I Corinthians 2:1-16
Paul is pretty hard on himself as to his testimonies to the Corinthians: …in weakness and in fear and much trembling… (v. 3b). I’m guessing that he is recalling his early testimonies to them, when he had just come from Athens, where skilled oration and elocution were the standard among the learned Athenians. No wonder he felt diminished!
I had to think for a bit to understand the following two verses: For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. (vv. 11-12). Essentially Paul is saying that (1) only we can understand our own thoughts, and (2) only the Spirit of God can understand the thoughts of God, and (3) if we have been given the Spirit of God, then we can understand the thoughts of God that He imparts to us. THAT is wisdom from Above…!!
Slava Bohu!