Foolish Living (or, “Wise Living”)
I Corinthians 1:18-31
Introduction: We return this week to our study in I Corinthians, and the passage seems to expose the root of the problems the church in Corinth was facing. But their problems are not so different from our problems in the 21st century church.
The English
word “philosophy” is derived from two Greek words, phileo, “to love,” and sophia,
“wisdom.” So at its etymological core a philosopher is a “lover of wisdom.”
The Greeks at the time of Paul were
certainly “lovers of wisdom,” and they were proud of it! Philosophy was where one would look for
answers to the big questions of life and where one would seek to find meaning
and purpose. Though philosophy certainly still influences many arguments and
debates, it may be that today “science,” or more properly secular science, has taken the place of philosophy as the place to
which many people, especially in western culture, look to answer life’s big
questions. Remember back to “Creationism”
debate last year and the “I am a reasonable man” argument of “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” Like most that embrace evolutionary thinking,
that debate reflected the perspective of many who accept the presuppositions of
secular science: we have to explain the universe without resorting to a God we
cannot see or to the idea of the supernatural. The universe is just the result
of chance, random, processes. As Justin
showed in his message last week for Sanctity of Life Sunday, in truth it is
unreasonable to a priori reject the
idea that God exists and that He has spoken. The Bible begins with the
statement, “In the beginning God
created…” He is the uncaused first cause, the Creator, the Master and owner
of the Universe, and He has spoken. He has revealed himself to humans in
history, and He inspired men to write His Word in a Book. This Book calls us to
recognize who He is, to see the depth of our need, and to put our trust in His
amazing grace.
The Big Idea: The Lord deserves all the glory and our salvation is
wholly of His grace.
I. We can’t
boast in our wisdom: The Folly of
Enthroning Human Reason (18-21).
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to
preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of
Christ be emptied of its power. 18
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who
are being saved it is the power of God. 19
For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the
discernment of the discerning I will thwart." 20 Where
is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of
God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the
folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
- The Gospel may be
incomprehensible to the lost, nevertheless it is powerful and true (18). There is a word play between v.17, “wisdom of word,” and v.18, “the word of the cross.” The context will go on to contrast “eloquence” (and supposed “human wisdom”) and the truth of the Gospel which the natural man
simply cannot understand (look ahead to 2:14). The perception of two distinct
groups is highlighted, “those who are
perishing,” and “those who are being
saved.” The present passive participle reminds us that salvation is past
(we were saved, at a particular point in time), present (we are being saved,
that is we are God’s and He is working in us and leading us toward our sure
hope), and future, we will be saved (when ultimately we receive our resurrection bodies
and enter into the new heaven and the new earth). Every human is on one path,
in one position, or the other. To those who are perishing, the gospel is
foolishness, moronic, nonsensical. To
those who are being saved, it is the “power” of God. That is the truth that is powerful to save,
as Paul said in Romans 1:16, “For I
am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
- God has set his revelation over and
against the limits of human reason (19). The quotation in v.19 comes from the
Old Testament prophet Isaiah, in a context that points to judgment and
revelation,
14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous
work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their
wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be
hidden." 15 Woe to those
who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD, And their works are in
the dark; They say, "Who sees us?" and, "Who knows
us?" 16 Surely you have
things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the
thing made say of him who made it, "He did not make me"? Or shall the
thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"? (Isaiah
29:14-16).
The
foolishness of creatures thinking that they know better than the Creator! Paul
is carrying over that same argument in I Corinthians. Some think they are wise,
but in truth they are fools, they think the Gospel is foolishness, but it is
absolute truth! Surely, we can’t boast
in our wisdom, God alone is God, and His wisdom exceeds our understanding. He deserves all the glory since salvation is
wholly of His grace.
II. We can’t take credit for our
salvation: Because humans will not
believe apart from God’s grace, He has chosen to use the preaching of the Cross
to save those who believe (22-25).
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is
wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men…
Jews demand signs... Even
though we saw in the ministry of Jesus repeated requests for a “sign,” it’s
clear that despite the evidence they would not believe without a supernatural
intervention on the part of God in their hearts. Remember the healing of the
man born blind in John 9? It would be comical if it wasn’t so sad, the healed
man stood there before the authorities, they questioned him, they questioned
witnesses, they questioned the man’s parents, they questioned the man again, still
they could not believe what had happened! Even after Lazarus was raised from the dead in
John 11, the leaders plotted to kill him since they could explain what had
happened. It seems to me that in cases like these they refused to believe
because the implications were more than they could bear. The relation
between “signs” and “faith” is a theme that carries through John’s Gospel, and
it is clear that faith is not the result of being convinced by the eyes. There
must be a supernatural opening of the heart that allows us to believe, to take
God at His word. It’s not through “seeing” but rather through “hearing and
believing” that we are saved. Jews demand signs, and…
Greeks seek wisdom… What we know about Corinth indicates that it
was a fast growing economic center, it was almost proverbial in terms of
immorality, but like most of Greek society they were “lovers of wisdom,” philosophers
in the broadest sense. There was some rivalry with generally more sophisticated
Athens. In the book of Acts we read of a confrontation Paul has with some Greek
philosophers in Athens before he came to Corinth (Acts 17:16-21):
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his
spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue
with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with
those who happened to be there. 18
Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some
said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He
seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"- because he was preaching
Jesus and the resurrection. 19
And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May
we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange
things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things
mean." 21 Now all the
Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing
except telling or hearing something new…
Initially
this openness gave Paul an opportunity to speak, until, that is, he came to the
subject of the resurrection in Acts 17:32,
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the
dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about
this." 33 So Paul went
out from their midst. 34 But
some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a
woman named Damaris and others with them.
Some
scoffed, some seemed to be considering, apparently only a few believed. They
like to talk and debate, but the idea of a God who has acted so directly in
human history—that they were not prepared to believe. It seems for all is “love of wisdom,” Paul
had just a few converts during his time in Athens.
Has the human heart changed much since Paul’s
day? Now I am not sure we would say most
Americans “love” philosophy or wisdom. But
they do highly value “reason” and “science” to tell them what is true and how
we should think. Many people have a kind of “folk spirituality” that they base
on what seems right to them. Others deify human intellect and put
science on the throne to tell us what is true. Like Athens and Corinth, America
is full of idols. Listen, we can choose
what we believe, but we can’t choose what is true! It’s not what I think about God but what God
is really like that matters. The “My God
isn’t like that…” or “My God wouldn’t
do that…” arguments don’t hold water if your God is something you have made
up in your own mind! Whether or not you
believe it, this is fact: The God who is, has spoken. If the Bible is
true (and it is), we are fallen creatures, our intellect is not the neutral,
open, objective evaluator of facts that we think it is. We desperately need God’s intervention to open
our understanding, to illumine His truth, to give us the ability to take Him at
His word.
“…We preach Christ crucified…” A stumbling block to the Jews—how
could the messiah have been nailed to a cross? The Scriptures said the one who
is hung on a tree is cursed of God (Deuteronomy 21:22,23)! How could the Messiah be cursed of God? That
would be an impossible contradiction! A crucified Messiah? Now that would be an oxymoron! Or would it? By
the first century most Jews had lost the full Old Testament picture of the
Messiah, so to them “Christ Crucified” was a scandal, a stumbling block that
they could not get past.
The message of the cross was foolishness to the
Greeks—or to the “Gentiles” [non-Jews]. They ask, “What does the death of a
Jewish preacher outside of Jerusalem have to do with me today?” That is where
many people are today. They like to say that Jesus was a good teacher, that he taught
some good things and told some stories like the “Good Samaritan” that should
inspire us. But talk of his miracles, his substitutionary death, and his
resurrection, those ideas are just fables they say, and certainly irrelevant to
reasonable, scientific, 21st century Americans. The Word of the
Cross, the Gospel, is a stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the
Greeks, but…
But to those who are called—power and wisdom, “…but to those who are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God…”
“…to those who
are called…” or “…but to the called…”
The word “called” here is an adjective that Paul uses only seven times, 4
in Romans and 3 in I Corinthians.
Romans
1:1 "Paul, a servant of
Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…"
Romans
1:6-7 "…including you who
are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called
to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ."
Romans
8:28 "And
we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for
those who are called according to his purpose."
1
Corinthians 1:1 "Paul, called
by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus…
1
Corinthians 1:2 "To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
to be saints…"
1
Corinthians 1:24 "...but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God."
Paul
twice uses the adjective to describe his own calling to be an apostle (Rom 1:1;
I Cor 1:1). In every other of these uses Paul is using the adjective to refer
to those who have been effectually called into relationship with Christ. He
also uses the noun “calling” in a similar way. For example:
I Corinthians 1:26, “For
consider your calling, brothers…”
2
Timothy 1:8-9 8
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a
holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose
and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began…
You see the idea? It’s all of grace. The
Gospel of Christ makes sense to us because God has called us and opened our hearts
to see the truth. We recognize our sin and we see His grace, the love and mercy
that led from the manger to the Cross and the power that was revealed in the
empty tomb! God’s plan might seem foolishness, but it is wisdom and absolute
truth. We can’t take credit for our
salvation; “of Him” we are in Christ Jesus. The Lord deserves all the glory
since salvation is wholly of His grace.
III.
A Lesson in humility: Take an honest
look in the mirror. We have no room for boasting! Salvation is wholly of grace
(26-31).
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of
you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many
were of noble birth. 27 But
God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is
weak in the world to shame the strong; 28
God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to
bring to nothing things that are, 29
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life
in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. 31
Therefore, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the
Lord."
“…not many wise according to worldly standards….”
God does not only choose the most brilliant or the best looking, or the great athletes,
or the most popular… Now Paul does not
say there were no wise or noble among them, simply “not many.” Their genealogy,
or their social standing or their education, none of that was the basis of God’s
electing grace. Sometimes we think we could
do a better job than God in calling some to Christ. How often do we say or
think, “if only so and so could get saved—think how God could use them!” God knows what he is doing! He chooses all kinds of people from every
walk of life. He chooses ordinary people like you and me.
“God chose what
is foolish…” (27-29). Or, what men might call a foolish choice. Think about
it: God chose Moses, who scripture calls
the “meekest man” on the earth. Finally God relented and sent Aaron along to be
at his side and to speak for him. After
the time of the Judges the people asked for a king “like the nations around them,” and God gave them Saul to be their
leader as they had asked. But then God showed
His choice to replace Saul: He raised up David, the youngest of the sons
of Jesse, calling him from tending sheep to one day lead the nation. When Jesus chose his disciples he didn’t go
down to the local seminary (or rabbinical school!) and ask for the brightest
and the best. Instead, He chose some fishermen, and a tax collector. Ordinary
people, from different walks of life, unique in that they were chosen by God.
Verse thirty says, “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus…” – literally, “…of
Him you are in Christ…” It is not what we did, and certainly not
because we are something special—as Mark K. will sometimes say, “God didn’t get
a bargain when He chose us!” But that is grace: it’s not what we are or what we
have done, He is our life, He is our Lord!
Notice the description or
exposition of our “life” in Christ in the second part of v.30, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God --
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” Our
new position, “in Christ,” has opened our eyes to the truth, God’s wisdom in
the Gospel. We are justified, declared righteous, because of Him, we are
sanctified, “set apart” because we are His, we’ve been redeemed because He paid
the price, as our substitute, for our freedom. He is the source of the
forgiveness and life that we have. This
is one of the more difficult truths of biblical doctrine.
What is God
saying to me in this passage?
Need a lesson in humility? Read this passage, and then take a slow, honest look
in the mirror. We have no room for boasting, we can’t take credit for our
salvation, and we certainly can’t boast in our wisdom. The Lord deserves all
the glory since salvation is wholly of His grace.
What would God have me to do in
response to this passage? Do you take
God at his Word? If He said it, does that settle it for you? Remember the context. The Corinthians were
allowing divisions to creep into the body. They were proudly asserting their allegiance
to one human teacher or another. Is Christ divided? Do you really think you are
so smart? Jesus did it all. All to Him I owe. That is grace. AMEN.
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