 2:13-16)
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: 16“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
The message of this section of 1 Corinthians 2:13-16 that we have been considering is that Your response to communication of spiritual things is a function of your spiritual life. We have been expounding this message based on three major statements derived from our passage. A first statement is that communication of spiritual matters has at least two characteristics stated negatively and positively in our passage. A second statement is: You are unspiritual if you reject communication of spiritual matters. A third statement is that You are spiritually matured if you can discern or judge spiritual truths when they are communicated. This statement we expounded by considering three things that a spiritually matured believer under the control of the Holy Spirit should carefully evaluate which are; any teaching of the word of God such a person receives, self, and others. The three things we identified are primarily due to the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 2:15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things. However, this sentence is followed by an assertion which contrasts this clause.
The indicator of contrast between the first clause of verse 15 and what follows is the conjunction but that begins the next clause of the verse. The conjunction “but” is translated from a Greek word (de) that is commonly used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation. It is commonly translated “but” when it is felt that there is some contrast between clauses—though the contrast is often scarcely discernible. However, it is translated “and” when there is no clear implication of a contrast. In our verse, there is a clear contrast and so the last clause of verse 15 begins with the conjunction but.
The assertion of the second clause of verse 15 indicates the spiritually matured believer under the control of the Holy Spirit is not approvingly evaluated by anyone that is not controlled by the Holy Spirit. It is this assertion that is given in the clause but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment. Literally, the Greek reads but he himself is judged by no one.
The clause but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment or literally but he himself is judged by no one is difficult to interpret. This is probably one of the reasons that some contend that the clause is a quotation of those in Corinth who consider themselves spiritual elites. Thus, they claim they are above criticism. This understanding sadly is used by some groups to indicate that certain individuals are above criticism. Furthermore, the word “judged” in the literal translation may imply that the apostle makes an absolute statement to indicate that the spiritually matured under the control of the Holy Spirit is not absolutely subject to anyone’s judgment or criticism. This could hardly the be case. For one thing, we know that the perfect God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, was criticized several times during His earthly ministry so it would be incorrect to assert that a spiritually matured person under the control of the Holy Spirit would not be criticized by anyone. In addition, to understand the word “judge” in the absolute sense of not being subject to criticism contradicts the apostle’s instruction to believers in Colosse when he instructed them not to allow anyone to judge them regarding dietary laws or matters of celebration of Sabbath or other ceremonial celebrations, as recorded in Colossians 2:16:
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
If the clause but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment is to be understood as an absolute statement regarding being judged by others, then the instruction to the Colossians would not make sense.
So, what does the apostle mean in the clause but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment or literally but he himself is judged by no one? I have already given the interpretation when I stated the second assertion of 1 Corinthians 2:15 but to answer this, we need to consider key words or expressions used in the Greek. A first expression is “any man’s” of the NIV. The word “man” does not appear in the Greek but the expression is the way the translators of the NIV rendered a Greek word (oudeis) that as an adjective means “no” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to convey that he received support only from the Philippians, as stated in Philippians 4:15:
Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only;
The phrase not one church is literally no church. The word when used as a noun means “no one, no body” as it is used in John 1:18:
No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
It is in the sense of “no one, no body” that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:15. Of course, there is the problem of whether this meaning refers to all persons or simply those who are unspiritual, believers or unbelievers. Because believers are authorized under certain conditions to judge others then it is probably the case that the apostle did not mean all persons but those who are unspiritual, believers or unbelievers. This explanation may seem strange to some because of the expression “no one, no body” seems to imply the sense of absoluteness. But this is not the case. You see, the Greek word that means “no one, no body” may be used relatively or absolutely. A good example of its use relatively, is the case of the woman that was healed of continuous bleeding, as recorded in Luke 8:43:
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.
The clause but no one could heal her could not be understood absolutely but in the context of Jewish healers since taking the expression “no one” absolutely would include Jesus Himself but He was excluded in that clause. Therefore, context helps in understanding what is meant by the expression “no one, no body.” When the Greek word that means “no one, no body” is used absolutely, it is the context that helps such understanding. For example, when Jesus described the impossibility of a person being equally devoted to two different masters, as recorded in Matthew 6:24:
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
The expression “no one” is to be understood as used absolutely since what Jesus stated is absolute truth. You cannot be equally devoted to two persons at the same time. Even when the Greek word may appear to be used absolutely, the word “except” is usually found to limit its meaning, as in Jesus’ declaration of Luke 10:22:
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
The point is that it is correct to state that our Greek word that means “no one, no body” or translated any man’s in the NIV is used in 1 Corinthians 2:15 to refer to the unspiritual, believer or unbeliever.
The second expression “subject to any man’s judgment” of the NIV or literally “judged” is translated from a Greek word (anakrinō) that we considered in the first clause of the verse and in verse 14 but we should review what we said about it here. The Greek word may mean to “examine, question” in the sense of engagement in careful study of an issue or question as the word is used to describe the Bereans who examined the Scripture carefully to see if what Apostle Paul said was true, as recorded in Acts 17:11:
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
The word may mean to conduct a judicial hearing hence “to hear a case, to question.” Under this meaning, the word may mean to “call into account”, “to question” or “to examine” as it is used in Peter’s response to the Jewish religious leaders in Acts 4:9:
If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed,
The clause If we are being called to account today may literally be translated If we are being examined today. It is in the sense of judicial hearing that the word is used when the lawyer Tertullus presented the accusation of the Jews against Paul before Governor Felix, as recorded in Acts 24:8:
By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.”
The word “examining” refers to judicial hearing of the case presented against Paul. The word may mean to make a judgment based on careful and detailed information or even to examine with a view to find fault hence means “to judge carefully, to call to account, to discern.” The meaning “to judge” may be used in a favorable sense of “to approve.” This meaning is probably one that fits the use of our Greek word in 1 Corinthians 4:3:
I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.
The apostle probably meant that he does not care if he received approval from the Corinthians or any human court since he does not even put a stamp of approval on himself, but he leaves that to the Lord Jesus either to approve or disapprove of him, as the apostle stated in 1 Corinthians 4:4:
My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
The meaning “to judge” may also be used negatively so that it means “to criticize, express disapproval.” This meaning fits the apostle’s assertion in 1 Corinthians 9:3:
This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me.
The sentence This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me is more literally My defense to those who examine me is this. Although our Greek word is literally translated “examine” the sense is that Apostle Paul addressed those who criticized him so that our Greek word in this passage means “to criticize” or “to express disapproval.” The negative use of the meaning “to judge” may be understood to mean “to condemn”, as that is the implied meaning of the Greek word when the apostle used it to describe the effect of prophesying in a local worship on a sinner who comes into the believers’ worship but has his sinful conduct exposed, as implied in 1 Corinthians 14:24:
But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all,
In this verse, “be judged by all” means “be condemned by all.” It is in the meaning “to judge” in the sense of “to approve” or “judge favorably” that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 2:15 that we are considering.
The key word and expression we have considered enable us to interpret what the apostle meant in the clause but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment. He means that the spiritually matured believer under the control of the Holy Spirit does not receive continually approval from anyone that is unspiritual. The implication is that the spiritually matured believer that is controlled by the Holy Spirit is difficult to evaluate by anyone that is not spiritual. This reminds us of the Lord’s description of the born-again individual 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.”
Wind although invisible is real since its effect is felt but we do not know its origin and destination. In the same fashion, being born of the Spirit is a reality but the new life of the ones born of the Spirit is unexplainable through ordinary reasoning and we cannot explain such persons. They do things that the natural person cannot understand or explain but that does not mean they are wrong. Furthermore, the clause but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment reminds us of what Apostle Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 13:7:
Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed.
The situation here is that Apostle Paul was more concerned for the Corinthians to prove that they are tried and true Christians than for him to prove that he is tried and true apostle. The apostle had indicated he would discipline those who sinned without repentance. In addition, some have already judged him of being a coward in person but a lion in the use of his pen. However, to the apostle, if his epistle leads these individuals to repent then when he visits Corinth he would not have to discipline them. This means that he would not have the opportunity to demonstrate the power of Christ in him. If this happens, his critics would judge him harshly as a failure or one who is full of talk but no action since they think he is bold when writing but not so in person. The apostle does not mind this although such critics would be wrong not knowing that the apostle was correct as the Lord would also approve of his action. Hence, they would evaluate the apostle wrongly. Of course, the apostle recognized that it is not human’s approval that is important but that of the Lord, as he implies in 2 Corinthians 10:18:
For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
In any event, it is our interpretation that the clause but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment means that the spiritually matured believer under the control of the Holy Spirit does not receive continually approval from anyone that is unspiritual. In other words, no unspiritual person can correctly evaluate the things done by the spiritually matured believer under the control of the Spirit. May I add, spiritually immature believer would not correctly evaluate the things done by spiritually matured believer controlled by the Holy Spirit.
The interpretation we have given makes sense since the apostle provides a reason for the clause by quoting from the Scripture that we will get to shortly. We assert the apostle provided an explanation to what he stated in the last clause because he used in 1 Corinthians 2:16 a Greek conjunction (gar) that is used in three major ways in the Greek. It is used as a marker of cause or reason with the translation “for, because.” Another usage is as a marker of explanation or clarification so that it may be translated “for, you see.” Under this second usage, it may be used as a marker of new sentence or transition to another point or to signal an important point so that it may be translated “then, well” or it may be left untranslated. Another usage is as a marker of inference with the meaning “certainly, by all means, so, then.” In verse 16, the Greek conjunction is used as a marker of reason so that the verse should begin with the conjunction “for.” It is not clear to the reason that the 1984 edition of the NIV and the NET made the conjunction a part of the quotation from the Scripture although the 2011 edition of the NIV has corrected this by not making it a part of the scriptural quotation. Some English versions left it untranslated while others translated it but added words that indicate the apostle quoted from the Scripture. The LB (Living Bible) began the verse with a question How could he? probably to help the English reader understand that the verse provides a reason for what is stated in the previous verse.
The quotation the Apostle used in verse 16 to provide reason for the last clause of verse 15 is from Isaiah 40:13:
Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor?
The reading we have in the Masoretic Text, the source of our OT translation is different from the Septuagint since it has one question more than what we have in our English translation. The Septuagint reads: Who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has become his counselor? Who will advise him? The apostle usually quotes from the Septuagint. This being the case, he either truncated his quotation or he considered the third question to mean the same as the second and so omitted its quotation or he could have had a version of the Septuagint that is not available to us. This notwithstanding, we need to understand what the quotation means to help justify the interpretation of the last clause of verse 15 that we provided. Anyway, the quotation in verse 16 from our Greek text is who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? To interpret the quotation we need to consider the key words used in it.
The first key word is “known” that is translated from a Greek verb (ginōskō) that may mean to arrive at a knowledge of someone or something, hence “to know, know about, make acquaintance of.” If the word under this meaning is used of things, it may be used in the sense of identifying a thing by something, as in the recognizing a tree by its fruit in Matthew 12:33:
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
If the word under this meaning is used of personal objects, it may mean not only to be acquainted with a person but to come to know who the person really is, that should involve understanding the character of a person, as it is used regarding the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father in John 14:7:
If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
The word may mean to acquire information through some means and so means “to learn (of), ascertain, find out.” Hence, it is in the sense of “to find out” or “to learn” something about individuals that Apostle Paul used it to state one of his reasons for sending Tychicus to the Colossians was for them to learn about his and his team’s condition, as we read in Colossians 4:8:
I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.
The word may mean to grasp the significance or meaning of something and so means “to understand, comprehend” as it is used to indicate the disciples of Jesus did not comprehend what He said to them about His coming death and resurrection when they were on their way to Jerusalem as reported by Luke in Luke 18:34:
The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
Of course, it is in this meaning of grasping the significance of something that our Greek word was used in the apostolic prayer of Paul for the Ephesians to comprehend Christ’s love for them although our word is translated “know” in Ephesians 3:19:
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
The word may mean to be aware of something, that is, “to perceive, notice, realize”, as it is used to describe that the woman Jesus healed of her bleeding realized or perceived it, as recorded in Mark 5:29:
Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
The sentence she felt is more literally she knew, that is, she realized or perceived that she had been healed because her bleeding stopped. The word may mean “to acknowledge, recognize” as it is used in Galatians 4:9:
But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
Although the NIV translated our Greek word with “know” twice but the sense of the Greek word in this passage is that of “to acknowledge.” Thus, the clause now that you know God is translated in the NEB as now that you do acknowledge God. It is in the sense “to find out” by learning that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 2:16.
The second key word is “mind” that appears twice in 1 Corinthians 2:16 with different meanings. The word is translated from a Greek noun (nous) that may mean “mind” in the sense of “understanding,” as that is the sense in which the word is used to state that the Lord Jesus opened the minds of His disciples, after His resurrection, to enable them to comprehend the Scriptures, according to Luke 24:45:
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
The word may mean “mind” in the sense of “intellect,” as Apostle Paul used it to state he serves God’s law with his intellect in Romans 7:25:
Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
The phrase in my mind may be translated with my intellect. The word may mean a way of thinking that in a sense describes the totality of the whole mental and moral state of being or the inner orientation of a person, hence means “mind, attitude, disposition”. The word then may mean “thought” as in Romans 1:28:
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
The phrase depraved mind may be translated depraved thoughts. It is with the meaning “thinking” that the word is used in describing not only the mental state of unbelievers but their lifestyle in Ephesians 4:17:
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
The word may mean the result of thinking hence means “mind, thought, opinion, decree, judgment” as in Romans 14:5:
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
Here “mind” has the sense of what one thinks or thought or judgment. It is in the sense of result of thinking, that is, “thought” that the word is used in its first usage in our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:16.
The third key word of quotation in 1 Corinthians 2:16 is “instruct” that is translated from a Greek word (symbibazō) that may mean “to demonstrate, prove” as the word is used to describe the logical conclusion of Paul, after his conversion, to the Jews in Damascus that Jesus is the Christ, as recorded in Acts 9:22:
Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
The word may mean “to instruct, teach, advise” as it is used to indicate that some of the Jews who instigated riot against Paul and his team gave advice to Alexander about what they wanted him to say, as narrated in Acts 19:33:
The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people.
The verbal phrase shouted instructions to him is literally advised Alexander. The word may mean “to conclude, infer”, that is, to draw a conclusion in the face of evidence as Apostle Paul used it to conclude God has called him and his team to preach the gospel in Macedonia because of the vision he saw of a Macedonian begging him to come to the help of the Macedonians, as stated in Acts 16:10:
After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
The word may mean “to unite,” that is, to bring together into a unit. Apostle Paul used the word in this sense both literally and figuratively. Literally, he used it for holding together of the body by sinews, ligaments, and joints in Ephesians 4:16:
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
But he used it figuratively in bonding of believers in love or coming to be better friends through love in Colossians 2:2:
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:16, it is in the sense of “to instruct, advise, teach” that the word is used.
There is one more factor we should consider, to help to interpret correctly the first clause of 1 Corinthians 2:16. It is the original context of the quotation of the apostle. The original context indicates that Prophet Isaiah was concerned with the fact that it is impossible to evaluate God’s ways and plans and how He works them out. No one in Judah could provide input to God on how to administer His plan or rule the universe since no one knows God’s thought.
Having examined the key words used and the context of the quotation, we can interpret the question who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? The apostle meant to state that no human unaided by the Holy Spirit can find out God’s thought and His way of operating on this planet as to help advise Him on what to do. The implication of this interpretation is that the reason no unspiritual person can approve or correctly evaluate the spiritually matured individual under the control of the Spirit is that no human unaided by the Holy Spirit could find out how God evaluates or approves things. In effect, God’s ways are so superior to ours that when the Spirit controls the spiritually matured believer, such a person can do things the unspiritual, especially unbeliever would not understand, so criticizes such a believer and the associated action.
In contrast to the unspiritual, the spiritually minded would evaluate or approve of the spiritually matured believer under the control of the Spirit. We say this because the next clause of 1 Corinthians 2:16 introduced a contrast since it begins with a Greek conjunction (de) that is used in the sense of contrasting what preceded with the translation “but.” It is difficult to understand the issue in the contrast indicated in the clause without referring to the concept of judging. There is a difference in this activity depending on whether a person is spiritual or not. Hence, the contrast given explains the difference between the unspiritual and the spiritual. The difference between them concerns possession of something that characterize Christ as in the clause we have the mind of Christ.
The problem with the clause is to understand what the apostle meant. This requires we consider the elements of the clause. The first is the pronoun “we” that needs to be interpreted. It is our interpretation that pronoun is used to describe the apostles and all believers since in this section of the epistle we are considering, Apostle Paul used this pronoun in the sense of either the apostles or spiritually matured believers under the control of the Holy Spirit in general including the apostles. It is in the general sense of those who are spiritually matured under the control of the Holy Spirit that the apostle used it in our verse since he had already indicated that his teaching was directed to such individuals.
A second concern is how to understand the word “have.” It is translated from a Greek word (echō) that may mean to have an opinion about something hence means “to consider, look upon, view” as it is used to describe the reason the Jews were reluctant at some point to arrest Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 21:46:
They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
The clause because the people held that he was a prophet is more literally because they looked upon him as a prophet. The word may mean to be able to do something hence means “can, be able” as in Jesus’ instruction in Luke 12:4:
“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
The verbal phrase can do no more is literally have anything more to do. The word may mean “to have” in the sense of to stand in a close relationship to someone. Thus, it is in this sense that the Lord Jesus used the word to concur with the Samaritan woman that she was not married to the man she was living with, as recorded in John 4:17:
“I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
The word may mean “to have” in the sense of “to experience” as in Jesus’ declaration to the disciples regarding what they would experience in Him and in the world in John 16:33:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The word may mean to have in the sense of to possess something that is under one’s control and so means “to own, possess.” It is in this sense of possessing that the word is translated “have” in 1 Corinthians 4:7:
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
The word may mean to take hold on something, that is, “to hold to, grip” as it is used by Apostle Paul to encourage Timothy to hold on to the teaching he received from him as the pattern of sound doctrine of the church in 2 Timothy 1:13:
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
The instruction keep as the pattern of sound teaching of the NIV may literally be translated hold fast to the pattern of sound words. The word may mean “to bring about, to cause, to include in itself”. Thus, the translators of the NIV used the meaning “accompany” to translate our word when it is used in the relationship of genuine faith and works in James 2:17:
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
The clause if it is not accompanied by action, is dead is literally if it does not have works, is dead by itself. The word may mean “to have” in the sense of “to hold in one’s charge” as it is used by the Lord’s description of Himself to John in Revelation 1:18:
I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:16, the word means “to have” in the sense to possess something.
The thing possessed introduces the next problem of the clause we are considering in the phrase the mind of Christ. The problem is how to interpret the phrase. This involves first the interpretation of the Greek word (nous) translated “mind” that we have considered in its first usage in our verse. Its second usage the meaning is either “thought” or “disposition.” Of course, a commentator equates the mind here with the Scripture. Such an interpretation is farfetched because it does not fit the context where the issue is the spiritual person, nor does such a meaning agree to the range of meanings of the Greek word translated “mind.” Furthermore, there is nowhere else in the Scripture that we have anything that suggests that the mind of Christ is Scripture. The closest association of the word of God with Christ involves preaching of Him or His word as in Romans 10:17:
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
The phrase the word of Christ means either “preaching about Christ” or “the message from Christ.” It is the message about Christ, the gospel, but is also the message that Christ speaks. The Scripture is usually associated with the Holy Spirit, so Apostle Peter referred to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Christ involved in prophecy in 1 Peter 1:11:
trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
The apostle also associates the writing of the Scripture with the Holy Spirit in 2 Peter 1:21:
For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Hence it is difficult to accept the interpretation of the phrase mind of Christ as a reference to the Scripture. Another interpretation is that “mind” is the same as “Spirit” so that the mind of Christ is the same as “the Spirit of Christ.” This is a more possible interpretation since it agrees with the understanding of the Greek word as “disposition” that Christ had. Besides, the original quotation of Isaiah in the Hebrew text used a Hebrew word that means “Spirit” instead of “mind” used in the Septuagint. In any event, it is our interpretation that the phrase the mind of Christ refers to the disposition of Christ that believers have. This phrase is similar to what is stated in Philippians 2:5:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
A spiritual person controlled by the Holy Spirit has the disposition of Christ or thinks like Him. It is important to hold to the truth that a believer has the disposition or thinks like Christ only when the individual is controlled by the Holy Spirit because the word “have” in 1 Corinthians 2:16 is a present tense in the Greek implying something that is repeatedly possessed. Such disposition is repeatedly possessed because we are not always controlled by the Holy Spirit but on the occasion, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, then we possess the disposition of Christ or think the way He thought while on this planet. Thus, when Apostle Paul states we have the mind of Christ he means spiritually matured believer under the control of the Spirit has the disposition of Christ or thinks as He did while on this planet, that is, that a believer has the mind-set of Christ. It is this thinking or disposition that enables such a person to be correct in his/her evaluation of spiritual things or even of other persons concerning spiritual matters.
In any event, we end of study of this section of 1 Corinthians 2:13-16 with a reminder of the central message we have expounded. It is that Your response to communication of spiritual things is a function of your spiritual life. This we expounded by making three major statements. A first statement is that communication of spiritual matters has at least two characteristics stated negatively and positively in our passage. A second statement is: You are unspiritual if you reject communication of spiritual matters. A third statement is that You are spiritually matured if you can discern or judge spiritual truths when they are communicated. So, you can always evaluate yourself to determine if you are spiritual or not as you evaluate your response to the teaching of God’s word.
08/03/18