1 Corinthians 2:14 “The Natural Man is Lost”

Paul uses the term psuchikos to describe the state of the person who will not “welcome” the things of the Spirit of God. This sermon expounds each phrase of 1 Corinthians 2:14 to show how Paul’s terminology is designed to correct the claims of his critics in Corinth. Those who reject the message of the cross as “foolish” are not defective Christians, they are lost.

Paul says that the natural man does not have the power to know the things of the Spirit. This does not imply various levels of Christians based on special knowledge, but a failure to perceive the weightiness of the gospel itself. When Paul says that such things are “spiritually discerned” he uses a Greek term for judge or appraise that is used 16 times in the NT, with 10 of them in 1 Corinthians. We lay out the pertinent Greek words to show that sometimes Paul uses irony to rebuke his critics. Those without the Spirit do not know God and cannot make valid judgments about God’s ways and actions in the world. Those who take spirit, soul and body to find a mystical means of guidance not only miss Paul’s point, they usually teach the very error Paul rebukes. We address that problem in this sermon as well. The key challenge is that we must welcome the love of the truth to avoid deception. The truth is found in the person and work of Christ.