1. Brothers and sisters, when I came to you I didn't come with fancy words or great wisdom. I preached to you the truth about God's love.
2. I made up my mind to pay attention to only one thing while I was with you. That one thing was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.
3. When I came to you, I was weak and afraid and trembling all over.
4. I didn't preach my message with clever and compelling words. As I preached, the Holy Spirit showed his power.
5. That was so you would believe not because of human wisdom but because of God's power.
6. The words we speak to those who have grown in the faith are wise. Our words are different from the words of the wise people or rulers of this world. People like that aren't going anywhere.
7. No, we speak about God's secret wisdom. His wisdom has been hidden. But before time began, God planned that his wisdom would bring us heavenly glory.
8. None of the rulers of this world understood God's wisdom. If they had, they would not have nailed the Lord of glory to the cross.
9. It is written, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has known what God has prepared for those who love him." (Isaiah 64:4)
10. But God has shown it to us through his Spirit. The Spirit understands all things. He understands even the deep things of God.
11. Who can know the thoughts of another person? Only a person's own spirit can know them. In the same way, only the Spirit of God knows God's thoughts.
12. We have not received the spirit of the world. We have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us.
13. That is what we speak about. We don't use words taught to us by people. We use words taught to us by the Holy Spirit. We use the words of the Spirit to teach the truths of the Spirit.
14. Some people don't have the Holy Spirit. They don't accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. Things like that are foolish to them. They can't understand them. In fact, such things can't be understood without the Spirit's help.
15. Everyone who has the Spirit can judge all things. But no one can judge those who have the Spirit. It is written,