What is the difference between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God in 1 Corinthians 2:6-7?
The wisdom of the world is the wisdom of verse 6 that Paul does not speak. The wisdom of God is His previously hidden wisdom, kept secret until God sovereignly revealed it through Paul's gospel. It contrasts human wisdom with the once-secret, now-revealed plan of grace for Jew and Gentile alike.
Les teaches that Deuteronomy 29:29 sets the pattern: the secret things belong to the Lord, but what He reveals belongs to His people. God kept His purposes hidden until, in sovereign grace, He chose to release them. This is the whole Pauline doctrine: the Old Testament knew nothing of the Gospel of the grace of God, and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John knew nothing of Paul's Gospel that went to Jew and Gentile alike. Paul repeatedly says, 'Behold, I show you a secret' or 'mystery,' and 'I would not have you ignorant.' In 1 Corinthians 2, he refers to the wisdom God had now given to this apostle; the revelations given to this man had been kept secret but were now coming into full view. Reading verse 7, they were not speaking the wisdom of the world from verse 6, but the wisdom of God that had come out of a secret.
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
More Questions
In 1 Corinthians 2:7, what does 'we speak the wisdom of God' refer to?
In 1 Corinthians 2:7, Paul's 'we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery' refers to Paul speaking of his own ministry.
What was the mystery hidden wisdom God ordained before the world in 1 Corinthians 2:7?
The mystery, the hidden wisdom God ordained before the world, was that Jesus was the Christ.
What word does Paul tie to 'wise' in 1 Corinthians 1-3, and how does he contrast God's wisdom with the world's wisdom?
In 1 Corinthians 1–3 the other word Paul ties to 'wise' is wisdom, and he constantly contrasts the wisdom of God with the wisdom of this world, which knows nothing of God's wisdom.