But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
To those who answer God's call, both Jews and Greeks, the crucified Christ becomes God's saving power and true wisdom. Those who perish see that same preaching as foolishness and a stumbling block, demanding signs or philosophy while refusing self-denial and the cross. God has so ordered it because human learning, eloquence and status cannot lead to knowing Him, choosing instead the lowly and despised so no one can boast. In Christ Himself, made to believers wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, God's character and plan to recover and recreate lost humanity are revealed. Therefore workers are to keep the crucified, risen and interceding Saviour at the center, for that message alone converts souls, humbles pride, breaks sin's hold and transforms believers into His image.
Those Who Are Called
To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, and especially Christ crucified, is the power of God and the wisdom of God. To unbelieving Jews the preaching of Christ crucified is an offense and stumbling block, and to Greeks who trust their own wisdom it is foolishness and nonsense, while to those who believe it is God's saving power and true understanding. What is called God's foolishness is wiser than men and what is called God's weakness is stronger than men, and human wisdom, learning, status, and strength cannot bring people to know God or match His wisdom and power. Being in Christ Jesus by God, Christ is made unto believers wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that no flesh can boast in His presence and all boasting is only in the Lord. No human being can take Christ's place by undertaking to be wisdom for another.
The calling itself proves this overturning of human pride, since not many wise after the flesh, mighty, or noble are called. God chooses what the world counts foolish to shame the wise, weak things to shame the mighty, and low, despised, base, and nonexistent things to bring to nothing the things that are. Paul's own ministry in weakness, fear, and much trembling, without persuasive words of human wisdom but with proof of the Spirit and power, displays this order, so that faith stands in God's power rather than in human wisdom. The wisdom spoken among the mature is not the wisdom of this age or of its rulers who come to nothing, but God's hidden secret wisdom prepared before the world for glory, which none of this world's rulers knew, for otherwise they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The natural person cannot receive or know the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned, which contrasts this spiritual understanding with the mistaken ideas of those who reject or distort the gospel.
The called are those who believe, receive the call of the gospel, seek God in truth, and come to Christ humbly as lost sinners. To all who receive the truth the gospel becomes the power and wisdom of God unto salvation. Human argument cannot convert the sinner, but only God's power can bring truth to the heart, and those who exalt their own wisdom fail to receive the light He gives while those who come humbly receive the wisdom that leads to salvation. Through the gospel God draws rebels back to Himself, and the cross reconciles fallen people to God and brings them near to Him. Christ as the wisdom and power of God unto salvation is received when the precious words of the Saviour, which are spirit and life, are brought into daily experience, and this inward receiving is eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God.
Jews requiring a sign and Greeks seeking after wisdom represent the two great classes who receive or reject the gospel. The promise is universal because Christ died for all people, so that people of every race and every group may alike receive grace, and God calls people from every group while choosing the lowly and despised rather than relying on worldly rank. Those who treat the light for salvation indifferently and resist conviction because truth is unpopular and involves self-denial justify themselves as the disciples did when Christ declared Himself the Bread of life. The demand for a sign is not want of evidence, for piled-up evidence would do no more than evidence already given, but an excuse to avoid the cross involved in accepting the gospel. The first chapter belongs to right lines of work for a people God is leading out and preparing for translation, calling those who act a part in this work to stand as sentinels for God, to labor unitedly, to be willing servants of all, and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Rejection by Unbelievers
Preaching Christ crucified divides all hearers, for to those who are perishing it is foolishness, to Jews who require a sign it is a stumbling-block and offense, and to Greeks who seek after wisdom it is nonsense, while to those who are saved and believe it is God's saving power to save them. To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, that same crucified Christ is the means of God's strength and true understanding, the source of divine power and wisdom. The Jews requiring a sign and the Greeks seeking after wisdom represent the two great classes who receive or reject the gospel. Workers are therefore taught to keep Jesus Christ, especially Christ crucified, at the center, not preaching merely to please people but plainly presenting eternal truth and the danger of neglecting eternal interests, keeping self out of sight and exalting Christ.
What is called God's foolishness is wiser than men, and what is called God's weakness is stronger than men, so doubt, criticism, and human councils that handicap reformers when new methods are urged cannot stand against the preaching of Christ crucified. The called clearly apprehend and enjoy the grand truths that the proud refuse. God thereby destroys the wisdom of the wise, brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent, and makes foolish the wisdom of this world, because the world by wisdom knew not God, and He has higher aims for His people than the study of man. Man's ideas of education are not to be exalted as supreme, and the inclination to extol men God calls foolishness, while the Lord waits to bestow His Holy Spirit upon all who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
The demand for a sign is not want of evidence, for piled-up evidence would do no more than evidence already given. It is an excuse to avoid the cross involved in accepting the gospel, with its self-denial and unpopular truth. Those who treat the light for salvation indifferently and resist conviction because truth is unpopular and involves self-denial justify themselves as the disciples did when Christ declared Himself the Bread of life.
Pride of intellect and worldly wisdom counted the message foolishness at Athens, where comparatively few received the gospel. The same pride still leads great men, ministers, doctors, and the learned to miss truth, for popularity and worldly inducements are too great for them to yield up, their minds are darkened by the god of this world, and they do not see Sabbath truth when it is truth. For that reason conscientious observers of the Lord's Sabbath seem wild and erratic to unbelievers whose happiness is in worldly pleasures and vanities, while those who are saved choose the suffering, self-denying part of religion and discern the matchless charms of a Saviour's love.
To the self-conceited the preaching of the cross appears foolish because they have no experience of it and do not recognize their need of Christ. Those who judge by worldly wisdom and lack spiritual eyesight and the heavenly anointing count advocates of truth as inferior to advancers of error. The grace of God in the heart changes the estimate of everything relating to the cause of God, so the called discern Christ as power and wisdom though Jews count Him a stumbling-block and Greeks count Him foolishness. God saves those who believe through what the world calls the foolishness of preaching.
Divine Wisdom Versus Human
In God's wisdom the world by its own wisdom did not know God, so it pleased Him to save those who believe by what looks like the foolishness of preaching. He has made foolish the wisdom of this world, destroying the wisdom of the wise and bringing to nothing the understanding of the prudent. The cross is the dividing test of that purpose, for human wisdom cannot bring anyone to know God. God has higher aims for His people than the study of man, and He waits to bestow His Holy Spirit on all who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
The calling itself proves this overturning, since not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things to shame the mighty. He chose base and despised and low things, yes things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no flesh should boast in His presence. Those who glory are therefore to glory not in wisdom, might, or riches, but in understanding and knowing God, distinguishing between the obedient and disobedient and between the sacred and the common.
Human wisdom, oratory, philosophy, learning, status, and strength cannot make anyone know God, limit His power, or convert souls. The inclination to exalt and extol learned men and human ideas of education is foolishness in God's sight, and man's ideas of education are not to be exalted as supreme. No one can take Christ's place by undertaking to be wisdom for another. Neither Jewish learning nor Grecian eloquence, nor physical strength, can convict and convert without heaven's resources, for God calls people from every group and chooses the lowly and despised rather than relying on worldly rank. Christ crucified, rejected as foolishness by some and a stumbling block to others, is the means by which God saves believers.
God's power and wisdom are not learned in words which man's wisdom teaches but are known by receiving the Spirit who is of God, as the Holy Spirit teaches by comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Preaching is therefore to be not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that faith stands not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. The natural person does not receive and cannot know the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned and seem foolishness to him. The spiritual person judges all things and has the mind of Christ. This wisdom is hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed to babes, received as a gift that leaves no room for boasting and requires diligent study and humility.
That wisdom of God is the wisdom spoken among the mature, not the wisdom of this age nor of its rulers who come to nothing. It is the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden secret wisdom ordained before the world for glory. It includes things eye has not seen nor ear heard nor entered into the heart of man, the things God has prepared for those who love Him, revealed by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God. None of the princes of this world knew it, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. All engaged in the various branches of God's work are to study the first and second chapters of First Corinthians to learn this.
True education is knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, which is eternal life and the highest education. That education of highest value is more to be desired than gold and silver and precious stones, worldly honor, or empty applause. Education without a practical knowledge of God and Jesus Christ is worthless. The revealed truths of the living God's Word, when received into the heart as the Word of God and applied to the soul, enter the understanding and heart with convincing power and become the power of God in the transformation of character. Believers are then not only hearers but doers of the Word, with all conversation and action in harmony with the education received, living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God under a Divine Instructor. In Christ, God provides wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so no one has grounds to boast in human achievement but only in the Lord.
Christ Our Power and Wisdom
To those called from Jews and Greeks, Christ crucified is God's power and wisdom, though that same message is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks and to all who perish, while to believers it is saving power that overturns human pride. Being in Christ Jesus by God, He is made unto believers wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that true education from God leads to holiness rather than resting on human learning, status, or achievement. This leaves no flesh with ground to boast before God, for all boasting is only in the Lord, and no human being can take Christ's place by undertaking to be wisdom for another. What is called God's foolishness is wiser than men and what is called God's weakness is stronger than men, as the calling itself proves since not many wise after the flesh, mighty, or noble are called. God chooses what the world counts foolish to shame the wise, weak things to shame the mighty, and low, despised, and nonexistent things to bring to nothing the things that are, and Paul's ministry in weakness, fear, and much trembling, without persuasive words of human wisdom but with proof of the Spirit and power, displays this so faith stands in God's power rather than human wisdom.
The verse presents Christ's pre-existence and the purpose of His manifestation to this world as living beams of light from the eternal throne, resplendent with divine original glory. He is the wisdom of God because He is Himself the Word and expression of God's mind to man, the great teacher sent by God who stood in God's councils. Every element of truth from least to greatest is familiar to Him, He is perfectly acquainted with every need and with the principles of truth which is the gospel unto salvation, and He reveals the infinite mind with personal knowledge and the authority of a divine oracle, with power and knowledge. All heaven's treasures were given to Him to give needed help to every soul, to break sin-slavery and make men and women free, unfolding truth of the highest order, even the words of eternal life. He is the author of truth who restores truths lost or mingled with error and sets them in the gospel to shine in original purity, and in His humanity heavenly illumination shone through Him in perfect oneness with God, so those who receive and believe reflect that light.
He was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy, which was the gospel in figure and symbol. He came to sweep away speculative opinions invented by men and to present truth against false theories destructive to salvation. He did not come to abolish the law but to live it in purity, to be its correct expositor of God's character revealed in it, and to remove confusion of opinions about its meaning, vindicating God's law by a sinless life even while the prince of darkness unceasingly followed, accused, and contended with Him. In Him God's character and glory are revealed to humanity and made known, and divine wisdom is displayed in love and work to recover, pardon, redeem, and recreate lost and ruined humanity in God's image. Those in Him are formed after Christ and restored through Him, not by the law.
The crucified, risen, ascended, and interceding Christ is the great atonement for sin, the central truth plainly revealed, the science of salvation, the sinner's only hope and complete source of salvation to whom nothing can be added, the stronghold of every believer. Lifted up in the heart of the broken law before fallen humanity as the sin-pardoning Saviour mighty to save, His power to forgive is unlimited, and preaching Him as crucified and risen in distinct lines puts new power and efficiency into truth for conversion of souls and for leading every church to the high standard of holiness needed to become living. Constantly dwelling on law without presenting the gospel misleads souls, and neglecting Christ crucified leaves many claiming to believe with no experiential knowledge of faith, while rightly represented the gospel humbles each person and its light makes salvation clear enough for children, breaking sin-hardened hearts and winning them to love Jesus. That atonement can be correctly explained only by those who in loyalty obey God's commandments, while those refusing obedience remain ignorant of divine things, loving darkness rather than light.
Through the gospel God draws rebels back to Himself, and the cross reconciles fallen people and brings them near. Christ as God's wisdom and power unto salvation is received when the Saviour's precious words, which are spirit and life, are brought into daily experience, and this inward receiving is eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. The Bible as revelation of God's glory in Christ is itself God's wisdom and power, the Lord's philosophy and rule of life, and the Bible alone produces good fruit because it works with power in the receptive heart. Received, believed, and obeyed, it transforms character, gives sure intellectual culture and true strength and wisdom, fills the entire being with heaven's life-giving principles, and makes people channels through which Father, Son, and Holy Spirit communicate divine truth, bringing within reach all that God's power can do wherever people are. Frivolity that cumbers the church makes it weak and inefficient and closes those channels.
From beginning to end of time He is the source of salvation, strength, life, and wisdom, and the cross of Calvary is the source of all true wisdom. Leaders must receive grace from Him daily, and supplied by Christ they can work wisely and righteously and proclaim sacred truth to God's glory, studying His life on earth where divinity was revealed and His gospel as supreme guide rather than displacing it by human reason or writings. His kingdom and church have no fitting comparison in any earthly government or society, for they use no coercion or force. The gospel is a power in itself, grounded in God, working through His grace, love, and compassion to break down barriers as a gospel of peace and unchanging divine principle.
Proclaiming Christ Crucified
Workers are to keep Jesus Christ, especially Christ crucified, at the center of the message, keeping self out of sight and exalting Christ. They are not to preach merely to please people with fanciful discourses, but to present eternal truth plainly, with its practical godliness and plain Bible requirements, including the danger of neglecting eternal interests. The uplifted Saviour is to be presented as the believer's only hope and strength, for intellectual assent to truth accomplishes nothing unless the heart is penitent, convicted, and converted through the Holy Spirit.
Paul could have met oratory with oratory and philosophy with philosophy, yet he determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He ministered in weakness and fear and much trembling, without persuasive words of human wisdom but with proof of the Spirit and of power, so that faith would stand in God's power rather than in human wisdom. In contrast to the wisdom, oratory, and philosophy of this world which God has made foolish, Christ and Him crucified is to those called the power of God and the wisdom of God, and the mighty power of the cross of Calvary alone transforms character and brings back what was lost. This power and wisdom are not learned in words which human wisdom teaches but are known by receiving the Spirit from God, as the Holy Spirit teaches by comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Talking, praying, and singing Christ crucified breaks and wins hearts and gathers souls for Christ, while formal set phrases and merely argumentative subjects do little or no good. The melting love of God in the hearts of workers is recognized by those for whom they labor, and revealing the love of Christ leads hungering, thirsting souls to Jesus. When sinners surrender heart and mind and will to God and accept the crucified and risen Saviour as personal Saviour, He becomes to them the power of God and the wisdom of God in advancing Christian experience, filling their words with moisture so they can water others with the bread of life and the waters of salvation.
Preaching Christ as crucified and risen, in distinct lines, puts new power and efficiency into the message of truth. He is to be lifted up before fallen humanity in the heart of the broken law as the sin-pardoning Saviour and the sinner's hope, the One mighty to save whose power to forgive sin is unlimited. So preached, Christ crucified is the great instrument for conversion of souls and for leading every church to the high standard of holiness needed to become a living church. The apostles made Him the theme of preaching, exalted His name as the only name by which people can be saved, and proclaimed Him as the risen Saviour, and their message won people to the gospel, whereas constantly dwelling on the law without presenting the gospel misleads souls and leaves many claiming to believe with no experiential knowledge of faith in Christ and only intellectual assent without penitence and conversion.
The Crucified One, though a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the supposedly wise, is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and this truth belongs with the message that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that everyone who believes should not perish but have everlasting life. That combined truth is to be proclaimed and developed in the closing scenes of this earth's history. Those who receive Christ as a personal Saviour will stand the test of trial in these last days. Strengthened by unquestioning faith in Christ, even the illiterate disciple will withstand the doubts and questions of infidelity, put to shame the sophistries of scorners, and bear affirmative testimony with convincing power and wisdom that baffles supposedly learned men and brings thousands to conversion.
Christ crucified as the great atonement for sin is the central truth of the gospel, and the truth about this atonement is plainly and decidedly revealed in God's Word. Yet it can be correctly explained only by those who in loyalty to God obey His holy commandments, while those who refuse to obey the law of God cannot correctly explain it and remain ignorant of divine things because they love darkness rather than light. Those who have had great light and knowledge refuse that power and wisdom when they make their own systems the standard and judge everything by their own ideas, exalting pretentious human assertions above the clearest light and pronouncing heaven-sent light to be darkness, for the secret of the Lord is given only to those who fear Him.
Life Transformed by Christ
The cross gives the proper level to the human mind, for to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God, while to others He is a stumbling block and foolishness. By looking to Jesus every desire for self-glorification is laid in the dust, and seeing God in Christ and Christ in God aright levels human exaltation and pride. There is no self-exaltation but true humility, lowliness, self-abasement and humbleness of mind, for God chooses the foolish and weak and base and despised things of the world to confound the wise and mighty so that no flesh should glory in His presence. Those who are in Christ Jesus receive Him as wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, and therefore glory only in the Lord and in the cross. As believers behold Jesus at the cross they learn meekness and lowliness and are changed into His image, testifying by a truly converted experience that God is the author of eternal salvation.
The wonderful provision brought to every believer is the Creator of all worlds, rich in heaven's treasure and the Majesty of heaven, humbling Himself to human nature. He clothed His divinity with humanity, took the place of meekness and lowliness, and became poor so that through His poverty believers are made rich. Any cherishing of high-mindedness, self-trust, self-sufficiency and self-complacency dishonors the Maker and will surely be humbled.
The mighty power of the cross of Calvary alone transforms character and brings back what was lost, in contrast to the wisdom, oratory and philosophy of this world which God has made foolish. That power restores from sin, breaks evil's hold on the heart, cleanses from sin through the blood of the Crucified One, and enables resistance to and subduing of the tendencies of fallen nature. Holiness does not come by developing an inner divine power but depends on God's power in Jesus Christ and on His grace. This power and wisdom are not learned in words which man's wisdom teaches but are known by receiving the Spirit which is of God, as the Holy Ghost teaches by comparing spiritual things with spiritual, transforming sinners into obedient servants through the Spirit.
God's wisdom and power in Christ crucified work every day to change the heart, take away sin by the cross, and are exactly fitted to meet every hindrance, trial, obstacle and emergency of daily life. Complete provision is given through the risen Christ who stands in God's presence as Intercessor, Advocate, Substitute and Surety, joining humanity and divinity so that access to God is open to all through His blood. Received by faith in a personal Saviour who helps in every emergency, this all-sufficiency makes the follower ready for every work and every trial, even while opposed at every step in the struggle for virtue and holiness.
Those who receive Christ are given power to become the sons of God and to be perfect in their sphere as God is perfect in His sphere. They are content with nothing less than the best and highest character formed after the divine similitude, whose life, faith and purity of religion is an instructive example to others. For those in Christ Jesus have wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption from God and glory only in the Lord, and righteousness exalts a nation while sin is a reproach to any people.
God can use someone regarded as foolish and unable to argue to bring a learned, proud person to humility. God's wisdom in choosing humble means to accomplish His work appears foolish to boastful, self-confident people, but succeeds through God's power. This shows dependence on God rather than human strength, ingenuity, worldly wisdom or human skill as what changes hearts.
The gospel becomes the power and wisdom of God to a worker when he begins at once to trade on the very first endowment God entrusts to him instead of waiting idle for more. He puts out God's goods by calling the attention of others to their value, presenting sacred truth by precept and example, seeking wisdom from God daily, searching the Scriptures diligently, and realizing he is in co-partnership with God. Its ministry in his own life and character makes him a living epistle known and read of all men, with transformation constantly going forward conforming his character to the character of Christ through the efficiency of the Holy Spirit.
Christ is wisdom for all who desire wisdom, and it is through His might that believers conquer. God's wisdom can instruct people of the loftiest intellect and interest those with little understanding, for high and low alike. Those who know their weakness and are willing to learn humbly, like little children, are taught by Christ and receive wisdom greater than human philosophy can give.
Treating a person's judgment as if it were God's wisdom can lead others astray, because God's wisdom is not the same as human wisdom. Human wisdom may be foolish and cannot replace a person's own prayerful discernment.
Warned by Satan's disobedience and casting out of heaven, sinners hide themselves in Christ as the source of all wisdom and power. In the cross of Calvary they behold the guarantee of salvation, beholding the Saviour giving His life so they might be Christians. The cross is God's way of saving sinners, for Christ crucified, risen, living as Intercessor and Advocate, and coming again is God's power and wisdom for those who are called. Its light makes the plan of salvation clear enough for children to understand, and its power breaks sin-hardened hearts and wins them to love Jesus.
To those who answer God's call, both Jews and Greeks, the crucified Christ becomes God's saving power and true wisdom. Those who perish see that same preaching as foolishness and a stumbling block, demanding signs or philosophy while refusing self-denial and the cross. God has so ordered it because human learning, eloquence and status cannot lead to knowing Him, choosing instead the lowly and despised so no one can boast. In Christ Himself, made to believers wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, God's character and plan to recover and recreate lost humanity are revealed. Therefore workers are to keep the crucified, risen and interceding Saviour at the center, for that message alone converts souls, humbles pride, breaks sin's hold and transforms believers into His image.
Those Who Are Called
To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, and especially Christ crucified, is the power of God and the wisdom of God. To unbelieving Jews the preaching of Christ crucified is an offense and stumbling block, and to Greeks who trust their own wisdom it is foolishness and nonsense, while to those who believe it is God's saving power and true understanding. What is called God's foolishness is wiser than men and what is called God's weakness is stronger than men, and human wisdom, learning, status, and strength cannot bring people to know God or match His wisdom and power. Being in Christ Jesus by God, Christ is made unto believers wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so that no flesh can boast in His presence and all boasting is only in the Lord. No human being can take Christ's place by undertaking to be wisdom for another.
The calling itself proves this overturning of human pride, since not many wise after the flesh, mighty, or noble are called. God chooses what the world counts foolish to shame the wise, weak things to shame the mighty, and low, despised, base, and nonexistent things to bring to nothing the things that are. Paul's own ministry in weakness, fear, and much trembling, without persuasive words of human wisdom but with proof of the Spirit and power, displays this order, so that faith stands in God's power rather than in human wisdom. The wisdom spoken among the mature is not the wisdom of this age or of its rulers who come to nothing, but God's hidden secret wisdom prepared before the world for glory, which none of this world's rulers knew, for otherwise they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The natural person cannot receive or know the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned, which contrasts this spiritual understanding with the mistaken ideas of those who reject or distort the gospel.
The called are those who believe, receive the call of the gospel, seek God in truth, and come to Christ humbly as lost sinners. To all who receive the truth the gospel becomes the power and wisdom of God unto salvation. Human argument cannot convert the sinner, but only God's power can bring truth to the heart, and those who exalt their own wisdom fail to receive the light He gives while those who come humbly receive the wisdom that leads to salvation. Through the gospel God draws rebels back to Himself, and the cross reconciles fallen people to God and brings them near to Him. Christ as the wisdom and power of God unto salvation is received when the precious words of the Saviour, which are spirit and life, are brought into daily experience, and this inward receiving is eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God.
Jews requiring a sign and Greeks seeking after wisdom represent the two great classes who receive or reject the gospel. The promise is universal because Christ died for all people, so that people of every race and every group may alike receive grace, and God calls people from every group while choosing the lowly and despised rather than relying on worldly rank. Those who treat the light for salvation indifferently and resist conviction because truth is unpopular and involves self-denial justify themselves as the disciples did when Christ declared Himself the Bread of life. The demand for a sign is not want of evidence, for piled-up evidence would do no more than evidence already given, but an excuse to avoid the cross involved in accepting the gospel. The first chapter belongs to right lines of work for a people God is leading out and preparing for translation, calling those who act a part in this work to stand as sentinels for God, to labor unitedly, to be willing servants of all, and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Rejection by Unbelievers
Preaching Christ crucified divides all hearers, for to those who are perishing it is foolishness, to Jews who require a sign it is a stumbling-block and offense, and to Greeks who seek after wisdom it is nonsense, while to those who are saved and believe it is God's saving power to save them. To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, that same crucified Christ is the means of God's strength and true understanding, the source of divine power and wisdom. The Jews requiring a sign and the Greeks seeking after wisdom represent the two great classes who receive or reject the gospel. Workers are therefore taught to keep Jesus Christ, especially Christ crucified, at the center, not preaching merely to please people but plainly presenting eternal truth and the danger of neglecting eternal interests, keeping self out of sight and exalting Christ.
What is called God's foolishness is wiser than men, and what is called God's weakness is stronger than men, so doubt, criticism, and human councils that handicap reformers when new methods are urged cannot stand against the preaching of Christ crucified. The called clearly apprehend and enjoy the grand truths that the proud refuse. God thereby destroys the wisdom of the wise, brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent, and makes foolish the wisdom of this world, because the world by wisdom knew not God, and He has higher aims for His people than the study of man. Man's ideas of education are not to be exalted as supreme, and the inclination to extol men God calls foolishness, while the Lord waits to bestow His Holy Spirit upon all who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
The demand for a sign is not want of evidence, for piled-up evidence would do no more than evidence already given. It is an excuse to avoid the cross involved in accepting the gospel, with its self-denial and unpopular truth. Those who treat the light for salvation indifferently and resist conviction because truth is unpopular and involves self-denial justify themselves as the disciples did when Christ declared Himself the Bread of life.
Pride of intellect and worldly wisdom counted the message foolishness at Athens, where comparatively few received the gospel. The same pride still leads great men, ministers, doctors, and the learned to miss truth, for popularity and worldly inducements are too great for them to yield up, their minds are darkened by the god of this world, and they do not see Sabbath truth when it is truth. For that reason conscientious observers of the Lord's Sabbath seem wild and erratic to unbelievers whose happiness is in worldly pleasures and vanities, while those who are saved choose the suffering, self-denying part of religion and discern the matchless charms of a Saviour's love.
To the self-conceited the preaching of the cross appears foolish because they have no experience of it and do not recognize their need of Christ. Those who judge by worldly wisdom and lack spiritual eyesight and the heavenly anointing count advocates of truth as inferior to advancers of error. The grace of God in the heart changes the estimate of everything relating to the cause of God, so the called discern Christ as power and wisdom though Jews count Him a stumbling-block and Greeks count Him foolishness. God saves those who believe through what the world calls the foolishness of preaching.
Divine Wisdom Versus Human
In God's wisdom the world by its own wisdom did not know God, so it pleased Him to save those who believe by what looks like the foolishness of preaching. He has made foolish the wisdom of this world, destroying the wisdom of the wise and bringing to nothing the understanding of the prudent. The cross is the dividing test of that purpose, for human wisdom cannot bring anyone to know God. God has higher aims for His people than the study of man, and He waits to bestow His Holy Spirit on all who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
The calling itself proves this overturning, since not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things to shame the mighty. He chose base and despised and low things, yes things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no flesh should boast in His presence. Those who glory are therefore to glory not in wisdom, might, or riches, but in understanding and knowing God, distinguishing between the obedient and disobedient and between the sacred and the common.
Human wisdom, oratory, philosophy, learning, status, and strength cannot make anyone know God, limit His power, or convert souls. The inclination to exalt and extol learned men and human ideas of education is foolishness in God's sight, and man's ideas of education are not to be exalted as supreme. No one can take Christ's place by undertaking to be wisdom for another. Neither Jewish learning nor Grecian eloquence, nor physical strength, can convict and convert without heaven's resources, for God calls people from every group and chooses the lowly and despised rather than relying on worldly rank. Christ crucified, rejected as foolishness by some and a stumbling block to others, is the means by which God saves believers.
God's power and wisdom are not learned in words which man's wisdom teaches but are known by receiving the Spirit who is of God, as the Holy Spirit teaches by comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Preaching is therefore to be not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that faith stands not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. The natural person does not receive and cannot know the things of the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned and seem foolishness to him. The spiritual person judges all things and has the mind of Christ. This wisdom is hidden from the wise and prudent and revealed to babes, received as a gift that leaves no room for boasting and requires diligent study and humility.
That wisdom of God is the wisdom spoken among the mature, not the wisdom of this age nor of its rulers who come to nothing. It is the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden secret wisdom ordained before the world for glory. It includes things eye has not seen nor ear heard nor entered into the heart of man, the things God has prepared for those who love Him, revealed by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God. None of the princes of this world knew it, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. All engaged in the various branches of God's work are to study the first and second chapters of First Corinthians to learn this.
True education is knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, which is eternal life and the highest education. That education of highest value is more to be desired than gold and silver and precious stones, worldly honor, or empty applause. Education without a practical knowledge of God and Jesus Christ is worthless. The revealed truths of the living God's Word, when received into the heart as the Word of God and applied to the soul, enter the understanding and heart with convincing power and become the power of God in the transformation of character. Believers are then not only hearers but doers of the Word, with all conversation and action in harmony with the education received, living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God under a Divine Instructor. In Christ, God provides wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, so no one has grounds to boast in human achievement but only in the Lord.
Christ Our Power and Wisdom
To those called from Jews and Greeks, Christ crucified is God's power and wisdom, though that same message is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks and to all who perish, while to believers it is saving power that overturns human pride. Being in Christ Jesus by God, He is made unto believers wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that true education from God leads to holiness rather than resting on human learning, status, or achievement. This leaves no flesh with ground to boast before God, for all boasting is only in the Lord, and no human being can take Christ's place by undertaking to be wisdom for another. What is called God's foolishness is wiser than men and what is called God's weakness is stronger than men, as the calling itself proves since not many wise after the flesh, mighty, or noble are called. God chooses what the world counts foolish to shame the wise, weak things to shame the mighty, and low, despised, and nonexistent things to bring to nothing the things that are, and Paul's ministry in weakness, fear, and much trembling, without persuasive words of human wisdom but with proof of the Spirit and power, displays this so faith stands in God's power rather than human wisdom.
The verse presents Christ's pre-existence and the purpose of His manifestation to this world as living beams of light from the eternal throne, resplendent with divine original glory. He is the wisdom of God because He is Himself the Word and expression of God's mind to man, the great teacher sent by God who stood in God's councils. Every element of truth from least to greatest is familiar to Him, He is perfectly acquainted with every need and with the principles of truth which is the gospel unto salvation, and He reveals the infinite mind with personal knowledge and the authority of a divine oracle, with power and knowledge. All heaven's treasures were given to Him to give needed help to every soul, to break sin-slavery and make men and women free, unfolding truth of the highest order, even the words of eternal life. He is the author of truth who restores truths lost or mingled with error and sets them in the gospel to shine in original purity, and in His humanity heavenly illumination shone through Him in perfect oneness with God, so those who receive and believe reflect that light.
He was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy, which was the gospel in figure and symbol. He came to sweep away speculative opinions invented by men and to present truth against false theories destructive to salvation. He did not come to abolish the law but to live it in purity, to be its correct expositor of God's character revealed in it, and to remove confusion of opinions about its meaning, vindicating God's law by a sinless life even while the prince of darkness unceasingly followed, accused, and contended with Him. In Him God's character and glory are revealed to humanity and made known, and divine wisdom is displayed in love and work to recover, pardon, redeem, and recreate lost and ruined humanity in God's image. Those in Him are formed after Christ and restored through Him, not by the law.
The crucified, risen, ascended, and interceding Christ is the great atonement for sin, the central truth plainly revealed, the science of salvation, the sinner's only hope and complete source of salvation to whom nothing can be added, the stronghold of every believer. Lifted up in the heart of the broken law before fallen humanity as the sin-pardoning Saviour mighty to save, His power to forgive is unlimited, and preaching Him as crucified and risen in distinct lines puts new power and efficiency into truth for conversion of souls and for leading every church to the high standard of holiness needed to become living. Constantly dwelling on law without presenting the gospel misleads souls, and neglecting Christ crucified leaves many claiming to believe with no experiential knowledge of faith, while rightly represented the gospel humbles each person and its light makes salvation clear enough for children, breaking sin-hardened hearts and winning them to love Jesus. That atonement can be correctly explained only by those who in loyalty obey God's commandments, while those refusing obedience remain ignorant of divine things, loving darkness rather than light.
Through the gospel God draws rebels back to Himself, and the cross reconciles fallen people and brings them near. Christ as God's wisdom and power unto salvation is received when the Saviour's precious words, which are spirit and life, are brought into daily experience, and this inward receiving is eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. The Bible as revelation of God's glory in Christ is itself God's wisdom and power, the Lord's philosophy and rule of life, and the Bible alone produces good fruit because it works with power in the receptive heart. Received, believed, and obeyed, it transforms character, gives sure intellectual culture and true strength and wisdom, fills the entire being with heaven's life-giving principles, and makes people channels through which Father, Son, and Holy Spirit communicate divine truth, bringing within reach all that God's power can do wherever people are. Frivolity that cumbers the church makes it weak and inefficient and closes those channels.
From beginning to end of time He is the source of salvation, strength, life, and wisdom, and the cross of Calvary is the source of all true wisdom. Leaders must receive grace from Him daily, and supplied by Christ they can work wisely and righteously and proclaim sacred truth to God's glory, studying His life on earth where divinity was revealed and His gospel as supreme guide rather than displacing it by human reason or writings. His kingdom and church have no fitting comparison in any earthly government or society, for they use no coercion or force. The gospel is a power in itself, grounded in God, working through His grace, love, and compassion to break down barriers as a gospel of peace and unchanging divine principle.
Proclaiming Christ Crucified
Workers are to keep Jesus Christ, especially Christ crucified, at the center of the message, keeping self out of sight and exalting Christ. They are not to preach merely to please people with fanciful discourses, but to present eternal truth plainly, with its practical godliness and plain Bible requirements, including the danger of neglecting eternal interests. The uplifted Saviour is to be presented as the believer's only hope and strength, for intellectual assent to truth accomplishes nothing unless the heart is penitent, convicted, and converted through the Holy Spirit.
Paul could have met oratory with oratory and philosophy with philosophy, yet he determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He ministered in weakness and fear and much trembling, without persuasive words of human wisdom but with proof of the Spirit and of power, so that faith would stand in God's power rather than in human wisdom. In contrast to the wisdom, oratory, and philosophy of this world which God has made foolish, Christ and Him crucified is to those called the power of God and the wisdom of God, and the mighty power of the cross of Calvary alone transforms character and brings back what was lost. This power and wisdom are not learned in words which human wisdom teaches but are known by receiving the Spirit from God, as the Holy Spirit teaches by comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Talking, praying, and singing Christ crucified breaks and wins hearts and gathers souls for Christ, while formal set phrases and merely argumentative subjects do little or no good. The melting love of God in the hearts of workers is recognized by those for whom they labor, and revealing the love of Christ leads hungering, thirsting souls to Jesus. When sinners surrender heart and mind and will to God and accept the crucified and risen Saviour as personal Saviour, He becomes to them the power of God and the wisdom of God in advancing Christian experience, filling their words with moisture so they can water others with the bread of life and the waters of salvation.
Preaching Christ as crucified and risen, in distinct lines, puts new power and efficiency into the message of truth. He is to be lifted up before fallen humanity in the heart of the broken law as the sin-pardoning Saviour and the sinner's hope, the One mighty to save whose power to forgive sin is unlimited. So preached, Christ crucified is the great instrument for conversion of souls and for leading every church to the high standard of holiness needed to become a living church. The apostles made Him the theme of preaching, exalted His name as the only name by which people can be saved, and proclaimed Him as the risen Saviour, and their message won people to the gospel, whereas constantly dwelling on the law without presenting the gospel misleads souls and leaves many claiming to believe with no experiential knowledge of faith in Christ and only intellectual assent without penitence and conversion.
The Crucified One, though a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the supposedly wise, is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and this truth belongs with the message that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that everyone who believes should not perish but have everlasting life. That combined truth is to be proclaimed and developed in the closing scenes of this earth's history. Those who receive Christ as a personal Saviour will stand the test of trial in these last days. Strengthened by unquestioning faith in Christ, even the illiterate disciple will withstand the doubts and questions of infidelity, put to shame the sophistries of scorners, and bear affirmative testimony with convincing power and wisdom that baffles supposedly learned men and brings thousands to conversion.
Christ crucified as the great atonement for sin is the central truth of the gospel, and the truth about this atonement is plainly and decidedly revealed in God's Word. Yet it can be correctly explained only by those who in loyalty to God obey His holy commandments, while those who refuse to obey the law of God cannot correctly explain it and remain ignorant of divine things because they love darkness rather than light. Those who have had great light and knowledge refuse that power and wisdom when they make their own systems the standard and judge everything by their own ideas, exalting pretentious human assertions above the clearest light and pronouncing heaven-sent light to be darkness, for the secret of the Lord is given only to those who fear Him.
Life Transformed by Christ
The cross gives the proper level to the human mind, for to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God, while to others He is a stumbling block and foolishness. By looking to Jesus every desire for self-glorification is laid in the dust, and seeing God in Christ and Christ in God aright levels human exaltation and pride. There is no self-exaltation but true humility, lowliness, self-abasement and humbleness of mind, for God chooses the foolish and weak and base and despised things of the world to confound the wise and mighty so that no flesh should glory in His presence. Those who are in Christ Jesus receive Him as wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, and therefore glory only in the Lord and in the cross. As believers behold Jesus at the cross they learn meekness and lowliness and are changed into His image, testifying by a truly converted experience that God is the author of eternal salvation.
The wonderful provision brought to every believer is the Creator of all worlds, rich in heaven's treasure and the Majesty of heaven, humbling Himself to human nature. He clothed His divinity with humanity, took the place of meekness and lowliness, and became poor so that through His poverty believers are made rich. Any cherishing of high-mindedness, self-trust, self-sufficiency and self-complacency dishonors the Maker and will surely be humbled.
The mighty power of the cross of Calvary alone transforms character and brings back what was lost, in contrast to the wisdom, oratory and philosophy of this world which God has made foolish. That power restores from sin, breaks evil's hold on the heart, cleanses from sin through the blood of the Crucified One, and enables resistance to and subduing of the tendencies of fallen nature. Holiness does not come by developing an inner divine power but depends on God's power in Jesus Christ and on His grace. This power and wisdom are not learned in words which man's wisdom teaches but are known by receiving the Spirit which is of God, as the Holy Ghost teaches by comparing spiritual things with spiritual, transforming sinners into obedient servants through the Spirit.
God's wisdom and power in Christ crucified work every day to change the heart, take away sin by the cross, and are exactly fitted to meet every hindrance, trial, obstacle and emergency of daily life. Complete provision is given through the risen Christ who stands in God's presence as Intercessor, Advocate, Substitute and Surety, joining humanity and divinity so that access to God is open to all through His blood. Received by faith in a personal Saviour who helps in every emergency, this all-sufficiency makes the follower ready for every work and every trial, even while opposed at every step in the struggle for virtue and holiness.
Those who receive Christ are given power to become the sons of God and to be perfect in their sphere as God is perfect in His sphere. They are content with nothing less than the best and highest character formed after the divine similitude, whose life, faith and purity of religion is an instructive example to others. For those in Christ Jesus have wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption from God and glory only in the Lord, and righteousness exalts a nation while sin is a reproach to any people.
God can use someone regarded as foolish and unable to argue to bring a learned, proud person to humility. God's wisdom in choosing humble means to accomplish His work appears foolish to boastful, self-confident people, but succeeds through God's power. This shows dependence on God rather than human strength, ingenuity, worldly wisdom or human skill as what changes hearts.
The gospel becomes the power and wisdom of God to a worker when he begins at once to trade on the very first endowment God entrusts to him instead of waiting idle for more. He puts out God's goods by calling the attention of others to their value, presenting sacred truth by precept and example, seeking wisdom from God daily, searching the Scriptures diligently, and realizing he is in co-partnership with God. Its ministry in his own life and character makes him a living epistle known and read of all men, with transformation constantly going forward conforming his character to the character of Christ through the efficiency of the Holy Spirit.
Christ is wisdom for all who desire wisdom, and it is through His might that believers conquer. God's wisdom can instruct people of the loftiest intellect and interest those with little understanding, for high and low alike. Those who know their weakness and are willing to learn humbly, like little children, are taught by Christ and receive wisdom greater than human philosophy can give.
Treating a person's judgment as if it were God's wisdom can lead others astray, because God's wisdom is not the same as human wisdom. Human wisdom may be foolish and cannot replace a person's own prayerful discernment.
Warned by Satan's disobedience and casting out of heaven, sinners hide themselves in Christ as the source of all wisdom and power. In the cross of Calvary they behold the guarantee of salvation, beholding the Saviour giving His life so they might be Christians. The cross is God's way of saving sinners, for Christ crucified, risen, living as Intercessor and Advocate, and coming again is God's power and wisdom for those who are called. Its light makes the plan of salvation clear enough for children to understand, and its power breaks sin-hardened hearts and wins them to love Jesus.