Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them,] because they are spiritually discerned.
14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ] The natural man ( animalis, Vulgate), that is, the man whose perceptions do not extend beyond the region of the intellect, the part of his being which he has in common with the animal creation, can never attain to the things of the Spirit. The term must not be understood in the same sense as our word animal now bears, i.e. as equivalent to sensual. Cf. Judges 19, where the word is translated sensual in our version. See notes on 1Co 15:44.
because they are spiritually discerned ] There is but little analogy between mental and spiritual discernment, or rather processes (see next note), which the Apostle has been contrasting throughout the whole of this chapter. The one is the result of knowledge, investigation, argument: the faculties which produce the other are sharpened by self-discipline, humility, communion with God, love of Him and the brethren. To those who are thus exercised many things are clear which are mysteries to the most learned and the most acute.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But the natural man – , psuchikos de anthropos. The word natural here stands opposed evidently to spiritual. It denotes those who are governed and influenced by the natural instincts; the animal passions and desires, in opposition to those who are influenced by the Spirit of God. It refers to unregenerate people; but it has also not merely the idea of their being unregenerate, but that of their being influenced by the animal passions or desires. See the note on 1Co 15:44. The word sensual would correctly express the idea. The word is used by the Greek writers to denote that which man has in common with the brutes – to denote that they are under the influence of the senses, or the mere animal nature, in opposition to reason and conscience – Bretschneider. See 1Th 5:23. Here it denotes that they are under the influence of the senses, or the animal nature, in opposition to being influenced by the Spirit of God. Macknight and Doddridge render it: the animal man.
Whitby understands by it the man who rejects revelation, the man who is under the influence of carnal wisdom. The word occurs but six times in the New Testament; 1Co 15:44, 1Co 15:44, 1Co 15:46; Jam 3:15; Jud 1:19. In 1Co 15:44, 1Co 15:44, 1Co 15:46, it is rendered natural, and is applied to the body as it exists before death, in contradistinction from what shall exist after the resurrection – called a spiritual body. In Jam 3:15, it is applied to wisdom: This wisdom – is earthly, sensual, devilish. In Jud 1:19, it is applied to sensual persons, or those who are governed by the senses in opposition to those who are influenced by the Spirit: These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. The word here evidently denotes those who are under the influence of the senses; who are governed by the passions and the animal appetites, and natural desires; and who are uninfluenced by the Spirit of God. And it may be observed that this was the case with the great mass of the pagan world, even including the philosophers.
Receiveth not – ou dechetai, does not embrace or comprehend them. That is, he rejects them as folly; he does not perceive their beauty, or their wisdom; he despises them. He loves other things better. A man of intemperance does not receive or love the arguments for temperance; a man of licentiousness, the arguments for chastity; a liar, the arguments for truth. So a sensual or worldly man does not receive or love the arguments for religion.
The things of the Spirit of God – The doctrines which are inspired by the Holy Spirit, and the things which pertain to his influence on the heart and life. The things of the Spirit of God here denote all the things which the Holy Spirit produces.
Neither can he know them – Neither can he understand or comprehend them. Perhaps, also, the word know here implies also the idea of loving, or approving of them, as it often does in the Scripture. Thus, to know the Lord often means to love him, to have a full, practical acquaintance with him. When the apostle says that the animal or sensual man cannot know those things, he may have reference to one of two things. Either:
- That those doctrines were not discoverable by human wisdom, or by any skill which the natural man may have, but were to be learned only by revelation. This is the main drift of his argument, and this sense is given by Locke and Whitby. Or,
- He may mean that the sensual the unrenewed man cannot perceive their beauty and their force, even after they are revealed to man, unless the mind is enlightened and inclined by the Spirit of God. This is probably the sense of the passage.
This is the simple affirmation of a fact – that while the man remains sensual and carnal, he cannot perceive the beauty of those doctrines. And this is a simple and well known fact. It is a truth – universal and lamentable – that the sensual man, the worldly man, the proud, haughty, and self-confident man; the man under the influence of his animal appetites – licentious, false, ambitious, and vain – does not perceive any beauty in Christianity. So the intemperate man perceives no beauty in the arguments for temperance; the adulterer, no beauty in the arguments for chastity; the liar, no beauty in the arguments for truth. It is a simple fact, that while he is intemperate, or licentious, or false, he can perceive no beauty in these doctrines.
But this does not prove that he has no natural faculties for perceiving the force and beauty of these arguments; or that he might not apply his mind to their investigation, and be brought to embrace them; or that he might not abandon the love of intoxicating drinks, and sensuality, and falsehood, and be a man of temperance, purity, and truth. He has all the natural faculties which are requisite in the case; and all the inability is his strong love of intoxicating drinks, or impurity, or falsehood. So of the sensual sinner. While he thus remains in love with sin, he cannot perceive the beauty of the plan of salvation, or the excellency of the doctrines of religion. He needs just the love of these things, and the hatred of sin. He needs to cherish the influences of the Spirit; to receive what He has taught, and not to reject it through the love of sin; he needs to yield himself to their influences, and then their beauty will be seen.
The passage here proves that while a man is thus sensual, the things of the Spirit will appear to him to be folly; it proves nothing about his ability, or his natural faculty, to see the excellency of these things, and to turn from his sin. It is the affirmation of a simple fact everywhere discernible, that the natural man does not perceive the beauty of these things; that while he remains in that state he cannot; and that if he is ever brought to perceive their beauty, it will be by the influence of the Holy Spirit. Such is his love of sin, that he never will be brought to see their beauty except by the agency of the Holy Spirit. For wickedness perverts the judgment, and makes people err with respect to practical principles; so that no one can be wise and judicious who is not good. Aristotle, as quoted by Bloomfield.
They are spiritually discerned – That is, they are perceived by the aid of the Holy Spirit enlightening the mind and influencing the heart.
(The expression psuchikos anthropos; has given rise to much controversy. Frequent attempts have been made to explain it, merely of the animal or sensual man. If this be the true sense, the doctrine of human depravity, in as far at least as this text may be supposed to bear upon it, is greatly invalidated. The apostle would seem to affirm only, that individuals, addicted to the gross indulgences of sense, are incapable of discerning and appreciating spiritual things. Thus, a large exception would be made in favor of all those who might be styled intellectual and moral persons, living above the inferior appetites, and directing their faculties to the candid investigation of truth. That the phrase, however, is to be explained of the natural or unregenerate man, whether distinguished for intellectual refinement, and external regard to morals, or degraded by animal indulgence, will appear evident from an examination of the passage.
The word in dispute comes from psuche, which though it primarily signify the breath or animal life, is by no means confined to that sense, but sometimes embraces the mind or soul as distinguished both from mans body and from his pneuma, or spirit, breathed into him immediately by God – See Parkhursts Greek Lexicon. The etymology of the word does not necessarily require us, then, to translate it sensual. The context therefore alone must determine the matter. Now the natural man is there opposed to the spiritual man, the psuchikos to the pneumatikos, and if the latter be explained of him who is enlightened by the Holy Spirit – who is regenerate – the former must be explained of him who is not enlightened by that Spirit, who is still in a state of nature; and will thus embrace a class far more numerous than the merely sensual part of mankind.
Farther; the general scope of the passage demands this view. The Corinthians entertained an excessive fondness for human learning and wisdom. They loved philosophical disquisition and oratorical display, and may therefore have been impatient of the enticing words of Paul. To correct their mistaken taste, the apostle asserts and proves the utter insufficiency of human wisdom, either to discover spiritual things, or to appreciate them when discovered. He exclaims where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 1Co 1:17, 1Co 1:31. Now it would be strange indeed, if in bringing his argument to a conclusion, he should simply assert, that sensual people were incapable of spiritual discernment. So lame and impotent a conclusion is not to be attributed to the apostle. The disputed phrase, therefore, must be understood of all unregenerate persons, however free from gross sin, or eminent in intellectual attainment. Indeed it is the proud wisdom of the world, and not its sensuality, that the apostle? throughout has chiefly in view. Add to all this; that the simplicity of the gospel has in reality met with more bitter opposition and pointed scorn, from people of worldly wisdom, than from people of the sensual class. Of the former, is it especially true that they have counted the gospel foolishness and contemptuously rejected its message.
Of this natural man it is affirmed that he cannot know the things of the Spirit of God. He can know them speculatively, and may enlarge on them with great accuracy and beauty, but he cannot know them so as to approve and receive. Allowing the incapacity to be moral, not natural or physical, that is to say, it arises from disinclination or perversion of will: still the spiritual perception is affected by the fall, and whether that be directly or indirectly through the will, matters not, as far as the fact is concerned. It remains the same. The mind of man, when applied to spiritual subjects, does not now have the same discernment that it originally had, and as our author remarks, if it is ever brought to perceive their beauty, it must be by the agency of the Spirit. (See the supplementary note on Rom 8:7.)
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. But the natural man] , The animal man-the man who is in a mere state of nature, and lives under the influence of his animal passions; for the word , which we often translate soul, means the lower and sensitive part of man, in opposition to , the understanding or rational part. The Latins use anima to signify these lower passions; and animus to signify the higher. The person in question is not only one who either has had no spiritual teaching, or has not profited by it; but one who lives for the present world, having no respect to spiritual or eternal things. This , or animal man, is opposed to the , or spiritual man: and, as this latter is one who is under the influence of the Spirit of God, so the former is one who is without that influence.
The apostle did speak of those high and sublime spiritual things to these animal men; but he explained them to those which were spiritual. He uses this word in this sense, 1Co 3:1; 1Co 9:11; and particularly in verse 15 of the present chapter: He that is spiritual judgeth all things. 1Co 2:15
But the natural man-The apostle appears to give this-as a reason why he explained those deep spiritual things to spiritual men; because the animal man-the man who is in a state of nature, without the regenerating grace of the Spirit of God, receiveth not the things of the Spirit-neither apprehends nor comprehends them: he has no relish for them; he considers it the highest wisdom to live for this world. Therefore these spiritual things are foolishness to him; for while he is in his animal state he cannot see their excellency, because they are spiritually discerned, and he has no spiritual mind.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There are great disputes here, who is meant by the natural man, qucikov anyrwpov. Some think that by the natural man here is meant the carnal man: thus, 1Co 15:44, the natural body is opposed to the spirtiual body; besides, they say, that in the constant phrase of holy writ, man, who is made up of flesh and spirit, as his essential parts, hath constantly his denomination from one of them, and all men in the world are either carnal or spiritual, and that the Greek word signifies that soul and life which is common to all men, from whence all common motions and affections are, and is opposed to the Holy Spirit, which dwells in the souls of them that are sanctified, by which they are led and guided, &c. Thus, say they, the natural man is one who is a servant to his lusts and corruption, under the perfect government of his soul considered merely as natural, all whose motions in that estate of sin and corruption are inordinate. Others think that the apostle here speaks of such as are weak in the faith, little ones, babes in Christ, who had need of milk, not of strong meat, and are natural men in comparison of those more spiritual and perfect. In this sense indeed the apostle, 1Co 3:4, calleth them carnal. But there is nothing more plain, than that the apostle, under the notion of (which we translate natural man) here, understands all such as were not perfect and spiritual, such to whom God hath not by his Spirit revealed the deep things of God, 1Co 2:10; such as had only received the spirit of the world, not the spirit of God, by which alone men come to know the things that are freely given them of God, as 1Co 2:12.
Receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: all these, though some of them are much better than others, having their minds more cultivated and adorned with worldly knowledge and wisdom, yet do not in their hearts (though they may with their ears) receive, that is, believe, embrace, and close with or approve of, spiritual and Divine mysteries, such doctrines as are purely matters of faith, standing upon a Divine revelation.
For they are foolishness unto him; for men of wit and reason count them all foolishness, being neither demonstrable by sense or natural reason.
Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned; neither can any man, no otherwise taught and instructed, so comprehend them, as to give a firm and fixed assent to them, or in heart approve them, because they are only to be seen and discerned in a spiritual light, the Holy Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, enlightening their understandings, that they may know the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to them that believe, according to the working of his mighty power, & c., Eph 1:17-19. Thus the apostle gives a reason of what he had said, 1Co 2:8, that none of the princes of the world knew the wisdom of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. natural manliterally, “aman of animal soul.” As contrasted with the spiritualman, he is governed by the animal soul, which overbears his spirit,which latter is without the Spirit of God (Jude19). So the animal (English Version, “natural”)body, or body led by the lower animal nature (including both the merehuman fallen reason and heart), is contrasted with theSpirit-quickened body (1Co15:44-46). The carnal man (the man led by bodilyappetites, and also by a self-exalting spirit, estranged from thedivine life) is closely akin; so too the “earthly.””Devilish,” or “demon-like”; “led by an evilspirit,” is the awful character of such a one, in its worst type(Jas 3:15).
receiveth notthoughthey are offered to him, and are “worthy of being receivedby all men” (1Ti 1:15).
they are foolishness untohimwhereas he seeks “wisdom” (1Co1:22).
neither can heNot onlydoes he not, but he cannot know them, and therefore hasno wish to “receive” them (Ro8:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But the natural man,…. 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; the man of the greatest natural parts and abilities, yet without the Spirit and grace of God, mentioned 1Co 1:20 and who all along, both in that chapter and in this, quite down to this passage, is had in view: indeed, every man in a state of nature, who is as he was born, whatever may be the inward furniture of his mind, or his outward conduct of life, is but a natural man, and such an one
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: not the things relating to the deity, personality, and perfections of the Holy Spirit, though these the natural man knows not, nor receives; nor the things done by him, particularly the operations of his grace on the souls of men in regeneration, concerning which he says, as Nicodemus did, “how can these things be?” but the truths of the Gospel before spoken of; so called, because they are contained in the Scriptures edited by the Spirit of God, are the deep things of God, which he searches into and reveals; and because they are made known by him, who is given and received for that end and purpose, that the saints might know them; and because they are delivered by the preachers of the Gospel, in words which he teacheth; now these the natural man receives not in the love of them, so as to approve of and like them, truly to believe them, cordially embrace them, and heartily be subject to them, profess and obey them, but on the contrary abhors and rejects them:
for they are foolishness unto him; they are looked upon by him as absurd, and contrary to reason; they do not agree with his taste, he disrelishes and rejects them as things insipid and distasteful; he regards them as the effects of a crazy brain, and the reveries of a distempered head, and are with him the subject of banter and ridicule:
neither can he know them: as a natural man, and whilst he is such, nor by the help and mere light of nature only; his understanding, which is shut unto them, must be opened by a divine power, and a superior spiritual light must be thrown into it; at most he can only know the literal and grammatical sense of them, or only in the theory, notionally and speculatively, not experimentally, spiritually, and savingly:
because they are spiritually discerned; in a spiritual manner, by a spiritual light, and under the influence, and by the assistance of the Spirit of God. There must be a natural visive discerning faculty, suited to the object; as there must be a natural visive faculty to see and discern natural things, so there must be a spiritual one, to see, discern, judge, and approve of spiritual things; and which only a spiritual, and not a natural man has.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Now the natural man ( ). Note absence of article here, “A natural man” (an unregenerate man). Paul does not employ modern psychological terms and he exercises variety in his use of all the terms here present as and , and , and and . A helpful discussion of the various uses of these words in the New Testament is given by Burton in his New Testament Word Studies, pp. 62-68, and in his
Spirit, Soul, and Flesh . The papyri furnish so many examples of , , and that Moulton and Milligan make no attempt at an exhaustive treatment, but give a few miscellaneous examples to illustrate the varied uses that parallel the New Testament. is a qualitative adjective from (breath of life like , life, soul). Here the Vulgate renders it by animalis and the German by sinnlich, the original sense of animal life as in Judg 1:19; Jas 3:15. In 1Cor 15:44; 1Cor 15:46 there is the same contrast between and as here. The man is the unregenerate man while the man is the renewed man, born again of the Spirit of God.
Receiveth not ( ). Does not accept, rejects, refuses to accept. In Ro 8:7 Paul definitely states the inability ( ) of the mind of the flesh to receive the things of the Spirit untouched by the Holy Spirit. Certainly the initiative comes from God whose Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to accept the things of the Spirit of God. They are no longer “foolishness” () to us as was once the case (1:23). Today one notes certain of the intelligentsia who sneer at Christ and Christianity in their own blinded ignorance.
He cannot know them ( ). He is not able to get a knowledge (ingressive second aorist active infinitive of ). His helpless condition calls for pity in place of impatience on our part, though such an one usually poses as a paragon of wisdom and commiserates the deluded followers of Christ.
They are spiritually judged ( ). Paul and Luke are fond of this verb, though nowhere else in the N.T. Paul uses it only in I Corinthians. The word means a sifting process to get at the truth by investigation as of a judge. In Ac 17:11 the Beroeans scrutinized the Scriptures. These men are incapable of rendering a decision for they are unable to recognize the facts. They judge by the (mere animal nature) rather than by the (the renewed spirit).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The natural man [ ] . See on Rom 11:4, on the distinction between yuch soul, life, and pneuma spirit. The contrast is between a man governed by the divine Spirit and one from whom that Spirit is absent. But yucikov natural, is not equivalent to sarkikov fleshy. Paul is speaking of natural as contrasted with spiritual cognition applied to spiritual truth, and therefore of the yuch soul, as the organ of human cognition, contrasted with the pneuma spirit, as the organ of spiritual cognition. The man, therefore, whose cognition of truth depends solely upon his natural insight is yucikov natural, as contrasted with the spiritual man [] to whom divine insight is imparted. In other words, the organ employed in the apprehension of spiritual truth characterizes the man. Paul therefore “characterizes the man who is not yet capable of understanding divine wisdom as yucikov, i e., as one who possesses in his yuch soul, simply the organ of purely human cognition, but has not yet the organ of religious cognition in the pneuma spirit” (Dickson). 82 It is perhaps impossible to find an English word which will accurately render yucikov. Psychic is simply the Greek transcribed. We can do no better than hold by the A. V. natural. 83 Receiveth not [ ] . Not, does not understand, but does not admit them into his heart; thus, according to New Testament usage, when the word is used in connection with teaching. See Luk 8:13; Act 8:14; Act 11:1; 1Th 1:6; Jas 1:21.
Are foolishness. Not merely seem. To him they are.
Neither can he know [ ] . Rev., more strictly, and he cannot know. “It is an utter perversion of such statements to maintain that there is in the natural man any organic, constitutional incapacity of spiritual perception requiring to be created in them by the Holy Spirit…. The uniform teaching of Scripture is that the change effected in regeneration is a purely moral and spiritual one” (Brown).
Discerned [] . Rev., judged. Used only by Luke and Paul, and by the latter in this epistle only. By Luke, mostly of judicial examination : Luk 23:14; Act 4:9; Act 12:19; Act 24:8; Act 28:18. Of examining the Scriptures, Act 17:11, but with the sense of proving or coming to a judgment on. The fundamental idea of the word is examination, scrutiny, following up [] a series of objects or particulars in order to distinguish [] . This is its almost universal meaning in classical Greek. At Athens it was used technically in two senses : to examine magistrates with a view to proving their qualifications; and to examine persons concerned in a suit, so as to prepare the matter for trial, as a grand jury. The meaning judged is, at best, inferential, and the Rev. inserts examined in the margin. Bishop Lightfoot says : “Anakrinein is neither to judge nor to discern; but to examine, investigate, inquire into, question, as it is rightly translated, 1Co 9:3; 1Co 10:25, 27. The apostle condemns all these impatient human praejudicia which anticipate the final judgment, reserving his case for the great tribunal, where at length all the evidence will be forthcoming and a satisfactory verdict can be given. Meanwhile the process of gathering evidence has begun; an ajnakrisiv investigation is indeed being held, not, however, by these self – appointed magistrates, but by one who alone has the authority to institute the inquiry, and the ability to sift the facts” (” On a Fresh Revision of the New Testament “). See, further, on ch. 4 3, 4.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But the natural man”. (psuchikos de anthropos) “but a natural man,” a man of natural senses, unrenewed by the new birth, Jas 3:15; Jud 1:19; Joh 3:3; Joh 3:5. This natural man is contrasted in comprehension with the spiritual (pneumatikos) man.
2) “Receiveth not the things of the Spirit oi God.” (ou dechetai ta tou pneumatos tou theou) “not receives things of the spirit of God.” He receives not the joy of the Holy Spirit, the witness of the Spirit, the peace of the Spirit, or the three gifts of the Holy Spirit – faith, hope, and charity, 1Co 13:13.
3) “For they are foolishness unto him.” (moria gar auto estin) “For they are folly, or of moronic nature, to him.” Herod could not comprehend the interest of the wise men who sought the newborn Christ, nor could the leaders in Jerusalem understand the wisdom of the apostles, Mat 2:1-13; Act 4:13.
4) “Neither can he know them.” (Kai ou dunatai .gnonai) “and he is not able to know (them)” (things of the Spirit). Act 5:29-39.
5) “Because they are spiritually discerned.” (Greek hoti pneumatikos anakrinetai) “because spiritually are they discerned or adjudged.” As it takes an artist to discern art, a musician to discern good music, or a farmer to discern good farming, so it takes a spirit born and spirit discerning person to discern “signs of the times and the works of the Spirit.” 2Pe 3:18; 2Ti 3:16-17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. But the animal man. (125) By the animal man he does not mean (as is commonly thought) the man that is given up to gross lusts, or, as they say, to his own sensuality, but any man that is endowed with nothing more than the faculties (126) of nature. (127) This appears from the corresponding term, for he draws a comparison between the animal man and the spiritual As the latter denotes the man whose understanding is regulated by the illumination of the Spirit of God, there can be no doubt that the former denotes the man that is left in a purely natural condition, as they speak. For the soul (128) belongs to nature, but the Spirit is of supernatural communication.
He returns to what he had previously touched upon, for his object is to remove a stumblingblock which might stand in the way of the weak — that there were so many that despised the gospel. He shows that we ought to make no account of a contempt of such a nature as proceeds from ignorance, and that it ought, consequently, to be no hindrance in the way of our going forward in the race of faith, unless perhaps we choose to shut our eyes upon the brightness of the sun, because it is not seen by the blind. It would, however, argue great ingratitude in any individual, when God bestows upon him a special favor, to reject it, on the ground of its not being common to all, whereas, on the contrary, its very rareness ought to enhance its value. (129)
For they are foolishness to him, neither can he know them. “The doctrine of the gospel,” says he, “is insipid (130) in the view of all that are wise merely in the view of man. But whence comes this? It is from their own blindness. In what respect, then, does this detract from the majesty of the gospel?” In short, while ignorant persons depreciate the gospel, because they measure its value by the estimation in which it is held by men, Paul derives an argument from this for extolling more highly its dignity. For he teaches that the reason why it is contemned is that it is unknown, and that the reason why it is unknown is that it is too profound and sublime to be apprehended by the understanding of man. What a superior wisdom (131) this is, which so far transcends all human understanding, that man cannot have so much as a taste of it! (132) While, however, Paul here tacitly imputes it to the pride of the flesh, that mankind dare to condemn as foolish what they do not comprehend, he at the same time shows how great is the weakness or rather bluntness of the human understanding, when he declares it to be incapable of spiritual apprehension. For he teaches, that it is not owing simply to the obstinacy of the human will, but to the impotency, also, of the understanding, that man does not attain to the things of the Spirit. Had he said that men are not willing to be wise, that indeed would have been true, but he states farther that they are not able. Hence we infer, that faith is not in one’s own power, but is divinely conferred.
Because they are spiritually discerned That is, the Spirit of God, from whom the doctrine of the gospel comes, is its only true interpreter, to open it up to us. Hence in judging of it, men’s minds must of necessity be in blindness until they are enlightened by the Spirit of God. (133) Hence infer, that all mankind are by nature destitute of the Spirit of God: otherwise the argument would be inconclusive. It is from the Spirit of God, it is true, that we have that feeble spark of reason which we all enjoy; but at present we are speaking of that special discovery of heavenly wisdom which God vouchsafes to his sons alone. Hence the more insufferable the ignorance of those who imagine that the gospel is offered to mankind in common in such a way that all indiscriminately are free (134) to embrace salvation by faith.
(125) “ Or l ’ homme naturel. A le traduire du Grec mot a mot, il y auroit l’homme animal;” — “ But the natural man. Rendering the Greek literally it means the animal man.”
(126) “ Les facultes et graces;” — “The faculties and gifts.”
(127) Beza’s definition of the term is much similar — “ Homo non alia quam naturali animi luce praeditus;” — “A man that is not endowed with anything more than the natural light of the mind.” — Ed.
(128) “ Anima “ “the soul” corresponds to the Greek term ψυχη, and the Hebrew term נפש, while spiritus (spirit) corresponds to πνευμα and רוח; but Calvin employs the epithet animalis ( animal) as a derivative from anima , ( the soul,) and as designating the man whose soul is in a purely natural state — without supernatural illumination — in other words, the man of mere mind. — Ed
(129) “ D’autant qu’il est fait a peu de gens, d’autant doit-il estre trouue plus excellent;” — “The fewer it is conferred upon, it ought to be accounted so much the more valuable.”
(130) “ Et n’auoir point de goust;” — “And has no relish.”
(131) “ O quelle sagesse! “ — “O what wisdom!”
(132) “ Vn petit goust;” — “A slight taste.”
(133) “The reader will find the Apostle’s statement respecting the “natural man” commented upon at some length in the Institutes, volume 1. — Ed.
(134) Calvin obviously does not mean to deny that “all indiscriminately” are invited and warranted to “embrace salvation by faith.” He says in the Harmony, volume 3, “For since by his word he [God] calls all men indiscriminately to salvation, and since the end of preaching is, that all should betake themselves to his guardianship and protection, it may justly be said that he wills to gather all to himself.” His meaning is, that the will requires to be set free by the Spirit of God. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) But the natural man.To understand this and other passages in which St. Paul speaks of natural and spiritual men, it is important to recollect that our ordinary manner of speaking of man as consisting of soul and bodyunless soul be taken in an un-technical sense to denote the whole immaterial portionis altogether inaccurate. True psychology regards man as a trinity of natures. (See Note on Mat. 10:28.) In accordance with this, St. Paul speaks of man as consisting of body (soma), soul (psyche), and spirit (pneuma); the soma is our physical nature; the psyche is our intellectual nature, embracing also our desires and human affections; the pneuma is our spiritual nature. Thus in each of us there is a somatical man, a psychical man, and a pneumatical man; and according as any one of those parts of the nature dominates over the other, so is the character of the individual person. One in whom the soma is strongest is a carnal, or fleshly, man; one in whom the intellect or affections pre-dominate is a natural, or psychic, man; and one in whom the spirit rules (which it can do only when enlightened and guided by the Spirit of God, which acts on it) is a spiritual man. (See 1Th. 5:23.)
Natural.That is, literally, that part of our nature which we call mind, and hence signifies that man in whom pure intellectual reason and the merely natural affections predominate. Now such a one cannot grasp spiritual truth any more than the physical nature, which is made to discern physical things, can grasp intellectual things. Spiritual truth appeals to the spirit of the man, and therefore is intelligible only to those who are spiritual, i.e., in whom the pneuma is not dormant, but quickened by the Holy Pneuma.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. The natural man The secular or worldly man, who possesses only the worldly “understanding that judges only by sense” and time. See note on 1Co 3:1. The word natural or psychical, derived from , psyche, (soul,) seems to presuppose the threefold division of man into body, soul, and spirit. In that division the spirit is the highest nature of man, in which he bears the nearest affinity to God, by which he is a moral, conscientious, or religious being; while the soul embraces man’s animal and secular understanding, by which he is acute in things of sense. Notes Mat 5:3, and 1Co 15:44. The natural man is one whose spiritual nature is torpid or deadened by sin and the predominance of earth and sense. His is the spirit of the world and the wisdom of men, but not the spirit which is of God or the wisdom of God.
Receiveth not His torpid spirit is unsusceptible to communion with God.
Foolishness How intensely does the purely secular man scout the utterances of the devout spirit! How sneers he at the very thought of communion with God! How easy it is to burlesque the language of piety! True, those very men have their solemn moments, and their trying crises, when conscience is touched and their ridicule is hushed. And how will men who scorn the thought of communion with God abide to meet him in the judgment, face to face?
Can he know He has an absolute incapacity for knowing the beauty of holiness and the blessedness of divine things.
Spiritually discerned While his spirit is torpid and unsusceptible. Even in natural science there are recognised unseen truths. Says Professor Tyndall, “Besides the phenomena that address the senses, there are laws, and principles, and processes, which do not address the senses at all, but are spiritually discerned.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Now the natural man (man in Adam, the animal man, the man of this world, the man without the Spirit, man as he is without God) does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, because they are spiritually discerned (examined, considered, assessed, judged).’
In contrast the ‘natural man’ (‘the first man’ as in Adam – 1Co 15:47) without the Spirit cannot receive them, he does not accept them because his receptors are blocked. They are dead (Eph 2:1). The whole stress here is that man as he is in himself is unable to receive spiritual truth, or even to consider spiritual truth. What the Spirit has taught Paul and his fellows, and is teaching through them, is nonsense to such people, for they have no spiritual discernment. It is outside their senses, outside their ability range, not mentally but spiritually. Such truth requires spiritual discernment and spiritual judgment, which can only come from the Spirit. The consequence is that it is only when the Spirit enlightens men that they can understand the Gospel, and the preaching of the cross, and respond to it. And only those who are so enlightened can go on to understand it in its fullness.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Co 2:14-15. But the natural man, &c. The natural man and the spiritual man are opposed by St. Paul in these verses; the one signifying a man who has no higher principles to build on, than those of natural reason; the other, a man who founds his faith and religion on divine revelation, and, experiences the power thereof in his heart. This is what appears to be meant by natural, or rather animal man, , and spiritual, as they stand opposed in these two verses. There are some who suppose that implies something further; namely, the sensual man, who continues under the influences of his appetites and passions, and is a stranger to the noble exercises and principles of the divine life. See Jam 3:15. Jud 1:19. Locke, Owen, and the 2nd volume of The Phoenix, p. 544. Instead of judgeth all things, Bos reads judgeth of every man.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Co 2:14 . To receive such teaching, however, in which are united with , every one has not the capacity; a psychical man apprehends not that which is of the Spirit of God, etc.
is the opposite of the who has received the Holy Spirit (1Co 2:12 f., 1Co 2:15 ); he is therefore one (the Holy Spirit) (Jud 1:19 ). Such a man who is not essentially different from the (see on 1Co 3:1 ), but the mental side of whose nature is here brought forward by the word is not enlightened and sanctified by the Spirit of God, but is governed by the , the principle of life for the , so that the sphere in which he works and strives is not that of the divine truth and the divine , but the purely human activity of the understanding, and, as regards practical things, the interests of the life of sense, the , 4Ma 1:32 , the , not the , 1Pe 4:2 . Comp generally, Weiss, biblische Theol. p. 270 f. The higher principle of life, the human , [419] which he has, is not laid hold of and quickened by the Holy Spirit; the regeneration by the Holy Spirit, who operates upon the human spirit and thereby brings about the renewal of the man (comp Joh 3:6 ), has not yet taken place with him; hence the psychical man is really the natural man, i.e. not yet enlightened and sanctified by the Spirit of God, not yet born again, [421] although, at the same time, means not naturalis ( i.e. in contrast to , , and the like; comp Polyb. vi. 4, 7 : ), but animalis (Vulgate). Comp as contrasted with that , Jas 3:15 . Many have taken up the idea in a one-sided way, either in a merely intellectual reference ( , Theodoret; see also Chrysostom, Theophylact, Beza, Grotius, Heydenreich, Pott; comp too, Wieseler on Gal. p. 451), or in a merely ethical one (a man obedient to sensual desires; so, and in some cases, with an exaggerated stress on the sinfulness involved, it is interpreted by Erasmus, Vitringa, Limborch, Clericus, Rosenmller, Valckenaer, Krause, and others). The two elements cannot be separated from each other without quite an arbitrary act of division.
] The question whether this means: he is unsusceptible of it, does not understand (Vulgate, Castalio, Beza, Piscator, Grotius, Rckert, et al [425] ); or: he does not accept, respuit (Peschito, Erasmus, and others, including Tittmann, Flatt, Billroth, de Wette, Osiander, Ewald, Maier), falls to be decided in favour of the latter view by the standing use of in the N. T. when referring to doctrine. See Luk 8:13 ; Act 8:14 ; Act 11:1 ; Act 17:11 ; 1Th 1:6 ; 1Th 2:13 . Comp 2Th 2:10 ; 2Co 8:17 .
.] what comes from the Spirit . This applies both to the matter and form of the teaching. See 1Co 2:13 .
] ground of this . . [427] : It is folly to him, i.e. (as 1Co 1:18 ) it stands to him in the practical relation of being something absurd, and he is not in a position to discern it . The latter clause is not covered by the former (Hofmann), but appends to the relation of the object to the subject the corresponding relation of the subject to the object.
The statement of the reason for both of these connected clauses is: : because they ( .) are judged of after a spiritual fashion (1Co 4:3 , 1Co 14:24 ), i.e. because the investigative ( ) judgment of them (the searching into and estimating their nature and meaning) is a task which, by reason of the nature of the subject-matter to be dealt with, can be performed in accordance with its own essential character in no other way than by means of a proving and judging empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit (a power which is wanting to the ). , that is to say, refers not to the human spirit, but to the Holy Spirit (see 1Co 2:13 ) who fills the human spirit, and by the hallowing influence of divine enlightenment and power capacitates it for the of the doctrines of teachers filled with the Spirit who address it, so that this is an activity which proceeds in a mode empowered and guided by the Spirit . We may add that . does not mean: must be judged of (Luther and many others, among whom are Tittmann, Flatt, and Pott), but it expresses the characteristic relation, which takes place; they are subject to spiritual judgment . That is an axiom . But this very sort of is what is lacking in the .
[419] The distinction between and , as that which separates from each other the agencies of the lower and the higher life, answers certainly to the Platonic threefold division of man’s nature into body, soul, and spirit (see, especially, Olshausen, de naturae humanae trichotomia N. T. scriptoribus recepta , in his Opusc. Berol. 1834, p. 143 ff.; and, on the other side , Hahn, Theol. d. N. T. I. p. 391 ff.). Not, however, as if Paul had borrowed this trichotomy (see, especially, 1Th 5:23 ; comp. also Heb 4:12 ) from the Platonic philosophy, but this Platonic type of anthropology, current also with Philo and the Rabbinical writers, had, like the phrase and (see on Eph 3:16 ), become popular (comp. Josephus, Antt. i. 1. 2, according to which God breathed and into man when first formed), and subsisted alongside of the twofold conception and the corresponding mode of expression (1Co 5:3 f., 1Co 7:34 ; 2Co 7:1 ; Rom 8:10 f., al. ). Comp. Lnemann on 1Th 5:23 . Luther, as early as 1521, has some excellent remarks on the trichotomy (printed also in Delitzsch’s bibl. Psychol. p. 392 f.). He likens the to the Sanctum sanctorum , the to the Sanctum , and the to the Atrium . Against Hofmann’s arbitrary explaining away of a real threefold division (in his Schriftbeweis , I. p. 297 f.), see Krumm, de notionibus psychol. Pauli , p. 1 ff.; Delitzsch, loc. cit. p. 87 ff.; Ernesti, Ursprung d. Snde , II. p. 76 f. We may add, that Hofmann is wrong in saying, with respect to this passage, that it has nothing whatever to do with the question about the dichotomy or trichotomy. It has to do with it, inasmuch as in virtue of the contrast between and , the cannot be the seat and sphere of operation of the Divine Spirit, which is to be found rather in the human , and consequently must be conceived as specifically distinct from the latter.
[421] Luther’s gloss is: “The natural man is as he is apart from grace , albeit decked out as bravely as may be with all the reason, skill, sense, and faculty in the world.” Comp. Calovius, who insists with justice against Grotius, that and differ only “ratione formalis significationis.” Paul might have used here too (see on 1Co 3:1 ); but naturally suggested itself to him as correlative to ; for the cannot be the receptaculum of that which is of the Spirit of God. According to Ewald, the word points to the Greek philosophers , being a gentle way of designating them. But the expression is quite general; and how easy it would have been for Paul to let it be definitely known that the reference was to the philosophers (by , for example, or in some other way)!
[425] t al. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
[427] . . . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1942
THE NATURAL MANS IGNORANCE OF DIVINE THINGS
1Co 2:14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
CHRISTIANITY, as far as relates to its provisions, is founded on the necessities of man: there is a perfect correspondence between the want and the supply: whichever of the two is contemplated, we of necessity behold, or at least may behold, the other. Men, it is true, are not very willing to acknowledge their necessities; and hence they think lightly of the blessings of the Gospel salvation: and many, who are willing to confess the depravation of their will and their affections through the fall of our first parents, are very averse to admit the loss they have sustained in their intellectual powers. But it is certain, that the mind of man is no longer what it was before the introduction of sin into the world: it can no longer discern the glory and excellency of Jehovah, or the mysteries of his spiritual kingdom. This is expressly declared in the words before us; which it is our intention,
I.
To explain
That we may have a just view of them, we will distinctly shew,
1.
Whom we are to understand by the natural man
[The term which we translate natural, is differently translated in different places; and the sense must always be determined by the context. Now the whole context shews, that the person here spoken of is man in his natural state, untaught, and unassisted by the Spirit of God. From the middle of the preceding chapter, two descriptions of persons are mentioned; one, wise in respect of earthly knowledge, but spiritually blind, and, in consequence of that blindness, pouring contempt upon the Gospel: the other, as spiritually enlightened, and, in consequence of that illumination, accounting the Gospel the richest display of Gods wisdom and power. The former the Apostle denominates the wise, the scribe, the disputer of this world, and comprehends among them the princes of this world: these, in our text, he calls the natural man, that is, man conversant with worldly knowledge, but uninstructed by the Spirit of God.]
2.
What are those things which he can neither receive nor know
[These are the things of the Spirit, or, the great mysteries which are revealed to us in the Gospel. And when it is said, that the natural man cannot know them, we are not to understand merely that these mysteries are not discoverable by the light of reason, so as to supersede the necessity of any revelation; but that, however revealed to us externally by God, they cannot be inwardly comprehended, without a special discovery of them to the soul by the influence of the Holy Spirit. As far as they are capable of being judged of by reason, or are mere matters of science, any man may, by the application of his own natural powers, understand them: but, as far as they are objects of faith, and matters of experience, no man can understand them, unless he be taught of God. Theoretically, he may maintain the whole system of the fall and the recovery; but, practically, he cannot realize in his soul the truths which he maintains: the humiliation which his depravity calls for, he cannot feel; nor the gratitude, which the wonders of redemption so imperiously demand. On the contrary, the whole system, however as a theory it may be approved, as a practical and influential principle in the soul is accounted foolishness.]
3.
Whence this incapacity arises
[It is well accounted for in the words before us: He cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned. We are not to understand by this, that the spiritual man is endued with any new faculty, which the natural man does not possess; for then the natural man would be rather to be pitied for a defect which was unavoidable, than to be blamed for a weakness to which he himself was accessary: we are rather to understand, that the natural man does not make a right use of the faculties which he already possesses, but, through the corruption of his own heart, renders them unfit for the use for which they were originally designed. Perhaps we may attain some insight into this matter by means of an easy and familiar illustration. Many by nature are very indistinct in their organs of vision; and art has enabled them to supply the defect. From the formation and structure of their eye, the objects which they behold do not fall upon the retina that should reflect them, but either fall short of it, or go beyond it: but, by interposing a proper medium, the object is brought to such a focus as the eye requires; and is then clearly discerned. Now we may suppose our natural pride, and unbelief, and sensuality, to have rendered our spiritual discernment so indistinct, that nothing is seen aright; but objects, especially spiritual objects, are dim and distorted: but humility, and contrition, and faith being given by God as a new medium through which they shall be seen, the objects are made, so to speak, to fall upon the heart, and are discerned by the heart in all their true colours and dimensions. We do not propose this as a perfect illustration; for nothing in nature will perfectly represent the mysteries of grace: but it may serve perhaps to convey some faint idea of our natural incapacity to know and to receive the things of the Spirit; and may shew us what we want in order to a spiritual discernment. It is the Spirit of God alone that can supply us with those qualities of mind which will rectify the defects of our visual organs: but when he does supply them, then, in proportion as they are communicated, will be the clearness of our sight. We again say, that we do not bring this as a perfect illustration, and much less as a proof, of the truth we are considering: but we apprehend, that it is such an illustration as the word of God sanctions. Our blessed Lord tells us, that, if our eye be evil, the body will be dark; but that, if our eye be single, our whole body will be full of light: and St. Paul says, that by reason of use our senses are exercised to discern both good and evil [Note: Heb 5:14.]; by which two passages we learn, that the rectification of our visual organs, and the due application of them to their proper objects, are the appointed means of communicating to us a spiritual discernment.]
This truth, we now proceed,
II.
To confirm
The natural man, under all circumstances, is blind to the things of God
It was so in our Lords day
[Never was there any light comparable to that which was diffused by the Sun of Righteousness: yet the darkness comprehended it not. Our Lord came to his own, and his own received him not [Note: Joh 1:5; Joh 1:10-11.]. The very people who, from their acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, and their opportunities of knowing the character of our blessed Lord, and the proofs of his divine mission, had the best means of ascertaining the truth of his Messiahship, could see no beauty or comeliness in him for which he was to be desired [Note: Isa 53:2.]. The great mass of the Jewish people accounted him an impostor: and when his own Disciple, Peter, confessed him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Lord said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven [Note: Mat 16:17.]. Whence it is evident, that none can truly receive Christ in all his characters and offices, unless a spiritual discernment be given unto them by the Spirit of God. Clear as our Lords discourses were, they were not understood fully even by the Disciples themselves. To them indeed it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven more clearly than to others; but even they could not enter fully into the nature of his kingdom, no, not after he had risen from the dead, till he opened their understandings to understand the Scriptures [Note: Luk 24:45.].]
It was so under the ministry of the Apostles
[Paul himself, so far from being convinced by the wonders of the day of Pentecost, was the most determined enemy of the Christian Church, till Christ himself arrested him in his mad career, and revealed himself to him by an immediate vision, and a special revelation from heaven. In like manner the ministry of Paul was as offensive to some, as it was delightful and instructive to others. Those whose hearts the Lord opened, as he did Lydias, to attend to the things spoken by Paul, received the word with all gladness; but the great majority of his hearers rejected it with abhorrence. The very same words spoken before Festus and Agrippa, made one to cry out, Paul, thou art beside thyself: and the other to say, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.]
And thus it is also at this day
[The work of conversion does not go forward among the wise, the mighty, the noble: on the contrary, the Gospel is very generally esteemed as foolishness among them. We still find occasion for the same acknowledgment as our Lord himself made: I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight [Note: Mat 11:25-26.]. To this source we must trace all the difference that we still observe amongst the hearers of the Gospel: the Spirit of God worketh all in all; and divideth to every man severally as he will [Note: 1Co 12:6; 1Co 12:11.]. If we know Christ, it is because he hath given us an understanding that we might know him [Note: 1Jn 5:20.], and an unction of the Holy One, whereby our faculties were enabled to apprehend him [Note: 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27.]: and, if we have come to Christ, it is because we have heard and learned of the Father [Note: Joh 6:45.].]
Humiliating, no doubt, this declaration is: nevertheless it is one which we shall do well,
III.
To improve
We may learn from it
1.
How to appreciate divine knowledge
[Valuable as human knowledge is, it hears no comparison with that which is divine. So superior is the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, that St. Paul accounted all things but as dross and dung in comparison of it. It is more excellent in its nature, more exalted in its origin, and more beneficial in its use. Into the mystery of redemption the very angels themselves desire to look. To understand it, we must be taught, not of man, but of God; and, when we have received it aright, it will renew and sanctify us after the Divine image. Let it then be sought by us, not exclusively indeed, but supremely. Let us not be satisfied with any knowledge which the natural man can attain: but let us seek that which shall carry its own evidence along with it as divine, by its renewing, sanctifying, and comforting influence upon the soul.]
2.
How to seek it
[Nothing is to be attained without diligence: but it is not by study only that the knowledge of divine things is to be acquired: we must cry after knowledge, at the same time that we search for it as for hid treasures. It is the Lord alone who giveth wisdom; and therefore we must seek it from him by earnest prayer. We must beg him to give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, that the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, we may see the deep things of God. He first commanded light to shine out of darkness in the material world; and a similar process must take place in our minds through the operation of his word and Spirit. We must be taught of God, as all his children are: and then only shall we behold the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, when he shines into our hearts to give it us [Note: 2Co 4:6.]. Our studies therefore must all be accompanied with prayer, and we must never take up the Holy Scriptures without crying, like David, Lord, open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.]
3.
How to employ it
[Has God in his unbounded mercy opened our eyes, and enabled us to see what the natural man is not able to receive? Surely we should endeavour to employ that light in the way that shall most conduce to his glory. We should make use of it as the means of searching out his glorious perfections, and of discovering the heights and depths of his unsearchable love. We should also employ it for the rectifying of all our own views, and spirit, and conduct: and, finally, for the diffusing, to the utmost of our power, the knowledge of him throughout the world. As it was said to Peter, When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren; so is it said to us, Freely ye have received, freely give. No one gift is bestowed on us for ourselves alone, but for the good of others: and knowledge in particular is a talent entrusted to us for the benefit of all around us: it is a light that is to be set on a candlestick, and not to be hid under a bushel. If then, through the distinguishing grace of God, we have been called to the knowledge of the truth, it becomes us to shine as lights in the world, and so to hold forth the word of life, that others may be guided into the way of peace.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Spiritual Discernment
1Co 2:14
I wish to show, by analogies and illustrations known to everybody, the reasonableness of the doctrine which is thus laid down by the Apostle Paul. There is nothing here which is not commonly acknowledged, and insisted on in the everyday walks of life. To show this may be a great help to some minds; to those, for example, who suppose that where there is no religion there is no mystery, and consequently that, if we could get clear of religion, we should get clear of all mystery. I believe that the true interpreter of God whenever he shall arise will be able to show that what is distinctively known as the Christian religion is only more mysterious because it is more sublime than any other part of the economy of life and nature. The one great mystery is God himself. All other mysteries are as shadows thrown by that burning light. Interpretation the power of seeing things as they are is not a question of culture so much as of sympathy and insight. Sympathy and insight cannot be taught in the schools. The highest gifts cannot be given to men through the medium of books; so, unless a man have the hearing ear and seeing eye as the direct gifts of God, he never can be taught to be a profound and sure interpreter. Right answers to hard questions have never been suggested by flesh and blood; they have always been given to the Peters of the world by the Father which is in heaven. God gives us the spirit of discernment, the power of seeing spiritual realities and relations. It is not a natural endowment common to the whole human species: it is a distinct and special gift 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. God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” And yet it has strangely come to pass in the study of religious problems, that some men have asserted the sufficiency of unaided reason. Strange, because the very men have in less important inquiries gladly availed themselves of all the instruments, mediums, and helps which inventive genius has supplied. I wish to show the inconsistency of the reasoning of such men; that they leave their common-sense behind them when they enter into the consideration of the elements which constitute profoundly true and successful religious inquiry.
Here, for example, is a large, brilliant diamond. You look at the stone, and it pleases you by its wondrous whiteness and lustre. You admire it, you praise it very highly. You say, “This stone is without fault of any kind a most beautiful and precious gem.” The lapidary places in your hand a magnifying glass of great power, and bids you look at the centre of the stone. You look. The lapidary inquires what you see, and you reply, “Why, there is a black spot at its very centre! I did not see that without the glass. To the naked eye the stone looked perfectly white entirely without flaw or fault; and yet now that I look at the stone through the glass, why, I wonder that I could not have seen so great a speck as that!” The lapidary says the naked eye cannot receive it, neither can it know it, because it is microscopically discerned. And nobody arises to contest the reasoning of the lapidary; no man ventures to say to him, “Sir, you have introduced a most painful mystery into human thought and human inquiry.” Such people are rather glad that a medium has been supplied by which the most hidden fault can be brought to light.
Yonder are two shining surfaces. You look at both of them and pronounce them intensely brilliant. You say, “There must be great fire there, otherwise such a glowing surface could not have presented itself.” A scientific man who overhears you says, “One of those surfaces is not light at all, has not light in itself.” And you, a man of independent judgment, a free-thinker and noble-minded inquirer, turn round upon him and tell him, circuitously but yet virtually, that he’s a fool: can’t you believe your own eyes? what were your eyes given to you for, if you could not see such evident realities before you? And you treat the scientific man with contempt and disdain. “Now,” he says, “just look through this instrument, will you?” And he brings to you the polariscope, teaches you the use of that instrument. And when you have looked according to his directions, you turn to him and beg his pardon for having so rudely contradicted him: you say that you never could have supposed that the thing was as it has really been proved to be; you could not have seen that the one surface was primary light and the other was but reflected light, until you looked at both surfaces through the crystals of the polariscope. And now the scientific man says to you, “The naked eye cannot receive it, neither know it, because it is polariscopically discerned.” You thank him as a philosopher; you are obliged to him as a discoverer.
And yonder are two men who have undertaken a mineral survey. It has been supposed by some people that there is iron in the field which these men are now traversing. One of the men is a mineralogist, a man of science, who knows the limitations of his condition, and who consequently avails himself of instruments which science has supplied. The other is a grand man, who believes that if he cannot find things out with his naked eyes and his naked fingers, that nothing can be found out or shall be found out. Not at all a bigot, observe. A man of latitudinarian spirit, of all-encompassing and all-hopeful charity; belongs to no sect, to no flag, to no banner, with no passwords, and does not believe in anything that is dogmatic or defined. He goes over the field, does this latter man he soon goes over it. Men of that kind have nothing to arrest them on the way; it is a pity they were not winged, that they might get away sooner. Having gone over the field, he says, “There is no iron there.” But the scientific man is walking slowly over the same ground, holding in his hand a little box, a little crystal box, walking slowly, watching the instrument that is enclosed in that box. Presently the needle dips. The man stops there, and says, “In this place there is iron.” Can you see it? No. Can you touch it? No. But in this place he repeats, “I tell you there is iron!” He walks on again. The needle is perfectly steady: yard after yard the needle is perfectly steady and still, but suddenly the needle dips. As the finger of God it points out to men the riches of the earth. The other man has gone home to tell everybody that there is no iron in that field, and of course, being an independent, free-minded, experienced man, he is instantly believed by every one. The other man says, “There is iron in that field, and in my judgment it will repay digging for.” The scientific man then digs for iron and finds it, and then turns round to hear what men have to say about him and his discoveries. He says, “The naked eye, the unassisted faculty, cannot receive it, neither know it, for it is magnetically discerned.” We then say that he is very clever, and tardily yield him the confidence which he has so richly deserved.
Look at this ruddy-faced boy. You cannot walk out with this boy forty yards but he challenges you to leap a five-barred gate, or to have a game at throwing stones at something, or leaping over ditches about twelve feet wide; and you, not being so boyish as he is, respectfully decline the challenge, but you say, “What a vigorous lad that is! what power, what spring he has! There will be a long life there and a happy one.” A scientific man comes to your house; you talk physiology. The scientific man proposes to examine this ruddy-faced boy, your companion in the field. He applies an instrument to the region of the heart, and suddenly there is a changed expression of countenance on the part of the physician. Turning aside to you he says, “This boy will never see five-and-twenty. Has he had rheumatic fever? There is valvular affection of the heart, and before he is five-and-twenty I am afraid he will be gone.” Of course you disbelieve it. You saw the boy in the field vaulting a gate, leaping a ditch, throwing stones many a yard, and you cannot disbelieve your eyes, that would be unmanly and unworthy of the independence of manhood. The doctor says, “Apply your ear to this instrument and listen for yourself.” You do so, and hear an irregularity and peculiarity of beat, which you, not being a medical man, cannot understand; and yet you know that there is a discrepancy in the pulsations. The physician says to you, “The untrained, uneducated ear cannot receive this, neither know it, because it is stethoscopically discerned.” And you tardily, as in the former case, give your confidence to the adviser, and beseech him to lend you his aid under circumstances so unexpected and distressing.
Here is a piece of paper, and you hand it round to your friends, to every man amongst them, and they say, “Whatever have you handed this blank piece of paper round for? are you playing a hoax upon us? There is nothing upon this piece of paper? Have we to write something upon it?” And you take it back and say, “Is there really nothing upon the paper?” and every voice says “No, cannot we believe our own eyes? We are unanimously of opinion that there is nothing upon it.” You just hold it to the fire for the space of a minute or two, and lo, it is written all over! You have developed the secret ink.
Now, in all these things, we confess our need of instruments. The unassisted faculties of nature are not enough. We must be indebted to mediums. Imagine a man who disbelieves everything he cannot see with the naked eye. Suppose that it came to pass tomorrow that everything should be taken away which cannot be read by the naked eye, or that has not been discovered by the naked eye. What will come? Shut up the heavens, for astronomy must go; and cover over the fields, for botany tells but little to the naked eye. All science, indeed, would be impoverished, insulted, degraded. Yet the man who cannot read his own mother’s letter without an eye-glass insists upon reading the infinite and eternal God by his own unassisted powers, declares that if he cannot settle this great question by natural reason, that there is nothing at all worth being settled, says that, whatsoever is too mysterious for his natural understanding is but worthy of insult, degradation, and contempt. I charge him, in God’s house and before God’s face, with insulting his own common-sense and contradicting the highest experiences of mankind.
The same principle may be illustrated in spheres where instruments are not required. Here are two men listening to the same piece of music. The one man is inspired, enraptured, thrilled, and says mentally, “I would this might go on for ever! The sweetness, the purity of that wondrous tone, let it never cease! I would abide here constantly.” The other man is saying mentally, “I wonder when they will be done? it seems a long time!” He looks at the programme with weary eyes, and mentally resolves that that shall be the last occasion of the kind when he will be there. The best ear cannot receive these things or know them, for they are musically discerned. There are that have ears that cannot hear, and eyes that cannot see. The one man, the musical man, would be pained, really tormented, if one note were the thousandth part of a shade wrong, he would feel it intensely, it would go right through him like a spear. But all the notes might be wrong so far as the other man was concerned. If there was only noise enough, he would think it was not so very bad after all.
Here are two men looking at the same picture. The one man is chained to the spot: it is to him an enigma, a mystery, a wonder, and a delight; he has never seen such combinations before; he has never before thrilled under such wondrous effects. A man behind him with a thick shilling catalogue says that he does not see very much in that, and hastens on to something that has got superficies, no matter what the superficies may be: only let it be extensive enough. Paint for such men with a broom!
Now, the application of all these instances is to the things of God as accessible to the spirit of man. The things of God are not naturally discerned. “If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” There are blind minds as well as blind eyes. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This is perfectly reasonable. If a man contends that mystery begins with the Bible, he knows not the world he is living in, or the elements by which he is surrounded. In the light of these reflections we may see the adaptation of the method of the Gospel to our human condition. What has God done in the matter of revelation? God has condescended to have a book written for us. Just as you condescended, when you were a long way from home, to sit up one whole hour to print about six lines in large hand for that little child of yours at home. And you were never so much a man, as when you were so much a child. God comes to us, knowing the dumbness and blindness of his creatures, and sets everything before us he possible can set, to appeal, in the first instance, to our lowest faculties; and then brings us on from that point until sanctuaries are no more wanted, printed Bibles are no more wanted, sun and moon are dismissed from their spheres, institutionalism goes down in spirituality the Lamb is the light, and God is the temple.
We may see, also, the reasonableness of Divine dependence in reading the Gospel. There are many things, as we have just shown, which cannot be read without instruments and mediums. God comes and says to us, “I have something to say to you, which you never could hear by your own unaided faculties; but I will give you the faculty, I will give you the capacity to receive, and that capacity to its utmost limits.” I say this is not a mystery that is opposed to reason, though it may be a mystery which is above reason. We also see in the light of these illustrations the sublimity of the truths announced by the gospel. Instruments will read the works, but instruments cannot read the Word. Only God can reveal himself. What man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so, mark the connecting link the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. It is thus put upon reasonable grounds. As with men so with God. You cannot read the things that are in your brother’s mind: no man can read the things that are in your mind, you alone can reveal them. The Apostle carries up the argument until he shows its bearing upon the infiniteness, the depth, the wonderfulness, the whole Godhead of God.
As ministers we are not to be discouraged and driven back in our godly work, because some people cannot understand us, and others say we are trifling with their reason or insulting their common-sense. Take it as a matter of fact, there will always be men in the world to whom your best preaching will be foolishness; simply because they have not the spiritual faculty of taking hold of what you are saying. Now, do we wish to have this discernment? “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.” “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.” Do not expect to see all things at once the whole breadth and lustre of the Godhead at once: begin at a little point. In the first place you may, in spiritual things as in material, see men as trees walking, dim outlines, flitting shadows; but do not despise the twilight! If we already have this discernment, then surely to him that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. Inspiration is not a fixed quantity, it is a variable quantity, we may increase the volume of our inspiration by diligently, lovingly and patiently waiting upon God. “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings will God ordain praise. The first shall be last, and last shall be first. And by things that are not, will God secure great results in the world.
Do not let us therefore lose our present insight, our present power of interpretation, our present power of discernment and appreciation. Let us grow. We can only grow by prolonged intercourse with God. He who gives his days to study and his nights to prayer shall see heaven opened, and his whole life shall be a Jacob’s dream: he will never, never miss that wonderful ladder which connects the worlds; that marvellous staircase of light up which the angels go, and in going bid us follow on. It doth not yet appear what we shall be. Thy home is with the humble, Lord! Have we a right spirit? God will not say anything to people who are boastful of their own wisdom, and who glorify themselves in the light of their own reason; but he never ceases talking to the child-heart that says in the dark midnight and the bright noonday, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.”
Prayer
Almighty God, we bless thee that the foundation is laid, laid in Zion, and that there is a cornerstone, elect, precious, tried, a sure foundation: may we take heed how we build upon it, that our building may be in some measure worthy of the foundation upon which it rests. Quicken our eyes that we may see precisely what we are doing, what stones we are choosing, and how we are laying them. Take away from us the spirit of indolence and foolish trustfulness, and work in us the spirit of industry and keen watchfulness, that so we may do all things according to thy law, and thy will may be glorified in our industry. Thou hast so appointed our life as to make us all builders: may we take heed how we build: may it be our life care, may we think of nothing else, may we build for God, for eternity. Help us in all the toil, tell us that the day will soon be done, and that therefore, whatsoever our hand findeth to do, we should do it with our might, and therefore we should dry our tears because the toil will be followed by ineffable rest. If we have built aught in life that can stand the fire, the praise be God’s; thou didst teach us how to build, thou didst show us what to choose; not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be all the praise. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them , because they are spiritually discerned.
Ver. 14. But the natural man ] This mere animal ( ), that hath no more than a reasonable soul and natural abilities, Jdg 1:19 . Such was that sapless fellow, Psa 14:1 , that may have a disciplinary knowledge, that is, by hearsay, as a blind man hath of colours, but not an intuitive per speciem propriam, through their very own sight. The water riseth no higher than the spring from whence it came; so natural men can ascend no higher than nature. If the unreasonable creatures could draw a picture of God, said Xenophanes, they would certainly paint him like themselves, quia scilicet nihil animal animali superius cogitare potest, because they can think of nothing above themselves.
Neither can he know them ] They that are blear eyed and weak sighted, if at any time they set themselves to see better into a thing, they see the worse (Vives in Aug. de Civ. Dei, xxii. 6), so here; nay more, in our nature there is an antipathy to divine truth. We love the law better than the gospel, and any truth better than the law.
Because they are spiritually ] Ambrose reads, Because he is spiritually judged, being delivered up to a reprobate sense. But the other reading is better.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14. ] He now prepares the way for shewing them that he could not give out the depths of this spiritual wisdom and eloquence to them , because they were not fitted for it , being carnal (ch. 1Co 3:1-4 ).
. .] The animal man, as distinguished from the spiritual man, is he, whose governing principle and highest reference of all things is the , the animal soul , , Plato, Definit. p. 411. In him, the , or spirit , being unvivified and uninformed by the Spirit of God, is overborne by the animal soul, with its desires and its judgments, and is in abeyance , so that he may be said to have it not; , ref. Jude. The is that side of the human soul, so to speak, which is turned towards the flesh, the world, the devil : so that the is necessarily in a measure (ch. 1Co 3:3 ), also , and , as in ref. James.
This general interpretation of must be adhered to, and we must not make it merely intellectual , as Theodoret, , Grot. “qui human tantum rationis luce ducitur:” Chrys.: , , nor merely ethical , as Erasm., Rosenmller (‘qui cupiditatum sub imperio omnem vitam transigunt’), al., but embracing both these.
, receives not , i.e. rejects , see reff., not, cannot receive, ‘non capax est,’ understands not , which is against the context, for we may well understand that which seems folly to us, but we reject it, as unworthy of our consideration: and it besides would involve a tautology, this point, of inability to comprehend , following by and by: and he cannot know them ( , the matter of our spiritual teaching, itself furnished by the Spirit) because they are spiritually (by the of a man exalted by the Spirit of God into its proper paramount office of judging and ruling, and inspired and enabled for that office) judged of .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 2:14 . With the App. all is spiritual words and thoughts; for this very reason men of the world reject their teaching: “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God” ( cf. Rom 8:5 ; Joh 15:18-21 , 1Jn 4:5 ). Of the vbs. for receiving , (1Co 2:12 ) regards the object, the manner and spirit of the act to welcome (see parls.); there is no receptivity “non vult admittere” (Bg [426] ). , in all N.T. instances, has a disparaging sense, being opposed to (as is not to ), and almost syn [427] with or (1Co 3:1 f.). The term is in effect privative . (Cm [428] ), “quemlibet hominem solis natur facultatibus prditum” (Cv [429] ), positive evil being implied by consequence. Adam’s body was , as not yet charged, like that of Christ, with the Divine (1Co 15:44-49 . syn [430] with , and contrasted with ). “The word was coined by Aristotle ( Eth. Nic. , III., x., 2) to distinguish the pleasures of the soul, such as ambition and desire for knowledge, from those of the body ( ).” “Similarly Polybius, and Plutarch ( de Plac. Phil. , i. 9 , ). “Contrasted with the , the is the noblest of men. But to the he is related as the natural to the supernatural” (Ed [431] : see Cr [432] , s. v. ). This epithet, therefore, describes to the Cor [433] the unregenerate nature at its best , the man commended in philosophy, actuated by the higher thoughts and aims of the natural life not the sensual man (the animalis of the Vg [434] ), who is ruled by bodily impulse. Yet the , (Jud 1:19 ), may be lower than the , where the latter, as in 1Co 3:3 and Gal 5:17 ; Gal 5:25 , is already touched but not fully assimilated by the life-giving . . . ., rendered by Krenkel ( Beitrge , pp. 379 ff.), “For folly belongs (cleaves) to him, and he cannot perceive that he is spiritually searched” ( cf. 1Co 14:24 ff., ) an ingenious and grammatically possible translation, but not consistent with the emphatic ref [435] of in ch. 1 to the world’s judgment on the Gospel , nor with the fact that “the things of God” ( , ) are the all-commanding topic of this paragraph. We adhere therefore to the common rendering: “For to him they are folly; and he cannot perceive (them), for (it is) spiritually (that) they are tried” and he is unspiritual. For , see note on (1Co 2:8 ). must be distinguished from , to judge, deliver a verdict ; and from , to discern, distinguish diff [436] things; it signifies to examine, inquire into , being syn [437] on the one side with of 1Co 2:10 , and on the other with of 1Th 5:21 (see parls.; also Lt [438] ad loc [439] , and in his Fresh Revision 3 , pp. 69 ff.): “ was an Athenian law-term for a preliminary investigation corresponding mutatis mutandis to the part taken in English law-proceedings by the Grand Jury” ( cf. Act 25:26 ). The Gospel appears on its trial before the ; like the Athenian philosophers, they give it a first hearing, but they have no organon to test it by. The inquiry is stultified, ab initio , by the incompetence of the jury. The unspiritual are out of court as religious critics; they are deaf men judging music.
[426] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.
[427]
[428] John Chrysostom’s Homili ( 407).
[429] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii .
[430] synonym, synonymous.
[431] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2
[432] Cremer’s Biblico-Theological Lexicon of N.T. Greek (Eng. Trans.).
[433] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
[434] Latin Vulgate Translation.
[435] reference.
[436] difference, different, differently.
[437] synonym, synonymous.
[438] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).
[439] ad locum , on this passage.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Co 2:14-16
14But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1Co 2:14
NASB”a natural man”
NKJV”natural man”
NRSV”those who are unspiritual”
TEV”the man who does not have the Spirit”
NJB”the natural person”
This is the opposite of a “spiritual person” referred to in 1Co 2:6; 1Co 2:13; 1Co 3:1. The term (i.e., psuchikos) is used several times in the NT where it refers to life on earth, life lived in relation to the five senses only (i.e., bios, life vs. zo, life). The ikos ending means “characterized by” (cf. 1Co 3:3). It then could mean earthly vs. heavenly or unspiritual vs. spiritual (cf. 1Co 15:44; 1Co 15:46; Jas 3:15; and Jud 1:19).
NASB”does not accept”
NKJV, NRSV”does not receive”
TEV”cannot receive”
NJB”has no room for”
This Greek negated term means “rejects,” “refuses to accept,” “cannot comprehend,” or “cannot make sense of.” This term without negation is often used of welcoming a guest. This term (i.e., dechomai, cf. Luk 8:13; Act 8:14; Act 11:1; Act 17:11; 2Co 11:4; 1Th 1:6; Jas 1:21) is synonymous with lamban (cf. Joh 1:12; Joh 12:48; Joh 14:17). It does not relate to human ignorance, but to the incapacity of understanding spiritual truth!
This is the mystery of how/why some who hear the gospel respond and some do not. Is this rejection related to predestination or human volition? The answer is “yes,” but exactly how these two relate is part of the dialectical nature of revelation itself (cf. Php 2:12-13, see Special Topic at 2Co 8:16-17). I like what Frank Stagg, in New Testament Theology, says, “in the New Testament, the opposite of election is not non-election, but man’s rejection of God’s salvation” (p. 87).
“foolishness” See note at 1Co 1:25.
“they are spiritually appraised” This is a legal term that speaks of the preliminary exhaustive examination before a trial (cf. Luk 23:14; Act 12:19; Act 24:8; Act 25:26; Act 28:18) or to examine something carefully (i.e., the Scriptures, cf. Act 17:11; food, cf. 1Co 10:25; 1Co 10:27). This same word occurs twice more in 1Co 2:15.
Believers endued with the Spirit are able to judge appropriately the things in both the physical and spiritual realms (cf. 1Co 1:22-25; 1Co 2:2, also note 1Co 14:29 and 1Th 5:20-21). However, the unspiritual of 1Co 2:14 cannot properly discern spiritual things, spiritual truths, or spiritual people.
1Co 2:15 “yet he himself is appraised by no one” This, of course, is the generic masculine form. Believers cannot be judged, yea even truly understood, by unbelievers (cf. 1Co 4:3-4). This may be a reference to some of Paul’s enemies at Corinth (cf. 1Co 9:3). It is the indwelling Spirit who brings light through the gospel to reality, not this age’s reality or physical reality, but God’s reality!
1Co 2:16 This is an allusion to Isa 40:13 in the Septuagint. In Isa 40:3 the term “Lord” is the Divine name YHWH, but here Paul uses the quote to refer to Jesus (also note Rom 10:13 and Php 2:10-11).
This continues the contextual emphasis on the need of the Spirit for humans to “hear” the gospel and to understand spiritual truth. This context and John 14-16 are crucial in understanding the work of the Spirit of God.
Without the Spirit fallen humanity engages in speculations, myths, even demonically inspired false truths! Oh, the tragedy of world religions and human philosophy.
“But we have the mind of Christ” The pronoun “we” is emphatic! This could refer to (1) Paul and his companions; (2) Christian preachers; or (3) mature Christians. This does not mean believers know everything Christ knows, but that the Spirit has opened our minds to His perspective, His priorities, His heart (cf. Rom 12:2; Php 2:5).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
natural. Greek. psuchikos. Elsewhere, 1Co 15:44, 1Co 15:44, 1Co 15:46, and (translated “sensual”) Jam 3:15. Jud 1:19. Compare psuche. App-110.
foolishness. See 1Co 1:18.
spiritually. Greek. pneumatikos. Only here and Rev 11:8.
discerned. App-122.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14.] He now prepares the way for shewing them that he could not give out the depths of this spiritual wisdom and eloquence to them, because they were not fitted for it, being carnal (ch. 1Co 3:1-4).
. .] The animal man, as distinguished from the spiritual man, is he, whose governing principle and highest reference of all things is the , the animal soul, , Plato, Definit. p. 411. In him, the , or spirit, being unvivified and uninformed by the Spirit of God, is overborne by the animal soul, with its desires and its judgments,-and is in abeyance, so that he may be said to have it not;- , ref. Jude. The is that side of the human soul, so to speak, which is turned towards the flesh, the world, the devil: so that the is necessarily in a measure (ch. 1Co 3:3), also , and , as in ref. James.
This general interpretation of must be adhered to, and we must not make it merely intellectual, as Theodoret,- ,-Grot. qui human tantum rationis luce ducitur:-Chrys.: , ,-nor merely ethical, as Erasm., Rosenmller (qui cupiditatum sub imperio omnem vitam transigunt), al.,-but embracing both these.
, receives not, i.e. rejects, see reff.,-not, cannot receive, non capax est, understands not, which is against the context,-for we may well understand that which seems folly to us, but we reject it, as unworthy of our consideration:-and it besides would involve a tautology, this point, of inability to comprehend, following by and by:-and he cannot know them ( , the matter of our spiritual teaching, itself furnished by the Spirit) because they are spiritually (by the of a man exalted by the Spirit of God into its proper paramount office of judging and ruling, and inspired and enabled for that office) judged of.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 2:14. , the natural [animal] man) whatsoever and how great soever he may be, who is without the Spirit of God. Ephraim Syrus well remarks: The apostle called men, who lived according to nature, natural, ; those who lived contrary to nature, carnal, ; but those are spiritual, , who even change their nature into the spirit, i.e. conform their natural disposition to what is spiritual, [ ], f. 92. So flesh and blood, Mat 16:17, note.- , does not receive) although they be offered, yet he does not wish to avail himself of the offer; comp. , receive. Here presently after there follows the corresponding phrase, he cannot. Comp. Rom 8:7. The reason is added to each [aetiology, en.], by the words, for, and because. [Each forms an antithesis to the mind of Paul expressed at 1Ti 1:15, faithful and worthy of all ACCEPTATION, .-V. g.]- ,[24] the things of the Spirit) In like manner, the things of God, 1Co 2:11.-, folly) Whereas he seeks wisdom, 1Co 1:22.- , he cannot) he has not the spirit and the power.-, to know) the things of the Spirit of God.-) only spiritually.
[24] The Germ. Vers. does not conceal that is added, although the omission on the margin of both editions is considered to be better established.-E. B. ABCD()Gfg Vulg. Orig. Hilary 64, read . But Syr. Version, Iren. and Hilary, 344, omit the words.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 2:14
1Co 2:14
Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:-Man by his natural faculties, without revelation, could not learn the will of God; but in order that he might know it, the Spirit of God, who knows the things of God, was transferred to the apostles and made known to them Gods will, and they revealed it to the people. The natural man, then, is the man who has never heard the will of God, for he has no means of knowing till those who received the revelation make it known to him. Having once been revealed by the Spirit of God, it was committed to writing under the guidance of the Spirit, so that man may come to it and learn it. It means about the same as seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was Gods good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. (1Co 1:21).
for they are foolishness unto him;-The manifestations are without meaning to him.
and he cannot know them,-This does not mean that men to whom the revelation is declared by those possessing the Spirit cannot understand and obey it. It was revealed to the inspired men that they might teach it to others that they might understand and know the way of salvation.
because they are spiritually judged.-This endowment of the Spirit enabled the endowed to judge or discriminate whether things revealed were of God or not. Without this they could not.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Lecture 8
Natural, Carnal, And Spiritual Men
1Co 2:14-16; 1Co 3:1-8
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. (2:14-3:8)
In this passage we have three men brought before us: the natural, the carnal, and the spiritual. What are we to understand by these expressions? We often say there are only two classes of people in the world, those who are regenerated and those who are not; or, to put it in another way, those who are saved and those who are lost; and of course that distinction stands. But here the apostle divides mankind into three classes: the natural, the carnal, and the spiritual.
Who is the natural man? We read in verse 14 of chapter 2, The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The natural man is the man who has simply been born according to nature. Our Lord Jesus says in John 3, That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That is the natural man. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. That is the genesis of the spiritual man. But the word translated natural does not merely mean of the flesh. The word really means, psychical. In 1Th 5:23 the apostle Paul says, And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He shows that man is tripartite. The spirit, the highest part of the man, that which differentiates him from the lower creation, is that to which God speaks. We read, What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? It is the spirit that gives man intelligence above the brute. By the spirit man reasons, is able to weigh evidence; by the spirit he is able to listen to the voice of God.
On the other hand, the second part of man is called the soul, the psyche, and this word natural is an adjective formed from that word, psychical. The [psychical] man [or the soulual man] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. When God created man, somebody has well said, he was like a three-story house; the lower story, the body; the second story, the soul, the seat of his natural instincts and emotions; and the third story, the spirit, the highest part of man by which he could look up to God. But when man sinned, there was a moral earthquake, and the top story fell down into the basement, and that leaves him a psychical man, it leaves the soul in the preeminent place instead of the spirit. When you remember that the soul is the seat of mans emotional nature, you will realize that the natural man is a creature led not by conscience, not by an enlightened spirit, but by following the desires of his own heart as a soulish man because he follows his own affections and desires. He is a creature of emotions, and that is why it is so easy to say that every sin appeals in some way to the emotions of the natural heart. At base all sin is selfish; we sin because we think we shall find a measure of satisfaction in that sin. Sin is always selfish, and the psychical man is a selfish being, he is a self-centered person, for after all, the soul is the self. The natural man, therefore, is the man who lives the self-life, the man whose spirit has never been quickened into newness of life; it is still down there a captive in the basement, if you will. You can see at once where that applies to you. What is your motive in life? Are you living to glorify God or are you living to enjoy yourself? Are you seeking your own desires or are you seeking to please the Lord Jesus Christ? As every saved person looks back to the old life, he can say:
I lived for myself, for myself alone,
For myself and none beside;
Just as if Jesus had never lived,
And as if He had never died.
That is the psychical man. He may be outwardly a very good man, a very gracious man, a very courteous man, a very kind man, as long as he can have his own way. He lives for himself and finds a certain satisfaction even in doing good. He learns as he goes through life that honesty is the best policy, that he is happier if he is honest, and therefore many an unregenerate man is a model of integrity. He gets a degree of happiness out of meeting the needs of other people; he may be a very kind man, and there is a glow of warmth in his heart when he hands something to a needy person and that person responds, God bless you, sir, you dont know how much good you are doing. There may be all that and yet no thought of living for God, no thought of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ. Some natural men descend into things groveling and debasing, their appetites lead them into licentiousness and inebriety, but other natural men take what has been called the clean side of the broad way, the higher way of the natural man, but it still is the way that leads to destruction. As you walk down that broad way you find all classes and conditions of people, some openly immoral, some vicious, some abominably unclean, others eminently respectable, looked upon with admiration by their fellows; some of them very religious and finding a certain amount of satisfaction as they wend their way to the great cathedral or little chapel, as the case may be; as they sit in a Christian, Jewish, or some other service, and as the meeting goes on they find satisfaction in feeling that they are doing the right thing. They are affected by the service, they love the music; if the preacher happens to be eloquent and appealing, they enjoy listening to him, and sometimes even though he is not eloquent, if he is earnest they like to listen to him.
When Charles Spurgeon was at the height of his fame as one of the greatest preachers of the gospel, many an unbeliever thronged to hear him, many a man who rejected Christianity delighted to listen to his sermons. On one occasion as a man, well-known as an infidel, was returning from Spurgeons meeting, he met a friend who said, Where have you been today?
I have been to hear the great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, he said.
You surprise me, said his friend; you do not believe a word he says.
No, I do not, but he does, you know, and I get a certain amount of satisfaction in listening to a man preach as though he really believed what he was preaching.
Even a natural man can appreciate that, for he may set a certain value upon earnestness and intensity. It is very possible that one may be outwardly good, his life may be a very righteous one, he may be a man of integrity in business, be very kind and benevolent, and have a certain amount of religious feeling, and yet be a natural man.
What is needed to bring a man out of that state into that of a Christian? There must be a new nature, a renewing of the mind, he must be born of God. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (Joh 3:3). This natural man at his best with all his amiability and respectability cannot enter into, nor understand, divine things. Talk to him of the wondrous truths of the Word of God and he will look at you in amazement and will say, I do not see the importance of these things. Tell him that God became Man for our redemption, that He was born of a virgin, and the man smiles tolerantly and says, If you get any comfort in believing that, all right, but as far as I am concerned it involves a biological miracle which I cannot accept. Tell him that Christ died for our sins upon Calvarys cross and that it was there He shed His blood for our redemption, and he will smile again and say, Rather an old-fashioned idea, that idea of blood atonement. I notice in my studies it has rather a large place in all the ancient religions, but of course I do not see it at all. If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost (2Co 4:3). Talk to him of the physical resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and again he says: Of course it does not make very much difference whether His body rose; that is a small thing. His principles have been resurrected after being rejected by the men of His day, and they abide, and if we follow the rules He laid down everything will be all right.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
natural man
Paul divides men into three classes: psuchikos, “of the senses” Jam 3:15; Jud 1:19 or “natural,” i.e. the Adamic man, unrenewed through the new birth Joh 3:3; Joh 3:5 pneumatikos, “spiritual,” i.e. the renewed man as Spirit-filled and walking in the Spirit in full communion with God Eph 5:18-20 and sarkikos, “carnal,” “fleshly,” i.e. the renewed man who, walking “after the flesh,” remains a babe in Christ 1Co 3:1-4. The natural man may be learned, gentle, eloquent, fascinating, but the spiritual content of Scripture is absolutely hidden from him; and the fleshly, or carnal, Christian is able to comprehend only its simplest truths, “milk” 1Co 3:2.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the natural man: [Strong’s G5591], the animal man, one who lives in a natural state, and under the influence of his animal passions; for [Strong’s G5590] means the inferior and sensual part of man, in opposition to the [Strong’s G3563] understanding, or [Strong’s G4151], the spirit. 1Co 15:44, 1Co 15:46, Jam 3:15, Jud 1:19,*Gr.
receiveth: Mat 13:11-17, Mat 16:23, Joh 3:3-6, Joh 8:43, Joh 10:26, Joh 10:27, Joh 12:37, Rom 8:5-8
the things: 1Co 2:12, Joh 14:26, Joh 15:26, Joh 16:8-15
they: 1Co 1:18, 1Co 1:23, Joh 8:51, Joh 8:52, Joh 10:20, Act 17:18, Act 17:32, Act 18:15, Act 25:19, Act 26:24, Act 26:25
neither: Pro 14:6, Joh 5:44, Joh 6:44, Joh 6:45, Act 16:14, 2Co 4:4-6, 1Jo 2:20, 1Jo 2:27, 1Jo 5:20, Jud 1:19
Reciprocal: Gen 31:28 – foolishly 2Sa 6:16 – despised 2Sa 14:17 – to discern 1Ki 3:9 – discern 1Ki 22:13 – Behold now 2Ki 5:11 – Behold 1Ch 15:29 – she despised 2Ch 18:12 – Behold Psa 25:14 – secret Psa 92:6 – A brutish Pro 8:9 – General Pro 24:7 – too Pro 28:5 – General Ecc 8:5 – a wise Isa 8:16 – among Amo 7:12 – eat Mat 6:23 – If Mat 11:6 – whosoever Luk 7:23 – General Luk 7:35 – General Joh 1:5 – General Joh 3:4 – How Joh 4:11 – thou hast Joh 4:15 – give Joh 6:52 – How Joh 7:36 – Ye shall Joh 8:37 – because Joh 10:6 – they understood not Joh 14:17 – whom Act 17:20 – strange Rom 8:7 – neither 1Co 2:13 – spiritual things 1Co 3:1 – as unto carnal 1Co 4:10 – are fools 2Co 5:14 – because Col 3:3 – hid 1Th 5:21 – Prove Heb 5:14 – to discern Rev 2:17 – saving Rev 14:3 – no
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
14
1Co 2:14. Natural is from PSUCHIKOS, and literally means the animal part of man. In a sentence like our verse, Thayer says it means, “governed by the sensuous nature with its subjection to the appetite and passion.” A man thus interested in the things only that will gratify his fleshly desires, will not receive and appreciate the things offered by the Spirit of God, for they are not composed of matters that would give carnal pleasure. Hence they will seem foolish in his estimation so that he will not know or realize their real worth. They are spiritually discerned. They can be discerned or their true value be recognized only by those who take a spiritual interest in them, seeking only that which will impart spiritual benefits.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 2:14. But the natural mana phrase on the sense of which it would be vain to expect light from the classical writers, who had no conception of the spiritual things intended here. In Greek writings, the noun, from which the adjective here used is formed, means the animal soul, or that life which man has in common with all animals. Hence it came to signify the appetite or passion of mans lower nature, as distinguished from his higher reason or spirit. So understood, the natural man of our passage would mean no more than the man governed by sensual appetite, or the inferior impulses of his nature. And this is the sense in which it is taken by all interpreters of a shallow school of theology. But it is far beneath the apostles meaning. With him the natural man is he who in spiritual things has only his natural human faculties to guide him, without spiritual perception or apprehension, but not necessarily the slave of grovelling impulses. True it is, that all unrenewed, unspiritual men, even the best and most refined, being dominated by sensible things, may thus far be said to be under the dominion of the lower part of their nature; for the true capacities of their higher nature can only be drawn forth when they become new creatures. But it is simply the absence of this life which is denoted by the phrase the natural man.receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness onto himsince he wants the capacity to apprehend them: and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judgedthey are to him as light to the blind-born. But it is an utter perversion of such statements to maintain, as fanatics do, that there is in the natural man any organic constitutional incapacity of spiritual perception, requiring to be created in them by the Holy Ghost. For maintaining this an eminent Lutheran professor of divinity, soon after Luthers death, had to be deposed. The uniform teaching of Scripture is, that the change effected in regeneration is a purely moral and spiritual one.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The subject spoken of the natural man; not sarkhikhos, the sensual, but psnkhikhos, the animal man, who acts only by the principles of human reason and worldly wisdom; who, though well furnished with intellectual and moral improvements, is yet destitute of the enlightening Spirit and renewing grace of God.
Observe, 2. What is here affirmed of the natural man, with reference to spiritual things:–That he receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; and that he cannot know them.
Where note, That it is not said, that he knoweth not the things of God, but the things of the Spirit of God; for there are some things of God, which a natural man may know, but the things of the Spirit of God; as truths purely evangelical, these he receiveth not, neither in his understanding, nor in his will.
Note further, It is not barely said that he doth not, but that he cannot know them. Natural reason alone, by what helps soever assisted and improved, is altogether insufficient, without spiritual illumination, to apprehend supernatural and evangelical truth: not but that the Spirit of God in the work of illumination and conversion makes use of our reason; that flower of the soul is not blasted, but more opened, by the blowing of the blessed Spirit. Christianity doth not command us to throw away our reason, but to subjugate it; not to deny or disown our reason, but to captivate it to the obedience of faith; but the sense of the apostle is, that a person of the most exquisite natural accomplishments, and one that has improved his reason to the highest pitch, cannot behold evangelical mysteries in their proper light, or embrace them in their verity and bearty, without the superadded aids and assistances of the Holy Spirit.
Observe, 3. The reasons declared why the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit; because they are foolishness unto him: that is, he accounts them foolishness when propounded to him, because he doth not see them proved from principles of natural reason, and by philosophical deductions, which is the only wisdom that he seeks after.
The reason also is added why he cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned; that is, the natural man cannot know divine things by that wisdom which he alone will be conducted by, and spiritual things must be spiritually discerned; for, being mysteries they are not knowable by human reason, but by spiritual revelation.
And if the wisdom of the world, that is, the learned and the wisest men in the world, were thus unable by the sharpest light of reason to discover evangelical mysteries.
Lord! how endearing are our obligations for the benefit of supernatural revelation, whereby the hidden wisdom of God is made known to us.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
1Co 2:14. But the natural man The man who has only the powers of nature, the faculties derived from Adam, but not a supernatural principle of saving grace; who has a soul in his body, (as the word , derived from , a soul, implies,) but no divine inspiration in that soul; or who is not truly enlightened and renewed by the Word and Spirit of God, and therefore has no other way of obtaining knowledge but by his senses and natural understanding; receiveth not Does not understand or apprehend; the things of the Spirit of God Whether relating to his nature or kingdom. For they are foolishness to him He is so far from understanding, that he utterly despises them. Neither can he know them As he has not the will, so neither has he the power; because they are spiritually discerned They can only be discerned by the aid of that Spirit, and by those spiritual senses which he has not. Some commentators consider these declarations of the apostle as being only applicable to mere animal or sensual persons, who are under the guidance and government of their natural senses, appetites, and passions; and it must be acknowledged that the word above mentioned, rendered natural in the beginning of this verse, is translated sensual Jas 3:15; Jdg 1:19. And yet it is certain that the word , from which it is derived, frequently signifies the rational and immortal soul; even that soul which they that kill the body, cannot kill, Mat 10:28; Mat 10:39; and therefore the epithet formed from it may justly be considered as referring to the powers of the mind, as well as to the inferior faculties. Besides, though the word is rendered sensual, in the before-mentioned passages, yet in the latter of them (Judges 19) it is explained as signifying those who have not the Spirit. And it is evident that in this verse St. Paul is not opposing a man that is governed by his appetites and passions, or by his mere animal nature, and his prejudices arising therefrom, to one that is governed by his reason; or one destitute of consideration and judgment, and of amiable, moral qualities, to one possessed of them; but a carnal to a spiritual man; or a mere natural and unrenewed, to a truly enlightened and regenerated man. Indeed, the apostles argument, as Mr. Scott justly observes, absolutely requires that by the natural man, we should understand the unregenerate man, however sagacious, learned, or abstracted from sensual indulgences, for he opposes him to the spiritual man: and the pride of carnal reasoning is at least as opposite to spirituality, as the most grovelling sensuality can be. No man, as naturally born into the world, and not supernaturally born again of the Spirit, can see the kingdom of God, or receive, in faith and love, the spiritual mysteries of redemption by the cross of Christ. To all unregenerate men, these things will, in one way or other, appear foolishness, uninteresting, unnecessary, inconsistent, absurd: and doubtless proud reasoners have scoffed at them, more than ever mere sensualists did. No ingenuity, address, or reasoning of the preacher can prevent this effect: no application of a mans own mind, except in humble dependance on the teaching of the Holy Spirit, can enable him to perceive the real nature and glory of them. For they are spiritually discerned That is, by the illuminating and sanctifying work of the Spirit of God upon the mind, by which a spiritual capacity is produced, which discerns, loves, admires, and delights in, the divine excellence of heavenly things. When this change has taken place, and a mans spiritual senses have been matured by growth and exercise, he may be called a spiritual man: and he perceives the spiritual glory and excellence of every truth and precept in the Word of God; he distinguishes one object from another by a spiritual taste, or a kind of extempore judgment, and so he becomes a competent judge in these matters.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 2:14-16.
We come to the development of the third term: among the perfect.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Now 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. [As sound is perceived by the ear, and not by the eye, so the spirit of man perceives spiritual things which can not be comprehended by his psychic nature. But a man who has lived on the low psychic plane–a carnal, sensuous victim to bodily appetites–has, by neglect, let his spiritual faculties become so torpid, and by sin so deadened them, that the spiritual things of God become as foolishness to him, despite their worthiness– 1Ti 1:15]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
14. The intellectual man discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The word psychicus I here translate intellectual, from psychee, the soul, or the mind, which consists of the intellect, the judgment, the memory and the sensibilities; of which the intellect is the most prominent, and I suppose the most important. The truth of the matter is, we have no English word competent to convey the idea of the Greek psychicus, unless we Anglicize it and use the word psychical, which would be about as obscure as the Greek. Man is a trinity, according to Paul and Wesley, consisting of the pneuma, spirit; psyche, soul, and the soma, body. Thus he is a three-story building. The devil is very fond of blowing off the third story, in which case he becomes a demonized brute, or, rather, a brutalized demon. This follows as a legitimate sequence from the fact that the human spirit is the element on which the Holy Spirit operates, and through it reaches the mind and body. Hence, in the case of the unpardonable sin, the third story is blown off by the devil. An animal has a mind and body, but no spirit. Hence you can not possibly teach a horse or an ox anything about God, however much you may teach him about temporal things. The human spirit consists of the conscience, with affections or heart. The conscience survived the Fall, the voice of God in the soul; yet, in the case of impenitent sinners and deluded professors of Christianity, usurped by Satan, who is so fond of speaking through Gods telephone, and deceiving the people, as in the case of Paul, who lived in all good conscience while a vile persecutor, but after his conversion his conscience bare him witness in the Holy Ghost (Rom 9:1), which never occurred before the light broke on him on the Damascus road. The conscience of the sinner is on Gods side in conviction. 1Ti 4:2, Having their conscience seared with a hot iron, does not refer to men, as in E.V., but to those demons. This is a reason no evil spirit can be saved. They have no foundation, as man has with his guilty conscience, condemning him when he sins. The fearfully rapid multiplication of infidels is a prominent fulfillment of latter-day prophecies, ripening this wicked world for destruction. The effect of infidelity is to take off that third story, and put people where they are brutish with reference to God. In conversion, the will passes out of the hands of Satan to God; yet native evil abides (though subjugated) in the deep interior of the affections, i. e., the heart, until utterly expurgated by the cleansing blood and the refining fires of sanctification. The psychee, the soul or mind, includes the intellect judgment, memory and the sensibility. Hence this word psychicus. In E.V. natural is the adjective corresponding with the noun psyche, the soul, which has so many faculties that we cannot find any single word adequate to a full translation. In Jud 1:19 the same word is translated sensual in the E.V., which evidently is too low a meaning. In the Fall, death only supervened to the human spirit. If it had reached the mind, men would have become idiots; if the body, they would have dropped dead in their tracks. The great majority of theologians have always been dichotomists, i. e., dualists, believing in the two natures of man. Hence they have girdled the world with materialistic and intellectual religions; e. g., Paganism, Mohammedanism, Judaism, Mormonism, the Greek Church, and fallen Protestantism without spirituality, which is the essential element of Gods religion. Paul, Wesley, and all true exegetes, have always been trichotomists, i. e., Trinitarians, believing in the three natures of man, i. e., spirit, soul (or mind), and body. Since the spirit was deprived of Divine life in the Fall, the true salvation must begin with the resurrection, i. e., the regeneration of the Holy Ghost. Whereas all of these systems built on dichotomy leave out spirituality, and are independent of the Holy Spirit, as they build their ecclesiastical superstructures on the residuum of mentality and materiality, which survived the Fall. Hence, in their experiences, they dispense with the supernatural, or, rather, they have no experiences. With all their towering intellects and theological lore, they never can know the things of God, from the simple fact that they are not intellectual, but spiritual, and can only be spiritually discerned. These men are spiritually dead. A dead man does not discern anything, hence it is as impossible for the unspiritual, however intellectual and educated, to discern the things of God as it is for the horse to fly like the eagle. He has members well adapted to walking, but utterly incapable of flying. Hence none but the spiritual, i. e., those who have been quickened into Divine life by the Holy Spirit, can possibly discern the things of God. Thus we have the human trinity the pneuma, spirit; psychee, soul (or mind), and soma, body. The spirit is the man himself, the mind (or soul) and body being his appurtenances. The spirit is so called because homogeneous to the Holy Spirit, and constituting the doorway into the complicated labyrinth of humanity, the Holy Spirit entering the human spirit and then passing on into the mind and body, primarily assimilating the spirit to Himself and then lifting up the mind, with all its complicated machinery of intellect, judgment, memory and sensibilities, assimilating and subsidizing them to His heavenly administration; finally reaching the body and elevating it to the lofty plane of sanctified intelligence, thus triumphantly delivering it from every trend toward sensuality, debauchery and brutal selfishness, and making it truly the temple of the Holy Ghost. Every human spirit is either dominated by the Holy Ghost or one or more demons. In the case of grieving away the Holy Spirit, ultimating in His final departure, the demons come in and take possession of their victim, doing their utmost primarily to effectually lock the door against the future ingress Of the Holy Spirit, thus obliterating all apprehensions of God and susceptibilities of conviction. Then the demon fortifies himself in that human spirit which he has dragged down to the devils dirty level, by subsidizing the mind, darkening the intellect, warping the judgment, polluting the memory and debauching the sensibilities, so that all the mental faculties, with their educational enduements, become but the filthy implements of the indwelling demon. Finally, through the foul spirit and debauched mind, he literally captures the body, taking complete possession of all its members and degrading it below the dignity of the irrational brute, using its members as filthy sewers through which to imbibe the very dregs of the bottomless pit. Thus this miserable, God-forsaken victim of sin has his spirit demonized, his mind stygianized, his body brutalized, so that he is really a loathsome, demonized brute. As his bodily members constitute the only avenues of enjoyment, of course, when these are paralyzed in death, the last possibility of fruition, even in the lowest sensual sense, is forever swept away, and the hopeless victim, wrapped eternally in the fiery retributions of disappointed lusts, passions and appetites, is filled with his own Hell, and nothing left but to drop into the burning lake.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 14
Receiveth not; comprehendeth not.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1Co 2:14-16. Paul will now show, paving the way to an application of the foregoing teaching to the church-parties at Corinth, that this teaching places the wisdom revealed in the Gospel beyond the reach of men not animated by the Spirit.
Soul-governed man: one whose inward and outward life is directed by the soul, the lower side of his immaterial being, by the side nearest to the body and the outer world, i.e. by his appetites and emotions; but not necessarily sensual appetites and emotions, for others besides these are evoked by things around us. Of this character, selfishness is a constant mark. For all unselfish instincts are from above, and appeal to that in us which is noblest. To these influences from the world around, the Spirit is ever opposed. Same word in 1Co 15:44; 1Co 15:46; Jas 3:15, this wisdom is earthly, soul-governed demon-like; Jud 1:19, soul-governed, not having the Spirit. See note 1Co 15:54. In such men, the animal element, which is controlled by the body and by the material world, controls the actions, purposes, and even in part the intelligence. They are therefore men of flesh, 1Co 3:1; Rom 7:14; and their wisdom is fleshly, 2Co 1:12. But Paul prefers to give them here the highest title they can claim, viz. men governed by the lower side of their immaterial nature. He thinks probably of men altogether without the Spirit, which (Rom 8:9) all the justified possess. And of them only these words are true in their full compass. But this verse is also true, in its measure, of all who, like the Corinthian Christians, yield themselves to emotions awakened by the world around. It thus prepares the way for 1Co 3:1-4.
Things of the Spirit of God: spiritual things, 1Co 2:13 : those with which the Spirit has to do.
Does not accept: a simple matter of fact.
For they are etc.: reason of it. The excellence of the aims, and the suitability of the means, chosen by the Spirit are not seen by the man taught only by the lower side of human nature: and therefore, to him, these aims and means seem to be an embodiment (cp. 1Co 1:18) of foolishness, i.e. worthless from an intellectual point of view. And he not only does not accept, but cannot know, them, i.e. so understand their nature as to wish to have them.
Because etc.: reason why they are foolishness to him, and why he has not ability to know them.
Discern: to examine, and by examination detect the real nature of a thing. Same word in 1Co 4:3-4; 1Co 9:3; 1Co 10:25; 1Co 10:27; 1Co 14:24; Luk 23:14; Act 4:9; Act 12:19; Act 17:11; Act 24:8; Act 28:18. The process of discovering the divine wisdom revealed by the Spirit to the apostles and spoken by them in words suggested by the Spirit goes on only under the influence of the Spirit. Consequently, those destitute of the Spirit cannot know the truth taught by Him: for they have not the spiritual life essential to spiritual vision.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
2:14 {13} But the {p} natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are {q} spiritually discerned.
(13) Again he anticipates an offence or stumbling block: how does it come to pass that so few allow these things? This is not to be marvelled at, the apostle says, seeing that men in their natural powers (as they call them) are not endued with that faculty by which spiritual things are discerned
(which faculty comes another way) and therefore they consider spiritual wisdom as folly: and it is as if he should say, “It is no marvel that blind men cannot judge of colours, seeing that they lack the light of their eyes, and therefore light is to them as darkness.”
(p) The man that has no further light of understanding, than that which he brought with him, even from his mother’s womb, as Jude defines it; Jud 1:19 .
(q) By the power of the Holy Spirit.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The natural man is any person who does not possess the Holy Spirit, namely, unbelievers. [Note: See Barrett, p. 77.] Every human being is a natural man until he or she trusts Christ and receives the Spirit. Paul called this person a natural (Gr. psychikos) man because he or she is only natural. He has no supernatural Person indwelling him, and his viewpoints and ideas are only what are natural. He cannot accept all that God has revealed because he does not possess the indwelling Spirit of God.
The natural person can, of course, understand the gospel and experience salvation but only because the Holy Spirit illuminates his or her understanding. Paul did not mean that an unbeliever is incapable of understanding Scripture. However an unbeliever rejects and does not accept all that God wants him or her to have. One of these things is eternal life through faith in His Son. It is as though God is speaking in a language that the unbeliever does not understand; he or she fails to respond properly. He or she needs an interpreter. That is a ministry that only the Holy Spirit can perform. [Note: See Robert A. Pyne, "The Role of the Holy Spirit in Conversion," Bibliotheca Sacra 150:598 (April-June 1993):204-5.]
"It will help us to think clearly about this issue if we recognize that 1 Corinthians 2 is not concerned with the mechanics of how people understand their Bibles generally, or with the quality of a particular scholar’s exegesis of some specific Hebrew text. . . . His focus is the fundamental message of the crucified Messiah. And this, he insists, is fundamentally incomprehensible to the mind without the Spirit." [Note: Carson, p. 64.]
"Human ears cannot hear high-frequency radio waves; deaf men are unable to judge music contests; blind men cannot enjoy beautiful scenery, and the unsaved are incompetent to judge spiritual things, a most important practical truth." [Note: Johnson, p. 1233.]