1 Corinthians 1

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 1 Corinthians 1:21

Paul introduced the main thought of this section showing that the cross is the power of God unto salvation and that the thoughts of man, no matter how high and lofty, are foolishness when considered apart from the cross.

Thinking on the great mental achievements of man – philosophical, logical, scientific, etc., we find that none of them bring us any closer to how to actually be saved. They may be filled with incredible amounts of knowledge and yet still not explain what is truly important. Yes, it’s interesting to know about quasars in the farthest reaches of the galaxies, but if we are destined to perish apart from God, what difference does the knowledge of them make?

And so Paul begins verse 21 with “For since…” Because the sage, the scribe, and the disputer could never attain to the highest and most important knowledge of all, “in the wisdom of God” another path was chosen to reveal that knowledge. Why is that important? The reason is that salvation is completely separate from human ability, endeavor, or determination. If the very highest aspect of man (the intellectual mind) cannot attain to God, then whatever God gives to bring that reconciliation is greater than that highest aspect of man.

Though “the world through wisdom did not know God” is reaffirming the concept that the sage, the scribe, and the disputer (these highest offices in man’s understanding) still don’t know Him. They may be able to deduce there is a God. They may be able to deduce things about this God. They may even be able to know that there is a disconnect between this God and themselves. However, they have absolutely no idea how to resolve the disconnect.

The sage who gives advice can only say, “I think” this is the answer (while being wrong), or he can simply lie and make up a religion, which is why there are so many false religions.

The scribe can pull out his many texts on science, logic, philosophy, etc and say “these don’t resolve that particular problem.” Again, when this fails, he can make up a fib – “The universe created itself. There is no God. Problem solved!” Unfortunately, the problem isn’t solved.

The disputer can argue back and forth with a classroom full of inquisitive minds about a relationship with God, but the answers will always fall short of satisfying those inquisitive minds. Like the scribe, he can make up a tale and tell the world the problem is solved – “We evolved from lower species. Natural selection and evolution have brought us to where we are.” But again, we know that there is sin in the world and one cannot evolve into “sin.” There would be no consideration of wrongdoing if natural selection were true.

No matter what approach is considered, without God’s special revelation, the wisdom of the world cannot know God. And so because of this, God demonstrates His ultimate wisdom in a way which thus confounds the greatest thinking of man. In this “it pleased God.” In other words, God is satisfied in the method that He chose because it demonstrates His omniscient authority over every man and over all men. This isn’t God “lording” his wisdom over us in an arrogant way, but His demonstration to us that this way is the perfect way. It allows the young child, the jungle dweller, the man on the street, and the business executive – and any other person who so chooses to accept it – to rely wholly and solely on Him. In it His grace is seen because there is a total and absolute reliance on Him.

And this beautiful, marvelous demonstration of God’s wisdom is “the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” It isn’t the preaching which saves, it is the message contained in the preaching. Therefore, the preacher is wholly dependent on the accuracy of the message. This again demonstrates that even the preacher and the listener are altogether dependent on God for salvation. If the preacher preaches a wrong message, intentionally or through incompetence, then there is no salvation. Thus, there is the responsibility on the listener to check up on the preacher.

In this, Paul calls the message preached “foolishness.” He will explain this in the coming verses, particularly verse 25. But to consider the context now will help us think through what he means. If the greatest minds in humanity, pursuing God through the greatest disciplines, cannot find how to be reconciled to Him, then whatever He devises for our reconciliation is higher than what those great minds with their great achievements can attain. And if that immensely great plan of God is mere “foolishness,” then imagine how stunningly awesome is the overall wisdom of God!

Life application: Never underestimate the greatness of God.

Lord God, the greatest minds of humanity can solve the most complex questions concerning science, logic, philosophy, and mathematics, but they cannot conceive of how we can be right with You. And yet, the message is so simple – the cross of Jesus Christ. If this message is beyond the most intellectual of all humans without You giving it, then how great You are! The message a child can understand is out of the reach of the genius until he receives it by faith. Thank You for demonstrating Your wisdom, even to me – a mere child. Amen.

Monday, 24 March 2014

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 1 Corinthians 1:20

Paul now brings in a set of four questions in response to his quoting of Scripture in the previous verse. That verse said –

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

This is reflected in the rhetorical questions of Isaiah 33:18 –

“Your heart will meditate on terror:
‘Where is the scribe?
Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?'”

When asking such questions, a dumb silence or an ineffective retort is the expected response. The same is true with Paul’s questions here. His first inquiry is to ask, “Where is the wise?” Here he uses the term sophos which is equivalent to a sage. This would be the instructor of knowledge; a person who was filled with supposed wisdom and is sought out to answer the deep problems of life for those around Him. But in the end, there are no true answers to the most important questions of life apart from Jesus Christ. This takes us back to what Paul said in verse 18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Only in Christ Jesus are the answers of reconciliation with God and the granting of eternal life to be found.

Building on the terms “the wise” and “the prudent” from his quote from Isaiah, he next asks, “Where is the scribe?” The scribe was originally designated as the person who transcribed the law. Eventually, the term was applied to someone who not only transcribed it, but also was knowledgeable and even a scholar of it. With one exception, the Jewish concept of this word in the New Testament always indicates one who interprets the law. But Paul asks, where is he? On the doctrines of atonement, salvation, peace with God, etc., the scribe is a completely ineffectual interpreter if he looks to the law apart from Jesus Christ.

After mentioning the scribe, we are now asked to consider “the disputer of this age.” This is a person we might call a sophist; one who makes an inquiry into the cause of things and how they relate to other things. Their investigations would follow through with the minutest details and bring them together into a grand resolution of the greatest mysteries. They would be the “Sherlock Holmes” of investigating philosophical matters.

In the Greek mind, these would be the ones who could reason out what seemed impossible to reason. Within the Jewish context, it would be those who would split the hairs of every verse of Scripture, looking for the ins and outs of theological inquiries. Where is such a disputer? Without reasoning life from the context of Jesus Christ, they are lost in a philosophical conundrum and a set of Scriptures which are actually murky and unclear. Nothing, from either a philosophical or scriptural investigation, makes sense without the plan which God has worked out in Jesus Christ. Instead the true purpose of existence and of Scripture are hidden and unattainable.

Finally, as an answer to the first three questions, Paul asks another rhetorical question – “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” The answer demands a “Yes” response. For all of the immense logic and philosophy which had been contemplated by the Greeks (and many subsequent generations since then), and for all of the intensive study of the Scriptures by the Jews, there remains no final answer to the greatest questions of all. Instead, because they cannot answer the ultimate questions, their great learning actually is futile. God has, in fact, made their wisdom foolish. Why? Because even a mere child can understand the simple gospel and be saved. Apart from Jesus Christ, the greatest minds in human history lack what the little child can know and be granted. Their futile efforts are well-reflected by Isaiah 6:9 –

“And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

Life application: Don’t spend all of your life looking for the deeper mysteries of the world without evaluating them through the lens of Christ. Without Him, the greatest knowledge is lacking purpose. Without Him, there can be no true wisdom. But once you understand and seek Him, then all other wisdom finds its proper perspective.

Lord God, Your word says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Help me daily to humble myself before Your greatness, to acknowledge your sovereignty, and to look at all of life’s mysteries, challenges, and trials through the lens of Jesus Christ. I know that if I follow this path, all things will make sense. And so keep reminding me of this my Lord. To Your glory I pray, amen.

23 March 2014

For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”1 Corinthians 1:19

As Paul does often in his epistles, he now refers to the Scriptures which testified to the work of Christ, the wisdom of God, and the instruction for proper conduct of the redeemed. “For it is written” implies that God’s words have been recorded and are absolutely authoritative. In his quoting of the Scriptures, he turns to Isaiah 29:14 and freely cites it, showing the overall intent without an exact quote.

1) “I will destroy” shows God’s sovereignty over the matter to be addressed. It also shows His power to accomplish it as well. No power can stand against the tide of God’s judgment. In the case of this verse from Isaiah, it is God’s decision to abolish what is otherwise worthless, which is…

2) “The wisdom of the wise.” Isaiah’s words were directed to “Ariel,” the city of Jerusalem. The people in the city had moved to religion without relationship; to knowledge without wisdom; and to a life of ease without gratitude to the One who provided it. They felt secure; they were “fat, dumb, and happy.” Because of this easy life, they felt that nothing could assail them. They boasted that God must be on their side because of the easy life, even though they wanted nothing to do with God. As a side note, this sounds a lot like the nation of America today. This type of behavior in Jerusalem led to God’s decision to bring the enemy against them and destroy them –

“I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.” Isaiah 29:3, 4

The wise would perish in their “wisdom.” The same can be expected for those today who reject God’s offer of the cross (refer again to the previous verse of 1 Corinthians for context).

3) “And bring to nothing” means that He will so eradicate what He judges that there will be nothing left of it to remember; it will be completely swept away.

4) “The understanding of the prudent.” It doesn’t matter what the issue is – moral, philosophical, religious, governmental, etc. No matter what the “wise” or “prudent” man conceives, if it is against God’s divinely established order, and if it is contrary to the message of the cross of Christ, it will be shown deficient. Such things will be utterly swept away by God.

Life application: What God looks for in His creatures is gratitude, respect for His holiness, a belief that what He has created is good and proper, etc. To shun His word and to shake our fist in His face, particularly against His work in Jesus Christ, can only lead to judgment.

Lord God, I know in my heart that You have complete control over the world. I don’t need to fear when the weather changes, because You are the One who directs it. If we have a cold winter, it is because You so ordained it. If we have a hurricane, that was because You determined it to be so. You, O God, are sovereign over all things. Our future is in Your capable hands. Watch over us according to Your wisdom. Amen.

Saturday, 22 March 2014

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

“For the message of the cross” is a phrase which needs to be considered in the context of what Paul just noted, which was “the preaching of the gospel.” In Greek, he now states Ho logos gar ho tou starou – For the doctrine (word) of the cross…” In this phrase, the second article is definite and it is emphatic. The message is the essence and the very purpose of the cross he is referring to.

Therefore, the cross is the gospel, but it isn’t the piece of wood which is erected in the form of an instrument of torture. The cross has been used on criminal and martyr alike thousands upon thousands of times. On the day Christ was crucified, there were two others on crosses next to Him. The instrument of the cross itself then isn’t what Paul is referring to.

It also is not the message of the one who follows Christ, picking up and carrying his cross daily. In other words, it isn’t the burden that we have as a follower of Christ. Though it may seem foolish to the world around us that we would be willing to give ourselves in this way, this is not what Paul is referring to either.

The “message” or “doctrine” of the cross is the truth that Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for those who trust His work. To the world, this message is nonsense because they don’t see sin as a problem. But the cross of Jesus Christ shows that sin is an infinitely great problem; one of such magnitude that there is no way for us bridge it in order to be restored to God. Instead, God had to provide the bridge. Jesus Christ, fully human, could mediate for his human followers. Jesus Christ, fully God, could mediate to His infinite Father.

But the message of the cross doesn’t stop there. It is true that we believe Jesus Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, but the cross is also the only atoning sacrifice for sin. Apart from the cross of Jesus Christ, there is no other way to be reconciled to God. Because of this, those who aren’t “in Christ” because of His work, are destined for eternal condemnation. This… this is what is foolishness to the world.

The world looks to self for righteousness before God. The cross bestows God’s righteousness upon undeserving self – apart from any personal merit. This glorious “message of the cross is” indeed “foolishness to those who are perishing.” The verb for “perishing” in the Greek is a present participle which indicates the current process of what is happening – they are “on their way” to destruction. Because they find what God has done for them as foolish, they are enemies of God and heading towards a bad end. However, until one dies, they have the opportunity to change the course which they have taken.

In contrast to them, Paul then explains the believer’s state when he says “but to us who are being saved.” There are those who perceive the doctrine of the cross as foolishness and they are on the way to destruction, but there are those who believe this message and they have moved to another category – “being saved.”

Again, this verb is a present participle which indicates that we are in the process of what is occurring. Unlike those who don’t believe though, this status will not change. The Bible consistently proclaims eternal salvation. And so the believer’s on-going process is one with the certain happy end intended by that act of faith in the ability of the Lord to completely save us through His cross.

And this is because the cross to us “is the power of God.” As Paul says in Romans 1:16, ” For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

The message of the cross is “salvation for everyone who believes.” It isn’t limited in ability only in scope. Anyone who turns and believes can and will be saved. The limiting factor of the cross is a simple lack of faith. One must turn from self and to Christ, accepting that what God has done is in fact not foolishness, but glorious. From that moment on, God’s power can and will save the once wayward soul.

Life application: Sin is what necessitated the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ is what is capable of atoning for sin. No other thing can atone for sin. Therefore, there is no other way to be reconciled to God except through the cross of Jesus Christ. Believe in the message of the cross and be saved.

Glorious Lord Jesus, when I reflect on why You went to the cross, it amazes me all the more. Our sin and our unrighteousness has placed a wall between us and our Creator. Your cross was necessary to atone for our sin and to break through that impassable wall. Our sin… my sin… Lord, I believe that what You did is fully sufficient to wipe away that which once separated me from God. Thank You for Your cross. Thank You! Amen.

Friday, 21 March 2014

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. 1 Corinthians 1:17

In Matthew 28:19, 20 we read what is known as the Great Commission – “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.”

However, this doesn’t mean that Paul is being disobedient in his words to the Corinthians. Rather, he has already indicated that he baptized some at Corinth and surely others elsewhere. In addition to this, there are those who are evangelists, there are those who disciple, there are those who serve in other ways, etc. Even Jesus is noted as not being the one to baptize others during His ministry. This is seen in John 4:1, 2 – “Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John ² (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples).”

Paul’s primary mission then wasn’t to baptize. He probably had others do this. It was time consuming, especially because full immersion baptism is what the Bible implies. Also, it is intended to follow acceptance of Christ. Paul, as an evangelist, would move often whereas those in the church would be available to baptize new converts at a convenient time and location, even if Paul moved on. And also, as he already noted in his previous comments, baptizing people can lead to divisions and strife. This would be especially so if a competent visitor came to town. If he was gaining converts and baptizing them also, then there would be a division in allegiances; something that actually occurred at Corinth even without baptisms being added in.

Rather than being one who baptized, Paul said his commission was “to preach the gospel.” And this is what he tirelessly did. The record of Acts especially shows that Paul preached to kings, jailers, nobles, and common folk. He preached at an open-air stadium and in synagogues. He preached with words and he preached with actions. He preached to Jew and he preached to Gentile. He met each person on their level and he never missed the chance to tell the wondrous news of salvation through Jesus Christ. This was his main calling and the motivation behind his very life.

And as he preached, he did so “not with wisdom of words.” In other words, he used the common language and experiences of those around him. It is noted that the Greeks were a society of deep philosophy and mental contemplation. They were often practiced in smooth oral deliveries and were able to tie in high emotional peaks in order to capture the attention and hearts of their listeners. This is very common in modern churches once again. There is an appeal to emotion and there is a high value placed on flashy deliveries and impressive effects to pull the audience in.

But Paul dismissed these tactics. The message of Christ isn’t one of philosophical depth or emotional manipulation. It is a message of the consequences of sin and the mercy of God in dealing with those consequences through the cross of His own Son. For this reason, Paul dismissed the dramatic “lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.” In other words, if people can be satisfied in their lives without the cross, then that satisfaction would seemingly negate the need for it. But the cross demonstrates that there are real consequences for sin and that a real penalty is therefore demanded.

Paul’s only desire was that his message would be clearly and competently stated so that those who heard it wouldn’t be misdirected by a false gospel and a belief that the cross was somehow unnecessary for them. In fact, Paul’s desire to stick to the very basics when transmitting his message made him appear extraordinarily boring. In his second letter to the Corinthians, we read this from his hand –

“For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” 2 Corinthians 10:10

This almost sounds like a theologian who is locked away in a library and only comes out once in a while to share his new discoveries – “weighty and powerful” letters, but “contemptible” speech because he never bothered with training in flashy oration. But this is exactly what is needed in our Christian world today, not ostentatious sermons with showy backdrops, but sound theology and words directed to Jesus and His work.

Life application: There is one Lord and one gospel. The good news is that Jesus Christ went to the cross to pay our sin debt and that there is no other way to heaven than through His work. Sin has real consequences that must be considered in light of His cross. Let us not get so caught up in the hype of a gaudy church presentation that we miss the wonder of God’s word.

Lord, I’d rather hear a monotone discourse explaining Your word, than hear the finest speaker on earth who would tickle my ears and give me no instruction from the pages of the Bible. Thank You for preachers who lack flash, but profess Your glory. Bless them and prosper them in their souls. Amen.