Comments on 1 Corinthians 2:1-8

  Continuing in 1 Corinthians, you’ll remember last time that we finished up chapter 1 where Paul concluded that section with a scathing rebuke for the worldly philosophers and Jewish scribes trying to find a way to God apart from Jesus Christ. He mentioned that God had caused the foolish and base things of the world to shame the wise, and that the message of the cross was foolishness to them who were perishing. He had also written in verse 17 that Christ had sent him “to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.” He opens chapter 2 with the same sentiment, writing:

    And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom,        proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you              except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much     trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but     in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom     of men, but on the power of God.

    Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age     nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a              mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the             wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it          they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

    We know from history that the city of Corinth was a hub for philosophers that depended on their own wisdom and eloquence to gain followers. They would stand on street-corners preaching their philosophy and hoping to win the ears and minds of those that were passing by. Paul had the same hope but did not go about it in the same way because he did not want to glorify himself. He was a learned man, and yet when he preached the gospel he was careful not to be clever or witty so as not to win people to himself. His goal was to win people to Christ. 

Wiersbe had an anecdote in his commentary about a church that met in a big, beautiful building that had a large stained-glass window behind the pulpit depicting Jesus on the cross. One day, they had a visiting speaker that was much shorter than their usual pastor. One of the little girls in the audience listened for a while and then asked her mother, “Where is the man who usually stands there so we can’t see Jesus?” This is exactly the situation that Paul was avoiding. He did not want to stand so tall in himself that others could not see Jesus Christ in his message. 

This first verse also brings to mind one of my favorite George Whitefield quotes, “Other men may preach the gospel better than I can, but no man can preach a better gospel.” The message that we have is powerful enough to stand on its own and doesn’t need clever turns of phrase or well-reasoned arguments to convict people of their sin. 

    And so Paul “determined to know nothing among [them] except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” That is the center of our message as believers. We must remember both halves of that message though, both Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Our message isn’t a plea to get people to follow a specific creed or doctrine but rather to follow a Man, Jesus Christ. He came and lived on earth as a perfect example for us to follow, yet had He never been crucified He could not have saved a single soul. 

Ironside was pointing out that though he grew up in a Christian home and knew his Bible quite well, it wasn’t until he was a bit older that he actually came to know Christ Himself. He mentioned that although he was well-versed in the Scriptures, he was not actually changed until he became acquainted with the One Whom they glorified. We must meet Christ, not just be acquainted with His Word. 

But we need more than His example, we need His cross. That perfect sacrifice in our place, paying the penalty for our sins and appeasing the Almighty God’s demands. To quote Ironside again, “The cross brought out and declared all the malignity that was in the heart of man …” Man looked at the sinless Savior, and we need to not be too proud to recognize ourselves among that mob, and shouted “Crucify! Crucify!” The sinfulness of humanity called for the death of Jesus. However, to finish the Ironside quote, “... but it also proclaimed the infinite love that was in the heart of God.” The sinless Savior willingly went in our stead to that place of agony and separation because of His great love for us. I am so grateful for our weekly reminder in the Breaking of Bread meeting to stop and think on “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Lord, let that be foremost in our minds always.

    With Paul thus determined, he went on to mention that he was “with [them] in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” He’s been spending the letter making sure that the Corinthian believers understood that human wisdom would not get them to God and that he was not someone they should be following apart from how he followed Christ. He came humbly and in weakness, just as Christ did, to them to preach the good news. He brings this up again in 2 Corinthians 10 to defend himself against the false teachers that were coming in among them, writing, “For they say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.’ Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present. For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.”(vs10-13). He had authority as an apostle, but took the low place and was mocked by some for it. 

But as preachers we need to have a certain degree of fear. We know in James that he warns them that “not many become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” If I speak something from the pulpit or write something on this blog that leads someone astray, the punishment for that will fall on my head. I pray with Ironside, “Lord keep me from mistakes. Let me have just the right word. Let me be Thy messenger. Save me from trying to attract attention to myself. Save me from glorifying man.” Christ is the focus and there are many preachers who could do with more of Paul’s attitude of weakness and fear.

    He then continues to drive home the point that he was not trying to be persuasive in his speech or to seem wise according to the world. He was not there in Corinth to argue better than the philosophers, or to speak more eloquently. He was not there to perform but to demonstrate the power of God to those who would listen. That word “demonstration” in the Greek is ἀποδείξει (apodeixei) and holds the connotation of a legal proof presented in court. I have been working at a law office for a little while now and evidence is very important when building a case. Without evidence the judge will throw the case out, and nothing will be gained. Paul will point out a few chapters later, in chapter 6, that the Corinthian believers were proof that the Spirit had power and was at work among them. He describes there the types of people that will not inherit the kingdom, points out that the Corinthians fit into some of those categories before but now they “were washed, … were sanctified … were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” The power was evident in their own lives.

I do want to pause here and point out that I do not believe that Paul is saying here that there cannot be great orators, skilled in speech, that can preach the gospel eloquently. We can think of men like Charles Spurgeon and George Whitefield who used their gifts mightily for the Lord, and I do not think that Paul here is disparaging that kind of effort. Rather he is saying that the power of the message cannot come from the speaker or it will not lead to God. Those men I mentioned bathed their preaching in prayer and were reliant on the Spirit that their words might be of eternal benefit. Their confidence, like Paul’s, was not in themselves, but in the Word of life.

    Paul continues that he did not want their faith to rest on the wisdom of men. There were many explanations of how life worked, places of eternity, and other philosophies floating around Corinth. If Paul had depended on human wisdom to get his message across, it could have very easily faded into the sea of other thoughts. But he determined to only know Christ and His crucifixion and so his message had the power of God behind it. 

We do also need to be careful when sharing the gospel of not emotionally charging our message and then asking for an emotional decision. If the soul is not convicted, if the Spirit is not at work, then no words can save a man, no matter how passionately spoken. The gospel is God’s power for salvation as Paul writes in Romans, and it can move us emotionally, but the will is involved when the Spirit convicts and the Savior comes in to save. If the response is purely emotional, then when the emotions change, the person can become unsure of his salvation. Our emotions can lie to us and be affected by external forces, but our salvation rests secure in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

    Paul shifts gears a bit here in the next verse “Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; …” The KJV has “perfect” here but the word is τελείοις (teleiois) and has the connotation of a full-grown adult, or one who has reached maturity so the NASB reading should be preferred. Paul has been reminding them that the gospel is simple yet powerful. Here he reminds them that their faith should not stay at that surface level. In the next chapter that we’ll get to, he writes to them that he “gave [them] milk to drink, not solid food; for [they] were not yet able to receive it.” The comparison is to a baby that cannot handle real food yet and needs milk from their mother. But here in chapter 2 he points out that there is wisdom in the Holy Scriptures for those who are mature and able to “eat” it, as it were. 

This wisdom isn’t understood by the world or the current world leaders. They are passing away and they cannot even recognize that fact, let alone some of the deeper truths of Scripture. In fact, they cannot even, by their own wisdom, understand the simple gospel. Paul was careful to speak the right message to the right audience. To those unsaved, or to young believers he presented simple truths simply put so that they could grow. But to those who were ready, he could begin to share more of God’s plan from the Scriptures, as they were mature enough to handle the information. What an adult might be able to digest, a child or baby might choke on, and so we must be careful, like Paul.

    He explains that there are mysteries in God’s wisdom, that God had planned out beforehand. In the New Testament “mystery” is used as a “sacred secret,” a truth hidden in past ages, but now revealed to the people of God. Paul was excited for them to reach maturity so he could discuss these things with them. 

I do want to be careful here and not stray into the Gnostic heresy that Paul so rightly fought against in several of his letters. He’s not here saying that this knowledge is only available to a select few, but that this knowledge can be found by all believers as they mature. To quote Ironside again, “When Paul said, ‘We speak wisdom,’ he was not referring to ‘the wisdom of this world.’ Christianity is a divine revelation, not a human theory. The apostle said, ‘We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom.’ The mystery is hidden from the Christless, but the Spirit of God reveals it to believers.” So this is not the Gnostic heresy, but rather the fact that the Spirit of God reveals the Word of God to those that are mature.

    He then points out again that the “rulers of this age,” the ones that are passing away, have not understood this wisdom. Wiersbe pointed out an interesting thought here, that these “rulers” were perhaps not the men that were leading the government at the time, Pontius Pilate, Herod, and others, but rather that they might have been the fallen angels that followed Satan in his rebellion. If they had been able to understand the wisdom of God’s plan for salvation, perhaps they would not have worked so hard to kill Jesus. 

However, Ironside saw no reason to believe that these “rulers” were not the men that had Jesus put to death. He wrote, “If they had only known that the man who stood in Pilate’s judgment hall that day - so meek, so lowly, answering never a word as He was vehemently accused - was God manifest in the flesh, ‘they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.’” Whether they were devils or men, if they had truly understood what would happen by crucifying Christ, they would probably have not gone through with it. Their ignorance, obviously, does not excuse their sin of killing Him, but God does meet man while he is dwelling in ignorance and brings him light. John 3:19 reads, “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.” Their guilt is before them and us, but we know, by the power of God and the working of the Holy Spirit that there is a way of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.

As we conclude, we are reminded that the wisdom that saves us did not originate in human brilliance, but in the heart of God. The rulers of this age did not see it. The philosophers could not reason their way to it. The religious leaders did not recognize it. And left to ourselves, neither would we. Yet by amazing grace, the Spirit has opened our eyes to see glory where the world saw weakness and victory where the world saw defeat. The Lord of glory was crucified, and through that cross God accomplished what no human wisdom ever could. So let us be careful where we place our confidence. Not in eloquence. Not in intellect. Not in personality. Not even in our own maturity. Our confidence must rest in the Spirit who reveals Christ and in the Savior who was crucified for us. And if we have seen that glory, then let us cling to Him, grow in Him, and speak of Him plainly, giving Him, and Him alone, the glory.