But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.
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Ambrosiaster
AD 400
God revealed these things through his Spirit to believers, because the things of God cannot be understood without the Spirit of God, who is of God and therefore knows everything about him. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
For it is not spurious words which those inspired by God and those who are gained over by them adduce, nor is it snares in which the most of the sophists entangle the young, spending their time on nought true. But those who possess the Holy Spirit "search the deep things of God".
"For the Spirit searches the deep things of God. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit."
But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. S. Paul here anticipates an objection. It might be said, "If eye hath not seen, neither have entered into the heart of Prayer of Manasseh , the wisdom and the glory that Christ has prepared for His friends, how is it that you boast yourself of its possession?" Paul replies that he knows them not by sight, sensation, or by the understanding, but by the inspiration and revelation of God. Hence, Clement of Alexandria (Pædag. lib. i. c6) interprets the phrase, "ear hath not heard," by adding, "except that ear which was taken up into the third heaven," viz, Paul"s, who heard with the ear in Paradise mystic words which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Paul means, then, that God has revealed these things to us His Apostles and Prophets filled with His Spirit, in order that we may teach you and others. It appears from this that not only is our longing for bliss and glory supernatural, but that our knowledge of them is also, whether that kno...
But to us God hath revealed them by his Spirit; these mysteries, and secrets of the divine wisdom.
For the Spirit searcheth all things: the divine Spirit, the Holy Spirit, searcheth all things, and none but this Spirit of God, that is, this Spirit, which is God, knoweth the things that are of God, as none but the spirit that is in man, knoweth the things of man, knoweth his thoughts and interior affections. But by the Spirit of God, we may understand the spirit of grace, of knowledge, of prophecy, which God hath given to his faithful, and particularly to his apostles, to raise them to a higher knowledge of the divine mysteries. (Witham)
If the Spirit, who knows the secret things of God, had not revealed them to us, there is no way that we could ever have known them. The word search does not imply that the Spirit was ignorant but refers rather to accurate, detailed knowledge. It is the same usage as when Paul speaks of God, saying that he searches the human heart.
