1Co_2:14 - What The Natural Man Cannot Know

23. 1 Corinthians 2:14 - What The Natural Man Cannot Know

"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 Corinthians 2:14

Mr. Nettleton uses this verse to endorse his position on election on page 32 of his book.  I would like to quote his statements concerning this under his heading of "Inability."

"...Neither can he know them..." (1 Corinthians 2:14).  Natural man, apart from God, is unable to comprehend spiritual truth.  He is dead (Ephesians 2:1).  It is necessary for the Holy Spirit of God to reprove (convince and convict) him (John 16:6-11)."

Let us examine the whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, and we will find that 1 Corinthians 2:14 is not referring to salvation whatsoever.  All one has to do is to read the whole chapter and you will find out what the natural man is unable to comprehend about the things of God.  It is not speaking about salvation, but is speaking about the things of the Christian that God has prepared for them after they are a Christian.  Those are the things a lost man cannot comprehend.  Proof of this is found in the second chapter of 1st Corinthians, beginning with 1 Corinthians 2:9 :

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." In this portion of Scripture, God is speaking concerning the saved. As we go into 1 Corinthians 2:10 :

"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

Here God is speaking about the things that He has prepared for those that love Him; that is, after they are saved. Things that God has prepared, even the Rapture, this is hard for a lost man to comprehend. For example. The Second Jerusalem, a city 1200 to 1500 miles square, containing the Tree of Life that bears 12 manner of fruit each season.

How the resurrected body of Christ could both eat and enjoy food and yet be a spiritual, resurrected body.  How Christ's resurrected body could be seen, at times, and yet invisible, at other times, and yet that same body will never die.

Or, how God could create new heavens and a new earth. It is hard for a lost man to comprehend the Great White Throne Judgment, and the fact that all Christians will be there as spectators-- "so shall we ever be with the Lord." - 1 Thessalonians 4:17

It is hard for a lost man to comprehend all these things that God has prepared for the Christian. A lost man is unable to do that without the Holy Spirit.  A lost man can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, because all through Paul's ministry he kept emphasizing the importance of using plainness of speech.  In fact, he did this in 1 Corinthians 2:4,

"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:"

It was not "with enticing words" but words spoken in simplicity.  A lost person can understand that Christ died in payment for their sin.  A lost person can understand that God gives eternal life to anyone who will accept Christ as their Savior.  No--God does not give you the faith to believe with, but rather gives His Word which we stand responsible for accepting or rejecting!

So--we see it would be out of context to use 1 Corinthians 2:14 as proof of "election for salvation."

"...the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them (or understand them)."

All one has to do is go back to the other verses in this chapter and they will find out it is the deep things that God is speaking about and the things that God has prepared for those who love Him, after they are saved.  It is hard for the lost to understand and believe such things until they trust Christ as Savior and they are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables a person to see the things God has prepared for him.

Notice in 1 Corinthians 2:11 :

"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."

Notice the last part of 1 Corinthians 2:11, "...even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."

Notice the first part of 1 Corinthians 2:12, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world." The reason that we have not received the spirit of the world is that we possessed it from birth. We have received (the last part of 1 Corinthians 2:12) "...the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."

So, what the context is referring to is very simple. We cannot understand the things that God has promised to freely give the Christian after he is saved and the promises He has made to the Christian, until we first believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and are then indwelt with the Holy Spirit of God. In 1 Corinthians 2:12 as it says, "...that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." To say that 1 Corinthians 2:14 is inferring that a lost man cannot understand salvation, would be to eliminate the rest of the verses from the context and, also, violate a person's free will when God says "whosoever will may come." The "election" proponents use this one verse and then reason that God will only convict by the Holy Spirit those whom He has elected to be saved; then only those will believe because God gives them the faith to do so. This can only be done when you take one verse and isolate the rest of the chapter. You see, the truth of the Word of God surfaces when the context of the whole chapter is examined. In conclusion: After examining the context, 1 Corinthians 2:14 speaks about the natural man receiving not the things of the Spirit of God. Why?

"...for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." - 1 Corinthians 2:14 b The spiritual things that he cannot comprehend are revealed in 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 and these things are what God has prepared for the Christian after he is saved. It is these things that the natural man is unable to comprehend without the Holy Spirit of God, not salvation!