Answer
“The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one” (1 Corinthians 2:15, ESV). Earlier in the chapter, Paul contrasts the world’s wisdom with the wisdom of God, revealing that true wisdom comes from the Spirit: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12, ESV). The spiritual man, therefore, is equipped with divine wisdom, enabling him to judge all things accurately. He can see beyond appearances and understand the true nature of reality.
When Paul says, “The spiritual man judges all things,” he does not suggest that the spiritual person is judgmental or critical in the worldly sense. Rather, this judgment is the ability to discern spiritual truths and to distinguish between what is of God and what is not. Hebrews 5:14 speaks of mature believers who have their “powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (ESV). The spiritual man possesses the maturity and spiritual insight to evaluate situations, teachings, and behaviors according to the standards of God’s Word.
The fact that the spiritual man “judges all things” also implies that the opinions or judgments of others do not sway him. In the same verse, Paul notes that the spiritual person “is himself to be judged by no one” (1 Corinthians 2:15, ESV). So, the spiritual man exercises discernment with the Spirit as his guide, and human approval or condemnation is irrelevant.
There is a responsibility that comes with spiritual discernment. The spiritual man, as he judges all things, lives according to the wisdom and insight the Spirit gives. The judgments he makes align with God’s will. Paul’s prayer for believers is that their “love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that [they] may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:9–10, ESV). The spiritual man judges all things for the sake of living a life that reflects the holiness and righteousness of God.
The larger context of 1 Corinthians 2—3 contrasts the spiritual man with the natural man. Paul explains that there are four kinds of people: the natural man (1 Corinthians 2:14), the spiritual man (1 Corinthians 2:15), infants in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1), and the fleshly person (1 Corinthians 3:3).
The natural man will not receive or accept the things of God, because he considers them to be foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14). While the natural man can have a factual understanding of the words he hears, he can’t judge them accurately because those judgments are spiritual in nature.
In contrast, the spiritual man judges all things (1 Corinthians 2:15). That is, he is able to discern or evaluate properly the things of God because they are spiritually perceived. The ingredient the natural man is missing—and the spiritual man has—is the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). The mature believer in Christ is the spiritual man, made alive and possessing a new way of thinking. The spiritual man judges all things because he now has the mind of Christ. The natural man perceives the things of God to be foolishness and refuses to have the thinking of Christ.
Infants in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1) are those who are newly born again. They have just come to know Christ and are only now beginning to learn about the things of God. Consequently, they might look like a fleshly person at times, not utilizing the mind of Christ in their own thinking. While the infant has been newly born and has a new spirit, he has not yet learned to judge all things or to use the thinking of Christ that now belongs to him.
The fleshly person (1 Corinthians 3:3) often acts like an infant, only without the built-in excuse. Infants are expected to behave like infants because that is what they are. The fleshly person, or carnal person, has not grown as he should have. He should have moved on past infancy and grown to maturity, but his growth has been stunted.
Paul chastises the Corinthians because they are thinking and behaving like fleshly people (1 Corinthians 3:3) when they should be thinking like the spiritual man who judges or discerns all things. Their immaturity was inexcusable and showed up in their thinking and behavior. They were going beyond what was written in Scripture, becoming arrogant and judging wrongly (1 Corinthians 4:6). They were judging so poorly that they were actually approving immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1–2).
The spiritual man judges all things, and he is misunderstood by the natural man. Those without the Spirit cannot appreciate or fully comprehend the spiritual man’s motives, worldview, or character. The spiritual man has the mind or the thinking of Christ, and that is a mystery to those who do not know Christ.
When we believe in Jesus, we are born again and can now think as God has designed us to think. We should move past the immaturities of infancy and press on to maturity. We ought to think and act like spiritual people because that is what we are. As Paul put it elsewhere, we should walk in a manner worthy of our calling (Ephesians 4:1). We should no longer walk like fleshly people, focusing on the desires of our flesh. As we walk in the Spirit, we grow in our ability to judge everything according to God’s truth.
