I Corinthians 1:18-31
Introduction to I Corinthians Notes
Intro
Taking into account the transitional verse, 1:17, the unit begins and ends with a contrast between eloquent words of human wisdom and the powerful proclamation of Christ crucified, who is the power of God (cf. 1:17 and 2:4–5).
The unit further divides into three subunits
Paul begins with the message of the cross, which is offensive and foolish to the wise of the world but at the same time power and wisdom to those who believe (1:18–25).
In 1:26–31, the focus shifts to the recipients of the message as further evidence of God’s “contrary-to-the world” wisdom.
2:1-5 to be covered next time
Outline Coverage
Message of the Cross (1:18-25)
The proclamation of the cross
The two basic human responses to the gospel message
The decisive triumph of God’s wisdom over the wisdom of the world.
Worldly Wisdom Verses Godly Wisdom (1::26-31)
By human standards the Corinthian church consisted primarily of the foolish, the weak, and the insignificant
Just as the message and its messenger (Paul) were foolish by the world’s standards, so most of those in Corinth who believed the message were foolish by those same standards.
Message of the Cross (1:18-25)
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For
The conjunction “for” ties this verse to the preceding (1:17)
Word of the cross
Content of the message of the cross or the preaching of the cross
Folly
Paul’s preaching in Corinth focused on the saving fact of Christ’s crucifixion, a method of execution considered so crude it was not even mentioned in polite company.
The Corinthians’ fascination with the rhetorical ability of the ministers rather than their message demonstrated that they were living contrary to the power of the cross.
Power of God
The term “power,” in this context, has to do with the effectiveness of the cross to make God known, to accomplish salvation, and to transform lives.
The term “power” in 1:18 is particularly suited to the Corinthian context in that it counters their tendency to boast in human achievement.
The Cross
“The message of the Cross” is the message of self-renunciation, of obedience to God which may lead as it did in Jesus’ case to humiliation and death, but which ultimately leads not to self-destruction but to preservation (Mark 8:34–35) and exaltation (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 22:5).
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
Isaiah 29:14 - 14 therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.
Paul illustrated his point by an example of Israel who, following humanly wise counsel, formed an alliance with Egypt as a defense against Assyria, when in fact only the miraculous intervention of God was able to save them (cf. Isa. 29:14; 2 Kings 18:17–19:37).
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
Age
God hides his plans from the wise and the learned and reveals them to little children (cf. Matt 11:25).
Has not God…
In the cross God has “turned the tables” on the wise by turning their wisdom into its very opposite—foolishness.
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
God prevents the wise from knowing him through their own wisdom but rather saves “those who believe”
A God discovered by human wisdom will be both a projection of human fallenness and a source of human pride, and this constitutes the worship of the creature, not the Creator
The brilliance of man cannot appreciate the plan of God (Isa. 55:8–9).
It is not self-confident erudition but self-effacing faith that allows one to enter the narrow way.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Verse 22
Signs
Jesus’ hostile opponents had kept demanding more miraculous signs to prove his claims
Jews already had access to wisdom in the Scriptures, “but required signs to locate their situation within the promised purposes of salvation history.”
Wisdom
Greeks were viewed in antiquity, in contrast to barbarians, as a cultured people and therefore interested in wisdom
Verse 23
But we
The emphatic, “But we,” sets Christian proclamation in stark contrast to the human quest for signs and wisdom.
The cross is the solution to the world’s quest for power and wisdom
Crucified
A crucified Messiah was offensive to an unbelieving Jew (Matt. 16:22; Gal. 3:13; 5:11), and nonsensical to an unbelieving Greek.
Stumbling block
To the unbelieving Jew a crucified Messiah is the epitome of weakness and defeat, a flat-out contradiction and a stumbling block that goes against all expectations of a royal, conquering king
To the Greeks, distinguished by their quest for wisdom, the notion of an executed criminal as the locus of God’s wisdom amounted to sheer nonsense
The “stumbling block” and “foolishness” language ascribed to Christ in his crucifixion is difficult for the modern Christian to grasp, but we have to keep in mind how the proclamation of an executed criminal as “good news” would have played out in the first-century context to the Jew with fervent messianic expectations and to the Greek who coveted honor, esteem, and success.
Verse 23
Called
In the preaching of Christ crucified God called people by opening their eyes of faith to believe the gospel.
Power
God’s power to call forth his people, however, works through a deeper wisdom than human beings can recognize (unless God grants them faith).
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Paul preaches a crucified Messiah because this supposed foolishness of God is wiser than men, and his apparent weakness is stronger than men
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
Calling
The term “calling” can refer to one’s station in life as well as to God’s call to salvation
In this context, “calling” and “choosing” seem to be interchangeable terms
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
The parallelism corresponds to the wise, the influential, and those of noble birth mentioned in 1:26
Verse 27
Chose
The emphatic Greek word order and repetition draw attention to God’s choice, the objects of his choosing, and the outcome
What is foolish
When God called, he turned the world’s standards upside down and usually chose the ordinary rather than the outstanding in order that no one may boast before Him (v. 29) but only in the Lord.
Verse 28
God chose what is weak . . . to shame the strong.
The themes of the lifting up of the downtrodden and the reversal of human status are prophesied in the OT (e.g., 1 Sam. 2:1–8; Isa. 61:1; cf. Luke 1:52; John 9:39).
Verse 29
Thus, the emphasis of 1:27–29 falls on God’s freedom and purpose to choose as he pleases, just as he acted in the past with respect to Israel: “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples” (Deut 7:7).
Matthew 11:25, James 2:5
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Verse 30
Who became
For Christ alone personified the wisdom from God (v. 30) and in Him the Corinthians experienced righteousness, that is, justification (Rom. 4:24–25), holiness, that is, sanctification (2 Thes. 2:13–15), and redemption, that is, glorification (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 4:30).
What really matters are not the categories of the wise, the influential, and those of noble birth acclaimed by the world (1:27), but rather God’s saving power in the gospel (recall 1:18, 21, 24), that “Christ became for us wisdom from God,” which Paul explicates in terms of “righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”
Verse 31
Boast
Thus Paul reminds the Corinthians that they owe everything to God, that their very existence as the people of God is predicated on the activity of God in Christ.
There are grounds for boasting but only in Christ’s redemptive work. “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (1:31).