“For, who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2:16 

In this Scripture verse, we see a powerful response the revelation of the ways and judgments of God. It is reminiscent of how the apostle Paul breaks into explicit wonder and praise in Romans 11:33-36 saying: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ Or ‘who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?” For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen'”. This is where God wants us to be when we have heard Romans chapters 1–11. Amazed at mercy, and worshipping God through Jesus Christ. This is the response that will make us able to live out the practical moral demands of Romans chapters 12-15.

Morality in the Christian life is not simply the will-power to do right things, because God has the authority to command them. Christian morality is the overflow of worshipping the sovereign, merciful God. Christian life is the fruit of a mind and heart transformed by seeing and savouring the all-sufficiency and sovereignty and mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ. “Who has known the mind of the Lord” is a re-statement of Isaiah 40:13 which refers to the mind of Yahweh often translated as the mind of the Lord. But the apostle Paul has no trouble inserting: “mind of Christ” for “mind of the Lord” because Jesus is Yahweh! The deep counsels of His heart, the scheme of salvation by Jesus Christ, as drawn in His eternal mind, the sense of the Spirit of God in the writings of the Old Testament, the things of the Spirit of God, or the doctrines of grace more clearly revealed under the Gospel dispensation; not any natural man, by the light of truth and strength of reason, has known any of these things.

We need to be instructed in the mind of the Lord. A natural man, being ignorant of the mind of the Lord, cannot instruct.

But we have the mind of Christ, which is the same with “the mind of the Lord” and this proves that Christ is the Lord, or Jehovah. So, he is truly and properly God and this should be understood, not only of the apostles and ministers of the Gospel, but of all true believers.

Verse 16 says: “For, who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ”. As stated above, the apostle Paul quotes from Isaiah 40:13 which states: “Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor?” It is also translated as: “For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?”

The “mind of the Lord” is the Word of God. In Isaiah, it was Old Testament Scripture. No one knows the mind of God except God, so, the natural man does not have the capacity to assess the mind of God autonomously from God’s Word. “But we have the mind of Christ” is significant in this passage because the word “mind” is the seat of consciousness, the faculty of perception and judgment. We should know that to pronounce false what God reveals to the believer is to pronounce false the “mind of Christ” Christ’s perception and judgment. The believer has the mind of Christ because he has the Bible, the revelation of God’s mind. The principle here is that the believer has the capacity to make judgments about the Bible because he is in tune with the Word of God.

The word “mind” is the seat of consciousness, the faculty of perception and judgment.

The believer has the capacity to understand inspired books of the Bible because the Holy Spirit illumines his mind to do so. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. The believer must first understand truth before he applies truth to experience. He has the ability to apply truth to his experience because he has the “mind of Christ”. He does not flop around in his convictions but stands firm on what he believes. Paul uses Isaiah 40:13 to sum up his teaching in this portion of the epistle. He uses the quote to ask a self-answering question: who understands the Lord’s mind? Who teaches the Lord anything?

Of course, no human person teaches God anything. He knows all according to Isaiah 55:8-9. Paul’s answer to the question confirms and adds a layer to what he has already written. We have the mind of Christ. By that, he seems to mean that, aided by the Holy Spirit, believers have been given access to the thoughts of Christ. We have been given the ability to see what is spiritual and to think what Christ thinks.

It is possible that Paul is also referring to the previous verse in which he wrote that nobody can judge “spiritual people”, meaning those given the power to understand and believe God’s revelation. Since nobody can teach the Lord anything and we have the mind of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, someone who is not spiritual has no standing to judge someone who is (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Creation, redemption, the eternal ages to come, and all the mighty acts of God, were conceived in the eternal mind of the incomprehensible Lord. His purposes and plans were birthed into reality from the day that Adam sinned, and then were transmitted to us through holy men of God, who penned the written Word of God, for our learning.

No-one can instruct the Almighty God. No-one can teach Him anything and nothing can surprise our heavenly Father, for He knows all things. Even the very hairs of our head are numbered, and every tear we shed is collected in His bottle. Whereas: “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or has taught Him as His counsellor?” is the question Isaiah asked Israel. “Who has known the mind of the Lord and Who shall instruct him?” was Paul’s question to the Corinthians. Therefore, it is a question we should also consider. And then Paul discloses the most amazing truth, “But we have the mind of Christ”.

It was to the carnal-minded Corinthians that Paul opened up this timeless truth. We should, therefore, know that it was a question, first voiced by the prophet Isaiah many centuries before given that the wisdom in the heart of a holy God cannot be known by the finite intellect of the fallen, human mind, nor can the infinite wisdom of the Lord be transmitted to the limited understanding of an unholy man.