And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming to you the ^1atestimony of God concerning salvation through Christ, I ^bdid not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom no lofty words of eloquence or of philosophy as a Greek orator might do; 2 for I made the decision to ¹know nothing that is, to forego philosophical or theological discussions regarding inconsequential things and opinions while among you except ^aJesus Christ, and Him crucified and the meaning of His redemptive, substitutionary death and His resurrection. 3 I came to you in a state of ^aweakness and ^bfear and great trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were ^anot in persuasive words of wisdom using clever rhetoric, but they were delivered in demonstration of ^bthe Holy Spirit operating through me and of His power stirring the minds of the listeners and persuading them, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom and rhetoric of men, but on ^athe power of God.

6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those spiritually ^amature believers who have teachable hearts and a greater understanding; but it is a higher wisdom not the wisdom of ^bthis present age nor of the rulers and leaders of ^cthis age, who are ^dpassing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a ^amystery, the wisdom once hidden from man, but now revealed to us by God, that wisdom which God ^bpredestined before the ^cages to our glory to lift us into the glory of His presence. 8 ^aNone of the rulers of ^bthis age recognized and understood this wisdom; for if they had, they would not have crucified ^cthe Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written in Scripture,“^aTHINGS WHICH THE EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND THE EAR HAS NOT HEARD,AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM who hold Him in affectionate reverence, who obey Him, and who gratefully recognize the benefits that He has bestowed.” Is 64:4; 65:17 10 ^aFor God has unveiled them and revealed them to us ^bthrough the Holy Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things diligently, even sounding and measuring the profound ^cdepths of God the divine counsels and things far beyond human understanding. 11 For what person knows the thoughts and motives of a man except ^athe man’s spirit within him? So also no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we ^ahave received, not the spirit of ^bthe world, but the Holy Spirit who is from God, so that we may know and understand the wonderful things freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak of these things, ^anot in words taught or supplied by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual thoughts with spiritual words for those being guided by the Holy Spirit.

14 But the ^anatural unbelieving man ^bdoes not accept the things the teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are ^cfoolishness absurd and illogical to him; and he is incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, and he is unqualified to judge spiritual matters. 15 But the ^aspiritual man the spiritually mature Christian judges all things questions, examines and applies what the Holy Spirit reveals, yet is himself judged by no one the unbeliever cannot judge and understand the believer’s spiritual nature. 16 For ^aWHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND and PURPOSES OF THE LORD, SO AS TO INSTRUCT HIM? But ^bwe have the mind of Christ to be guided by His thoughts and purposes. Is 40:13