1 Corinthians 2:12

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

While the attitude of the rulers of this world, both intellectual and secular, is characterized by an utter lack of understanding of the great things of God, He has to us, being those that love Him, revealed them through the Spirit. The Spirit is God's instrument and agent to bring the proper enlightenment to our hearts. In the case of the apostles the Spirit worked by direct or immediate action when they were engaged in the work of preaching the Gospel, Galatians 1:12; 1 Peter 1:12; and since their days the revelation comes to us through the preaching based upon the Word of the apostles, Hebrews 2:3. This work of revealing the way of salvation can be done by the Spirit; it is the special function of the Spirit, because the Spirit investigates all things, even the depths of God. He has access to, he is familiar with, the innermost thoughts and plans of God. And what He has discovered He discloses to us. Those unexplorable, unfathomable, bottomless depths of God's essence where the gracious will of God for the salvation of mankind lay hidden, the Spirit has made known to us. Note: Since the Spirit has access to the innermost secrets of God, His must be the divine essence, He must be true God. This fact is brought out by the comparison which the apostle introduces: For who among men knows the things of a man, his thoughts and projects, if not the spirit of the man which is in him? No person is able to know the innermost feelings and desires of another unless that person reveals himself to him by word or sign. Even so no one has, by searching, by examining, found out God, had access to His purposes and plans; only the Spirit of God has that knowledge, and therefore can and does reveal Him.

The apostle makes the application of this fact: But we have not received the spirit of the world. That is the spirit whose wisdom God has shown to be foolishness, the spirit which is always ready to crucify the Lord anew, the spirit which is darkened and blinded against the understanding of God. Ours is rather the Spirit which has been bestowed upon us by God, the Spirit of spiritual enlightenment. And the result is that we know, we have a definite, unshakable knowledge of, the gifts which God in His wonderful grace and mercy has bestowed upon us. All these gifts are included in Christ and made possible through the redemption of Christ. These gifts, wonderful as they are, would have been useless to us if the Spirit had not opened the eyes of our understanding to see and accept the unmerited favor of God in Christ through faith. Note that the apostle does not make our possession of these gifts dependent upon our feeling, but upon the knowledge transmitted to us by the Spirit, through the Word.