1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. Let’s go!
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (NIV)
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.
19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are,
29 so that no one may boast before him.
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
On verses 18-31: This world will try to tell you that “people are essentially good, that if we just believe in ourselves, we can accomplish anything. We don’t need God, and we don’t need a Saviour. We can be our own saviour. All we need is ourselves.” That’s man’s wisdom, the wisdom of this world. This “wisdom” is what the Corinthians were hearing from the mouths of so-called wise men, scholars and “philosophers of this age” (v20).
Today you hear this same “wisdom” trumpeted by celebrities, artists, university professors, key note speakers at graduation ceremonies, and teachers of many religions. “Believe in yourself and you’ll be fine” has always been the world’s wisdom, and it shows up in all sorts of different forms. The religious version of this wisdom is, “If you try hard enough, you can get yourself into heaven or become your own god.” The non-religious version is, “Believe in yourself, be whatever you want to be, do whatever you want to do, as long as you’re happy. You don’t need God.” Either way, the world’s wisdom is about pridefully believing in yourself.
In contrast, the message of Christianity is the complete opposite. Yes, we may be capable of doing some good, but we’re not nearly as good as we think we are. No matter how wise, intelligent, rich, powerful, experienced or good we think we are, our wisdom, intelligence, wealth, power, experience or perceived goodness cannot save us. We are all sinners in need of God’s forgiveness and a Saviour to save us from the penalty of our sin. That is why God sent His Son Jesus Christ: to be the Saviour that we so desperately need. Jesus died on the cross for sinners like us. When we humble ourselves and admit our need for that Saviour, Jesus saves us and becomes, as verse 30 says, “our righteousness, holiness and redemption”.
Because the message of Christianity is so different, so radical, so counterintuitive compared to the world’s wisdom, many people either misunderstand it or reject it. As Paul says in verse 18, “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.” It is a “stumbling block” for those who rely on the “believe in yourself” wisdom that the world trumpets (see v22-24).
For Jews in Paul’s time, the message of the cross was a stumbling block in part because who ever heard of almighty God subjecting himself to death on a cross? Isn’t God powerful and the doer of miracles, they might say? God dying on the cross is no miracle! For Greeks the message of the cross was a stumbling block because what they were looking for was “wisdom”, a spiritual idea or an insight that fit into their mould of what wisdom should be, which certainly did not include the notion that we need God to save us. Yet the message of the cross did not fit into the mould of what the Jewish teaches in Paul’s time nor the Greek philosophers in Paul’s time were looking for.
By sending Jesus Christ to save us, God was rejecting all the human wisdom that says “believe in yourself”. As verse 19 says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate”. That’s why you won’t find God by listening to the wisdom of this world. As verse 21 says, “the world through its wisdom did not know him [i.e. God]”.
For the world, belief in Christ is foolishness, yet God uses what the world calls foolish to save us. That way no one can say “I did it myself”; everyone can only say, “It’s only because of God’s grace”. As verse 31 says, “Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” In this way, “the wise” – i.e. those who think of themselves as highly intelligent, good, and sophisticated and put a lot of confidence in themselves – will eventually be put to shame by “the foolish” who see their need for a Saviour (v27-29).
Jesus, thank You for becoming a fool for us, how you allowed yourself to be accused, abused, punished and tortured like the worst of criminals, and you took it all without protesting. You were the Son of God, yet You allowed Yourself to become weak, even submitting to death on a cross at the hands of people. Thank You that it is Your “foolishness” and Your “weakness” that have saved us, something which man’s own highest wisdom and greatest strength could never come close to doing. Thank You for Your foolishness!
