1 Corinthians 1:18-31 – The Wisdom of the Gospel

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

What is truth? In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul answers the question by comparing the wisdom of man with the wisdom and truth given by God.

Introduction

The gospel isn’t the problem; we are!

One of the biggest complaints about Scripture is that it makes no sense.  Many have shut up their Bibles because they “don’t get it”.  Why is it that some of us don’t get Scripture while some of us do?  In this week’s Sunday School lesson, we are going to answer that question, and then look at the steps needed to be able to understand the word of God.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.

The Cross Brings Division

Our lesson this week opens with people speaking about the cross in 1 Corinthians 1:18.  In speaking about the cross, we should understand that Paul spoke of what the cross means.  The cross is where victory, that is to say salvation, was won for mankind.  On the cross, Jesus became mankind’s propitiation – the offering that atones for our sins.

However, in 1 Corinthians 1:18, we will see that Paul spoke about how the cross brings about division.  Now, the idea that the cross brings about division was not an idea that Paul came up with himself.

In Luke 12:51, Jesus asked, “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth?  I tell you, not at all, but rather division.”  Jesus then explained that houses would be divided, with father divided against son, mother against daughter, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and vice versa (Luke 12:52,53).  There would be division because some would believe in Him while others would not.  

I know that this can be a difficult thought for some of us to digest, because we think of the Christmas songs that sing about Jesus bringing peace on earth.  However, Jesus’ offering was for reconciling mankind’s relationship with God, not with man.

This certainly raises a question about peace on earth:  Can it be?  There will be peace on earth, one day, but it will not be because of man’s doing.  Man’s idea of peace is something born from utter chaos, where war and violence make for peace.  Peace on earth will come but only at the Second Coming of Christ, when Christ reigns on earth during the Millennial Kingdom.

Why Doesn’t One Believe in Christ?

Now, the question that one could ask is: why does one choose not to believe in the gospel message of the cross?  In fact, I believe that question may have been on Paul’s mind as he was writing this passage of scripture, or at least, that is a question that comes to mind while I share this commentary with you.

You might think the answer to this question is deep, but honestly, the answer isn’t that deep at all.  The answer comes down to what one chooses to accept Christ as being “real” or “unreal” in their heart.

Plausible or implausible

We who are of faith may not remember the time when we had questions and found the gospel message to be implausible.  Let us consider this:  A young man who was raised by people you knew one day proclaimed himself to be the Messiah.  You may have grown up with this young man, or you watched him grow up, and suddenly, out of the blue, this young man is performing miracles.  

Many of us would struggle to believe that unless we saw it with our own eyes.  Then, even seeing it with our own eyes, many of us would still doubt and call that young man crazy, thinking he’s performing magic tricks.  Then, one day, the young man is crucified for saying he was the Messiah.  Then, days later, you see the guys who followed him preaching about his resurrection and seeing him.

If we truly stop to think about living in that day, or being told the story of the gospel, we ought to certainly be able to understand that it does sound rather crazy, right?  As a child, I would ask my dad, who was a pastor, all kinds of questions about God and Scripture, as I was trying to make sense of it all.  To this day, I will tell you that it still doesn’t make sense to me why God would care about me!

So, there are many today who struggle with the cross because they are in a battle trying to determine whether or not the gospel makes sense.  The plausibility factor is the biggest hurdle to belief.  Yet, at the same time, the plausibility factor is why many will sadly be cast away.

God’s Destruction of Earthly Wisdom

Paul then quoted Isaiah 29:14, when the Lord said through the prophet, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent (1 Cor. 1:19).”

Paul left off the part in Isaiah 29:14, when the Lord said through the prophet, “Behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder…”

Paul then asked, “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world (1 Cor. 1:20)?”

God didn’t destroy the wisdom of the wise by destroying (or killing) the wise.  The marvelous thing that God did was give the world His only begotten Son.  Christ came to a world in darkness, ignorant of the way of God, and preached the truth, as He proclaimed to be the light of the world (John 8:12).

Pilate said to Jesus, “What is truth?” Pilate asked that question in a manner to suggest there is no such thing as truth.  There are many who believe along that same train of thought, which again brings back up the plausible or implausible factor.  Let me be clear about this:  The belief that there is no truth is a fatalist’s belief system; it brings back up the thought of time and chance, which was covered in the lesson – Wisdom Over Strength.

When Pilate asked Jesus that question, he turned away from Him and went out.  If only he had hung around, Jesus may have told Him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).”  

The truth is that all of us are sinners who fall short of the glory of God and need to repent of our ways.  The truth is that we live in need of help, as none of us are perfect, but many of us want to be perfect.  In fact, many will tell you today that they don’t need forgiveness because nothing is wrong with them.

Yet, the sad truth is that we can become perfect, but many of us disregard truth because the gospel message is foolishness to us.  Rather than becoming perfect, the one who disregards the truth continues to be imperfect and will be judged as such at the day of judgment.

How Does One Become Righteous

In 1 Corinthians 1:22, Paul spoke of the two methods that mankind takes in trying to find the truth and become perfect (or righteous).  Let’s note that Paul uses the Jews and the Greeks (or Gentiles) as representatives of the routes that mankind takes in order to know the truth and become righteous.  

By means of religion or logic?

The Jews, Paul said, “request a sign”, while the Greeks “seek after wisdom”.  

Let’s be clear about the differences in the two efforts to know the truth and become righteous.  The Jews “requesting a sign” spoke of their religion, tradition, and rituals in order to become righteous.  When the Messiah had come to them, they asked Jesus to show them a sign, to prove that He was their Messiah (Matt. 12:38; Mark 8:11; John 2:18; 4:48).  

The Greeks, on the other hand, would look at people like the Jews as if they were fools.  The Greeks prided themselves on being philosophers.  So, to know the truth, the Greeks would use logic and reason – rationale.  Do you see the problem in both efforts?  

Initially, Jesus rebuked the Jews’ request for a sign to prove Himself as the Messiah.  When they continued asking for a sign, Jesus spoke of His fourfold witness of John the Baptist, the Father, His works (miracles), and the Scripture (John 5:31-40).  When the Jews refused to accept His witnesses, Jesus told them to look for the sign of Jonah (Matt. 12:38-41), which was a reference to His resurrection, which many of them missed.

The Greeks (or Gentiles) trying to go the rational route also fell short, because as Paul pointed out, there is nothing we can rationalize about God!  In 1 Corinthians 1:27, Paul spoke of how God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame those who think they are wise.  The “foolish things” of the world should be understood as the things that don’t make sense to those who are “wise”.

Let us keep in mind what we have learned throughout this quarter of lessons.  As James said, one shows that they are wise by good conduct in works that are done in the meekness of wisdom (Jas. 3:13).  

Scripture does not speak of one being wise because of their intellect.  Proverbs 1:7 tells us that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, which, as we have seen, means that one who moves in fear of God’s judgment moves wisely.  One who fears God’s judgment will seek to move in a manner that pleases Him.

If you seek to move in the manner that pleases the Lord, you must seek the truth.  Again, Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).  There is only one way to become righteous, and that is through Christ.  Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).”  

Now, if you know of some other way to become righteous in God’s eyes, you have found a way that God has not spoken of!

Paul said to the Corinthians, “We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor. 1:23-25).”

The gospel truth is a struggle for those who are of religion to accept and understand.  Paul, a man who had zeal in Judaism (Gal. 1:14), preached against it and any other doctrine that wasn’t the gospel of salvation through Christ.  

To those who choose the logical path, the gospel truth will also make no sense. So many turn away from the gospel because it goes against all logic.

Spiritual discernment through the Spirit

So, what then?  How can one gain understanding and know the truth, if not through religion or through reason and logic?

Paul answered in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned.  In other words, to know and understand the truth, one must receive the Holy Spirit.  The role of the Holy Spirit, I will remind you, is to lead us into all truth (John 16:13).  

Now, the beautiful thing about the Holy Spirit is that anyone can receive Him.  Notice that Paul had spoken of the “called” in 1 Corinthians 1:24.  Paul speaks of the called again in 1 Corinthians 1:26.  He stated, “Not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.”  

To be clear about this statement, God gave the world (all nationalities) His only begotten Son, but only a few have chosen to accept Him after all these years.  In Isaiah 55:1, we see that God’s call goes out to everyone who thirsts and has no money, which is to say, they are spiritually poor.  

God loves those who desire salvation and seek it; He is near those who are of a contrite spirit (Is. 57:15).  So, unless one humbles himself or herself and receives the Holy Spirit, one will never understand or know the truth because it is spiritually discerned.

How does one humble themselves?  It takes a committed effort of learning to live in submission to the Lord, by putting away pride and ego.  So, rather than putting your own thoughts and ways ahead of God’s, you learn to open yourself more to God’s direction.  

Both James and Peter wrote that when you humble yourself before the Lord, He will lift you up by His hand (Jas. 4:10; 1 Pet. 5:6).  The effort to become more humble is easier said than done; it will be a struggle.  Yet, when you commit yourself to humility, it will open you up to receiving the greater rewards of the Lord.

As I said in the opening, the problem doesn’t lie with the gospel.  No, the problem rests with us, and we ought to ask ourselves, ‘What is it about me that is keeping me from receiving this word?’  Pride is likely the culprit, as it blocks us from being able to take steps to grow.  

We ought to pray on the matter of our pride and lack of understanding so that we may gain understanding.  The Holy Spirit, whose role is to help bring clarity, will respond and work with you, providing clarity and understanding.

Glory in the Lord

Speaking of needing to humble ourselves, our lesson this week closes out with Paul speaking of glorifying the Lord, or as some love to say, ‘giving God the glory’.

What does it mean to glorify God?  We often take that to mean giving God praise and worshiping His name.  While that answer is correct, we also glorify God by reflecting His image to others, as we are to be a reflection of Christ by moving in a Christ-like manner.

What I love about these closing verses is how Paul spoke of how God makes valuable that which the self-righteous person will look down on. Again, Paul spoke of how God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise (1 Cor. 1:27).  Paul also spoke of how God has chosen the “weak things” of the world to put to shame that which is mighty (1 Cor. 1:27).  

I want to reiterate that what Paul is calling both foolish and weak has been determined as such by “wise” people who deem themselves as intellectually wise.  I believe Paul was a man who carried a chip on his shoulder when it came to man’s so-called wisdom, and Paul testified of himself as once being such a wise person!  I believe Paul saw the vileness of what such wisdom can lead to and preached heavily against it after his conversion.

Paul concluded this thought by saying that God had brought value to such things to bring to nothing (or to humble) the pride of the wise (1 Cor. 1:28).  In God’s presence, Paul said, none will glory in their flesh (1 Cor. 1:29).  Who is man that man should dare glorify himself before He who is righteous?  Isaiah said that the righteousness of man is as a filthy rag to God (Is. 64:6).

For us to stand before the Lord, we must be washed clean of our sins.  This is where we see Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 speak of the need to be in Christ.  To be found in Christ, which is to be of His body, one must humble oneself.  Then, when you are of the body of Christ, you are sanctified and redeemed, and able to truly glorify the Lord.”  

Paul closed out this passage by saying, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”  Who else should we glory?  The gospel message is the one that saves and makes us perfect.  Again, there is no other message, and no other person/being that should be glorified – only the Lord.