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Report a Typo1Corinthians ◦ Chapter 2
1Brothers and sisters, when I came to you with the truth about God — truth that had been hidden by years of misunderstanding and distortion — I did not add to your confusion by using theological jargon, but instead, I presented the truth in simple language, so even the children could understand.2It was my goal to present the simple truth about God's character of love as revealed in Jesus Christ and his self-sacrificing death on the cross.3When I came to you, I was so unsure of how to present this life-saving truth in a way you would appreciate, that my hands trembled with nervousness.4While my preaching was not the preaching of a professional speaker — and I didn't impress you with eloquent dialogue — the Holy Spirit worked through me to make clear the truth about God's character of love,5so that your confidence and trust would not rest on human charisma but on God himself and his character of love. 6We speak a message of genuine wisdom, which only those whose minds are being healed and transformed can understand. It is not the so-called wisdom of worldly science or of the coercive religions of the worldly people who are only destroying themselves.7No! We speak of God's secret wisdom–the wisdom that is the basis of life and which has been hidden by Satan's lies and distortions; the wisdom that God determined to restore in us before anything was created, in order that we may be the evidence of his glorious power of love.8None of the scientific or religious leaders who value the survival-of-the-fittest principle understood it–for if they had, they would not have killed Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.9It is just as the Scripture has said: "No one has ever seen this, nor has anyone ever heard of something like it, neither has anyone ever imagined anything as incredible as what God has done for those who love him." 10But God has revealed his secret plan to us by his Spirit, for the Spirit examines, explores, investigates and researches everything, even the heart and mind of God.11Who knows what a person is really thinking, except the mind of the person themself? In the same way, no one knows God's thoughts except God's own Spirit.12We have not received the perspectives, thoughts, values, methods or principles of the world, but we have received God's very own thoughts, attitude, methods and principles–brought to us by his Spirit–so that we may understand God and all he has done for us.13This is the message we bring: not a message based on the selfish principles of the world, but the very secret thoughts of God–his true nature and character of love taught by his Spirit–expressing the life-giving truths in ways we can comprehend.14Those who reject the Spirit of God reject the truth the Spirit reveals about God's character of selfless love: such absolute love is foolishness to them, and they cannot even comprehend it because it is understood and experienced only by the work of the Holy Spirit.15Those who open their minds to the Spirit of God have their minds enlightened with God’s values, principles and perspectives, and are able to discern and make accurate assessments about all things, but they themselves cannot be understood by the spiritually immature:16"For is there anyone who knows what God is thinking, that they can counsel or instruct him?" But we, who have opened our minds to the Holy Spirit, have Christ's mind reproduced within us!