What the Natural Man Cannot Know

Introduction

Well, I don’t know how this is going to work out tonight. I know we’ve started in a good place this morning talking about being born of his mighty word and being born of the incorruptible seed. 1 Corinthians, or 1 Peter chapter 1. See, I’m already off to a bad start. Wrong verse. 1 Peter chapter 1, talking about being purified, our souls being purified in obedience to the truth. So the role that God’s word plays in our salvation. That’s really the idea that we’re going to explore in more detail tonight. Because we’re going to talk about one of the most controversial verses and misunderstood verses in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, 14. I want you to turn in your Bibles to that text. We’re going to be looking at the surrounding context in a minute, but I have to explain this to you first of all.

It was going into the late 1980s, so nearly 30 years ago, that D. Bowman came for a meeting, I believe, in Muncie, Indiana, where my friend and fellow classmate at SC, Rich Gantt, was the preacher, and I just happened to be up there. I was single at the time, no problem to go to Muncie for a gospel meeting. I was preaching in Indianapolis. That happens to be the occasion where D. Bowman wooed me to Texas. And that all started in that time that Dee was up there. But I’ll never forget something that happened as we were spending time with this preacher that we respected so much. And a preacher that Sherry was listening to from the time she was a little girl. D. Dee Bowman had these two younger preachers, Rich and I, as a captive audience, and so he asked us about this verse.

And he said, Who do you believe the natural man of 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14 is? And I’ll never forget the silence that ensued. Rich and I had no idea how to answer that question. So I’d been pondering that for a good number of years. I had taught 1 Corinthians a number of times. And then I’ll never forget about a dozen years ago, maybe more, when I was teaching 1 Corinthians at Eastside and Baytown, trying to explain what D. Bowman had said he thought, which I now totally agreed with, to the Eastside Church. And as I recall, it was one of the larger disagreements we ever had. The only other thing that I think might have eclipsed that was our discussion of the eldership. Maybe marriage, divorce, and remarriage at one point, but that wasn’t the entire group.

But I remember that Bible class, we just couldn’t come to terms with what 1 Corinthians 2 14 is saying. So I tell you that to say, a dozen years later, this could be a disaster. And I don’t know how much you’re going to get out of what I’m trying to explain to you tonight. But I want to give you some building blocks, if nothing else, for you to better appreciate this verse, to appreciate it in its context. And I know some of the things we talk about you are going to get. If you still have questions about this verse when we get done, that’s okay. I want you to grasp what’s going on overall in the beginning of 1 Corinthians. Now that’s the prelude to all of this.

Here is the verse. I would also recommend checking this out in a couple of translations. I’m going to give you the NIV in a minute because I do think it simplifies this verse for us a little. If I’m correct, if they are indeed correct in what Paul is trying to say here.

Because if you’ll just glance down a couple of verses to chapter 3 and verse 1, there’s a kernel man. That’s a different word. And we’re going to distinguish between the two at the very end of the lesson, or at least try to. Okay, here’s the verse. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. Okay? The things that emanate from the Holy Spirit, his mighty word. The natural man does not accept those things. For they are foolishness to him. Now, this is going to take us back to chapter one in a minute, okay? Just underscore in your mind that word foolishness, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually a prey. Some translations say discerned. Spiritually discerned. Now you read that verse, and you’re going, okay, I’m not really sure what he’s saying there about this natural man.

1. A Wrong Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 2:14

And let me tell you what people do. They do not read this verse carefully. They do not read this in context. They read it from the standpoint of their theology, and they come up with very dangerous conclusions. Calvinistic kind of conclusions. And I’m not just using that negatively charged term to disparage what they do, but here’s what they say in essence about this verse. You go to commentaries, you might see this in more than one commentary. What they’ll say is that man without God’s action cannot come to know God’s will, and what they mean by that is that you cannot be illumined in your mind as to what the will of God is unless God alters your thinking, as we’ve been talking in Bible class, flip switches in your mind to make you then able to understand.

That is, if I’m just a person off the street and I pick up the Bible, I can’t possibly know what God wants me to do unless he flips those levers and switches. Okay, the problem with that view is it makes God a respecter of persons. Why not flip the switches for everybody? Okay? Why only a select you? And if you have to be of a certain kind of heart, how do you arrive at that kind of heart without the instruction of the scripture? You know, how do you get the good heart that God will clip the switches for so that you can understand the word of God? It still makes God a respecter of persons. And so there’s a lot of implications to the way this verse is commonly explained, and it’s predestination.

But let me show you something that Paul says just very quickly that says that’s not the case. We’ve looked at a lot of passages in our Bible class recently. It says very clearly we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in our body, whether they’re good or bad. And so that’s a very simple verse. I think you all get that one right. Paul is saying we’re going to be judged on the basis of our behavior. If it’s good, things are going to go well. If it’s bad, things aren’t going to go well. And none of us are going to escape the judgment of God. I think that’s a pretty easy verse to understand, right? Now look at the next one.

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. Persuade men about what? This judgment that’s coming and the need to be prepared and to do the kinds of good works that the previous verse talks about so that we do not stand in danger of the judgment. Knowing the fear of the Lord or the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Well, why persuade them if God flips all the switches? You see? That’s why we’ve been talking about reasoning and persuading that’s commonly talked about in the book of Acts. Okay? So that’s obviously a wrong interpretation of 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. Now, what I want to do is for you to look in your Bible, and we’re going to work our way through the context that precedes that statement.

2. The Word of the Cross Is Foolishness

In chapter 1 and chapter 2. The context of this statement about the natural man really begins in chapter 1 and verse 18. Okay?

Verse 18. For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness. Ah, that’s that word we read that in 1 Corinthians 2 14, right? For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Now let’s just go back and connect that. The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and they cannot understand them. So that’s where this starts. The message of the cross. Now you think about this, and I don’t have time to go into this a lot tonight, but the idea of salvation through an instrument of capital punishment. The cross was one of the most horrid and ghastly and agonizing ways to die.

It was reserved for the worst of criminals. And you mean to tell you it’s like our electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection. That’s their form of capital punishment in the first century. And you mean to tell me God is going to save through an instrument of capital punishment. To the minds of many, it was absurd. But the foolishness, you know, it’s obviously the message of the cross is not foolishness if you’re saved by it. If you get eternal salvation in the end.

And he goes on to say, let me talk to you about the foolishness of God. It’s the foolishness of God. Well, it’s stronger and wiser than men. This foolishness as it is regarded, is the idea. And so he calls then in the latter part of chapter one, not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. He has chosen the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. It is more commonly the simple people who are not carried away with their intellect, who are not exalting by pride or self exalted by pride. Those kinds of people tend to embrace the simple nature of this message. And so we boast in the Lord, he says at the end of chapter 1. Now that’s the short version of that.

But where this really starts to happen is chapter 2, where Paul says, and we’ve talked about this before, it’s probably familiar. I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. Verse 3, he says, and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. Okay. So take those two verses together, and Paul says, hey, it’s not about me. It’s not about be attracted by Paul. In fact, I wasn’t very attractive as attractive goats. It’s not because I’m this great orator like Apollos is.

Foolishness to so many who are carried away with their own wisdom in chapter 1. Now, let’s see where he goes with this. Verse 4. Really focus in with me on verse 4. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, not great rhetoric. You know, Paul, the greatest debater that’s ever lived. Not great rhetoric. Not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power. So Paul performed signs and miracles of a true apostle. And he was guided by the Holy Spirit. Verse 5, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, not mine or any other man, but on the power of God. That’s the drawing force. The power of God. Yet we do not speak wisdom among those who are mature.

3. God's Hidden Wisdom Revealed by the Holy Spirit

A wisdom, however, not of this age. Nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away, they’re temporary. But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery. The hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory. 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. This was a hidden wisdom that emanates from God. And if men had known it, they would not have crucified Jesus. Why? Because crucifying Jesus brought it all about. Right? It’s Jesus Christ and him crucified. And so it’s hidden wisdom. Well, wait a minute. If it’s hidden, how can we follow it? What Paul is saying is, I made it clear to you.

I am revealing it to you. What was at one time hidden is now hidden no more. And then we come to the, I think, one of the most incredible verses in 1 Corinthians when he says, But just as it is written, verse 9. 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. Now that’s the hidden wisdom that he’s talking about. All that God has prepared for them that love him, those that are in Christ, who respond to the message of the cross, those people are in line to receive everything that God ever intended. Oh, by the way, that’s the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 38.

Everything that the Holy Spirit had been promising, all of that comes to bear in the life of the one who embraces this wisdom. But it was a hidden wisdom. So does 1 Corinthians 2 9 talk about heaven? Yes. All that God has prepared for those that love him, but not just heaven. All of the blessings of God. All that God gives to the believer, forgiveness, salvation, purpose. The fact that he makes us usable in his cause and then ultimately gives us glory in heaven. All that God has prepared. But you know what he says about all that? I have not seen, ear has not heard, nor has entered the heart of man. Going back to this hidden wisdom, that’s talking about the way we perceive things, our perception, right?

What we see with our eyes, what we hear with our ears, or what’s what we come up with in our minds, our hearts, and he says, it didn’t originate within any man. No man could have ever dreamed God’s dream. Men were clueless. If they hadn’t been clueless, they wouldn’t have crucified Jesus. God pulls this off, and no man knows what he’s up to. I would suggest even Satan was on the outside looking in. Because he entered Judah’s heart to betray Jesus, which ultimately led to his death. These are things into which angels long to look. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 12. It is a hidden wisdom beyond every creature. Eye hath not seen, an ear has not heard, nor has entered into the heart of man.

All that God has prepared for those who love it. Okay, now when we get to this point, that’s sort of the breaking off point where he leaps into something and he says, why is it not hidden anymore? Because the Holy Spirit revealed it.

And that’s the verse that says, remember, who knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? You know, there’s things that go on in your mind that no one else knows but you. If you don’t tell people what’s going on in your mind, as good as we are at reading our mates, I know what they’re thinking. I can see those wheels churning. And we sometimes can guess it right, but we don’t always know. We thought we knew what was going on up there, but we didn’t. Because even though you’re really close to someone and you know a lot of their tendencies and you know the way their mind works, a lot of the times, you’re not always 100% in the know.

Who knows the thoughts of a man other than that man? And the point of the illustration is you can’t know God’s mind unless God tells you. And that’s the role of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit revealed God’s mind in all of this. It didn’t originate with Paul.

4. What the Natural Man Cannot Know

Verse 14. I will look at it in the NIV here because I like how it does this. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. But considers them foolishness, and he cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. As long as you refuse to look at the message of the cross through spiritual eyes, or through what the Holy Spirit reveals, you’re not gonna get it. You cannot get it. Because they are spiritually discerned or spiritually appraised, the New American Standard says, for they are discerned only through the Spirit. The message of the cross can’t possibly compel you to do anything if you don’t see God’s mind about it. It’s nonsense. You mean an instrument of death is the means of salvation?

Yes. If you understand what God reveals about the purpose of that. And so, what he’s saying in verse 14 is that it only makes sense when we have help from the Holy Spirit. Only from assistance that issues from the spirit realm. That’s the only way we can get it. And here we are in our natural state. And I really think that’s the idea. Here we are as flesh and blood creatures. Without that direction from the Holy Spirit, we could never know it. We could never get it. We could never discern it. And so let me explain to you what I mean by that. Only by the Spirit’s work in revelation can we come to know what God had planned. So I want to talk to you about what the natural man cannot know.

But before I do that, again, how’s this word used in other places? This is interesting. This word suki kas. Two times later in this book, where Paul talks about our bodies, and he says, basically, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. He says, this natural will be sown in the ground, and what will result is spiritual. So we see a contrast between what is natural, what is known in this world, versus what the eternal spiritual body will look like. Contrast between natural and spiritual. The other verse, two other verses, James chapter 3 and verse 15, talks about the wisdom that is earthy. Okay, this is interesting. Earthy wisdom. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but it is earthly or earthy, natural, that’s the word sukiikas, or demonic.

It’s a wisdom that emanates merely from this natural realm. It’s not nearly what God’s wisdom is. And then in Jude, verse 19, it speaks of people who are devoid of the Spirit, which really relates to this sensual men, devoid of the Spirit. People who are devoid of the Spirit don’t have answers. Wow, I just came up with that. That’s it. People who are devoid of the Spirit don’t have answers. The natural man without the Holy Spirit doesn’t have the answers that he needs. And he cannot. He cannot have them. Now let me tell you. Here’s what the Holy Spirit, and Ross, the songs we’ve sung about the Holy Spirit, this is where this comes in. What can we not know without the Holy Spirit? This could go on for hours.

Oh no. He’s going to go on for hours. I could, but I’m not. This is a very quick list, but this could go on for hours. Without the Holy Spirit, what would you know about God? Or how many gods there were. Cherry helped me with that one. That’s why she’s smiling. One God, three persons? How would you get that unless you discovered it in God’s book? You could never know that. What’s the spirit realm look like? You couldn’t know that. Only by the Holy Spirit could you know that. What about our behavior? Actually, you know, the Bible talks about the passing pleasures of sin in Hebrews chapter 11. Moses chose the reproaches of Christ without the passing pleasures of sin. And, you know, well, my experience is that sinfulness can be pleasurable.

In fact, that’s why a lot of people still engage in it. I’m having fun. I’m enjoying this. They can’t see the end result of that. They don’t know the spiritual implications of those decisions. All they know is it feels good. If it feels good, do it. And so you won’t know anything about our behavior that’s transgressed the will of God. Or as Paul talks about in Romans chapter 7, verse 16, the exceeding sinfulness of sin. You wouldn’t know that. Apart from what the Holy Spirit revealed. Or that there was this guy named Abraham. We talk so much about Abraham. Of course, there was Abraham. But without the Holy Spirit, you wouldn’t have known about Abraham or that great promise that was made in Genesis chapter 12, that affects the rest of the Bible story.

That through your descendants, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Even when God says that, we still don’t know what that’s going to mean. Until when you look through the whole Old Testament and Isaac and all of his descendants, and how that plays out that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and through him all the nations of the earth are blessed. You’re not going to know that apart from the Holy Spirit. Who is Jesus anyway? He’s a descendant of Abraham. That’s who he is. You can’t know that apart from the Holy Spirit. Or what God was even doing with the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. There are people who still don’t know what God was doing with the nation of Israel, even though the Holy Spirit revealed it.

The Jews don’t even understand to this day what he was doing with them. Or the purpose of the law of Moses, the schoolmaster, the tutor that prepares us for the things in Christ. What was the purpose of the law of Moses? You’re not going to know that without the Holy Spirit. You see where I’m going with all of this? The crucifixion, the foolishness of the message preached, and that there was atonement provided by Jesus’ death for our sins. That problem of the exceeding sinfulness of sin is fixed by the sacrifice of Christ. And so here, let me just stop right here. Where am I going with this? If you reject the product of the Holy Spirit, if you reject the Bible, you can’t get this.

So, either if you are somehow removed from the influence of the Holy Spirit, or whether you remove yourself willingly without the Spirit, you can’t know. It’s impossible to know. I have not seen, ear has not heard, nor is entered in the heart of it. You cannot know. Or that his life, as a result of dying on the cross and raising the third day, he now has indestructible life. He is our high priest because he has an indestructible life. Because he was raised from the dead. I love that phrase. Only time you’ll find it in the New Testament. Our risen Savior lives. He lives. He lives. We see his life is indestructible. You don’t know that. You can’t get that, because I haven’t seen it. Have you?

Not with my eyes. Without the Holy Spirit. Or how are you supposed to live in the ultimate way possible? There’s a lot of good ideas out there, wise ideas. The best ideas mimic what the scriptures say, but the true path of wisdom cannot be illuminated apart from the Holy Spirit or where everything goes after we die, the promise of glory and rest. Now, again, this is the short list of eight things. But this is exactly what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 2. That without the Holy Spirit revealing the hidden wisdom of God, we would never know any of this. And we could not know it. And so I want to wrap this up. Boy, that didn’t go too long. Let’s talk about the rest of these verses.

5. The Spiritual Man Has the Mind of Christ

But the next verse. He who is spiritual appraises all things. Yet he himself is appraised by no man. Now let me tell you who the spiritual person is. This spiritual person is one who has allowed the Holy Spirit to guide and direct him. The Holy Spirit has been allowed to show him the things that the natural man cannot know. And what he says about such a man is, this guy. Oh, I forgot I had the NIV here. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments. Here’s the point. The spiritual man, this is the guy that’s in the know. He knows what’s going on. I gotta tell you, it’s awesome. I know what’s going on.

I know why you’re breathing air. I know why I’m breathing air. I know why this world is still standing and hasn’t been destroyed yet. I know that. Because I’m listening to the Spirit. He appraises all things. The Spirit, the man guided by the Spirit is in the know because he knows God’s mind about things, at least the things we need to know that come from God’s mind. The Holy Spirit didn’t reveal it all. The secret things belong to Jehovah. We read that in the book of Deuteronomy. The things revealed belong to you and to your sons forever. And I’ll tell you what, that puts us in the know as to why we’re here and what we’re to be doing. And you know what? I love this.

Verse 15 is cool. It doesn’t matter how anybody else regards me. That low intellect of a guy who believes in the Bible and the message of the cross. He’s pretty dumb. He’s foolish. Why doesn’t he just eat, drink, and be merry like the rest of us? I don’t have to worry about that fellow’s assessment. It doesn’t matter how he judges me, because I tell you what, ultimately, I’m going to hear the judge is well done, and he’s not. So I don’t have to fear any human judgments or any judgments from the natural man because he doesn’t know what I know. So I don’t have to fear him. And I think this is where what this is the point Paul is really making. Don’t be impressed by him.

Sometimes in all of the eloquence and the beautiful speeches and the seeming wisdom of what people are saying, we can be so impressed by that and influenced by that. And we look at old Paul here, beaten up fellow that he was, unimpressive, not very eloquent, perhaps. He’s not much, he didn’t hold a candle, these other fellas. And he’s saying, you better not be impressed by the wrong people. By the fellow who says the cross is foolishness. You better not be listening to him. Don’t be impressed by the natural man. And then he says, and this is probably the toughest verse, for who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ.

Well, the part that I didn’t read. Look at 1 Corinthians 2. I’m going to go back to this. I want to make sure you get this. 2.16. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him? Okay, the first part of that. Let me just tell you, that’s a quotation from Isaiah 40. And if you understand where that comes from, God is saying in Isaiah chapter 40, idols are nothing. You need to put your trust in me. I don’t answer to any man. The nations are a drop in the bucket. Rulers, I can reduce them to nothing. Barely have they been planted or sown, and I can make them go away, is the idea. God is more powerful than the most powerful men on earth, and he’s beholding to no one.

For who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him? Remember what he’s just said? No man could know the mind unless the Holy Spirit revealed it to him. He says, but we, on the other hand, because we’ve listened to the Spirit, we have the mind of Christ. Now the question about this is this an apostolic we? Sometimes when an apostle says we, he means we the apostles. Or is this a larger audience that includes all believers? I tend to think in this place that it may include all believers, but I’m not dogmatic about that. It could be an apostolic we. But I think what he’s saying is, the Corinthians, the church in Corinth, and me and all other believers, he says, We have the mind of Christ.

Because where does the Holy Spirit’s work, where does it ultimately go? It’s the development of the mind of Christ in all of his disciples. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ, Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5. That’s where it goes. We understand what it means to think like our Lord, to have an attitude like our Lord had, to love like our Lord did. He says, because we listen to the Spirit, we have the mind of Christ. We are one with the Lord. The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him. 1 Corinthians 6 17. Mind of Christ. The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him. And again, where I think all of this is going, he said, don’t be influenced by natural man thinking.

Don’t be influenced by a person who’s not considering the Spirit of God. This is what you need to be impressed by. This is what, this is the wisdom you need to hearken to, which was once a hidden wisdom but now has been revealed. You need to be pursuing the possession of the mind of Christ, not listening to people who come along and say, oh, that mind of Christ business is garbage. The message of the cross is garbage. You don’t need that. That’s not in your best interests. That religion stuff is for people of small minds. You know, people are still saying that.

6. Carnal Man, Natural Man, Not the Same Thing

Those fundamentalists, those people, those Christians, small minds, small intellects. I think what’s going on in this context, Paul is saying, don’t be influenced by that. But then as he goes into chapter 3, he switches gears. He says, and I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men. He said, now we are people who have come to illumination because the Holy Spirit has revealed God’s mind. Thus we have the mind of Christ, but it’s not yet where it needs to be in you, because you’re still carnal. Carnal man, natural man, not the same thing. That’s often a mistake people make in this context. But as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ, he says in verse 3, for you are still fleshly, for there is jealousy and strife among you.

Conclusion

That’s not the mind of Christ. And he says, are you not fleshy? Are you not walking like mere men? Don’t fall short of the spiritual man. Don’t be influenced by the natural man, the man who cuts himself off from the Spirit of God. Don’t fall short of the spiritual man by living carnally. In this world. Wow. That’s it. I’m done. Hopefully that gives you some things to think about, and that wasn’t too complex for you. But I wanted to end right here. What are you living for? The next sensation? The next moment of pleasure. Are you walking daily based on your own wisdom or the Holy Spirit’s wisdom? That’s why Paul says, walk circumspectly and not as fools. Making the most of your time because the days are evil.

If you want to walk in a way that elevates your life, if you want to find your life’s purpose, you’ll only ultimately find that in living this life that the Spirit reveals. And we commend it to you. Won’t you respond if you need to while we stay the same?