📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 2:12
What does 1 Corinthians 2:12 mean?
"But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God."
— 1 Corinthians 2:12 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”
But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
For who among men 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 God’s Spirit.
But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God.
Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no one.
Explanation
1 Corinthians 2:12 speaks plainly to a contrast Paul is drawing between two very different sources of understanding. He says that believers have not received "the spirit of the world" — that is, human wisdom, worldly values, and the natural way of perceiving things apart from God — but instead have received the Spirit of God himself. The purpose of this gift, Paul says, is so that believers "might know the things that were freely given to us by God." In other words, the Holy Spirit is given so that Christians can genuinely understand and appreciate the blessings, truths, and grace that come from God, things that would otherwise remain hidden or foolish-seeming to the merely human mind.
To understand this verse well, it helps to see its place in Paul's argument. First Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth, a congregation he had founded but which was struggling with divisions, pride in human wisdom and eloquence, and confusion about spiritual matters. In chapter 2, Paul is contrasting the wisdom of the world — the philosophical, rhetorical sophistication so prized in Corinthian culture — with the wisdom of God revealed through the crucified Christ, which appears foolish to unbelievers (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). Paul insists that the deep truths of God cannot be discovered through human intellect or reasoning alone; they must be revealed by God's own Spirit (2:6-11). Verse 12 is the climax of that argument: believers know spiritual truth not because they are naturally wiser or more perceptive than
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.