1 Cor. 2:14 and Common Operations of the Spirit

[fralo4truth]

Hi all,

We know that there are common operations of the Holy Spirit.

Some folks I know, however, use 1 Cor. 2:14 to make the point that if a person has any dealings with the Spirit that this means they must be regenerated. Needless to say, they end up claiming many of the unregenerate to be born again children of God. As can be expected, this has led many of them to universalism or brought them dangerously close.

What is the best way to explain 1 Cor. 2:14 in the light of the Spirit's common operations?

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Romans922]

I recently did a devotional for our session meeting on this passage.

v14, ‘Seek’er Unfriendly
v14 makes clear that the “things of the Spirit of God” don’t make sense to someone unless the Spirit works in the person. What “things” are those? The “spiritual truth”(v13) about “things freely given us”(v12) according to “the thoughts of God”(v11) which have been “revealed to us”(v10) about what “God has prepared for us”(v9), that is, “the Lord of Glory”(v8) Himself, Jesus Christ.
Listen, “God planned in advance to give His Son, who is also God, although there is only one God, the Lord of Glory, to be crucified for us.” That’s about as unfriendly to the natural mind as it gets—not that we should be unfriendly to natural people, but surely we mustn’t be surprised if they don’t “get it.” If everyone who comes to our church “gets it,” we are almost certainly doing something wrong!

There were two other 'points' to my devotional going all the way from 2:14-3:4, but that's the first point.

 

[A5pointer]

I can not see how that verse could be interpreted that way in any sense. It teaches that they have not experienced any "operation" of the Holy Spirit. And implies if they had they would surely understand and believe.