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Today's Pathway: I Corinthians 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

Yesterday we saw Paul's teaching that unsaved people can not understand the truths of the Word of God because they do not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. The only thing that they can understand is salvation, because the Spirit will convict them of their sin and their impending judgment. In verse 15 Paul tells the Corinthians believers that those who have the Spirit are able to "judge" all things. The word "judge" means to scrutinize or examine, and then make an appropriate decision. The term "spiritual" in verse 15 simply means the person who is saved: the individual who has the Spirit. At this point Paul is not contrasting between the spiritual Christian and the carnal Christian. He will start doing that in chapter 3. Right now he is contrasting the believers and the unbelievers. Unbelievers don't have the necessary "tool" to discern God's truth, but believers do. I John 2:27 says,

"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."

While the Christian can make good judgments, verse 15 says that the believer "is judged of no man". John Stevenson made these comments:

"The world looks at the spiritual man and cannot correctly discern why he is different. To all outward indications, he appears to be the same. He looks the same. He has the same intellect. He has the same natural ability. It takes another spiritual man to understand a spiritual man. Just as it is impossible for the world to understand the message of the cross, so also it is impossible for the world to understand the people of the cross."

"We can understand unbelievers; they can’t understand us. We understand them because we were once just like them. They can’t understand us because they have never seen the light. A man who was blind and now sees can truly say, 'I know what it’s like to be blind,' but the man who has always been blind can never say, 'I know what it’s like to see.'"

Paul concludes this chapter by referencing Isaiah 40:13. Who is it that truly understands the thinking of God? Who is the person who could possibly teach God anything? Obviously, no one can teach the Lord, for He already knows everything. And, Paul has already shown us that the One Who understands God's thoughts in the Holy Spirit. Paul then states that believers "have the mind of Christ". Brian Bell wrote this:

"God has 'implanted' the mind of Christ in those who have accepted His Son as their Savior. In some mysterious way we now have a capacity for divine wisdom that no scholarly degree or natural experience could ever provide. Having the mind of Christ enables us to see life increasingly from God’s perspective. This doesn’t mean that we can think on God’s level and instruct Him (vs.16). But it does mean that we have a new capacity to think and talk and act more and more like Christ Himself."

If you are saved, you have the mind of Christ. Are you using it?