Have you ever raised a concern about a teaching, only to be told that you simply “lack spiritual understanding”? For many, 1 Corinthians 2:14 has become a kind of shield. Something people reach for to defend new or unusual teachings in the church today.
And it basically comes down to this: if something doesn’t sit right with you, the problem isn’t the teaching, it’s you. You have a “carnal mind,” or you’re just not spiritual enough to really grasp what’s being said. As such, instead of the teaching being examined, you end up being the one being questioned.
But before we accept that conclusion hands down, what I want us to do in this article is to examine 1 Corinthians 2:14 to discover if that is what the apostle Paul actually meant.
Corinth’s Real Problem Wasn’t a Lack of Spirituality
To answer that, we need to step back and listen carefully to the flow of Paul’s argument by considering the entire section surrounding verse 14.
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians opens with a concern about division within the church. Believers were aligning themselves behind different teachers: “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” Paul says (1 Corinthians 1:12). And as we follow his discourse through the first two chapters, we discover that these factions are not merely about preference but about what the Corinthians value. Being Greeks, they were drawn to impressive speech and to what appeared wise by human standards (1 Corinthians 1:17).
It is into that situation that Paul offers a gentle rebuke by reminding them of the message that is at the center of their faith: Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23). But this message did not fit neatly into the categories of worldly wisdom. To the Jews, who seek signs, it seemed weak. To the Greeks, who pursue wisdom, it appeared foolish (1 Corinthians 1:22). And it is against this backdrop that Paul sought to remind them that, despite this, the very message of Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).
Human Wisdom vs. The Scandal of the Cross
What the world dismisses as foolish, God has chosen as the very means of salvation. What appears weak is, in fact, powerful. What seems simple is, in truth, profound (1 Corinthians 1:25). However, the Corinthians, in their fascination with impressive teachers and lofty speech, were in danger of drifting away from this foundation.
To make this even clearer, Paul points them back to their own story. Not many of them were wise by worldly standards, not many powerful, not many of noble birth (1 Corinthians 1:26). And yet God chose them. Why? So that no one might boast before Him. Their very existence as believers testified that salvation does not come through human brilliance, but through God’s gracious work (1 Corinthians 1:28-31).
Building on his case, Paul continues by speaking about his own ministry as well. He says he deliberately avoided relying on “lofty speech or wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:1). His goal was not to impress but to proclaim Christ crucified, trusting that the Spirit of God would make that message effective. He desired that the faith of the Corinthians would not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:2-5).
And it is from there that Paul moves into a deeper reflection on this “wisdom of God.” He says that this wisdom was once hidden, a mystery not even understood by the rulers of this age, who, in their blindness, crucified the Lord of glory. But now, God has revealed it through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:7-8). The Spirit who searches the depths of God and makes known what human reasoning alone could never discover on its own (1 Corinthians 2:10-11).
A Mystery Finally Revealed
In other words, Paul is speaking about the mystery of Christ. The message of the gospel and the person and work of Jesus, which, for a long time, remained hidden. Throughout the Scriptures, this mystery is revealed in bits, progressively, with the law, the feasts and festivals, and the sacrificial system all serving as signposts pointing forward to a coming Savior.
The prophets, too, spoke of Him, foretelling a Messiah who would come. And yet, even with all these signs, the full picture remained veiled. They spoke of Him, but they did not yet see Him in the fullness of His person and work.
When Christ finally came and stepped into human history, the mystery continued to unfold even more clearly, but even then, it was not immediately understood. As we read the Gospels, we see that even His own disciples struggled to grasp what He had come to do.
They heard His words, they saw His works, but the true meaning of His mission, His suffering, His death, and His resurrection remained unclear to them. It is only after His resurrection, and particularly after Pentecost, that everything begins to come into focus. Just as Jesus had promised in the Gospel of John, the Spirit would lead them into all truth, helping them to remember, understand, and rightly interpret all that He had said and done (John 14:26; 15:26).
How the Holy Spirit Revealed This Mystery
This is why Paul so often speaks of the gospel as a “mystery”. Something that was once hidden but has now been revealed (as he also says in places like Romans 16:25–26, Ephesians 3:3–6, and Colossians 1:26–27). What was once concealed has now been made known. But not through human discovery or intellectual effort, but through God’s gracious act of revelation by the Spirit. So that those who have received the Spirit of God might understand the things freely given to them by God (1 Corinthians 2:12).
(I’ve written more about this in my article “Why the Church Should Beware of New Revelations,”; I encourage you to check it out.)
Yet, these things freely given by God is not a reference to hidden or secret knowledge reserved for a select few but to the gospel itself: the gift of salvation, Christ crucified, and all that God has accomplished for us in Him.
And the ability to understand it is not something that comes naturally to us. Left to ourselves, we would not arrive at it, nor would we embrace it. It requires the work of the Spirit of God to open our eyes, to make known what God has freely given, and to enable us to see Christ and His work for what they truly are.
This is precisely why Paul and Apollos did not rely on words taught by human wisdom, as though the power of the gospel lay in their eloquence or brilliance. Instead, they relied on the spirit of God and spoke in words taught by the Spirit, faithfully proclaiming what God has revealed that they may not hinder his messsage (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).
In this way, as they preached, they were “interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” In simple terms, they were simply explaining the realities of the gospel to those who, by the Spirit’s work, had been made alive in Christ and were now able to receive and understand it (1 Corinthians 2:13).
Who is the “Natural Person” in 1 Corinthians 2:14?
It is against this backdrop, then, that Paul introduces the contrast that follows, where he says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:16).
Some translations render “the natural person” as “the carnal mind,” and it is this wording that is often seized upon. It is often taken to mean that there are two kinds of Christians: those who are “spiritual” and able to grasp deeper truths, and those who are “carnal,” stuck at a lower level of understanding and therefore unable to receive certain teachings. But notice carefully what Paul is actually describing because he is not speaking about two kinds of Christians.
After all, Paul has already told the Corinthian church that they “have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that [they] might understand the things freely given… by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12). And since the church, by definition, is made up of believers—those who have received the Spirit of God—they are able to understand what God has freely given.
For that reason, they cannot be described as having a “carnal mind” in the sense often assumed. If anything, as Paul goes on to say, they possess the very mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).
As such, what Paul is drawing a contrast between is two fundamentally different kinds of people. Which is those who have the Spirit, and those who do not.
Thus, the “natural person” is simply the person who has not been born again by the Spirit of God. An unbeliever. For such a person relies on human wisdom, human categories, and human judgment. Such that when he encounters the message of the gospel, he does not merely find it uninteresting; he finds it foolish. For it does not fit within his framework of what is reasonable, impressive, or wise. And therefore, he rejects it.
So What Are the “Things of the Spirit” in 1 Corinthians 2:14?
This is crucial for us to understand because it helps us correctly grasp what Paul means when he refers to the “things of the Spirit” in the same verse (1 Corinthians 2:14). Sadly, the “things of the Spirit” are taken to mean the secret and unusual revelations and doctrines that we treat as deeper, more advanced spiritual knowledge.
But that is not what Paul is talking about. The “things of the Spirit” are not hidden teachings reserved for a select few or new revelations that add to the gospel. They are, instead, the truths of the gospel itself, the very message Paul has been emphasizing all along: Christ and Him crucified.
This then means that the inability of the natural person is not an inability to grasp some higher, hidden layer of spirituality. It is an inability to accept the gospel as wisdom at all. While by contrast, the “spiritual person” is the one who has received the Spirit of God and is able to recognize the gospel and receive it because the Spirit has opened the eyes of their heart.
The Danger of Chasing “New Revelations” and Strange Teachings
I hope by now you’ve started to see why the misuse of 1 Corinthians 2:14 is so concerning. Particularly when it is used to defend “new” or “strange” revelations. Teachings that appear spiritual, often dressed up as something more exciting, more mysterious, and more impressive than the simple message of Christ crucified.
Because it echoes the very issue Paul was addressing in Corinth, where believers were drawn to what sounded wise and sophisticated, and in the process began to lose sight of the beauty and sufficiency of the gospel.
Underneath it all is a dangerous assumption at work. That what God has already revealed is somehow not enough. That we need something more, some deeper layer, some hidden insight in order to truly understand what God has freely given to us. And in that shift, the gospel ceases to be our foundation and becomes something we leave behind.
The Gospel Was Always Enough
But Paul’s argument leaves no room for that. The wisdom of God has already been revealed in Christ. And the Spirit does not lead us away from that message into something new, but leads us into a deeper understanding and appreciation of what has already been given.
I hope that by following Paul’s argument, it has become clear that 1 Corinthians 2:14 is not a warning against questioning new and strange teachings. Neither is it a way of categorizing believers into those who are “spiritual” enough to receive extra revelations and those who are not. Nor is it a tool for silencing discernment within the church.
If anything, it does the opposite.
Paul’s entire concern in these chapters is to call the Corinthians back to the simplicity and sufficiency of the gospel. They were being drawn toward what appears impressive: a kind of “wisdom” that elevates certain teachers above others. But Paul uses these chapters to show that this is a dangerous distraction. That true wisdom of God is not found in such things. It is found in Christ crucified.
And that message is simple enough to be proclaimed plainly, simple enough to be understood by ordinary people, and yet profound enough to be the very power of God unto salvation.
