OBJECTION! Calls for Speculation! 1 Corinthians 2:11.

Even before law school, I had a favorite objection:

OBJECTION. CALLS FOR SPECULATION.

This is what a lawyer says if opposing counsel asks his witness to ‘speculate’ on facts that are unknown or unknowable. The objection applies particularly well to questions about what another person might have been thinking. Consider these objectionable questions:

“What was your wife thinking at that moment?”

“Why did your partner breach the contract?”

“Why did the defendant fire his weapon?”

Such questions are terribly common—we hear them every day, in conversations having nothing to do with lawsuits—yet they violate a simple fact: one person cannot know with certainty what another person is thinking. You can make guesses, but even the most educated guess remains speculation. Paul agrees:

“For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the person that is inside him?” 1 Corinthians 2:11. In other words, the only person who truly knows my thoughts is me.

Paul goes on:  “So also the thoughts of God, no one knows but the Spirit of God” 1 Corinthians 2:11. Paul is saying that no one knows God’s thoughts either—except the Holy Spirit. Can you see where this is going?

“The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God”1 Corinthians 2:10. And—“We have the mind of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2:16.

Do you see that? Though no one can know the thoughts of God other than God Himself, the Holy Spirit–Himself God–searches out the secret things of God and reveals them to us, because we have access to the mind of Christ. Through worship, prayer, and with a significant emphasis on Bible study, we can discover the deep things of God. But USE CAUTION…

You MUST search the scripture to confirm everything, Acts 17:11. You must “test everything” against the word, 1 Thessalonians 5:21. If you do not verify everything by the scripture, you risk the sin of misattribution: never attribute to God things you cannot confirm in scripture.

But with those cautions in place, consider this amazing fact: you may only be able to speculate on the thoughts and emotions of your closest family and friends. But because the Holy Spirit dwells inside believers, you do NOT have to speculate on the heart of God.

You can be certain—confident enough to testify in a court of law—that God loves you, that He desires a relationship with His children, and so much more.

“We have the mind of Christ” 1 Corinthians 2:16. Praise God!

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