Paul continues, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12 ESV). What an amazing statement. No one knows the thoughts of God except His Spirit (verse 11), but He has given us that Spirit! Through relationship with the Spirit of God, we can now have intimacy with the Creator on the spiritual level – the highest level of relationship.

Paul went to this level with the Spirit. Although he never physically walked with Jesus, he said, “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). How was Jesus revealed to Paul? Paul clearly states that this revelation did not come from any man. If he didn’t receive this revelation from man, and he didn’t spend time with Jesus in the flesh, then he must have received this revelation through the Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit).

Is it possible that Paul was actually able to go to a greater depth in his relationship with Jesus because he never physically walked with the Savior? Peter, one who had physically interacted with Jesus, wrote a letter toward the end of his life in which he stated, “…our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand…” (2 Peter 3:15-16 NLT). Peter was the one who had conversed with Jesus face to face every day for years. He was present when Jesus was glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration. He witnessed the crucifixion and then saw and fellowshipped with Jesus after the resurrection. Yet this disciple—one who had enjoyed years of interaction with Jesus in the flesh—said that some of Paul’s revelations from the Spirit were hard to understand.

By the Spirit’s inspiration, Paul wrote the majority of the books in the New Testament, yet he never walked with Jesus. How could he do this? Because the Spirit is the One who fully reveals Jesus. Remember Jesus’ words: “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth [give you the full revelation]” (John 16:12-13 NLT). Paul couldn’t base his faith in Jesus on previous physical interactions with Him, because he never had any. He had to believe apart from seeing. In essence this removed any aspect of the physical that could have fought against what the Spirit was attempting to show him. This is what Jesus was referring to in His interaction with Thomas. The fact that Paul did not have a physical relationship with Jesus to fall back on meant that he had to totally rely on his spiritual relationship with the Master. He had no other choice.