Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 2:10
But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
10. for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God ] In this and the next verse we gather (1) the personality of the Holy Ghost, (2) His distinction from the Father. He not only searches the deep things of God, which He could not be described as doing were He identical with the Father, but though on account of His perfect knowledge of the Mind of God He is likened to the spirit of man which is one of the component elements of his being, the Apostle speaks of the one as the ‘spirit of a man which is in him,’ but of the other as the Spirit which is from ( , proceeding out of) God.
searcheth ] “The word to search is here indicative not of ignorance, but of accurate knowledge, at least if we may judge from the fact that this is the very phrase the Apostle has used even of God, saying, ‘He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit.’ ” Chrysostom. The knowledge, in fact, as 1Co 2:11 shews, is of the same kind as the knowledge of the spirit of man concerning what passes within his breast, though, of course, infinitely more complete.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But God hath revealed them – That is, those elevated views and enjoyments to which people everywhere else had been strangers, and which have been under all other forms of religion unknown, have been communicated to us by the revelation of God – This verse commences the third part of this chapter, in which the apostle shows how these truths, so full of wisdom had been communicated to Christians. It had not been by any native endowments of theirs; not by any strength of faculties, or powers. but solely by revelation from God.Unto us – That is, first to the apostles; secondly, to all Christians – to the church and the world through their inspired instructors; and third, to all Christians by the illuminating agency of the Spirit on their hearts. The connection shows that he did not mean to confine this declaration to the apostles merely, for his design was to show that all Christians had this knowledge of the true wisdom. It was true that this was revealed in an eminent manner to the apostles, and through their inspired preaching and writings; but it is also true, that the same truths are communicated by the agency of the same Spirit to all Christians; Joh 16:12-14. No truth is now communicated to Christians which was not revealed to and by the inspired writers; but the same truths are imparted by means of their writings, and by the illumination of the Spirit to all the true friends of God.
By his Spirit – By the Holy Spirit, that was promised by the Saviour. Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26-27; Joh 16:7-14. This proves:
(1) That people by nature are not able to discover the deep things of God – the truths which are needful to salvation.
(2) That the apostles were inspired by the Holy Spirit; and if so, then the Scriptures are inspired.
(3) That all Christians are the subjects of the teaching of the Holy Spirit; that these truths are made known to them by his illumination; and that but for this, they would remain in the same darkness as other men.
For the Spirit – The Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God; see 1Co 2:11.
Searcheth – This word does not fully express the force of the original ereuna. It means to search accurately, diligently, so as fully to understand; such profound research as to have thorough knowledge. So David uses the Hebrew word chaaqar in Psa 139:1. So the word is used to denote a careful and accurate investigation of secret and obscure things, in 1Pe 1:11. Compare Joh 7:52; Rom 8:27; Rev 2:23, where it is used to denote that profound and accurate search by which the desires and feelings of the heart are known – implying the most profound knowledge of which we can have any conception; see Pro 20:27. Here it means, that the Holy Spirit has an intimate knowledge of all things. It is not to be supposed that he searches, or inquires as people do who are ignorant; but that he has an intimate and profound knowledge, such as is usually the result of a close and accurate search. The result is what the apostle means to state – the accurate, profound, and thorough knowledge, such as usually attends research. He does not state the mode in which it is obtained; but the fact. And he uses a word more emphatic than simple knowledge, because he designs to indicate that his knowledge is profound, entire, and thorough.
All things – All subjects; all laws; all events; all beings.
The deep things of God – He has a thorough knowledge of the hidden counsels or purposes of God; of all his plans and purposes. He sees all his designs. He sees all his councils; all his purposes in regard to the government of the universe, and the scheme of salvation. He knows all whom God designs to save; he sees all that they need; and he sees how the plan of God is suited to their salvation – This passage proves:
(1) That the Spirit is, in some respects, distinct from the Father, or from him who is here called God. Else how could he be said to search all things, even the deep purposes of God? To search implies action, thought, personality. An attribute of God cannot be said to search. How could it be said of the justice, the goodness, the power, or the wisdom of God that it searches, or acts? To search, is the action of an intelligent agent, and cannot be performed by an attribute.
(2) The Spirit is omniscient. He searches or clearly understands all things – the very definition of omniscience. He understands all the profound plans and counsels of God. And how can there be a higher demonstration of omniscience than to know God? – But if omniscient, the Holy Spirit is divine – for this is one of the incommunicable attributes of God; 1Ch 28:9; Psa 139:1; Jer 17:10.
(3) He is not a distinct being from God. There is a union between him and God, such as may be compared to the union between a man and his soul, 1Co 2:11. God is one; and though he subsists as Father, Son, and Spirit, yet he is one God, Deu 6:4 – This passage is, therefore, a very important, and a decisive one in regard to the personality and divinity of the Holy Spirit.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Co 2:10
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.
The things of God revealed by the Spirit
When a telescope is directed towards some distant landscape, it enables us to see what we could not otherwise have seen; but it does not enable us to see anything which has not a real existence in the prospect before us. It does not present to the eye illusive imagery, neither is that a fanciful and factitious scene which it throws open to our contemplation. The natural eye saw nothing but blue land stretching along the distant horizon. By the aid of the glass there bursts upon it a charming variety of fields and woods, and spires and villages. Yet who would say that the glass added one feature to this assemblage? It discovers nothing to us which is not there; nor, out of that portion of the book of nature which we are employed in contemplating, does it bring into view a single character which is not really and previously inscribed upon it. And so of the Spirit. He does not add a single truth or a single character to the book of revelation. He enables the spiritual man to see; but the spectacle which He lays open is uniform and immutable. (T. Chalmers, D. D.)
The revealed communications of the Spirit are
I. Transcendent in character.
1. The deep things of God. Reason suffices in other matters; these can only be revealed by the Spirit, who teaches us to cry Abba, Father.
II. An absolute around of certainty and confidence.
1. He knows all things.
2. Reveals that God is love.
3. This truth is as unchangeable as God Himself and becomes the immovable ground of our happiness.
III. Sufficient for all our spiritual necessities, We want nothing more when this love is revealed in us because–
1. His gracious purpose is disclosed.
2. All the miseries of our nature are met in Christ.
3. Christ is revealed as a new source of life and happiness. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The wisdom of God
I. The relation of intellectual knowledge to the wisdom of God. In the apostles presentation of this question there are two things very manifest, viz., that the true Wisdom involves a very large and important element of intellectual conception, and yet that, on the other hand, it must be radically distinguished from merely intellectual operations and discoveries. The former of these two positions is clearly seen in the way in which He presents the wisdom of a perfect Christianity as competing with, and transcending, the philosophic wisdom of the Greek. This side of the apostles position is condemnatory of the modern craze to recklessly ignore important differences in the intellectual conceptions of truth held by Christian people, and to talk at random about oneness of spirit. In the mature Christian life the spirit largely determines, and is largely determined by, the central conceptions of truth. Essential differences in the wisdom we hold must be a sign of serious spiritual divergence, though it may be difficult to detect it in the moral life. To take an extreme case, there is a vast difference between the spiritual state of an atheist and a Christian man, even though the moral life of the former may be unimpeachable. But, as we have said, the apostle also maintains that the wisdom of God is far more than a system of thought, so much so that it is impossible to attain it by the mere force of intellectual power, however great its sweep and however large its results. The senses cannot discover this wisdom, nor can thought evolve it. The seat of the highest wisdom is not intellect, but spirit. But the spiritual consciousness of which we speak must not be confounded with the more superficial element of emotion. The latter sweeps over the surface of the life, the former is fixed deep in the centre of it. The latter is transient and uncertain, the former is set in the heart of eternal relations. The latter is fickle and untrustworthy, the former affords the most trustworthy testimony concerning the truths to which it testifies. Clearly enough, then, Paul excludes from participation in the true wisdom all that have not entered into a spiritual relation of life and love with God; and, more explicitly still, all that fail to apprehend God in Christ. A love of scientific investigation and an apprehension of spiritual realities do not necessarily go together; and without the latter even the elements of true wisdom are absent.
II. What is the relation of philosophic moral and religious systems to the Biblical system? Can we claim for the Christian Scriptures an inspiration which cannot be claimed, say, for the moral systems of Greek philosophy? The principle laid down in our text seems to me to state clearly the truth of the matter. It is not my intention to deny that the Greek received a revelation from God, for I believe he did receive e. Divine revelation, and that a revelation of considerable range and grandeur. Further than this, I affirm that, wherever there has existed any degree of moral and spiritual consciousness, God has necessarily manifested Himself through it. The Word is the light that lighteth every man. But there was this essential difference between the Jewish prophet and the Greek philosopher, a difference that revealed itself more fully as their several histories developed: the apprehension of truth by the former was predominatingly spiritual, by the latter intellectual. The Greek reached his conclusions by elaborate processes of thought; the Hebrew received his revelations in the Spirit, and spoke as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. It is to this unique experience that we give the name of inspiration. The unique revelation which this experience involved is asserted clearly enough in the principle laid down in the text; for it asserts this, that the revelation received through the Spirit of God transcends every other, and covers a sphere into which no other can enter.
III. The relation of spiritual development to the wisdom of God. The apostle clearly lays down the principle that the development of spiritual apprehension accompanies the development of spiritual life. It is to the man of mature spiritual life that the apostle reveals the higher wisdom of the gospel. Spiritual things are revealed by the Spirit of God, and are therefore apprehended in the proportion that we possess this Spirit. But, if this be so, if a clearer vision of truth must be ever coming to developing spiritual life, does it not follow that the New Testament Scriptures may be superseded, and that we must look for the latest revelation of truth to the spiritual man of to-day? When Christ came, and when, in the full light of His teaching, the central facts of His life and death, and the central significance of these facts, had been recorded, the book of Gods revelation closed. The glorious opportunities for the conveyance of final and complete truth to men were such as could not recur. If we cannot find the certainty of truth here, then there is no rest for the sole of our foot for ever. But we must distinguish between the finality of the revelation and finality in the comprehension of it. I see no difficulty at all in admitting that even the apostles were wiser than they knew, that their teaching contained vast possibilities of unfolding and latent grandeurs which they but dimly apprehended. The truest theology is that which, like a growing child, maintains its identity, not through stagnation, but through development. God help us to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! But the most deep-lying development in the Christian life, deeper than thought-articulation of truth, is spirit-apprehension of it. Underneath the grandest thought-apprehension of truth there is a still grander spiritual consciousness of it. Truth in its deepest origin is life. In the full life which holds in its bosom the full truth consists mans highest heaven. This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. (John Thomas, M. A.)
True religion a revelation
I. Religion is the fruit of a revelation from God. There are those who tell us that there is no such thing as a supernatural light to guide man through the maze of his souls life. The little sparrow has that within itself that, like a luminous flame, guides it in all that pertains to its existence. In seeking its food it is able to distinguish between that which will nourish and that which will poison; it can also choose its own home: Yea the sparrow hath found a house and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. The sun in the heavens guides man in all this lower life. Is it possible that he has been left without a light to illumine his mind and spirit? There was need of a revelation; for those who had seen the greatness and glory of nature had failed to see, hear, or to conceive the things God had prepared for the soul. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But why be content with merely carnal senses? Why not receive the light and grace of the Holy Spirit, that you may by spiritual discernment understand the things of God prepared for you?
II. Religion is a revelation to love. We must not forget in our study of these words that they speak of a revelation which has been made; it is not something we are to look forward to. God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. The state of mind to which God makes known the things which He has prepared is love. God is love, and love can only make itself known to love. The subject must be in sympathy with the object. The strange conduct of the Jews towards Christ can only be explained on this principle. The Saviours life was in the truest sense really beautiful, as it is admitted by the most pronounced unbelievers in these days. And yet the people of His age esteemed Him as a root out of a dry ground: He had no form nor comeliness; when they saw Him, there was no beauty that they should desire Him. God reveals His love to love. We love Him because He first loved us. The infinite kindness of God is to be seen in the method of His dealings with the world. If His method of saving men were mainly intellectual, few comparatively would be redeemed; for the plan would ,of necessity be so cold and formal, that only the few gifted minds would be interested by it. The many can only be reached by a direct appeal to their feelings, and hence the religion of Christ addresses the minds of men through their hearts; and the apostles laid emphasis, not on the great thoughts of God, but upon His infinite love in the gift of His Son. It is clear, then, that the religion of heaven is a revelation of love to love. God cannot reveal Himself to any other temper. We have sometimes gone into gardens, and observed plants that should be in full bloom still unopened. The green bud appeared full, almost to bursting; it was least the time for it to send forth its fragrant blossom, and still it was completely inclosed in its natural shield and entirely hidden from view. The reason of the delay was the state of the air; it was cold and frosty, and they could only reveal themselves to a bright sun and in a genial atmosphere; were they to open in the frosty air they would endanger their lives. A cold critical spirit is fatal to the revelations of love, it freezes the channels to the heart; and makes it impossible even for the love of God to find its way into it. But where a loving disposition exists, the love of God is sure to reveal itself.
III. Religion is the fruit of a complete revelation.
1. The Holy Spirit has revealed the great truth that God is light. God is the light of the soul, it is from Him we obtain the light that enables us to solve spiritual problems.
2. Another important truth has been revealed by the Spirit, that God is love. This is done in a most effectual manner. Because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which was given unto us.
3. The Spirit has revealed the truth that ,God is life: For with Thee is the fountain of life. He in the first instance breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of man. (D. Rhys Jenkins.)
Divine revelation
I. Its indispensable necessity to the knowledge of God. Because–
1. God stands alone, and is known only to Himself.
2. He is infinitely less comprehensible than men who cannot, though of the same nation, comprehend each other.
II. Its possibility and sufficiency. The Spirit–
1. Is as intimately one with God as the spirit of man is one with Himself.
2. Knows all things perfectly.
3. What He knows He can reveal.
III. Its contents and operation.
1. It contains a revelation of the Divine purpose, of Christ, of the things prepared for us in eternity.
2. He who teaches these things awakens desire, produces faith, confirms and comforts the heart in the knowledge of them. (R. Watson.)
The Spirit as a Teacher
On entering a cavern you inquire for a guide who comes with his lighted flambeau. He conducts you down to a considerable depth, and you find yourself in the midst of the cave. He leads you through different chambers. Here he points you to a little stream rushing from amid the rocks, and indicates its rise and progress. There he points to some peculiar rock, and tells you its name, then takes you into a large, natural hall, tells you how many persons once feasted in it, and so on. Truth is a grand series of caverns. It is our glory to have so great and wise a conductor as the Holy Spirit. Imagine that we are coming to the darkness of it. He is a light shining in the midst of us to guide us. He teaches us by suggestion, direction, and illumination. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Spiritual sight restored
A little boy was born blind. At last an operation was performed–the light was let in slowly. When one day his mother led him out of doors and uncovered his eyes, and for the first time he saw the sky and the earth, Oh, mother! he cried, why did you not tell me it was so beautiful? She burst into tears, and said, I tried to tell you, dear, but you could not understand me. So it is when we try to tell what is in Christ. Unless the spiritual sight is opened by the Holy Spirit we cannot understand.
The office of the Holy Spirit
The Rev. E. Hopkins, in showing the importance of knowledge to the Christian, told as an illustration what had happened to a friend of his in Yorkshire, who, though practically a poor man, owned an estate in that county. One day a geologist told him there was in his estate an abundance of iron ore. Believing this to be true he felt at once that he was no longer poor but rich. Even so it is the office of the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the boundless riches that are treasured up in Christ.
For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.—
The agency of the Holy Spirit
I. He searcheth the deep things of God.
1. His purposes of grace.
2. His particular dealings with individuals.
3. The glorious issue of His dispensations.
II. He reveals them to man.
1. To us and in us.
2. With saving power. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The deep things of God
We walk in a daily wonder, ourselves the strangest of mysteries. Our knowledge is only the glimmer of light upon the surface of the ocean of existence. Beneath are the deep things of God. We need not go far to stand on the shore of the deep things of God. Our science has not gone to the root yet of a single blade of grass.
I. Consider some of these mysteries.
1. To begin with the lowest, what do we know about the nature of matter? You can tell me as easily what the angels wings are as tell me the ultimate constitution of a single particle of matter. Common oxygen and- hydrogen, and all elemental principles, belong by nature to the deep things of God. The very dust of the earth upon which we tread is in its real principle as unknown to us as the nature of God Himself.
2. But if the common earth is thus the wonder of science, much more is that dust a mystery when, by unknown forces, it is taken up and woven dexterously after a predetermined pattern and organised into a thing of life. Sometimes investigators, pressing hard after the molecules of matter, have thought they had almost won the secret of life; but, just as our science seems about to put its finger upon that fugitive thing, life, it flies from its hand and we are no wiser than before. Life is one of the deep things of God, whose, origin no man can discover, and of whose future what we call death is only our ignorance. Perhaps to see the spring of life would be to see the living God Himself.
3. But if the life which colours the petal of the flower, and finds wings in the bird, and culminates in the form of man, is a mystery, what shall we say of that life when it has become conscious and is a thinking, willing mind? The human soul is one of the deepest of the deep things of God.
4. What then shall we say of all those further problems of life of which these things are, as it were, but the terms or elements? Our thoughts flutter over these deep things of God as the seabirds dip their wings in the oceans waves. They only shake from their feathers the spray of the surface. Yet we cannot help thinking of the deep things of our souls past, of the deeper things of its future. Whence came the evil that gives the good a bitter taste? How did death ever gain dominion over us? How did this hard, poisonous core of sin ever grow in the midst of this fair life? And who thus shall lift the veil for us from the future? We can see signs all around us of a great system of retribution. There is no doubt but that what a man sows that shall he also reap. The present retributive tendencies of things no sane man can deny. And they extend into the future; they work on and on. We can follow them out until they disappear in the unknown depths of futurity.
II. We are ready now to draw from such reflections some useful and pertinent conclusions.
1. We may infer that–
(1) There are some people who know more than their Creator ever intended that they should know. There are some, e.g., who know that the Bible is false, and religion a superstition, because, in this cast-iron world, a miracle seems impossible, prayer folly. Before they can be sure of that, however, they should know vastly more of the structure of this material universe than any mortal eye has as yet ever seen. Possibly this may not be a cast-iron universe; possibly it may be something more than a mere museum-world of biological specimens; and yet, for all we know to the contrary, this material system may be as permeable to Divine influences as this earth, which seems a globe so solid, is supposed to be open as wicker-work to all movements of the ethereal waves. There, said Lacordaire, as he overheard in a Paris restaurant St. Beuve saying, I cannot believe in God, because I believe only in what I understand–there is St. Beuve, who does not believe in God because he does not understand Him; nor does he understand why the same fire melts butter and hardens eggs, and yet he eats an omelet.
(2) There are people who know there can be no such place as hell, because God is good. I could trust better their assurance if only they could prove that there never could be such a place as Sodom, because God is good. Surely it is the part of a wise man not to dogmatise, but so to live as not to pitch his tent toward any Sodom, either in this world or in the world to come.
(3) There are persons so wondrous wise as to know that God cannot exist as a Trinity, because three are not one. We, too, ever since we learned to count our fingers, have known that three are more than one; but there is a puzzle of arithmetic which we have not solved yet, and that is, how I can be at one and the same time the subject and the object of my own thinking–these three in one. When I cannot as yet hardly comprehend my own imperfection, I will, at least, allow God to exist in a perfection which passes my knowledge; and if revelation leads me to worship Him as a unity, complete in Himself, and not as a mere lonely, loveless unit, that needs something else to make it blessed, surely it is; a better wisdom to believe in, though we can but dimly comprehend, the unity of three eternal distinctions in the ineffable society of one blessed God.
2. But my main object is to remind you, by these questionings, of what our errand in this life really is.
(1) It is very evident that the deep things of God are intended for finite minds to search. God has given us great problems for our mental exercise, and we have found out a vast deal. Truth opens new vistas to us at every turn.
(2) But it is just as clear that to gain knowledge is not our chief errand here. This mortal stage is arranged for scenes of probation; it is fitted out for the formation of character. Our object is salvation. And so God follows through all mans history this supreme moral purpose, and to this end everything else in His providence seems to have been subordinated. This appears clearly enough from the reflections which we have just been pursuing; for God gratifies our love for knowledge only in so far as it seems to be for our moral good. How easy it would have been for Him to have granted us revelations of some of these mysteries! Let us remember however, that while the shadows lie over many a field of knowledge, the light does fall directly over the narrow path of duty; and though we may not see far into the shadows of the forest on either side, yet, if we will, we can keep with resolute feet the narrow path of duty, and that is the path which leads up into the open day. Conclusion: Let us remember, then, that the great duties of life are the illuminated texts of Scripture: Repent, Believe, Be converted, Strive, Pray, Have the Spirit of Christ, Set your affections on things above. These commandments of the Lord are plain, enlightening the eyes of whosoever wishes to see. There are many things which, as Jesus said, we shall know hereafter. (Newman Smyth, D. D.)
The deep things of God are
1. Unfathomable in their nature.
2. Comprehended only by the Spirit of God.
3. Partially revealed to us. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The gospel school
Here the student is–
I. Instructed in the sublimest realities. Deep things of God. Things, not words, not theories, deep things, deep because undiscoverable by human reason, and deep because they come from the fathomless ocean of Divine love. They are the primary elements of the gospel, and the necessary condition of soul restoration, and are–
1. The free gifts of heaven. Freely given to us of God.
2. Freely given to be communicated. Which things also we speak, &c. He who gets these things into his mind and heart is bound to tell them to others.
II. Taught by the greatest teacher. The Spirit of God. This teacher–
1. Has infinite knowledge. The Spirit searcheth all things. The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. He knows them in their essence, number, issues, bearings, relations, &c.
2. Is no other than God Himself (verse 11). The implication is that this Spirit is as truly God as mans mind is mind.
III. Must develop his higher nature (verse 14). Man has a threefold nature–body, soul and spirit. The first is the animal, the second is the mental, and the third, the moral or spiritual. This is the conscience with its intuitions and sympathies, and this is the chief part of man, nay, the man himself. Now this part of the man alone can receive the things of the Spirit of God. Set these things before the natural man, his mere body, they are no more to him than Euclid to a brute. Set them before the mere psychical or intellectual man, and they are foolishness unto him. Sheer intellect cannot understand love nor appreciate right. It concerns itself with the truth or falsehood of propositions, and the advantages and disadvantages of conduct, nothing more. Moral love only can interpret and feel the things of moral love, the deep things of God. Hence this spiritual nature must be roused from its dormancy, and become the ascendant nature before the things of the Spiritcan be discerned, and then the man shall judge all spiritual things, whilst he himself will not be judged rightly by any natural man(verse 16). Who thus uninstructed can know the mind of the Lord? (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. But God hath revealed them unto us] A manifest proof that the apostle speaks here of the glories of the Gospel, and not of the glories of the future world.
For the Spirit searcheth all things] This is the Spirit of God, which spoke by the prophets, and has now given to the apostles the fulness of that heavenly truth, of which He gave to the former only the outlines.
Yea, the deep things of God.] It is only the Spirit of God which can reveal the counsels of God: these are the purposes which have existed in His infinite wisdom and goodness from eternity; and particularly what refers to creation, providence, redemption, and eternal glory, as far as men and angels are concerned in these purposes. The apostles were so fully convinced that the scheme of redemption proclaimed by the Gospel was Divine, that they boldly asserted that these things infinitely surpassed the wisdom and comprehension of man. God was now in a certain way become manifest; many attributes of his, which to the heathen world would have for ever lain in obscurity, (for the world by wisdom knew not God,) were now not only brought to light as existing in him, but illustrated by the gracious displays which He had made of himself. It was the Spirit of God alone that could reveal these things; and it was the energy of that Spirit alone that could bring them all into effect-stamp and seal them as attributes and works of God for ever. The apostles were as truly conscious of their own inspiration as they were that they had consciousness at all; and what they spoke, they spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; God by his Spirit hath opened our understandings to understand the Holy Scriptures, the types and prophecies of Christ, and what the holy prophets have spoken of him both as to his person and offices.
For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God; for the Holy Spirit being the third person in the blessed Trinity, and so equal with the Father and the Son,
searcheth the deep things of God, and so is able to reveal to us all the counsels of God, whatsoever God would have men to understand concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. So as this text is an evident proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit, he searching the deep things of God, and being alone able to reveal them unto men, so as they shall acknowledge, comprehend, and believe them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. revealed . . . by . . .SpiritThe inspiration of thoughts (so far as truth essentialto salvation is concerned) makes the Christian (1Co 3:16;1Co 12:3; Mat 16:17;Joh 16:13; 1Jn 2:20;1Jn 2:27); that of words,the PROPHET (2Sa 23:1;2Sa 23:2; 1Ki 13:1;1Ki 13:5), “by the wordof the Lord” (1Co 2:13;Joh 20:30; Joh 20:31;2Pe 1:21). The secrets ofrevelation are secret to some, not because those who know them willnot reveal them (for indeed, the very notion of revelationimplies an unveiling of what had been veiled), but because those towhom they are announced have not the will or power to comprehendthem. Hence the Spirit-taught alone know these secrets (Psa 25:14;Pro 3:32; Joh 7:17;Joh 15:15).
unto usthe “perfect”or fully matured in Christian experience (1Co2:6). Intelligent men may understand the outline of doctrines;but without the Holy Spirit’s revelation to the heart, these will beto them a mere outlinea skeleton, correct perhaps, but wantinglife [WHATLEY, Cautionsfor the Times, 14], (Lu10:21).
the Spirit searchethworkingin us and with our spirits (compare Rom 8:16;Rom 8:26; Rom 8:27).The Old Testament shows us God (the Father) for us. The Gospels, God(the Son) with us. The Acts and Epistles, God (the Holy Ghost) in us[MONOD], (Ga3:14).
deep things of God (Ps92:5). His divine nature, attributes, and counsels. The Spiritdelights to explore the infinite depths of His own divine mind, andthen reveal them to us, according as we are capable of understandingthem (De 29:29). This provesthe personality and Godhead of the Holy Ghost. Godhead cannot beseparated from the Spirit of God, as manhood cannot be separated fromthe Spirit of man [BENGEL].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But God hath revealed them unto us,…. Should it be said, that since this wisdom is so hidden and mysterious, the doctrines of the Gospel are so unknown, so much out of the sight and understanding of men, how come any to be acquainted with them? The answer is ready, God has made a revelation of them, not only in his word, which is common to men, nor only to his ministers, but to private Christians and believers,
by his Spirit; which designs not the external revelation made in the Scriptures, though that also is by the Spirit; but the internal revelation and application of the truths of the Gospel to the souls of men, which is sometimes ascribed to the Father of Christ.
Mt 16:17 sometimes to Christ himself, Ga 1:12 and sometimes to the Spirit of Christ, Eph 1:17 and who guides into all truth, Joh 16:13, and here to the Father by the Spirit:
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God; which does not suppose any ignorance of these things in the Spirit, antecedent to his searching of them; but his complete and perfect knowledge of them; even as God’s searching of the hearts of men expresses his omniscience, and through knowledge of all that is in them: the “all things” the Spirit searches into, and has a perfect knowledge of, do not design in the utmost extent everything which comes within the compass of his infinite understanding; but every thing that is in, or belongs to the Gospel of Christ, even the more mysterious and sublime, as well as the more plain and easy doctrines: for the “deep things of God” intend not the perfections of his nature, which are past finding out unto perfection by men; nor the depths of his wise and righteous providence; but the mysterious doctrines of the Gospel, the fellowship of the mystery which was hid in God, his wise counsels of old concerning man’s salvation, the scheme of things drawn in his eternal mind, and revealed in the word.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But unto us God revealed them ( ). So with B 37 Sah Cop read instead of of Aleph A C D. “ is superficially easier; intrinsically better” (Findlay). Paul explains why this is no longer hidden, “for God revealed unto us” the wonders of grace pictured in verse 9. We do not have to wait for heaven to see them. Hence we can utter those things hidden from the eye, the ear, the heart of man. This revelation (, first aorist active indicative) took place, at “the entry of the Gospel into the world,” not “when we were admitted into the Church, when we were baptized” as Lightfoot interprets it.
Through the Spirit ( ). The Holy Spirit is the agent of this definite revelation of grace, a revelation with a definite beginning or advent (constative aorist), an unveiling by the Spirit where “human ability and research would not have sufficed” (Robertson and Plummer), “according to the revelation of the mystery” (Ro 16:25), “the revelation given to Christians as an event that began a new epoch in the world’s history” (Edwards).
Searcheth all things ( ). This is the usual form from A.D. 1 on rather than the old . The word occurs (Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary) for a professional searcher’s report and , searchers for customs officials. “The Spirit is the organ of understanding between man and God” (Findlay). So in Ro 8:27 we have this very verb again of God’s searching our hearts. The Holy Spirit not merely investigates us, but he searches “even the deep things of God” ( ). Profunda Dei (Vulgate). Cf. “the deep things of Satan” (Re 2:24) and Paul’s language in Ro 11:33 “Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.” Paul’s point is simply that the Holy Spirit fully comprehends the depth of God’s nature and his plans of grace and so is fully competent to make the revelation here claimed.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Searcheth [] . See on Joh 5:39. Not, searcheth in order to discover; but of the ever active, accurate, careful sounding of the depths of God by the Spirit.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit.” (Greek hemin gar apekalupsen ho theos). “For to us God revealed (these things). God has taken back the curtain of mystery for His children and made them to be able to see, hear, (Greek dia tou pneumatos) “through the Spirit,” and comprehend through His Spirit and Word more of what was planned and provided for us from the beginning.
1
2) “For the Spirit searcheth all things.” (to gar pneuma panta ereuna) “For the spirit searches, or looks over all. things” (all kind of things.) He is universal in searching work, above, upon and beneath the earth, sea, and land, Psa 139:7-15.
3) “Yea the deep things of God.” (Greek kai ta bathe tou theou) “even the deep (down) things of God.” This is why it is revealed that inspiration of the Scriptures came by the Holy Spirit of God, to disclose things to men, never to be known from the mere wisdom of man through his limited, deranged, and depraved natural condition, Eph 2:1-3; Eph 2:12.
How do I know that I am God’s child? The Spirit communicates it to me through God’s Word and my heart, 1Jn 4:13; Rom 5:5; Rom 8:16; Rom 8:26-27. How glorious is this revelation!
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
10. But God hath revealed them to us. Having shut up all mankind in blindness, and having taken away from the human intellect the power of attaining to a knowledge of God by its own resources, he now shows in what way believers are exempted from this blindness, — by the Lord’s honoring them with a special illumination of the Spirit. Hence the greater the bluntness of the human intellect for understanding the mysteries of God, and the greater the uncertainty under which it labors, so much the surer is our faith, which rests for its support on the revelation of God’s Spirit. In this, too, we recognize the unbounded goodness of God, who makes our defect contribute to our advantage.
For the Spirit searcheth all things This is added for the consolation of the pious, that they may rest more securely in the revelation which they have from the Spirit of God, as though he had said. “Let it suffice us to have the Spirit of God as a witness, for there is nothing in God that is too profound for him to reach.” For such is the import here of the word searcheth By the deep things you must understand — not secret judgments, which we are forbidden to search into, but the entire doctrine of salvation, which would have been to no purpose set before us in the Scriptures, were it not that God elevates our minds to it by his Spirit.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10) But God hath revealed them unto us.Here the emphatic word is us. The latter part of 1Co. 2:8-9 are parenthetical, and the sense goes back to the beginning of 1Co. 2:8. None of the princes of this age know these things, but God hath revealed them unto us His apostles and teachers (Mat. 13:11; Mat. 16:17; 2Co. 12:1). This revelation of spiritual truth is made by the Holy Spirit of God to our spirits (Rom. 8:16). The Apostle gives two proofs that the Apostles have this knowledge, and that the Holy Spirit is the source of it: 1. (1Co. 2:10-11), because the Holy Spirit alone is capable of imparting this knowledge; and 2. (1Co. 2:12-16), because the Holy Spirit has been given to us the Apostles.
Searcheth all things.The word searcheth here does not convey the idea of inquiry for the purpose of acquiring knowledge, but rather complete and accurate knowledge itself, as in Rom. 8:27; see also Psa. 139:1.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. The Spirit searcheth A striking ascription of personality to the Spirit. All things Within the universe nothing is hidden from the search of the omniscient Spirit.
Deep things Rather, the depths of God. Nothing but omniscience can know omniscience. Nothing but God’s Spirit can know what is in the divine Mind.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But to us God has revealed them through His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.’
For at this end of the ages the Spirit has been poured out from above to illuminate the church of Christ, all who truly believe in Christ, and He has revealed to God’s people (‘to us’, emphasised by its position) the things hidden from the ages, what God has foreordained for them through the crucified and risen Messiah, and through the power of His work accomplished on the cross, which has revealed and brought into effect the divine power as never before. For nothing is hidden from His Spirit. He searches all things, yes, even the deepest secrets of God.
The personality of the Spirit comes out here, for He is depicted as searching out in order to reveal. When we speak of ‘searching’, however, the point is that He searches it out along with us. He is not seeking new truth for Himself. He knows all truth. He is searching it out so that God’s people may receive it and understand it. He searches in and through us.
‘Deep things.’ ‘Bathos’. Used of the depths of the sea and of the depths of divine knowledge. What was in the depths of the sea was beyond man’s wisdom and knowledge. It was a secret, hidden, unreachable place beyond his scope. The sea was a mystery which man could not penetrate. And so the divine wisdom and knowledge was also totally beyond man’s ability to know or understand. But the Holy Spirit takes of what is in those unfathomable depths and reveals it to those chosen by God. Compare Rom 11:33 where Paul speaks of ‘the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out’.
(There are two possible renderings of the text although they do not affect the main idea. P46 and B have ‘gar’ (for), Aleph A D G have ‘de’ (but). The former sees the verse as carrying on the argument with new matter introduced, the latter as introducing a new element).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The revelation of the Spirit:
v. 10. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
v. 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God.
v. 12. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. While the attitude of the rulers of this world, both intellectual and secular, is characterized by an utter lack of understanding of the great things of God, He has to us, being those that love Him, revealed them through the Spirit. The Spirit is God’s instrument and agent to bring the proper enlightenment to our hearts. In the case of the apostles the Spirit worked by direct or immediate action when they were engaged in the work of preaching the Gospel, Gal 1:12; 1Pe 1:12; and since their days the revelation comes to us through the preaching based upon the Word of the apostles, Heb 2:3. This work of revealing the way of salvation can be done by the Spirit; it is the special function of the Spirit, because the Spirit investigates all things, even the depths of God. He has access to, he is familiar with, the innermost thoughts and plans of God. And what He has discovered He discloses to us. Those unexplorable, unfathomable, bottomless depths of God’s essence where the gracious will of God for the salvation of mankind lay hidden, the Spirit has made known to us. Note: Since the Spirit has access to the innermost secrets of God, His must be the divine essence, He must be true God. This fact is brought out by the comparison which the apostle introduces: For who among men knows the things of a man, his thoughts and projects, if not the spirit of the man which is in him? No person is able to know the innermost feelings and desires of another unless that person reveals himself to him by word or sign. Even so no one has, by searching, by examining, found out God, had access to His purposes and plans; only the Spirit of God has that knowledge, and therefore can and does reveal Him.
The apostle makes the application of this fact: But we have not received the spirit of the world. That is the spirit whose wisdom God has shown to be foolishness, the spirit which is always ready to crucify the Lord anew, the spirit which is darkened and blinded against the understanding of God. Ours is rather the Spirit which has been bestowed upon us by God, the Spirit of spiritual enlightenment. And the result is that we know, we have a definite, unshakable knowledge of, the gifts which God in His wonderful grace and mercy has bestowed upon us. All these gifts are included in Christ and made possible through the redemption of Christ. These gifts, wonderful as they are, would have been useless to us if the Spirit had not opened the eyes of our understanding to see and accept the unmerited favor of God in Christ through faith. Note that the apostle does not make our possession of these gifts dependent upon our feeling, but upon the knowledge transmitted to us by the Spirit, through the Word.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
1Co 2:10 . Having thus set forth the hitherto hidden character of the divine , Paul now turns to its unveiling , as a result of which it was that that of 1Co 2:6 f. took place. In doing this he puts emphatically first in the deep consciousness of the distinction implied in so signal a mark of divine favour. The object of . is the immediately preceding a . . [383]
] plural , as in 1Co 2:6 , and therefore neither to be referred to the apostle alone (Rosenmller, Rckert, and others), nor to all Christians (Billroth, etc.).
. ] The Holy Spirit, proceeding forth from God as the personal principle of Christian enlightenment, of every Christian endowment, and of the Christian life, is the medium , in His being communicated to men (1Co 2:12 ), of the divine revelation; He is the bearer of it; Eph 1:17 ; Eph 3:3 ; Eph 3:5 ; 1Co 12:11 ; 1Co 14:6 , al [384]
. . [385] ] Herewith begins the adducing of proof for that . . [386] which continues on to 1Co 2:12 , to this effect, namely: For the Spirit is familiar with the mysteries of God, because He alone stands in that unique relation as respects knowledge to God, which corresponds to the relation of the human spirit to man (1Co 2:10-11 ); but what we have received is no other than this Spirit of God, in order that we might know the salvation of God (1Co 2:12 ), so that no doubt remains that we have actually the in question through the Spirit. That means not the human spirit , but the Holy Spirit , is certain from what goes before and from 1Co 2:11-12 .
] rightly interpreted by Chrysostom: , . Comp Psa 139:1 ; Rom 8:27 ; Rev 2:23 . The word expresses the activity of this knowledge. But Paul was not thinking of “God’s knowing Himself in man” (Billroth, comp Baur), or of any other such Hegelian views as they would impute to him.
] all things , without limitation. Comp Wis 7:23 ; Psa 139:7 .
] Comp Jdt 8:14 : ; see on Rom 11:33 , also Plato, Theaet. p. 183 E. The expression: “ depths of God ,” denotes the whole rich exhaustless fulness which is hidden in God, all, therefore, that goes to make up His being, His attributes, His thoughts, plans, decrees, etc. These last (see 1Co 2:9 ; 1Co 2:12 ), the (Aeschylus, Pers. 143) of the Godhead, are included ; but we are not to suppose that they alone are meant. The opposite is , Rev 2:24 . The depths of God, unsearchable by the cognitive power of created spirits (comp Rom 11:33 ), are penetrated by the cognitive activity of His own immanent principle of life and manifestation, so that this, i.e. the Holy Spirit, is the power [Potenz] of the divine self-knowledge. God is the subject knowing and the object known in the intrinsic divine activity of the Spirit, who is the substratum of the absolute self-consciousness of the Godhead, in like manner as the human spirit is the substratum of the human Ego .
[383] . . . .
[384] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
[385] . . . .
[386] . . . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1940
THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD
1Co 2:10. The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
IN the verse immediately preceding our text, which is a citation from the Prophet Isaiah, there is a remarkable difference between the words, as uttered by the Prophet, and as cited by the Apostle. The Apostle quotes only so much as was sufficient to shew that the great mystery of redemption was never conceived by man before it was revealed to us by God. But the prophet excludes all the bright intelligences of heaven, no less than men; and intimates that none but God was privy to the Divine counsels: Neither hath eye seen, O God, besides thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for him [Note: Isa 64:4.]. This omission we should not have particularly noticed, if the Apostle had not, by his subsequent observations, drawn our attention to it more particularly, by shewing, that though there was no finite intelligence privy to these counsels, there was One, who, though God, was in some respects to be distinguished from Him, whose counsels they were, and who did search, and behold with perfect accuracy, the very utmost depths of that mystery, and who also had revealed them to the Apostle:God, says the Apostle, hath revealed them to us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Now, throughout this whole passage, there is repeated mention made of God, as the source and fountain from whence this mysterious plan emanated; and of the Spirit of God, as a distinct Agent discovering these depths to us. From hence we have an insight into the doctrine of the Trinity of persons in the Godhead; a doctrine obscurely intimated in the words of the prophet, but plainly declared in the Apostles fuller explanation of them. The personality of the Holy Spirit, and his divinity, are here repeatedly asserted: and a beautiful light is thrown upon those words of the prophet; No eye hath seen, O God, besides thee: for though no created being hath seen, the Holy Ghost hath: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
In these words we are led to contemplate the province of the Holy Spirit in relation to the great mystery of redemption; to contemplate it, I say,
I.
As exercised by him in reference to God
He searcheth the deep things of God: he searcheth,
1.
The eternal purposes of his grace
[From all eternity did God determine to suffer the fall of man, and to provide means for his recovery. The means ordained by him were, the incarnation and death of his only dear Son, whom he would send into the world to be a propitiation for sin, and to work out a righteousness whereby the believing penitent might be justified. Every particular relative to this mysterious plan was foreseen and fore-ordained. The person of whom the Son of God should take our flesh; the time at which he should come into the world; the various incidents of his life; the minutest circumstances of his death; the agents that should effect it, and the precise part which every one of them should bear in effecting it, whether Judas in betraying him, or Pilate in condemning, or the Romans in crucifying, or Joseph and Nicodemus in burying him: every thing also relating to his resurrection and ascension, and the sending of his Holy Spirit, and the consequent establishment of his kingdom in the world; all was ordained of God the Father: but all was searched out by God the Holy Ghost. He had the same perfect knowledge of it as the Father himself; and not the smallest incident that occurred in any part of it was hid from his all-seeing eye. No eye saw it, besides his: but he saw it in all its parts, and in all its bearings: not the slightest thing connected with it was hid from him.]
2.
His particular dealings with every individual of mankind
[The salvation of all was to be of grace, from beginning to end. Yet was man to be dealt with as a rational and responsible being; every man being left to the freest exercise of his own will, yet subject to an agency within, which, in all that should be saved, should be effectual for the overcoming of all the evil propensities of his nature. It was not ordained that all should ultimately be saved: but it was ordained, that those who were saved should have nothing to boast of; and that those who perished should have nothing to complain of: the saved should owe their salvation to him alone; the lost should owe their condemnation wholly to themselves. But who could fathom such depths as these? Who could tell how God should ordain all, and yet not interfere with the free agency of any; and how he should reserve to himself the praise from all that were saved, and leave all the blame of condemnation to rest on those who should bring that doom upon themselves? But the Spirit of God searched out all these unfathomable depths. He saw how the whole should be carried into effect, in every individual of the human race: at what time, in what manner, and by what means, the elect should be converted, preserved, perfected; and, at the same time, how the rest should be left to reject the mercies offered them, and to perish under an accumulated weight of misery. If St. Paul, in relation to the calling of the Gentiles and the restoration of the Jews, exclaimed, O the depths! much more must we, in the contemplation of such mysterious works as these.]
3.
The glorious issue of all his dispensations
[The result of all will be the glory of God, both in them that are saved, and in them that perish. Though Israel be not gathered, yet will He be glorious [Note: Isa 49:5.]. God declared that he would get himself glory on Pharaoh and all his hosts [Note: Exo 14:17.]: and, on his destruction of them all, Moses said, Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy [Note: Exo 15:6.]. In the judgments also that were executed on Nadab and Abihu, God was glorified [Note: Lev 10:2.]. In like manner, even in the torments of the damned, will God be glorified: for all who behold the infliction of his wrath will be constrained to say, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments [Note: Rev 16:5-7; Rev 19:2.]. It is indeed a tremendous thought, and to our weak apprehensions it appears incredible, that God should be glorified in the eternal condemnation of any of his creatures. But so it will be: and at the last day, when Jesus shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe [Note: 2Th 1:10.], will the objects of his wrath be confounded before him, and never have one word to utter in arrest of his judgments [Note: Mat 22:12.]. Now all this the Holy Spirit saw from the beginning. He saws that if mercy was glorified in the salvation of some, justice would be glorified in the condemnation of others: and that the whole issue of this stupendous mystery would be worthy of the Most High God; of the Father, who had planned it; of the Son, who had executed it; and of the Spirit, who had carried it into full effect.]
But as the Holy Spirit, in the exercise of this office, has respect to us, it will be proper for us to contemplate it,
II.
As exercised by him in reference to us
He searcheth all things, as the Apostle intimates, on purpose to reveal them to us. He searcheth them,
1.
As a Teacher, to reveal them to us
[It is the Holy Spirit who revealed this hidden mystery to prophets first [Note: 2Pe 1:21.], and then to the Apostles of our Lord [Note: Joh 16:13-14.]: and the whole of the written word was penned by inspiration from him But in the sacred volume there is much that is beyond our comprehension: indeed, if it were all level with our capacity, we should have reason to doubt whether it were really from God; seeing that it would be totally unlike to his other works of creation and providence, in which there is confessedly much that no human being can explain. But the Spirit having searched the deep things of God, is perfectly acquainted with them all, and has revealed to us nothing but what he knows to be true. We, therefore, must receive by faith all that he has declared. Our only concern is, to know what the Holy Spirit has spoken in his word: and that once ascertained, we must receive it with childlike simplicity; saying, What I know not now, I shall know hereafter. That we cannot comprehend it, should be no objection to us: for, if God had explained the whole ever so clearly, there must be many things which we could not comprehend. Let a philosopher declare to an uninstructed peasant some of the more hidden depths of astronomy, could the peasant comprehend them? or could the philosopher, by all the clearest demonstrations, enable him to comprehend them? And if such a distance exist between men, may we not well suppose that an infinitely greater distance will be found between God and man? I say, it is our wisdom to submit our understandings to the word of God: and there is no juster lesson afforded us in all the Scriptures, than that of the Apostle, If any man will be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise [Note: 1Co 3:18.].]
2.
As an Instructor, to reveal them in us
[To Him we are directed to look for that spiritual discernment, whereby alone we can comprehend the truths of God [Note: ver. 14.]. The Apostles themselves, after they had heard our Lords instructions for nearly four years, were unable to understand the Scriptures, till he opened their understandings to understand them [Note: Luk 24:45.]. So it is with us: we must have a spirit of wisdom and revelation given to us, before we can attain the knowledge of Christ [Note: Eph 1:17-18,]; and must all be taught of God [Note: Joh 6:45.], before we can know the things that have been freely given to us of God [Note: ver. 12.]. Let me then recommend, that, whenever you open the inspired volume, you lift up your hearts to him, and say, Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
Shall this be thought unnecessary? Shall it be supposed, that, because we have the words and sentences plainly written, we can necessarily discern the mind of God in them? Were this the case, every student of the Scriptures would, in all their principal and fundamental points at least, have a clear understanding of them. But experience proves, that, like the Scribes and Pharisees of old, we may have an accurate knowledge of the letter, and yet have no conception of the spirit of them. They are a sealed book to us at this time, as they were to those of former days. Like a dial, which has the figures accurately marked, and the gnomon rightly fixed; but yet you look at it in vain, till the light of the sun shine upon it: so in vain do you read or study the Holy Scriptures, till a light shine upon them from above, or till God shine into our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [Note: 2Co 4:6.].]
3.
As a Governor, to bring us into subjection to them
[If the Spirit of God have searched out for us the deep things of God, and have made them known to us, it is not that we should speculate upon them, but that we should, as far as possible, be conformed to them. We must be as ready to obey him in what he commands, as to believe him in what he reveals. We must complain of nothing as an hard saying; but must give up ourselves as willing servants to fulfil his will, or rather must be like metal that is ready to be poured into the mould which God has prepared for us. This is the very idea suggested by the Apostle Paul, when he says of all true Christians, Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you: his expression rather is, Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, into which, as into a mould, ye were delivered [Note: Rom 6:17. See the Greek.]. If this be not attained, the manifestation of Gods will in the written word will be of no use: indeed, it will only occasion our heavier condemnation.
If any reply, that there are commands which appear unreasonable, and that we cannot be required to obey them; I answer, We are not to sit in judgment upon God, and to determine whether his commands be reasonable or not. We expect to be obeyed by our children and our servants, though they do not know all the objects we have in view when we issue our commands. We expect them to give us credit for ordering only what is wise and good; and to take for granted, rather than deliberate upon, the wisdom of our commands. And what we expect of others, we may well be required to render unto him.]
4.
As a Witness, to testify of our conformity to them
[It is said of him, that He searcheth all things: and if he search the deep things of God, does he not also search the deep things that are in our hearts? Yes, He searcheth the heart and trieth the reins, and discerneth the inmost thoughts and intents of our hearts. I know, says he, the things that come into your minds, every one of them. Yes, He weigheth the spirits, and ascertaineth precisely the measure of good and evil that there is in the heart of every one amongst us. We must not suppose that he has fully executed his office when he has revealed to us the deep things of God. No: he searches how we receive them; how we improve them; how we answer the end of God in them. And this he does with a view to a future judgment, that we may all receive according to what we have done in the body, whether it be good or evil. Let us, then, bear this in mind: let us remember, that he is conversant with every inclination, every affection, every appetite of our souls. The darkness is no darkness with him, but the night is as clear as the day: and as his testimony respecting God is true, so will his testimony respecting us be true. Attend then to the way in which every day and every hour is spent. Mark in what frame your mind is, in all your public or private addresses to the Most High. Call yourselves to a severe account respecting every duty and every defect. After all, you will never weigh yourselves so accurately as he weighs you: and if your heart condemn you, God is greater than your hearts, and knoweth all things: but if your heart condemn you not, then have you confidence towards God [Note: 1Jn 3:20-21.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
Ver. 10. But God hath revealed ] The Chinese use to say of themselves, that all other nations of the world see but with one eye, they only with two. This is most true of the natural man compared to the spiritual.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
10. ] the Holy Spirit of God but working in us and with our Spirits, Rom 8:16 . “Sufficiat nobis Spiritum Dei habere testem: nihil enim tam profundum est in Deo quo non penetret.” Calvin.
] a word of active research, implying accurate knowledge: so Chrys., , .
] see reff. There is a comparison here between the Spirit of God and the spirit of a man , which is further carried out in the next verse. And thus as the spirit of a man knows the of a man, all that is in him, so the Spirit of God searches and knows , the manifold and infinite depths, of God His Essence, His Attributes, His Counsels: and being , besides being . (De Wette well observes that the Apostle purposely avoids using the expression of the Spirit of God , keeping the way open for the expression in 1Co 2:12 , . ), teaches us according to our capacity, those depths of God .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 2:10 . The true reading, ( cf. 1Co 1:26 ), links this ver. to the foregoing by way of illustration: “For to us (being of those that love Him) God revealed (them), through the Spirit”: cf. 1Co 1:18 , 1Co 8:3 , 1Co 13:2 , 1Jn 4:7 ; also . . . ., Eph 3:5 , indicating the like ethical receptivity. echoes and . (1Co 2:7 ), signifying a supernatural disclosure (see notes on 1Co 1:7 , 1Co 14:6 ); cf. esp. Rom 16:25 , , and Eph 1:17 in connexion with 1Co 2:6 f. above. The tense (aor [378] ) points to the advent of Christianity, “the revelation given to Christians as an event that began a new epoch in the world’s history” (Ed [379] ). The Spirit reveals, “for the Spirit investigates everything ( ), even the depths of God”: He discloses, for He first discovers , (Cm [380] ). The phrase describes an Intelligence everywhere active, everywhere penetrating ( cf. Psa 139:1-7 ). For the complementary truth concerning the relation of Father and Spirit, see Rom 8:27 . The Spirit is the organ of mutual understanding between man and God. P. conceives of Him as internal to the inspired man, working with and through, though immeasurably above his faculties (see 1Co 3:16 , Rom 8:16 ; Rom 8:26 , etc.). (pl [381] of noun ) are those inscrutable regions, below all that “the eye sees” and that “comes up into the heart of a man” (1Co 2:9 ), where God’s plans for mankind are developed: cf. Rom 11:33 ff., Eph 1:9 ff; Eph 3:18 , and by contrast Rev 2:24 . These deep-laid counsels centre in Christ, and are shared by Him (Mat 11:27 , Joh 5:20 ; Joh 17:10 ; Joh 17:25 ); so that it is one thing to have the Spirit who “sounds the deeps of God” and to “have the mind of Christ” (1Co 2:16 ). The like profound insight is claimed, in virtue of his possessing the Holy Spirit, by the writer of the Wisdom of Solomon (1Co 2:7 ), but in a that goes to discredit the assumption; cf. also Sir 42:18 . The attributes there assigned to the half-personified “Wisdom,” N.T. theology divides between Christ and the Spirit in their several offices towards man. The “Spirit” is apprehended in Wisdom under physical rather than, as by Paul, under psychological analogies.
[378] aorist tense.
[379] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2
[380] John Chrysostom’s Homili ( 407).
[381] plural.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1Co 2:10 to 1Co 3:2 . 8. THE REVEALING SPIRIT. The world’s rulers committed the frightful crime of “crucifying the Lord of glory,” because in fact they have only “the spirit of the world,” whereas “the Spirit of God ” informs His messengers (1Co 2:10-12 ), who communicate the things of His grace in language taught them by His Spirit and intelligible to the spiritual (1Co 2:13-16 ). For the like reason the Cor [377] are at fault in their Christian views, being as yet but half-spiritual men (1Co 3:1-3 ).
[377] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
hath revealed = revealed. App-106.
by = through. App-104. 1Co 2:1.
His. The texts read “the”.
Spirit. App-101.
searcheth. Greek. ereunao. See Joh 5:39. Compare Psa 139:1. Rev 2:23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
10. ] the Holy Spirit of God-but working in us and with our Spirits, Rom 8:16. Sufficiat nobis Spiritum Dei habere testem: nihil enim tam profundum est in Deo quo non penetret. Calvin.
] a word of active research, implying accurate knowledge: so Chrys., , .
] see reff. There is a comparison here between the Spirit of God and the spirit of a man, which is further carried out in the next verse. And thus as the spirit of a man knows the of a man, all that is in him, so the Spirit of God searches and knows , the manifold and infinite depths, of God-His Essence, His Attributes, His Counsels: and being , besides being . (De Wette well observes that the Apostle purposely avoids using the expression of the Spirit of God, keeping the way open for the expression in 1Co 2:12, . ), teaches us according to our capacity, those depths of God.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 2:10. ) to us, apostles.-, hath revealed) an antithesis to, hidden [wisdom, 1Co 2:7]. Comp. Isa 45:19; Isa 45:15; Psa 51:8, and again Luk 10:21.-, all things) 1Co 2:9.- , the deep things) very much hidden, Psa 92:6; not merely those things, which believers search out, 1Co 2:9 [10] and 12, in both at the end. The deep things of God, even of His divine nature, as well as of His kingdom.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 2:10
1Co 2:10
But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit:-The Spirit who dwelt with and knew the mind of God came to the apostles, dwelt in them, and revealed Gods will to them.
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.-The Spirit of God knew the deep, unrevealed things of God, and made them known to the apostles; and they, through their writings, have made them known to us.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
God: 1Co 14:30, Amo 3:7, Mat 11:25-27, Mat 13:11, Mat 16:17, Luk 2:26, Luk 10:21, Eph 3:3, Eph 3:5, 1Pe 1:12, Rev 1:1
by: Isa 48:16, Isa 59:21, Joh 14:26, Joh 16:13, 1Jo 2:20, 1Jo 2:27
the Spirit: 1Co 2:11, 1Co 12:8-11, Rom 8:26, Rom 8:27
the deep: Job 12:22, Psa 92:5, Psa 92:6, Dan 2:22, Rom 11:33-36
Reciprocal: Job 11:7 – Canst Job 32:8 – the inspiration Isa 54:13 – all Isa 64:4 – have not Dan 2:19 – was Dan 12:10 – but the wise Mat 13:44 – like 1Co 14:2 – howbeit 2Co 10:14 – we stretch not Gal 1:11 – that Eph 1:9 – made Eph 1:17 – revelation 1Th 4:8 – who Rev 2:7 – let him
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 2:10. This verse must be considered in connection with the preceding one. Since the natural mental faculties could not discover these great spiritual truths, it was necessary to give a revelation of them, and that was done by the Spirit bestowed in great measure upon the apostles and ‘other New Testament writers.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 2:10. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit.[1] Though this is true of believers generally, the reference here, as appears from 1Co 2:3, is to the apostles.
[1] Not (as in the received text) through his Spirit.
For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of Godnot the depths of His Being, but of His purposes, though in themselves these are inseparable.
Note here the relation and interaction of God and the Spirit. Why, it may be asked, does God employ the Spirits agency to reveal to believers what eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived? Because (says this verse) those depths of the Godhead lie open to the Spirits penetrating gaze;a unique statement to which there is no actual parallel, save Rom 8:26-27, which throws much light on the statement here. But the following verse contains an equally unique and noteworthy statement.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vers. 10-13.
With 1Co 2:10 the apostle passes to the development of the second term of his theme: , we speak. This wisdom, being God’s conception, and inaccessible to the mind of man, how can Paul expound it to his brethren? 1Co 2:10-12 indicate the means by which he received the knowledge of it; and 1Co 2:13 describes the manner, in keeping with those means, in which he declares it.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
But unto us [inspired apostles] God revealed them through the Spirit [Here the defective knowledge gained by the world-rulers through their wisdom or philosophy stands in sharp contrast to the heavenly and perfect knowledge which the apostles had by revelation of the Spirit. Paul proceeds to discuss the perfection of this inspired knowledge]: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things [Rom 11:33] of God.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
10. But God hath revealed them unto us through the Spirit. From this verse we see that the wonderful, invisible, inaudible and inconceivable glories of 1Co 2:9 are actually within our reach, not only in the world to come, but at the present time. The apostle now proceeds to a more ample revelation, touching these wonders which are unutterable and indescribable in human language, and can only be revealed to the human spirit by the Holy Spirit. While these Divine beauties, entities, profundities, altitudes, latitudes, longitudes and realities are revealed by the Holy Spirit to the human spirit, they are after all too heavenly to be uttered or communicated by mortal language, so I am now running into something better and easier experienced and felt than told, all language being utterly impoverished in the attempt to reveal these infinitesimal beauties, majesties, wonders, sweetness and glory. For the Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God. These deep things of God in beauty, sweetness, spiritual fascination and delectation have captured and enraptured the saints of all ages. For them the martyr has gladly hugged the burning stake and sung his death song amid devouring flames. They made the dismal dungeon of Madame Guyon, which she occupied four years, so bright that she said the very stones shone like rubies. They inspired John Knox to pray bloody Mary off the throne of England till she dropped into eternity.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
1Co 2:10. To us: (like we speak, 1Co 2:6 🙂 in contrast to the rulers of this age. Revealed. see Rom 1:17 : always actual and supernatural impartation of knowledge. Only through the agency of the Spirit of God are the truths of the Gospel made known. This agrees with Rom 5:5 : cp. Eph 1:17; Eph 3:5.
For the Spirit etc.: reason of this, viz. because only the Spirit knows the secrets of God.
Searches: vivid picture of the active intelligence of the Spirit.
The deep things, or depths: the underlying Purposes and Nature of God.
Cp. Rom 11:33 : contrast Rev 2:24.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
2:10 {9} But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit {k} searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
(9) A question: if it surpasses the capacity of men, how can it be understood by any man, or how can you declare and preach it? By a special enlightening of God’s Spirit, with which whoever is inspired, he can enter even into the very secrets of God.
(k) There is nothing so secret and hidden in God, but the Spirit of God penetrates it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The wonderful mysteries God has prepared for those who love Him are not knowable only by a select group of Christians. Any and every believer can understand and appreciated them because the indwelling Holy Spirit can enlighten us. The mystery religions of Greece promised deeper insights and new knowledge to their devotees. However any Christian can apprehend the very best that God has revealed because we all possess the spiritual organ of perception, namely, the Holy Spirit. "Searches" (Gr. ereuna) means continually examines.
"Apparently they have thought of spirituality mostly in terms of ecstasy and experience, which has led some of them to deny the physical body, on the one hand, and to a sense of ’having arrived’ (cf. 1Co 4:8), on the other. . . .
"They considered Paul’s preaching to be ’milk’; on the contrary, he implies, redemption through the cross comes from the profound depths of God’s own wisdom, which his Spirit, given to those who love him, has searched out and revealed to us." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., pp. 110, 111.]