In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul says some things about the noetic effects of sin:
And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.
“For who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
This is one of the strongest passages in the New Testament about the noetic effects of sin. Paul speaks of "spiritual things" that can only be known or interpreted by "spiritual" persons. "Unspiritual" persons, by contrast, "are unable to understand" such things "because they are spiritually discerned." Critical to this discernment is having "the mind of Christ." To have the mind of Christ is to be able to know, discern, understand, and interpret "spiritual things."
In the next post I'll share a bit more about what the "mind of Christ" enables us to see. Today I'm just drawing attention to how, for Paul, sin has noetic and epistemological effects. Unspiritual people, according to Paul, are unable to discern, know, or understand the gifts of God's Spirit.
