Proclaiming Christ Crucified
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And I, when I came to you, brothers,a1did not come proclaiming to you 2the testimonyb of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
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For I decided to know nothing among you except 3Jesus Christ and him crucified.
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and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of 6the Spirit and of power,
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that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but 7in the power of God.
Wisdom from the Spirit
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Yet among 8the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not 9a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, 10who are doomed to pass away.
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But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, 11which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
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None of 12the rulers of this age understood this, for 13if they had, they would not have crucified 14the Lord of glory.
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But, as it is written, 15"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has 16prepared 17for those who love him"--
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these things 18God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even 19the depths of God.
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For who knows a person's thoughts 20except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
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Now 21we have received not 22the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
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And we impart this 23in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, 24interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.c
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The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are 25folly to him, and 26he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
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The 27spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)