1 Corinthians 2 Devotional

Faith Resting on God's Power

“We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.”1 Corinthians 2:12 (BSB)

Paul reminds the Corinthians how he first came to them. He arrived without polished speech, in weakness and fear and much trembling, determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ crucified (2:1-3). He wanted their faith to rest on God's power, not on human skill (2:4-5).

Still, the message is not shallow. It is God's hidden wisdom, planned for his people's glory before time began, so far beyond the rulers of this age that they crucified the Lord of glory without grasping it (2:7-8). No one could discover it by searching. God makes it known by his Spirit, who knows the depths of God the way a person's own spirit knows his thoughts (2:10-11). Without the Spirit, these things look like foolishness (2:14). So even understanding the gospel is a gift: believers receive the Spirit so they can grasp what God has freely given them (2:12). You do not need to be impressive to know God. You can open Scripture asking the Spirit to show you what he has already given.

To think about: What would change in how you read the Bible if you came to it asking the Spirit to show you what God has freely given?