1 Corinthians 2:15   – the spiritual man

Now, he who is spiritual is, indeed, examining all…

In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul contrasts two types of people: the soulish man and the spiritual man. In common parlance, these terms are usually lumped together. For example, someone has mental problems but goes to a psychologist. But the word of God makes a sharp distinction between soul and spirit (Heb.4:12).

The soul is what man has in common with the animal. The first times the Scriptures speak of souls (Gen.1) are about animals. “The soul is in the blood,” we read (Lev.17:11). The soul is related to emotions and sensations.

Spirit, on the other hand, has to do with thinking and judging things. We read of the Bereans (Acts 17:11) that they daily checked the scriptures “whether these things were so”. In Greek the same word is used there (anakrino) as in 1 Corinthians 2:15: judging. The soulful person relies on sensation and emotions. On what feels right. Nothing is wrong with feeling in itself, but the spiritual man is not guided by that. He thinks, assesses and checks. He checks whether something is true. That is what counts for the spiritual man: the truth!

Delen: