“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.”
King James Version (KJV)
2:14 But the natural man - That is, every man who hath not the Spirit; who has no other way of obtaining knowledge, but by his senses and natural understanding. Receiveth not - Does not understand or conceive. The things of the Spirit - The things revealed by the Spirit of God, whether relating to his nature or his kingdom. For they are foolishness to him - He is so far from understanding, that he utterly despises, them Neither can he know them - As he has not the will, so neither has he the power. Because they are spiritually discerned - They can only be discerned by the aid of that Spirit, and by those spiritual senses, which he has not.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man. The natural man is the unregenerate, one who has the spirit of the world, one not born anew of water and of the Spirit. Man is a triune being--body, soul and spirit. The natural man is under the dominion of the soul, the animal life. Receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. The spirit must be stirred from its dormant condition, and born again, before one can comprehend the things of the Spirit. For they are foolishness unto him. These are foolishness to one under the dominion of the animal life, such as the Jewish scribes and Greek "disputers" (1Co 1:20), for They are spiritually discerned. They can be discerned only by the spirit of man. It is only when a spiritual hunger is felt, when one is born again, and when man becomes a spiritual instead of an animal being, that he can understand "the deep things of God" (1Co 2:10). But blessed be God, the A B C's of the gospel, which the ignorant and unlearned men can understand, are sufficient to convert and prepare one for a higher knowledge.