• John Gill, (3) Commentary On First Corinthians

    1 Corinthians: Chapter 2, Verse 16

    “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, etc.]” The deep counsels of his heart, the scheme of salvation by Jesus Christ, as drawn in his eternal mind, the sense of the Spirit of God in the writings of the Old Testament, the things of the Spirit of God, or the doctrines of grace more clearly revealed under the Gospel dispensation; not any natural man, by the light of truth and strength of reason, has known any of these things. The apostle either cites or alludes to (Isaiah 40:13) “that he may instruct him?” Not the Lord, who needs no instruction from any, nor can any teach and instruct him, nor would any be so bold and insolent as to attempt it nor does…

  • John Gill, (3) Commentary On First Corinthians

    1 Corinthians: Chapter 2, Verse 15

    “But he that is spiritual, etc.]” Meaning not any particular individual person, not the pope of Rome, as his adherents vainly imagine, whom they fancy to be a supreme and infallible judge in things spiritual, from whose judgment is no appeal, and who himself comes not under the judgment of any; for he is so far from being a spiritual man, or having judgment in spiritual things, that he stands described as the man of sin, the son of perdition, the wicked one, the beast, to whom a mouth is given, speaking great things and blasphemies; but a set of men are here meant, and not such who are only outwardly reformed in their lives and conversations, who are at best but moral, and not…

  • John Gill, (3) Commentary On First Corinthians

    1 Corinthians: Chapter 2, Verse 14

    “But the natural man, etc.]” Not a babe in Christ, one that is newly born again, for though such have but little knowledge of spiritual things, yet they have a taste, and do relish and desire, and receive the sincere milk of the word, and grow thereby; but an unregenerate man, that has no knowledge at all of such things; not an unregenerate man only, who is openly and notoriously profane, abandoned to sensual lusts and pleasures; though such a man being sensual, and not having the Spirit, must be a natural man; but rather the wise philosopher, the Scribe, the disputer of this world; the rationalist, the man of the highest attainments in nature, in whom reason is wrought up to its highest pitch;…

  • John Gill, (3) Commentary On First Corinthians

    1 Corinthians: Chapter 2, Verse 13

    “Which things also we speak, etc.]” Namely, the things which have not been seen by the eye, heard by the ear, or understood by the heart of man; the things God has prepared for his people; the deep things of God; the things of God which are only known to the Spirit; the things that are freely given to them of God, and made known to them by the Spirit of God: these things are spoken out, preached, and declared to the sons of men,  “not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth;” Which are learned in the schools of the philosophers, put together by human art, and “in the taught words of human wisdom”, as the clause may be rendered; such as are taught…

  • John Gill, (3) Commentary On First Corinthians

    1 Corinthians: Chapter 2, Verse 12

    “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, etc.]” Meaning either Satan, the god of the world, the spirit that is in it, and rules over it; or the sinful carnal disposition of the men of the world, which is a spirit of covetousness, uncleanness, pride, malice, and error; or rather the carnal wisdom of the world, which is common to worldly men, lies in the knowledge of worldly things, and is pursued and exercised for worldly advantages:  “but the Spirit which is of God;” The Holy Ghost, which proceeds from the Father and the Son, is the gift of God to his people, and whom they receive through the doctrine of faith into their hearts, as a spirit of illumination, faith, comfort,…

  • John Gill, (3) Commentary On First Corinthians

    1 Corinthians: Chapter 2, Verse 11

    “For what man knoweth the things of a man, etc.]” The thoughts of a man’s heart, the conceptions of his mind, the schemes he is drawing there, his designs, purposes, and intentions; these can never be known by another man, no, nor by angels or devils; not by any creature; by none  “save the spirit of a man which is in him?” Which is only conscious to, and can only make known the things that are in him:  “even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God;” And which, as it proves how secret, hidden, unknown, the mysteries of grace are, until revealed by the Spirit; so it gives full evidence to the deity of the Holy Ghost, and clearly…