‘But the spiritual one (pneumatikos) judges all things, and he himself is judged of no man. For “who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.'
The second part of this verse is a quotation from Isaiah 40:13, ‘who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor has taught him?' Or in LXX, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? And who has been his counsellor, to instruct him?' Note how LXX equates the ‘mind of the Lord' with the MT ‘Spirit of the Lord'. The point behind the words is that God's thoughts are above man's thoughts, so that man can neither understand His ways, know His mind, nor teach or direct Him. In context it puts His wisdom and knowledge as above and beyond all men.
‘But he who is spiritual judges all things, and he himself is judged of no man.' Most see this as meaning that in contrast with the natural man who cannot spiritually judge them, the spiritual man can judge all ‘the things of the Spirit of God', because he has the Spirit, and yet he cannot himself be judged by any man, that is, by any natural man. This is because the mind of the Lord cannot be known by the natural man, nor is man able to instruct Him. Thus the natural man cannot judge what is known by the spiritual man. However, in contrast, the spiritual man actually has the mind of Christ, because he has received the Spirit (note how the Spirit and the mind are equated by LXX). He therefore does himself know the mind of the Lord. He has entered into an understanding of spiritual things, because through the Spirit he has the mind of Christ.
As long as we do not apply the ideas in the verse too strictly this gives us a sound meaning. The spiritual man (literally ‘the spiritual one'), in contrast with the natural man, discerns the things of the Spirit, understands the things of the Spirit and stands beyond the world's judgment on such matters, because he has the mind of Christ through His Spirit, so that he can, at least to some extent, know the mind of the Lord. This can only, of course, be seen as true ‘ideally', and many would thus apply it strictly only to the knowledge and understanding of the word of the cross.
But the fact that it actually seems to fit ill with what is actually said comes out in that some therefore try to interpret it as referring to spiritual Christians as opposed to fleshly Christians (1 Corinthians 3:1). They are unhappy with the suggestion that it can apply to every Christian person, and thus they have to look for an alternative. But the whole idea of the passage is against such a change, for the contrast is between those who have the Spirit and those who do not. And the former must mean all Christians, for ‘if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His' (Romans 8:9).
So the question must be asked as to whether, in view of the strength of the language, which commentators agree is difficult and which has to be argued around, this fully explains the significance of the verse. Can every spiritual man, even granted that he has received the Spirit, ‘judge (or discern) all things', even if we mean all things spiritual, when it is to Jesus alone that ‘all things' have been made known (see 1 Corinthians 2:10; Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22; John 3:35; John 4:25; John 5:20; John 13:3; John 16:30). The answer can only be ‘potentially', and that is not really satisfactory, especially in view of the words of Scripture that follow. It is true that the Apostles were to have ‘all things' that Jesus had spoken to them revealed to them (John 14:26); and that Jesus had made known to them ‘all things' that He had heard from His Father (John 15:15), but this was to the Apostles alone and had a specialist meaning. This was spoken to them in their unique position as those who had to remember and pass on the words of Jesus, and it had in mind what Jesus had taught them. It is also true that to the new man in Christ ‘all things' become new (2 Corinthians 5:17), but that refers to the whole of their lives, and while including spiritual awareness does not suggest spiritual awareness of ‘all things'. So these are not really identical. In fact the only verses in which an unqualified ‘all things' in relation to knowledge is described, apart from those speaking of Jesus above, are 2 Timothy 2:7, where Timothy was to be given understanding in ‘all things', and 1 John 2:20 where those ‘with an anointing from the Holy One' know ‘all things'. The latter is fairly close to this. However it there referred to the church as a whole and not to every individual Christian. It is doubtful if John would have suggested that each believer knew all things. Timothy was clearly seen as an exception. Thus the idea that every Christian is ‘spiritual' and as such can unequivocally judge ‘all things' would, if it were correct, be unique to this passage. For although it is true that ‘all things' might mean ‘all the things of the Spirit of God' which the natural man cannot receive (1 Corinthians 2:14), without qualification its very starkness seems to suggest more than that. To Paul there is no limit. On the other hand the verses cited above demonstrate that this is clearly true of Jesus.
Furthermore can we in fact say that every spiritual man is not judgeable by ‘any man'? For while in the passage ‘man' has tended to signify the natural man in contrast to the Spirit, the thought here again seems so stark as to mean any man at all. Both ideas seem all-inclusive. Able to judge/discern all and themselves unjudgeable. Surely this is not true of every individual Christian.
And when we add to this that this one not only knows the mind of the Lord, but can also ‘instruct' Him, we must pause and ask ourselves, of whom could this be true? And we must surely reply, ‘this can only be true of God alone'.
Thus it would seem that here Paul does one of his quick switches whereby he comes to a climax by introducing Christ Himself into the exposition. It would suggest that it is He Who is ‘the Spiritual One', in Whom we then partake of ‘spirituality'. For the verse goes on to suggest quite firmly that in fact no one can know the mind of the Lord or instruct the Lord, and this would be true of all; other, of course, than the Lord Himself. Thus it would seem that here he is turning attention to the only true Spiritual One, the Crucified One in His glory, He Who alone judges all things, He Who alone can be judged by none, He Who alone knows the mind of the Lord, He Who alone can even ‘instruct' Him, having had all things delivered into His hands (John 13:3; John 16:15; Matthew 11:27). This would then explain the change from ‘mind of the Lord' to the ‘mind of Christ', as the latter would then be a direct application of the idea to us, directly connecting us with Christ ‘the Spiritual One', having made Him the main person in the equation.
The thought then is that in contrast to the natural man (seen as a whole as in chapter 15 compare also Romans 5:12-21) is the Spiritual One. This then ties in with the expansion of such a thought in 1 Corinthians 15:44-49 where the ‘natural' is again contrasted with the ‘spiritual', Adam is natural, Christ is spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:44-45), the first man is natural, the second man is spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46-47). So in Paul's mind the contrast with the natural man is not spiritual men, but Christ, the second man, the spiritual man. Once that is established as true here the conclusion then follows that because we are ‘in Him' (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 1:5), because we are made one with Him, united in His body in which He was crucified, we are in Him made spiritual and have His mind, and are thus able to discern what none other can discern. We are ‘spiritual' in Him, enjoying discernment through His Spirit. This then fits in well with why at the same time the Corinthians can be ‘fleshly' (1 Corinthians 3:1) when they should be revealing their ‘spiritual' side which they have in Christ, and why Paul can immediately judge them, having declared them unjudgeable.
Taking ‘He Who is the Spiritual One' as Christ then reminds us that He alone is the One Who is ‘spiritual' in the fullest sense, the One Who was ‘full of the Holy Spirit' (Luke 4:1), the One to Whom the Spirit was given without measure (John 3:34), the One in Whom thus dwells all the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and all the fullness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9), the One Who Himself sends the Holy Spirit to His own and baptises with the Holy Spirit. And thus He is put beyond man's judgment or ability to examine, for they do not and cannot know the mind of the Lord in order that they might instruct Him, or indeed condemn Him. And because He is the truly spiritual One He can judge all things, and will Himself judge men at the last day (John 5:22; John 5:27; John 12:48).
‘We have the mind of Christ.' But what is true of them is also true of His own. ‘We.' That is ‘we who have received the Spirit and who truly proclaim Christ and Him the crucified One, and who are one with Him in His body as the crucified One.' ‘Have the mind of Christ.' This means the mind of Christ communicated to us by the Spirit, and illuminated by the Spirit, so that we are able to understand the things of Christ. It is imparted to us by the Spirit, signifying thus that because Christ Himself is in us we can know the unknowable mind of the Lord (compare Ephesians 3:17-19). This reminds us that, whichever interpretation we follow, all Christians are to be seen as joined with Him because they have been given His mind through the Spirit. Thus they enter into all He enters into.
It hardly need to be pointed out that here the mind of Christ is equated with the mind of the Lord of the Old Testament, the mind of Yahweh, in such a way as to indicate their oneness. Paul is in no doubt concerning the full Godhood of Jesus.
So we conclude that however we interpret ‘the spiritual one' the basic idea of the verse is the same for we can only have the mind of Christ, and thus be spiritual ones, when we are united with Christ in His death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Romans 6:5; compare Ephesians 1:19 to Ephesians 2:10), that is, when we have received the word of the cross. It is only the emphasis which is different. But it seems to me that the best contrast with ‘the natural man, the Adamic man, is Christ as the second man, the spiritual man in Whom all His own find their own spirituality.