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 Cor. 2:14].
But the natural man cannot receive the things of God. Why
not? Because they are foolishness to him. If you are not a Christian, my
friend, what I am saying seems foolish to you. If it doesn’t, there is
something wrong with you or there is something wrong with me—one of us is
wrong. God says the natural man finds the preaching of the cross of Christ
for salvation foolish. It simply does not make sense to him.
“Neither can he know them.” When I was a student in
college, I had the high-minded notion that anything that any man wrote I
could understand. Well, I have found that isn’t true. Certainly I cannot
understand the Word of God until the Spirit of God opens my heart and mind
to understand. It is spiritually discerned. Only the Spirit of God can take
the things of Christ and show them unto us. The Lord Jesus said that:
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that
shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me:
for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 16:13–14).
My friend, unless the Spirit of God shows you the things of Christ, this
Epistle to the Corinthians will mean very little to you.
McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible
Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997,
c1981, S. 5:15