Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit
And when I came to you, brothers, I adid not come with superiority of word or of wisdom, proclaiming to you bthe witness of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except aJesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 And I was with you in aweakness and in bfear and in much trembling, 4 and my word and my preaching were anot in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of bthe Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in athe power of God.
6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are amature, a wisdom, however, not of bthis age nor of the rulers of bthis age, who are cbeing abolished. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom in a amystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God bpredestined before the cages to our glory, 8 awhich none of the rulers of bthis age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified cthe Lord of glory. 9 But just as it is written,
“aThings which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 aBut to us God revealed them bthrough the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the cdepths of God. 11 For who among men knows the depths of a man except the aspirit of the man which is in him? Even so the depths of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we ahave received, not the spirit of bthe world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the depths graciously given to us by God, 13 of which depths we also speak, anot in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual depths with spiritual words.
14 But a anatural man bdoes not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are cfoolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because dthey are spiritually examined. 15 But he who is aspiritual examines all things, yet he himself is examined by no one. 16 For awho has known the mind of the Lord, that he will direct Him? But bwe have the mind of Christ.