¹⁴ Those who are unspiritual^[a] do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.^(A)

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

¹⁸ For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.^(A)

¹¹ He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets^[a] of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.^{(A) 12} For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.^{(B) 13} The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’^{(C) 14} With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:

¹⁶ “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.^{(F) 17} Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.^(G)

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit^[a] set their minds on the things of the Spirit.^{[b](A) 6} To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit^[c] is life and peace.^{(B) 7} For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot,^{(C) 8} and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁴ In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing clearly the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.^{(A) 5} For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’s sake.^{(B) 6} For it is the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.^(C)

²⁷ As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.^[a](A)

⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual.

¹⁹ It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions.

⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day.^{(A) 45} It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.^(B)