“And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”
– 1 Corinthians 2:13
Oh, this is really, really important when we think about everything from just reading the Bible, to hearing the Bible taught, to teaching the Bible, the things we are seeing in 1 Corinthians 2 here are not natural. They are super natural. It’s what Paul is saying here. He’s saying, “I impart this. Those who teach the word of God impart his word, not by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit,” like with spiritual power. That’s why he says interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual, which means in order to understand and know God, in order to know how to experience life to the full before God, under God, we need to be spiritually minded.
Desperate and Dependent upon the Spirit of God
We must be desperate for the Spirit of God, not dependent upon ourselves but on Him who is able.
We need to be not dependent on ourselves but desperate for the Spirit of God, which makes sense. The Spirit of God, what we saw in verse 11 in 1 Corinthians 2, if the Spirit of God is the only one who knows the fullness of God, if we want to know the fullness of God, then we are desperate for the Spirit of God, not dependent on ourselves.
So when we practically open up the Bible, we should open it up with prayer. God, help me, God, please help me to see what I can’t see on my own. Help me to understand what I can’t understand on my own. I need your spiritual wisdom and then when we sit down in a service on a Sunday to hear the Bible taught, or when we stand up as a pastor, someone else to teach the Bible, we are desperate for the Spirit in that moment.
1 Corinthians 2:13 Encourages Hearts in Tune with the Spirit
I think about preaching many Sundays and just asking, God, “God, please do things that I don’t even know to ask for; that you’re going to do that I will never even realize that you’re doing, as you’re taking your word and applying it to people’s lives.” May this be a thoroughly spiritual exercise.
So God, we pray that you’d help us to live in this sense, spiritual lives like all the time. Help us to live as spiritual people in tune with your Spirit, from the moment we wake up in the morning and you prompt us to worship and we spend time in your word, that you would open our eyes spiritually to things we can’t see otherwise and all throughout the day, help us to walk in step with your Spirit, to share the gospel and the power of your Spirit, as we’ve pray to encourage others with your Spirit in us.
1 Corinthians 2:13 Prays for the Spirit to Lead Us
God, we pray that you’d help us to live lives that are reflection of your Spirit in us. God, we pray that when we sit under the teaching of your word and gather together on Sundays or another setting, small groups, whatever they might be, God, we pray that your Spirit would lead us, that your Spirit would teach us, that your Spirit would guide us.
Lord, make us spiritual people who live in this sense like supernatural lives because we are moment by moment, walking in step with your Spirit. God, may that be true in our lives. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
