The wisdom revealed to Paul was the hidden mystery of God—the gospel of grace for the Gentiles—revealed directly by the ascended Lord, not by men.
Les Feldick shows that Paul did not learn this wisdom from the Twelve or from any man. Instead, God held him apart and privately revealed truths hidden from ages and generations during three years in the desert. The wisdom centered on Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins and rose again, and it became the gospel Paul preached to the Gentiles.
1 Corinthians 2:7-8 — Paul explicitly identifies the revealed wisdom as God's hidden wisdom, unknown to the princes of this world.
Galatians 1:12 — Paul states he did not receive or learn his gospel from man but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:25-26 — Paul explains the mystery was hidden for ages but is now made manifest to his saints.
In 1 Corinthians 2:7-8, Paul describes the message he speaks as "the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory." He adds that "none of the princes of this world knew" it, "for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." In Galatians 1:12, Paul insists that he "neither received it of man, neither was taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Colossians 1:25-26 says Paul became a minister "to fulfil the word of God: even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints."
Les Feldick emphasizes that the wisdom God gave Paul was not a message Paul picked up from the Twelve. Immediately after being called by grace, Paul says, "I conferred not with flesh and blood." Rather than going to Jerusalem to interview Peter, James, and John, Paul was separated from them because God did not want the new revelation mixed with the Twelve's understanding. Les describes Paul's three years alone with the ascended Lord as his private seminary training in the desert. From that time came the doctrines of grace Paul took to the Gentiles—not Judaism or Law, but the gospel of grace: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, who died for our sins, shed His blood, was buried, and rose again.
Les points out that it would have been logical for Saul to go to Jerusalem and ask Peter, James, and John to fill him in, since they had been with the Lord for three years. But Paul wrote by inspiration that he "conferred not with flesh and blood." God deliberately kept Paul as far from the Twelve as possible, so the revelations He was going to give Paul would not be mixed with what the Twelve had already understood. Paul also disassociated himself from the Twelve doctrinally, because God revealed something to him that no one else had heard before.
Paul called it "the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory." It was a secret that had been hid from ages and from generations, but now was made manifest. Les explains that all these Pauline truths were held in the mind of God, and neither Israel nor the Twelve had any concept of them. After the cross, the ascended Lord revealed His plan of salvation to Paul, and it became the gospel of grace—that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, who died for our sins, shed His blood, was buried, and rose again.
Paul plainly states that he did not receive it of man, neither was he taught it by man, but by the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Les reminds us that during Paul's revelations Jesus was in glory, so everything Paul wrote about doctrine came from the ascended Lord after His death, burial, and resurrection. Paul did not go to Jerusalem to check in with the Twelve; instead, he had his own private seminary training with the ascended Lord from heaven out on the desert.
Les maintains that our gospel has to come primarily from the writings of the apostle Paul, because Paul is revealing things that were revealed to him from the Lord after His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Paul was uniquely called of God to be the apostle of the Gentiles—not one of many, but THE apostle—and he is the one to whom we must go for our basic doctrines.
No Flesh and Blood
Les explains that Paul's immediate refusal to confer with flesh and blood shows God deliberately separated Paul from the Twelve so the new revelations would stay distinct from what they had already understood.
Hidden Wisdom Defined
Les reads 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 to show that the wisdom Paul spoke was God's hidden wisdom, ordained before the world, unknown to the princes of this world—otherwise they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
The Mystery Now Revealed
Les shows that these Pauline truths were a secret hidden from ages and generations, held in God's mind, never known by Israel or the Twelve, and later made manifest to Paul.
Revelation From the Ascended Lord
Les emphasizes Paul received his gospel by revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ from glory, not from man, and this revelation after the cross became the gospel he preached to the Gentiles.
The Content of Paul's Wisdom
Les says the three years alone with the ascended Lord prepared Paul to go to the Gentiles with grace, not law, and produced the gospel of grace—Jesus is the Son of God who died, shed His blood, was buried, and rose again.
Disassociation From the Twelve
Les points out Paul disassociated himself from the Twelve doctrinally because God revealed to him something no one else had heard; the Twelve could not comprehend it, but Paul did.
Private Seminary Training
Les explains Paul did not receive his gospel from Christ's earthly ministry or from the Twelve, but through his own private seminary training from the ascended Lord in the desert, which produced the doctrines of grace.
Paul, THE Apostle to Gentiles
Les stresses Paul is not one of many but THE apostle of the Gentiles, the one to whom we must go for our basic doctrines.
1 Corinthians 2:7: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Paul's direct description of the revealed wisdom.
1 Corinthians 2:8: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Explains that the hidden wisdom was unknown to those who crucified Christ.
Galatians 1:12: For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Paul states the source of his gospel is direct revelation, not human teaching.
Colossians 1:26: Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Shows the mystery was hidden in the past but now revealed.
Galatians 1:16: To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
Paul immediately avoided human consultation after his call.
In 1 Corinthians 2:7 Paul calls it "the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom," and Colossians 1:26 says it was hid from ages and generations. Les explains that God kept these truths secret until He was ready to reveal them to Paul, and neither Israel nor the Twelve had any concept of them.
No. Les points out that Paul intentionally did not confer with flesh and blood or go up to Jerusalem to check in with the Twelve. He spent three years alone with the ascended Lord in the desert and received the doctrines of grace by direct revelation.
Les describes it as the gospel of grace: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, who died for our sins, shed His blood, was buried, and rose from the dead. This is what Paul took to the Gentiles, not a gospel of law or Judaism.
Watch the Teaching: The Hidden Wisdom of God — 1 Corinthians 2:6-9 Explained