1 Corinthians 1:28, commentary and pictures

God chooses what the world counts as base and low and despised and nothing, even as if it did not exist, in order to bring to nothing what the world counts as established and important and mighty. He does this to overturn human measures of wisdom and strength and status, confounding the wise by what seems foolish and the mighty by what seems weak, so that no flesh can glory or boast in His presence. Whoever glories must glory only in the Lord, for those who are in Christ Jesus have Christ made to them by God wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, saved through the preaching of Christ crucified which is foolishness to the perishing but the power and wisdom of God to the saved. For this reason those He calls are commonly not many wise after the flesh nor mighty nor noble, but the poor of this world and common humble people, fishermen and mechanics and field workers and children and others of little learning, because pride of intellect and trust in own wisdom and righteousness keep the great and learned from yielding to the cross while babes in knowledge grasp it. Christ Himself exemplified this by coming from humble parentage and obscurity in Galilee and beginning His work in poverty without worldly rank, and the early believers did so by their small numbers and poverty and obscurity advancing only by God's blessing, showing in every generation that lack of numbers and learning and influence does not disprove a message and that human status does not decide whether it is true.

Words and Purpose

God chooses persons and things that the world counts as base and low and contemptible, as despised and insignificant and as nothing, even as though they did not exist, in order to reduce to nothing what the world counts as established and substantial and important and powerful and mighty. Worldly wisdom and status do not decide whom He calls or uses, and human standards of greatness give no ground for boasting before Him. This choice overturns every human measure of wisdom and strength and worth.

He makes this choice to shame human pride in wisdom and status and achievement, to confound the wise by what men call foolish and the mighty by what men call weak, and to leave no flesh with any ground to glory or boast in His presence. Human ideas of education are therefore not to be exalted as supreme and learned men are not to be extolled, for such exaltation is foolishness in His sight. In education and in Christian work success does not depend on worldly standing or book learning or human ability, but on His choice and power.

Instead all glory belongs to Him, and anyone who would glory must glory only in the Lord. Those who are in Christ Jesus have Christ made to them by God as wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so salvation and its wisdom come through Christ alone. At Athens pride of intellect caused comparatively few to receive the gospel because they counted it foolishness, while those who were babes in knowledge grasped and enjoyed grand truths that proud and self-exalted men refused to examine and cast aside as worthless.

The setting is that the world by its wisdom did not know God, so it pleased Him by the foolishness of preaching Christ crucified to save those who believe. That preaching is foolishness to those who perish but the power of God and the wisdom of God to those who are saved and called, a stumblingblock to Jews and foolishness to Greeks. He destroys the wisdom of the wise and brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent, has made foolish the wisdom of this world, and by the cross exposes worldly wisdom as powerless while making Christ crucified the center of true preaching.

God's Humble Workers

Those whom God chooses are commonly the poor of this world and the common people, humble fishermen and small, poor, little-known believers, youth and older workers drawn from field, vineyard, workshop, plough and business life, mechanics, children, slaves and peasants, and even souls of inferior intellect and untidy habits. They are often from ordinary circumstances and lack worldly status, learning, wisdom, rank and power, yet they trust Christ and serve others according to ability, and their worth and calling come from God rather than worldly standing. Their growth, wisdom, power and success in the work come from being with Jesus, learning from Him and yielding their abilities to Him, so that all serve humbly, display His power, and leave no room for human boasting. In wicked cities God has many such humble yet trustful lights unknown to ministers and churches and unnoticed by the world, hidden in highways and hedges and shining in lowly miserable places, patient, meek and gentle amid nakedness, hunger and cold as His martyrs visited by angels, and His work advances not by numbers, might or power but by His Spirit working through connected channels with thousands of thousands of angels cooperating.

Jesus chose humble fishermen, not because He opposed education or sound knowledge, but because the wisdom of influential teachers had been darkened by worldly aims and self-righteousness. Their simple lives and freedom from ambition for wealth and honor, their willingness to learn and to work with Him, and their time being with Jesus made them receptive to truth and fit and wise for His work. He offered them no promises of worldly honor, riches or glory, showing that His work does not depend on worldly prestige, status or ability, and overturning worldly measures of wisdom and status so that no one can boast in His presence.

God can use people who seem rough, dull, unpromising, weak, limited and frail, with few talents, little learning and broken speech. He does not judge by outward appearance but searches the heart and judges rightly, setting aside those who rely on learning and self while choosing followers with fewer natural talents who rely on Him. He stirs their abilities into vigorous action, gives them understanding and power to show the principles of His kingdom and to silence those who exalt themselves, makes the weak strong because they trust Him to do for them what they cannot do for themselves, accepts whole-hearted service, makes up deficiencies, takes those who will be molded for His name's glory, uses material others would pass by, and works through very simple means and the simplicity of the human agent to open a door in heaven and reveal God to man. When consecrated to Him and instructed by Christ and Scripture, even the weakest follower is joined to infinite power through goodness, truth and unwavering faithfulness without compromise of conscience, and the Holy Spirit gives practical power to lead others to Christ which worldly learning without learning from Christ cannot give, so that with God's blessing even a few imperfect broken sentences from such a humble Christian can be wholly successful in reaching the heart of a sinner to God's glory alone.

Not many wise after the flesh, mighty and noble are called. Popularity and worldly inducements keep great men, ministers, doctors, the learned, the rich and influential from yielding to truth when it requires the cross, while pride of intellect, trust in own wisdom and righteousness, unwillingness to accept the cross, and minds darkened by the god of this world lead them to count the gospel foolishness and reject it. This was seen at Athens where pride of intellect and worldly wisdom led comparatively few to receive the gospel, and in the last days the greatest scholars, statesmen and eminent men turn from the light, while those who are babes in knowledge clearly grasp and enjoy grand truths that proud and self-exalted men refuse to examine and cast aside as worthless. True value and elevation are measured only by union with Christ, and those in Christ receive wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, making worldly honor, greatness, wisdom and strength foolishness and weakness.

A humble mechanic illustrates this, for through consecrated persistent efforts to reach souls and to reclaim and strengthen others he accomplished much by the mighty power of grace rather than his own strength, standing or status. A poor man who could give no reasons for the first angel's message illustrates it also, for by repeatedly calling that the bridegroom was coming the Spirit of God used his words to bring a learned elder to his knees in confession, humbling the proud and learned by power not of worldly wisdom or status. Children illustrate it as well, for God opens their lips to proclaim truths from Daniel and Revelation that have remained hidden from human minds, choosing what the world regards as foolish and weak to confound the wise and mighty.

Christ Example and History

Christ's own humble, unpretentious life without display or grandeur shows what choosing base things of the world and things despised, yea things which are not, to bring to nought things that are means. He came of humble parentage, was brought up in obscurity at Nazareth in Galilee in a sin-cursed world, and began His work in poverty and without worldly rank rather than through means counted wise, teaching His church from the very beginning to rely not on worldly rank and splendor but on faith and obedience, for the favor of God is above gold and silver and the power of His Spirit is of inestimable value. As Creator of all worlds and Majesty of heaven, rich in heaven's treasure, He humbled Himself to human nature in meekness and lowliness, clothing divinity with humanity and becoming poor so that through His poverty believers might be made rich. The cross of Calvary gives the proper level to the human mind, and looking unto Jesus and seeing God in Christ and Christ in God aright lays all desire for self-glorification and human exaltation and pride in the dust, leaving no self-exaltation and no ground for flesh to glory in His presence, but producing true humility, self-abasement, lowliness and humbleness of mind, with wonderful provision for every believer, so that he that glories must glory only in the Lord and in the cross, while cherishing highmindedness, self-trust, self-sufficiency and self-complacency dishonors the Maker and will surely be humbled.

The small, poor, little-known early believers illustrate the same choice, for their growth and work advanced through God's blessing rather than worldly status or resources, leaving no room for human boasting. Their small numbers, poverty and obscurity show that God chose what the world counted low, despised and insignificant to bring to nothing what it counted important. Obscure tent-makers carried the gospel into Europe, Paul in chains preached Christ in the stronghold of the Caesars, and little communities of slaves and peasants stood in conflict with the heathenism of imperial Rome. At Athens pride of intellect and pride in learning and refinement led comparatively few to receive the gospel, because they counted it foolishness, showing that worldly wisdom cannot know God and that His work does not depend on worldly status, wisdom or power. Those who are babes in knowledge clearly grasp and enjoy grand truths that proud and self-exalted men refuse to examine and cast aside as worthless, for not many wise, mighty and noble are called, but God chooses the foolish to confound the wise and the weak to confound the mighty, so that no one can boast in His presence but must glory in the Lord, receiving in Christ Jesus wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption from God. His servants are still to carry saving truth even to eminent scholars and statesmen, though many will reject it and some will admit ignorance and become humble learners of Jesus.

In every generation God gives His church a special truth and a special work calling for self-sacrifice, with battles to fight and victories to win, hidden from the worldly-wise and prudent and revealed to the childlike and humble, so that at the outset its advocates are few and are opposed and despised by the great men of the world and by a world-conforming church. This was seen in John the Baptist standing alone to rebuke the pride and formalism of the Jewish nation, in Martin Luther holding fast God's word against emperor and pope, in John Wesley preaching Christ and His righteousness amid formalism, sensualism and infidelity, in the Swiss Reformer, and in those burdened for the heathen who are turned away by ecclesiasticism. Special truths for the present time are found not with ecclesiastical authorities but with men and women who are not too learned or too wise to believe the word of God, among humble people willing to believe it, whose humility and obedience make them receptive to God's teaching and give them through the entrusted truth an honor greater than earthly greatness, so that faith stands not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God and human beings receive no glory for what God does through them. The same principle proves that small numbers, lack of learning, poverty and limited influence do not disprove a claim to teach God's truth, and that worldly status, strength, numbers, learning, wealth and influence are no proof of truth, nor does rejection by prominent, learned religious leaders determine whether a message is true. The arguments used against Luther's followers are no more conclusive than those used against later preachers who oppose established errors with the plain teachings of God's word.

In the last days the greatest scholars, statesmen and eminent men turn from the light, and God chooses instead base, despised, unlearned and ignorant men as teachers. Babes and children in Christ are far in advance of men learned in worldly wisdom in explaining the mysteries of the gospel. He chooses the unlearned because they are willing to learn as well as to teach, so that the power that gives success is seen to be of God and not of men, bringing to nothing what the world counts as mighty.

Education and True Wisdom

Human ideas of education are not to be exalted as supreme, and learned men are not to be extolled, for such exaltation is foolishness in the sight of God. The Lord has higher aims for His people than the mere study of man, and He waits to bestow His Holy Spirit upon all who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Educators and editors must therefore not divert minds from God to man by publishing worldly educational ideas and the lives of so-called wise men who are disloyal to God. To do so places man where God should be and fails to distinguish between the obedient and the disobedient and between the sacred and the common. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who perish but the power of God to those who are saved, for God has made foolish the wisdom of this world and has chosen base, despised, and nonexistent things to bring to nothing things that are, so that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Success in education and Christian work does not depend on worldly status, book learning, or human ability, but on God's choice and power, so that all boasting belongs in the Lord. Human wisdom, strength, status, might, nobility after the flesh, and learning are no grounds for boasting before God, and education must lead to knowing God and serving others with light received from Him rather than displacing His Word or fostering confidence in human ability. The highest of all education is the knowledge of God, for eternal life is to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. No method of education should crowd out the Word of God, for the living Word is of infinite value when it finds entrance into the heart and is received as the Word of God with its truths applied to the soul. Its revealed truths entering the understanding and heart with convincing power become the power of God in transformation of character when believers are not only hearers but doers of the Word, with all conversation and course of action in harmony with the education received from the Word and living by every word proceeding from the mouth of God under a divine Instructor. That education is of more value than gold and silver and precious stones, more to be desired than worldly honor and the empty applause of mortals, and fitness for heaven comes from being in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto believers wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that he who glories must glory in the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.

Human strength and wisdom without God's help are weakness and ignorance, and recognizing this leads to humility. Intellectual culture can be a blessing when governed by love and fear of God, but it cannot by itself produce Christlike character, which is imparted to those who distrust themselves, and pride in education or position can prevent people from learning from Christ and serving others. Learning itself is not condemned, but it cannot supply the inward qualification that God gives. God leaves men of intellect and talent to their own imaginings when after test and trial they refuse to use their gifts for His glory. Instead He chooses men who do not appear richly endowed and have no large self-confidence, making the weak strong because they trust Him to do for them what they cannot do for themselves. He accepts wholehearted service and Himself makes up deficiencies, takes those who will be molded and worked for His name's glory, uses material others would pass by, and through very simple means uses the simplicity of the human agent to open a door in heaven and reveal God to man.

God is not dependent on learned, self-important people or outward human qualifications to do His work. He can set aside people who rely on their learning and on self, and can raise up and exalt people taught by the Spirit, showing that His power and not human status or ability accomplishes His purpose. Those with little formal learning and fewer natural talents can declare the truth because they are humble enough to be taught by God and rely on Him, and their humility and obedience make them great. The knowledge God entrusts to them outweighs earthly honor. Even the weakest follower of Christ is joined to infinite power, and goodness, truth, and unwavering faithfulness strengthen those God uses so that they will not compromise conscience.

Life in the Church

The opening chapters of First Corinthians confront envy, strife and party cries of loyalty to Paul or Apollos as carnal weakness, teaching that planters and waterers are only ministers by whom belief comes and are nothing in themselves while God alone gives the increase. There is therefore no place for division and praising of men, but a call to deny self, keep eyes on Christ as Leader in troublous times, walk as He gave example, and draw minds in darkness of error to Christ to bear much fruit. Those so chosen are God's husbandry and God's building and temple, built on Jesus Christ as the only foundation, quickened from death in sins and saved by grace through faith as His workmanship created unto good works and built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. They are to place themselves in right relation to God as His property, including obedience to the laws of health and care for His husbandry and building to build for time and for eternity, and those leading out a people preparing for translation are to stand as sentinels, labor unitedly, be willing servants of all, and follow the great Exemplar.

Believers are only God's little children, so all pomposity and masterly effort to gain supremacy is unbecoming, plainly rebuked, and leaves no ground for pride or glorying in His presence. The cross gives the proper level to the human mind, for looking unto Jesus lays all desire for self-glorification in the dust. Seeing God in Christ and Christ in God aright levels human exaltation and pride, leaving no self-exaltation but producing true humility, self-abasement, lowliness and humbleness of mind, with wonderful provision for every believer. This is shown in the Creator of all worlds humbling Himself to human nature in meekness and lowliness, clothing divinity with humanity though rich in heaven's treasure, becoming poor that through His poverty believers might be made rich, so that cherishing high-mindedness, self-trust, self-sufficiency and self-complacency dishonors the Maker and will surely be humbled, and he that glories must glory only in the Lord and in the cross.

The choice of base and despised things that are not, to bring to nought things that are, answers self-esteem, self-love and self-conceit in the church. Those whose names are on church books without true conversion and without living personal connection with Christ are proud of wholeness and want a dignified religion wide enough to take in their own attributes, while self-love, love of property and love of praise excludes the Saviour who cannot accept a divided heart. They sneer at the simplicity of true godliness, are ignorant of what it means to be a child of God and heir of heaven, and to them the preaching of the cross is foolishness and unintelligible because they have no experience in it. Though wise in their own conceits they are wretched and miserable and blind and naked, and God brings the understanding of the prudent to nothing.

Usefulness does not come from wealth, learning, rank or power but from a willing mind, devotion to Christ and dependence on God. God gives each servant grace for the appointed work, and humble consecrated laborers who yield abilities to Him and accept instruction from Christ and Scripture receive practical power by the Holy Spirit to turn people from error to truth and from transgression to obedience, to become light-bearing successful workers and reveal Christian character to His glory, so no flesh can boast. He leaves men of intellect and talent to their own imaginings when after test they refuse His glory, and instead chooses men who do not appear richly endowed and have no large self-confidence, making the weak strong because they trust Him to do what they cannot do, accepting whole-hearted service, Himself making up deficiencies, taking those who will be molded for His name's glory, using material others would pass by and by very simple means opening a door in heaven to reveal God to man.

God's work does not succeed by numbers, might or power but by His Spirit working with men connected as channels of light, with angelic armies numbering thousands of thousands cooperating. Victory never comes by erecting massive buildings in rivalry or competing with worldly institutions, but by cherishing a Christlike spirit of meekness and lowliness, by entire surrender to Jesus, and by labor in humility without self-importance, enabling weak instrumentalities to do what the more talented fail to do. God is not dependent on any human instrumentality, so those who think everything depends on them and their say-so are often set entirely aside while help comes through unexpected channels and unthought-of ways, through the weakest instruments by which He is seen and acknowledged, magnifying His name in His own time and revealing the nothingness of men, requiring workers not to trust in own strength as an immovable mountain but to partake of His pleasantness and sweetness with grateful hearts looking to Him as the unchanging source of strength.

Workers must keep self out of sight and lift up Christ, relying on God's power rather than human wisdom or impressive speech, each given a work according to ability in advancing the kingdom through preaching Christ crucified. What the perishing call foolishness is to the saved the power of God, by which foolish preaching saves believers, destroys the wisdom of the wise and brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent, though those lacking spiritual eyesight count advocates of truth inferior to advocates of error until grace changes the estimate. Minds must not be narrowed onto the instrument, nor workers judged as mere men and rejected for weak mental capacities, ineloquent speech, limited knowledge, shallow judgment or unpolished manners and habits, for God works by whom He will and Christ officiates through the delegated servant to come close to hearts, show sympathy in personal effort and break barriers resisting truth, with His wisdom and power seen more through the self-distrustful than through one confident in own judgment, knowledge and address. God chooses poor despised souls of inferior intellect and untidy habits for His kingdom while others favored with blessings, intellect and pleasant surroundings are left out, for He does not see as man sees, so no worker can judge who will prize salvation or which effort will prosper, but must cut the garment for persons of all sizes and conditions, since many poor souls living up to feeble light and improving limited means are more acceptable than those with full light and ample means unused.

Saving truth is still to be carried even to eminent scholars and statesmen, though many will reject it because worldly wisdom cannot know God, while some will admit ignorance and become humble learners of Jesus. The verse gives precious assurance, comfort and encouragement for the time when trouble in the world increases and God's children must suffer, supporting a faith that will stand test, trial and opposition. It is fulfilled when believers bring the sick to God in faith with humbled hearts, confession of sins and earnest trustful prayer and see His power work practically in healing, where unbelief bars the working and robs God of glory while growth in faith, hope and love opens the way for weak instruments to confound the wise and mighty.

God's people are mainly the poor of this world, the common people, because not many wise, mighty and noble are called, and while the wealthy are in one sense invited they do not accept, but the poor have the gospel preached to them. In wicked cities God has many humble yet trustful lights unknown to ministers and churches, shining in lowly miserable places in highways and hedges, patient, meek and gentle, suffering nakedness, hunger and cold as His martyrs, visited by angels and unnoticed by the world though they have not bowed the knee to Baal. Those who believe the mighty truth are a poor despised company yet children of God honored by Him, and it is a great privilege to belong among them, for what the world despises looks mighty and glorious in His sight. The gospel does not gain standing from approval of the rich and powerful, and those who accept it are to work as Christ did among the destitute, despised, forsaken and afflicted, never considering themselves too refined to associate with and help the lowly and humble, for to neglect present duty for status or praise is narrow, conceited and selfish.