Spiritual wisdom

In a free moment today I picked up a New Testament, ESV version, and randomly chose somewhere to read. That happened to be 1 Corinthians. I've read it many times before, once I even spent a month in 1 and 2 Corinthians, but today my attention snagged on 1 Corinthians 2. It just stood out to me so much that I read it several times over.

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the [a]testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my [b]message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not [c]rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written,

“Things 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 [d]For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, [e]combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

14 But [f]a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they arefoolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually[g]appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

There's just something so profound about that. Here was Paul, a highly educated man, that said...

...I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.vs 2

He determined, or chose, to know nothing but Christ. What did it take for him to erase all the learning he had and replace it with Christ and only Christ? He gave up all worldly knowledge to know only Christ. What would that have meant? I'm assuming he simply put all his trust in Christ, based all his decisions off what he knew of Christ. His life simply revolved around Christ and the job he was given to do.

my [b]message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not [c]rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. vs 4-5

Here, he says his teachings weren't words of wisdom but demonstration of the Spirit and of power. He didn't use his worldly wisdom to teach. He taught based off what he learned from the Spirit. Why? 'So that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.'

Can you imagine a preacher from today walking onto a pulpit and saying such a thing? To do so today would be to completely disregard so much of what lets them wear the label of preacher. But Paul did that very thing.

He goes on to tell exactly what kind of wisdom he's there to teach...

we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; vs 7

How amazing it is to know that that mystery has been revealed to me. Every time I read about the mystery in Scripture I am simply amazed, floored, staggered by the fact that I have been given something so precious.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, [e]combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

The whole of 1 Corinthians 2 simply stopped all further Bible reading. It made me pause, think, ponder, and marvel at the words in that chapter. Paul is completely disregarding everything taught in human wisdom. He's wiping it all away. Putting no importance on it. Nothing that he was ever taught from a worldly standpoint held any importance. He says 'words taught not by human wisdom'...that captivates me. How does he completely remove all importance of all things taught by human minds? And we are to do the same. There is so much I have given up, turned away from, hurt every time I find myself in the presence of, but I have not yet found the ability to completely remove all thought or care for anything taught on human wisdom.

He then says exactly where his teaching came from, 'taught by the Spirit, combining Spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.'

He put all importance on what was taught by the Spirit. He says nothing else matters. Put no value on that which is taught by the wisdom of men, and neither should we. ! John 2:27 says...

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. 

Paul says our faith should rest on the power of God not on the wisdom of men. Our teaching should come from the Spirit. From 1 John we know that's an anointing that we received from God. An anointing that teaches us all we need to know.

There are many times I ask my husband something about Scripture, and many more times I just want to sit and listen to him talk about it, explain it, because he can make connections in Scripture that I just can't make no matter how hard I try. But there have been many times that my husband has told me 'you don't need me to teach you'. He says that because he knows the Spirit will teach me. It is a learning that goes beyond what any person can ever teach another. It is a spiritual learning that can't be taught. It must be given by the Lord. 

14 But [f]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[g]appraised. 

That part hurts and makes me think of all the people I have discussed Scripture with, and all the people I would like to discuss it with. All the people that do not accept the way I see Scripture because they can't understand it. I have seen within my own family how it's considered foolishness and written off as how I'm wrong or crazy.

 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

And I am so very grateful to have received it.