Who are the spiritually discerned in 1 Corinthians 2:14?
1 Corinthians 2:10 - 16
NKJV - 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
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Asked April 10 2014
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Helen Yip
Supporter
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Sung Park
Supporter
Hi Helen, "Spiritually discerned" in 1 Cor. 2:14 actually refers to "the things of the Spirit of God" and not to any people. If you read the verse carefully, it reads: "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand THEM(referring to the things of the Spirit of God) because THEY(again the antecedent is "the things of the Spirit of God") are spiritually discerned." The use of pronouns in the translations of Paul's letters can be quite confusing without precisely tracking what the antecedents are. Paul likes to use parenthetical and often "run-on" sentences from English perspective which makes the translation even more challenging. But I do think that ESV and NASB have done great job of staying true to the original language. Hope this helps
JD Abshire
Supporter
1 Corinthians 2:10 "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." 1 Corinthians 2:11 "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:12 "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." 1 Corinthians 2:13 "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 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." 1 Corinthians 2:15 "But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." Paul is drawing a contrast between the "natural" man and the spiritual man. He very clearly states in v. 10 that the Spirit has revealed to us the mind of God, which things are unobtainable by the "natural" mind. v. 16 "........... but we have the mind of Christ". The exhortation is for the Christian to be spiritually minded, that which the Spirit teaches has nothing to do with natural or worldly wisdom of man but is of God.
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