Christians Gone Wild in CORINTHIANS A COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS BY TERRAN WILLIAMS. INTRODUCING 1 CORINTHIANS (p3)

Transcription

1 Christians Gone Wild in CORINTHIANS A COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS BY TERRAN WILLIAMS CONTENTS COMMENTARY OUTLINE (p2) INTRODUCING 1 CORINTHIANS (p3) UNDERSTANDING THE FLOW OF THOUGHT IN 1 CORINTHIANS (p4-6) BRIEF BACKGROUND TO THE LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS (p7) MAIN SOURCES USED IN THIS COMMENTARY (p8) COMMENTARY (p9-167)

2 COMMENTARY OUTLINE I write this commentary for all Christians who want to hear God speak to them through 1 Corinthians. My concern has been first to understand what Paul is saying in this letter, and why he is saying it. But my second concern is to draw out the timeless truths that apply to us now, even though we re in a very different situation to the original recipients of this letter. This is why every point I make is immediately applicable to our lives now. Additionally, I write with preachers in mind. That s why I have divided up this commentary into 23 sermon-sections that typically, but not always, revolve around a single theme. Each section is designed to serve as great source material for a single sermon. 1) THREE GREAT PRIVILEGES OF THOSE IN CHRIST (1:1-17) 2) THE GOSPEL OF THE CROSS (1:17-31) 3) THE SPIRIT WHO EMPOWERS, ENLIGHTENS AND TRANSFORMS (2:1-3:4) 4) LEADERSHIP AND THE CHURCH (3:5-23) 5) SIX QUALITIES THAT GOD WANTS IN EVERY CHRISTIAN (4:1-17) 6) RESPONDING TO SIN IN THE CHURCH AND WORLD (4:18-5:13) 7) CONFLICT AND COMPROMISE IN THE CHURCH (6:1-11) 8) THE GOSPEL AND SEX (6:12-7:7) 9) MARRIAGE, SINGLENESS, STATUS AND HANDLING CRISIS TIMES (7:8-40) 10) TRANSFORMED BY THE GOSPEL (8:1-13) 11) LIVING TO ADVANCE THE GOSPEL (9:1-23) 12) PURSUING ALL GOD HAS FOR US (9:24-11:1) 13) GENDER ROLES (11:2-16) 14) THE LORD S SUPPER (10:16-18 and 11:17-34) 15) THE MIRACULOUS GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT (12:1-11) 16) FUNCTIONING IN THE BODY (12:12-28) 17) LOVE IS THE GREATEST (13:1-13) 18) THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT: TONGUES AND PROPHECY (14:1-5) 19) SOME ESSENTIALS IN A CHRISTIAN MEETING (14:6-40) 20) THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL (15:1-11) 21) WHERE TO FROM HERE? PT 1: (15:12-34) 22) WHERE TO FROM HERE? PT 2: (15:35-58) 23) FINAL INSIGHTS AND INSTRUCTIONS (16:1-24)

3 INTRODUCING 1 CORINTHIANS It is often said, The church today needs to get back to how it was in the original church. Whoever originated that saying clearly had not read 1 Corinthians. My prayer for any church would be, God, don t let this church be anything like the church in Corinth. If you think your church is in a bad state, then reading 1 Corinthians will encourage you. You might find yourself praying, God, we re not where you want us to be but thank you God, we re not like them. Paul s letter to the 1 Corinthians reveals the underbelly of a church that had lost the plot seriously. Page after page of his letter reveals yet another shocking defect in the life of the church pride and arrogance, divisiveness and elitism, sexual and financial immorality, divorce and depravity, reverting back to pagan rituals in order to be accepted by the culture, gender and authority confusion, the wealthy humiliating the poor, the pursuit of spiritual frenzy in meetings (causing even seeking non-christians to call the church out of their minds ), the wrong belief that spiritual power not humble love is the height of spirituality, or the heresy that there is nothing substantially more for the Christian beyond the grave. Christians gone wild is perhaps an understatement. Yet the scandal of God s grace means that Paul nonetheless affirms their salvation and the persistent grace of Christ available to the church. We witness God s relentless pursuit of compromised Christians as we read Paul s tireless call to repentance. Our hearts melt as we watch how Paul ingeniously applies various facets of the glorious gospel to each of the flawed aspect in their lives, and their church. As we re exposed to the horrors of compromise and the devastations resulting from seriously distorted perspectives on the one hand, and the sheer brilliance of the gospel s ability to bring comprehensive freedom from these sins and heresies on the other hand, we are both humbled by our own failures, and awed by God s grace to get us on track. As we read it, we hear God s whisper, No matter how far you ve drifted, I m not giving up on you. By my grace you can still be all I want you to be, and do all I want you to do.

4 UNDERSTANDING THE FLOW OF THOUGHT IN 1 CORINTHIANS We cannot understand this letter until we understand the specific situations Paul was addressing in the Corinthian church. Although we explore this in detail in the commentary, it is useful to get a sense of the overall flow of the letter, especially with regard to the various occasions Paul was addressing 1) Introduction (1:1-9) Before Paul brings any correction to the church, he affirms God s amazing grace toward them as a church. 2) Worldly wisdom and disunity (1:10-4:21) The church in Corinth had become preoccupied with worldly wisdom, power and prestige. This caused them to divide into camps depending on which Christian leader they believed to have had the greatest wisdom and power. Paul speaks into this situation by contrasting worldly wisdom with God s wisdom; by revealing the true nature of the church and ministry; and by directly confronting pride and selfreliance in the church. 3) Moral problems at Corinth (5:1-6:20) The church in Corinth had failed to embrace the sexual ethics of Christ. Instead of correcting a man who was having an affair with his stepmother, they congratulated him. Paul shames them, and instructs them to excommunicate the unrepentant man. Someone in the church had sued someone else in the church. Paul shames the church, and the man who did the suing for failing to deal with the conflict in a less destructive manner. This leads Paul to confront compromise in general in the church. Then Paul addresses the fact that some men in the church are visiting prostitutes and are justifying it by saying that they re free and that the body, and what is done with it, doesn t really matter anyway. Paul then strongly counters these justifications, and urges them to flee from sexual immorality. 4) A variety of instructions and advice related to marriage and singleness (7:1-40) Paul responds to a question that the church had asked him in a letter that pertained to sexual immorality. He deals with the question in a comprehensive manner, giving some instructions to married couples ( have sex regularly ); to formerly married people ( stay single, or remarry if you want ); to Christians married to non-christians ( don t divorce them, although they may want to divorce you ); and to married couples ( don t divorce ). When it comes to the subject of guiding engaged couples, he uses the opportunity to give them much advice that is best understood in light of the present crisis (7:26) the church was facing. 5) Complex ethics of idol-food (8:1-11:1) Next Paul deals with another issue that the church had challenged him on in their letter to him: whether it is acceptable to eat at pagan temples, where part of the evening feast involved eating the meat that had been sacrificed to the god of the temple. Though Paul had previously forbidden them from doing so, they had disagreed with him, and argued for their right to do so with three arguments. To each argument, Paul offers a counterargument

5 1) They had argued that all Christians already knew that there was only one true God, and therefore the gods didn t exist anyway. Paul counter-argues that Christian ethics is not only about knowledge, but more importantly about love, and that their eating at the pagan temples was unloving to many in their church who would wound their own conscience if they were to do the same (8:1-13). 2) They had argued that Paul didn t have authority to speak on this matter anyway, after all they had never supported him financially, and he had seemed to be inconsistent in his own example of eating the meat previously offered to idols. Paul counter-argues that he could have received financial support but had chosen not to, and explains why he, for the sake of the gospel, had acted inconsistently with regard to eating meat offered to idols (9:1-27). 3) They had argued that since they had been baptized and ate and drank of the Lord s Table, that they were somehow immune from falling into sin and judgment anyway. Paul counter-argues by showing how Israel, despite their own version of baptism and the Lord s supper, had fallen into sin and judgment nonetheless, and that, although there is only one true God, demons are associated with the pagan meals (10:1-22). Finally on this topic, Paul permits them to buy and eat meat previously offered to idols in their own homes, provided no one at the table has a problem with this (10:23-11:1). 6) Disorders in public worship (11:2-14:40) Paul addressed three disorders in the public worship of the Corinthians: 1) Many of the women publicly rejected their own femininity. Paul teaches on appropriate gender roles. He did this because some women came to church meetings without their heads covered. Paul addresses this by telling them to cover their head. Some translators believe this refers to tying their hair up in a respectful way, at least from the perspective of that culture. In that culture if a woman wore her hair down then she was likely an immoral prostitute, but if she shaved it off she was either a butch lesbian or androgynous. Why were some women in the church doing this? It appears that they rationalized that since they were as saved as the men were, and shared the same experience of the Holy Spirit as the men, that they were the same as, and equal to, men in every way. As extreme feminists or androgynists, they wrongly assumed that distinct gender roles could be thrown aside. There is no real difference between men and women, they argued. And as extreme egalitarians they rejected authority entirely. By refusing to tie their hair up or wear a covering, they publicly rejected both the fact that woman are different to men, and the fact that they were to be respectful of authority. Paul corrected these wrong understandings in the women by re-asserting a godly masculinity and a godly femininity. 2) They destructively used the Lord s Supper in their meetings. Paul challenges the wealthy upper class who saw themselves as superior to the poorer, lower class. Because they had brought most of the food, they also ate most of the food. Previously, before the Corinthian church members were converted, they would participate in pagan feasts where social class was deeply embedded. The wealthy would sit together and would eat the best food, and drink the best drink. It seems they simply carried this over into the meal times of the church. The wealthy would help themselves first, and would eat most of the food (11:21). Poor people would remain hungry, while wealthier people would over-indulge and even get drunk! Poor people were humiliated in the process (11:22).

6 3) They misused the spiritual gifts. Paul then teaches on spiritual gifts. It appears the Corinthians were very open to the Spirit in their meetings. They especially enjoyed and emphasised the public speaking of tongues, perhaps even speaking in tongues all at the same time. But they misused the gifts in several ways. They misused the gifts by not appreciating the sheer diversity of gifts there are. So Paul teaches on this (12:1-11). They misused the gifts by not knowing how to function as a diversely gifted body, so Paul teaches on this (12:12-31). They misused the gifts by thinking that the true mark of spiritual maturity was whether the spiritual gifts is present in our lives, so Paul corrects this by showing that it is love, not the gifts, that is the true, eternal mark of life in the Spirit (13:1-13). They misused the gifts by chaotically promoting un-interpreted tongues in the meetings, so Paul calls them to have meetings marked by intelligibility and order. This way, it is more likely that believers will be edified and seekers reached for Jesus (14:1-40). 7) The future resurrection of believers (15:1-58) Many in the Corinthian church didn t believe that they would receive glorified resurrection bodies in the next life. They seemed to believe they had already arrived, and were super-saints already, and that there wasn t much more to salvation than what they had already achieved. Yes, they believed in life after death, but their view of the life hereafter was simply that they would live on as immortal souls, which was a Greek idea, not a biblical one. So Paul, after reaffirming the gospel (which includes the fact of Christ s physical resurrection from the dead (15:1-11)), argues that Christ s past resurrection leads to our future one (15:12-33). Then he teaches on the nature of our future resurrection bodies (15:34-58). 8) Final words (16:1-24) Lastly, he gives instructions about a collection of money for the needy Jerusalem church (16:1-4) and his future visiting plans, as well as some greetings, final warnings and encouragements.

7 BRIEF BACKGROUND TO THE LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS Corinth was an economic hub. It was also a multi-cultural port city famous for sex and philosophy. It hosted the bi-annual athletic Isthmian games. Corinthians worshiped the goddess Aphrodite, who had more than 1,000 hierodouloi (female prostitutes and priestesses) in her service. Because of its location, it was a major city of business. It was on a four-and-one-half mile wide isthmus of land. At its narrowest part the isthmus was crossed by a level track, over which vessels were dragged on rollers from one port to the other. This was used constantly, because sailors could avoid sailing round the dangerous promontory of Malea. The Corinthians were also world known for partying, drunkenness, and loose sexual morals. The term Korinthiazomai was well known in the Roman Empire and it meant literally to live like a Corinthian. This meant to be drunk and sexually out of control. Not surprising, it was a city riddled with sexually transmitted diseases (evidenced by the recent archaeological findings of a large number of clay representations of human genitals that had been offered to the goddess for healing of that part of the body). All of the historical evidence we have tells us that it was similar in its place in the ancient world to what a London, a Los Angeles or a Cape Town is in our world. Jesus resurrected and returned to his Father in either AD 30 or 33. Shortly afterwards, Paul was converted to Christ (AD 34). Sent by the rest of the leadership team on the Antioch church, he and Barnabas went on his first missionary trip from AD Shortly into his second missionary journey (Autumn in AD 50 to be exact), he founded the church in Corinth. It grew to be a large church, which lived with very little persecution (see Acts 18:8-17). It was mainly Gentile (Acts 18:6) and had a few highborn people (1 Cor 1:26). Because of a vision, Paul stayed 18 months in the city (Acts 18:9). When Paul left for Ephesus, he heard some sad news about the church and wrote a letter to them. Though we don t know the contents of that letter, he mentions it s existence in 1 Corinthians 5:9-11. Then he heard more news via Chloe s people (1 Cor 1:11). They also wrote a letter to him asking questions (1 Cor 7:1). In response to the news and the letter, he wrote a second letter to them. We call this 1 Corinthians. It was written early AD 55 (1 Cor 16:8). Sadly, the Corinthian church was in a shocking state by the time this letter arrived. There was great disorder, divisiveness and immorality. There was great confusion about spiritual gifts, the resurrection and marriage. And they tended to criticise Paul, the very man who had introduced them to Christ. Paul was also the man God had authorized to get them back on track.

8 MAIN SOURCES USED IN THIS COMMENTARY Primary sources: Fee, Gordon The First Epistle to the Corinthians Grand Rapids, Michigan, William Eerdman s Publishing Company, 1987 Eaton, Michael. Preaching Through the Bible: 1 Corinthians 1-9 England, Sovereign World Trust Publishers, Eaton, Michael Preaching Through the Bible: 1 Corinthians England, Sovereign World Trust Publishers, Guzik, David Online commentary on 1 Corinthians (available at Thielman, Frank S English Standard Version Commentary Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Publishers, 2008 Supplementary sources: Driscoll, Mark Online notes and preaching from Corinthians series (available at Kaiser, Walter; Davids, Peter; Bruce, FF; Brauch, Manfred (editors) Hard Sayings of the Bible Illinois, Intervarsity Press, 1996 Keller, Timothy, sermons on 1 Corinthians, purchased on Logos Archive

9 1) THREE GREAT PRIVILEGES OF THOSE IN CHRIST (1:1-17) 1 Corinthians 1 1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving 4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The first great privilege of being in Christ: we re part of both the local and the global church. To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (v2). Who makes up the church? The answer is simple: all those called by Christ in salvation, and all those who call on Christ in worship and prayer. What is the church? This verse helps us understand that there are two answers to this question. Firstly, it speaks of the local church. The local church is a local body of believers who gather in a specific location. They were the church of God in Corinth. Secondly, it speaks of the global church: all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer needs to see themselves as a part of both a local church, and part of the global church. Although we must concern ourselves with the wellbeing of our own local church, we must also concern ourselves with the wellbeing of the entire global church, as well as affirming that our local church is not an island, but is an expression of something far greater than itself. The pride of the Corinthians (one of the themes that will soon enough emerge in this letter) caused them to tend to ignore the wider global church, which is why Paul throughout his letter keeps on stressing it (see 4:15, 7:17, 11:16, 14:33,36). Every local church is still in danger of, through a self-sufficient pride, to ignore the wider church and focus on itself entirely. The second great privilege of being in Christ: we re beneficiaries of God s amazing grace.

10 These opening nine verses describe God s rich goodness to the church in Corinth. They describe various aspects of God s grace to a local church. Most of what is written in these nine verses can be applied to almost every local church. The verse that summarizes this opening section is verse 4: I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. What is grace? It is God in action - past, present and future through Jesus Christ, for the undeserved benefit of believers and churches. Read that definition again. Grace is the grand theme of all the letters written by Paul. Let us see what these nine verses reveal about God s grace 1. Grace is God in action. Notice the various actions of God mentioned in these verses. God calls (v1,2). God sanctifies (v2). God gives grace (v4). God enriches (v5). God confirms (v6). God will one day reveal Jesus Christ at the end of time (v7). God keeps (v8). And again, God calls (v9). God is a God who acts. Grace is God in action. 2. Grace is undeserved. The Corinthian church had consisted of an idolatrous, immoral bunch of people before they became Christians. Yet God saved them. He saved them by undeserved grace. All they brought to Christ was their sin. Still today, no one is saved because they deserve it. Rather we are all saved by undeserved grace. The Corinthian church was a very sinful, dysfunctional church (as the rest of the letter will reveal). Yet God, through Paul, still commends his grace to them. Still today, as Christians, we never reach a point at which we start to deserve grace. Even after years of following Christ, grace continues to come to us undeserved. 3. Grace comes through Jesus Christ. In these few verses the Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned ten times! Apart from Christ, we cannot experience God s grace. Christ is the funnel through which grace flows into our lives. That is why grace is for believers and churches. 4. Grace benefits believers and churches, past, present and future. Grace is God being good to us as Christians and as churches. Notice the six different ways God blessed and helped the church in Corinth. They divide up into the past, present and future: o In the past, God had sanctified them and had called them to be saints (here translated holy people ) (v2). The word sanctified here means set apart by God for his own special possession and use. When they had trusted in Christ, they instantly became saints or holy people. This doesn t mean that they were totally changed in their lifestyle (they weren t). It means that they were totally changed in their standing with God. o In the past, God had awakened them to the reality of Christ. Because of this, they had started to call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (v2). They had begun to experience fellowship with the Son, Jesus Christ (v9). o In the present, God had enriched them by giving them spiritual gifts (v5-7). Later in the letter, Paul will say much more about this subject in this letter (chapters 12-14). But for now he affirms that the Spirit supernaturally enabled them in gifts of speech (this would include such gifts as prophecy, tongues, words of knowledge and preaching) and in gifts of knowledge (this would include such gifts as discernment, revelations, interpretation of tongues and wisdom). o In the present, God deeply affirmed and confirmed their trust in the gospel. Paul said that the presence of the gifts of the Spirit confirmed the testimony about Christ (v6). Paul had preached the gospel of Christ to

11 them. Upon believing, they had begun to experience supernatural enabling, which was a confirmation that the gospel message was true. o In the future, God promised that the Lord Jesus would return for them (v7). This caused them to eagerly wait (v7). o In the future, God promised to keep (them) firm till the end, so that (they) would be blameless (v8). This means that God would not give up on them. He would strengthen them. They were a work in process. And despite all of their failings, he was determined to develop and mature them as a church to the point of blamelessness. Still today, God acts, past, present and future, through Christ, for the benefit of believers and churches! What a kind and faithful (v9) God! Interestingly, the story behind Sosthenes (mentioned in verse 1) is a story of God s grace. In Acts 18, we learn about him: Paul had led the previous Synagogue leader Crispus to Christ. The Jews therefore replaced him with Sosthenes. Sosthenes then attempted a failed legal attack on Paul. Then in frustration his own fellow-jews had publicly beaten Sosthenes. Though we can t be 100% sure it is the same man, it seems that years later Sosthenes who was with Paul as he wrote his letter (v1) - also became a Christian. It seems that somehow Sosthenes, like Crispus, had also converted to Christ. Possibly in the wake of his humiliation, he d turned to Christ and the church for mercy. There he d experienced kindness instead of brutality, acceptance rather than rejection, friendship with God and man, rather than alienation. Sosthenes experienced God s wonderful grace. A Church Divided Over Leaders 10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel The third great privilege of being in Christ: we re profoundly united to fellowbelievers. While Paul was in Ephesus, he heard news from someone in Chloe s family about what was happening in the church in Corinth. He was told that the church had split into factions, the dividing issue being which leader each faction admired most, and felt most connected to. Some felt most connected to Paul. Others to a man called Apollos (a very gifted preacher (see Acts 18:24-28) who had ministered in their church after Paul had left). Others felt more connected to Cephas (another name for Peter). And then a few people, probably trying to sound more spiritual than the rest, said they were specially connected to Christ. They

12 even quarrelled over this (v11), each arguing that their chosen leader was the most important one. So Paul urges them, with Christ s authority behind him, to agree with one another, and to be united in mind and thought (v10). Paul argues against their divisiveness by asking three searching questions, mentioned in verse 13: o Is Christ divided? By this he means, If you are all in the same Christ, how can you be divided? o Was Paul crucified for you? By this he means, None of us human leaders are your Saviour. Only Christ was crucified for you. Why are you putting so much emphasis on us? o Were you baptized into the name of Paul? By this he means, You re making too much of your connection to human beings. Even if a leader had baptized you, they did not baptize you into their own name. They baptized you into Christ s name. On this point, Paul reminds them that he generally permitted other people to baptize them when they d been converted years before (v15-16). According to his memory, he had only baptized Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanus. Then, in verse 17, Paul puts forward the main basis for their unity: it is the gospel message. He declares, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. It is the gospel message that led to their salvation, and to the existence of the church. And it was the gospel that was the source of their unity. Still today, we tend to divide ourselves from other Christians by elevating one Christian leader above another. Not that it is wrong to have human leaders. It is wrong to elevate them more highly than is appropriate! Our loyalty to a human leader is not meant to divide us from fellow-believers. When we consider what we have in common -Christ himself, Christ s saving death for us, Christ s name that we re saved into, and the gospel of Christ that saved us in the first place - we realize that we have far more in common than we realized. We must not let our preference for whatever human personality undermine our sense of union with other believers. We re one in Christ! Let us cherish, protect and affirm this sense of one-ness. What a great privilege it is that Christ has united us by the gospel. If we all believe the same gospel, then what we have in common with fellowbelievers is far greater than what differences we have. 2) THE GOSPEL OF THE CROSS (1:17-31) Paul is arguing against the disunity and divisions that had come into the church. He is mentioning how the gospel is the one thing that can truly unite those who have believed it. In this section he speaks about the way the gospel not only can get us saved, but can also transform Christians who continue to be exposed to it. One major way it transforms us is to remove the pride that makes us tend toward disunity in the first place. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. Let us preach the gospel. As important as being baptised is, it is not as important as being saved by believing in the gospel. The gospel can save someone who believes. Baptism does

13 not save a person. Rather it visually depicts the spiritual reality of salvation in an outward action. That is why Paul is not overly concerned about whom he baptized, but is very concerned about preaching the gospel. He is divinely commissioned to preach the gospel. Christ had sent him to do so. The city of Corinth had a culture that honoured intellect and philosophy. Rhetorically brilliant intellectuals and philosophers, who enjoyed celebrity status, frequented the city. Paul would have been tempted to present himself as a wise philosopher, who cleverly and eloquently appealed to the intellect of the people, urging them to consider his new philosophy. But he knew that the role of the preacher is very different to the role of the philosopher. He had a message to proclaim. His message was simple: The holy Creator-God has reconciled the sinful world to himself through the death of his Son on a cross; so trust in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was a powerful message too. God backed this message. Paul was careful to proclaim this simple message in the Spirit s power. He knew that if he positioned himself as a philosopher trying to peddle a new philosophy, rather than as a messenger delivering a message of what God had done in Jesus, he would not have the power to change people s lives. The cross of Christ would be emptied of its power. What a privilege it is to preach the gospel today. We have a simple message: The holy God has reconciled the sinful world to himself through the death of his Son on a cross; so trust in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We can say the message in numerous different ways (as the apostles did). We can argue for the truthfulness of our claim. But we are not at liberty to reduce the gospel to a philosophy or a good idea or an ideology. We re sent by Christ himself as messengers of this lifetransforming message, not professors wowing people with our own eloquently stated angle on the meaning of life. Although we do need to communicate the message intelligibly, we don t need to communicate it in a highly intellectual manner. We need courage more than we need eloquence. Christ Crucified Is God's Power and Wisdom 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Let us believe the gospel and experience its transforming power. If we believe the message of the cross, it starts to powerfully change our lives. We are amongst those who are being saved. Notice the present tense. As believers, we don t just need to hear the gospel once. We need to keep on hearing it preached. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves. It will do its transforming work in our lives. We will cherish it as the very power of God. If, however, we fail to believe the message of the cross, and instead consider it a foolish message, then we will miss out on salvation! We will continue to be amongst those who are perishing. We will remain under the guilt and power of sin. We remain outside of a relationship with God. We will remain under the wrath of God. Death, rather than life, will be at work in our lives. 19 For it is written:

14 "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." 20 Where are the wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. The gospel surprises us with God s chosen means of saving us. The world, through its wisdom did not know God (v21). Despite all of humanity s great learning and accumulation of so-called wisdom and knowledge (and when we consider today the likes of Wikipedia, we can say it has been very great indeed), humanity has not, through its own intellectual processes, been able to overcome the guilt and power of sin. And we have not been able to discover who God is nor the meaning of life. This is what Paul means when he says that the wisdom of the world is in fact foolish (v20). The limitation of what can be known through scientific enquiry is designed by God to frustrate the intelligence of the intelligent (v19). Paul is not saying that the accumulation of knowledge in our culture is wrong, just that it is very limited in what it can do. All the professors in the world, apart from God s self-revelation in the gospel, are unable to help humanity in its most basic problem: alienation from God because of our sin. We wrongly think that God s wisdom is humankind s wisdom multiplied to the highest degree. The truth is that it is wisdom of a different order altogether: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). Who would have thought that what we as humans needed was salvation from sin? Who would have thought that God s way of dealing with the problem of sin was through the selfsubstituting death of Jesus Christ on a cross? Who would have thought that the most vile means of execution reserved for the worst of criminals (the cross) would become God s most ingenious means of salvation for even the worst of sinners? God s wisdom comes as a surprise to us. The wise, the teacher of the law (i.e. the religious leader), the philosopher of this age (v20) would never have guessed that this is how God would choose to save the world. Sadly, learned people can often become arrogant, and can reject the gospel message because it is so different to anything their so-called great learning could have revealed. Yet, wonderfully, the moment we humble ourselves and believe the gospel, and trust in the crucified-resurrected Christ for our salvation, we re saved (v21). 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. The gospel is a stumbling block to many.

15 The gospel opens the way into relationship with God. It is the pathway to God. But many people don t experience it as a pathway at all, but rather as something that they trip over in confusion and irritation a stumbling block. Paul reflects that different cultures, depending on their basic assumptions about God, tend to react negatively to different aspects of the gospel. For example, the Jews at that time tended to believe that God wanted to rescue the Israelites from the Romans, in a similar act of power to what had happened 1300 years before at the Red Sea when he had rescued them from the Egyptians. They demanded a sign of God s power. (For example, during Jesus earthly ministry, the Jews had often demanded that Jesus prove his claims with signs (see John 2:18-20 and 4:48), though Jesus clarified that the signs he had already shown them were sufficient (see John 3:2, 12:9-11 and 14:11). When the Jews heard the gospel message claim that God in fact chose to save them in an act of profound weakness (i.e. the cross), they just couldn t accept it to be true. It didn t fit with their assumptions about God. Of course, their assumptions were wrong. The other example (already explored in some detail in verses 18-21) is of the Greeks who looked for highly intellectualized wisdom. Perhaps hearing a message on such themes as the universal fatherhood of God, or the universal brotherhood of humanity, or the way of highest ethics, or the secret meaning of the universe would have appealed to them. But the message of the cross just cut across anything they expected. It didn t fit with their assumptions about God. They too had wrong assumptions. The gospel of the cross will save many nonetheless. But we preach Christ crucified (v23). Although many Jews and Greeks rejected the gospel because it didn t fit with their assumptions, Paul continued to preach the message nonetheless. And we must keep on proclaiming the gospel without watering down the central mention of salvation accomplished through Christ s sacrificial death. Listen to the old words of Spurgeon in this regard: Those who thus veil an unwelcome truth imagine that they make disciples, whereas they are only paying homage to unbelief, and comforting men in their rejection of divine propitiation for sin. Whatever the preacher may mean in his heart, he will be guilty of the blood of souls if he does not clearly proclaim a real sacrifice for sin. Certain theologians tell us that we must adapt truth to the advance of the age, which means that we must murder it and fling its dead body to the dogs, which simply means that a popular lie shall take the place of an offensive truth. (Spurgeon) Paul courageously proclaimed the gospel. And many did believe. God supernaturally called them to himself while Paul preached. Those who insist that we must change the emphasis of the gospel because people can t culturally relate to it must realize that the people of Paul s day couldn t relate to his preaching either, yet he kept it up, and with great results. Those who were enabled by God to believe the gospel of the cross started to experience for themselves the Living Christ. It is as they trusted in the Crucified Christ that they also discovered the Resurrected Christ. They experienced him as wisdom. He helped them make sense of the universe. They experienced him as power. He started to fill them with joy, and liberate them from much of the sin that had been so rampant in their lives. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (v25). Apart from the revelation of the

16 gospel, all of the human learning in the whole world cannot find the knowledge needed to know God. And all the human energy in the whole world cannot produce the power needed to transform a person in their depths like the gospel can. Amazingly, God was at his weakest when he, in the person of Jesus, carried our sins on that cross. Yet this singular act of apparent weakness outstripped the totality of the greatest feats of humanity. Indeed, the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Today, we must not hold back on preaching the gospel of Christ crucified. David Guzik, in parable form, tells of a church that once inscribed the words, We preach Christ crucified on an archway leading to the churchyard. Over time, two things happened: the church lost its passion for the gospel, and ivy began to grow on the archway. As the ivy grew, one could only read we preach Christ. The church started mainly preaching Jesus the Great Man and Jesus the Moral Example instead of Christ crucified. The ivy kept growing, and one could soon only read, we preach. The church then even lost Jesus in the message, preaching religious platitudes and social graces. Finally, one could only read we, and the church just became another social gathering place, all about we and not about God. Let s never drift from our core message: Christ crucified. There s no true God-revealing wisdom or sin-liberating power outside of it. 26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. The gospel tends to be rejected by those who live on a diet of self-commendation and applause from society. Think of what you were when you were called (v26). Most of the Corinthian church (but not all) originally consisted of uneducated, non-influential, lowerstatus people. It seems that those in the city of Corinth who were wise by human standards, influential and of noble birth tended to resist the gospel message. The gospel has many great benefits, but none of them allow us to boast in ourselves. Generally speaking, educated, influential and high-standing people live on a diet of self-commendation and the applause of society. Then along comes the gospel which, in effect, says to them, In God s sight, you re a sinner like everyone else. You need salvation like everyone else. Despite all your resources, you cannot save yourself. Only Christ can save you. If you will humble yourself before him, he will have mercy on you. Then you will no longer boast in yourself, but you will boast in God s kindness shown to you. The foot of the cross is level ground. It is here, at the foot of the cross, that the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the educated and the uneducated alike all find God. For people who normally enjoy special treatment in society, special permits to go wherever they like, or special recognition that sets them above the average person this can be very humbling. And yet, there is no other way to God than to trust in Christ side-by-side with the weakest, poorest, most unloved person in our world. Ancestry, achievements and affiliations count for nothing. Christ simply takes no notice of our standing in society. It doesn t impress him in the slightest. Yet God is able to powerfully draw even the powerful and the wealthy to himself. Lady Huntington, the rich and influential friend of George Whitefield and John

17 Wesley, used to say, I am going to heaven by an m. It doesn t say not any of you were noble when you were called. It says not many. The gospel tends to lift people in society. Notice that Paul reminds the Corinthians of what they once were, when they were saved. He is speaking in the past tense. This suggests that, since their salvation, they had been lifted up in society a little bit. (Unfortunately, this lift appears to have gone to their head, which is why Paul had to remind them of their origins.) This is common. As people begin to be transformed by the gospel, it tends to have a positive impact on us, helping us be more servant-hearted in how we relate to people, and more diligent and honest in our approach to work. On the whole, these qualities tend to improve a person s situation in society. For example, a friend of mine who works in the slums in Mumbai, India, tells me that he can immediately tell who the Christians are by their concern for hygiene, their care for their family and their home. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. The gospel helps us make much of Christ, not ourselves. The foolish things of the world refers to the many uneducated Christians in the Corinthians church. The lowly things of the world refers to the many lowerstatus Christians. The things that are not refers to the people that would be described as society s nobodies. Yet, as God powerfully drew people to himself through the gospel message, it seemed to be that he was most powerfully drawing these very people. Why was God choosing them? It was his way of shaming (v27) and nullifying (v28) those who tended to exalt and boast in themselves. Calvin, commenting on this verse, wrote: In putting the strong and wise and great to shame, God does not exalt the weak and uneducated and worthless, but brings all of them down to one common level. So that no one may boast before him (v29). Powerful people tend to make much of themselves. They are more likely to be drawn to a belief system that teaches that God makes much of them. But the gospel is not a message that makes much of us at all (although it does speak of God s special undeserved love for us). Rather, it s a message that makes much of Jesus. It s a message that opens our eyes to our own unworthiness and sinfulness in the sight of a holy God. It s a message that enables us to see Christ s wonderful undeserved graciousness and sufficiency. It helps us make much of him, not ourselves! 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let those who boast boast in the Lord." The gospel enables us to find such treasure in Christ.

18 It is because of him that you are in Christ (v30). Paul reminds them, and us, that the only reason we are saved is because God chose us (v27), and called us (v26). He powerfully drew us to himself. The gospel message came to us in the power of the Spirit. And now we are in Christ. We are Christians who have been united to Christ himself forever. Christ has become for us wisdom. Christ is the one in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:3). Amazingly, the simplest person can know more about what really matters than the most educated person once they are in Christ. It is in Christ that we first truly make sense of the world, and ourselves, and God. Christ has become for us righteousness. Outside of Christ we are sinful in God s sight. But in Christ, and in God s sight, we re covered by Christ s own righteousness. We are declared righteous in God s sight. He no longer counts our sins against us. The only reason we are able to stand before God is because the righteous character of Christ is credited to us. Our standing and status before God changes instantly and eternally when we trust in Christ. Once our status was wrath-deserving sinner. Now it is grace-lavished forgiven-one. Christ has become for us holiness / sanctification. Not only are we given a new standing before God. We are given a new state of heart. To be in Christ is to have Christ s righteousness imparted to us in the form a new heart. As God gives us a new heart, we begin to experience new desires and capacities for godliness, worship, trust, obedience and more. Though the sinful nature is still present, we now have a whole new God-given capacity for holiness. Christ has become for us redemption. Redemption refers to God s deliverance of us. But in this context (given the order of the words righteousness, holiness and redemption ) it seems that it refers to God s final redemption of us. One day we will receive our resurrection bodies. We will shine with God s glory. We will be totally free from pain, death, sin and temptation. We won t even have the tiniest inclination to sin. Interestingly, the last three descriptions of who Christ is for us (i.e. Christ our righteousness, sanctification and redemption) give a brief summary of the full panorama of salvation from sin. Christ our righteousness means that he has saved us (past tense) from the penalty of sin. Christ our sanctification means that he is saving us (present tense) from the power of sin. Christ our redemption means that he will save us (future tense) even from the presence of sin. Wow! Christ has become for us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. To have Christ, and to be in Christ, is to experience the greatest treasure imaginable. The only appropriate response is to make much of Christ, to be thrilled by Christ. All of our wealth, power and achievements are nothing compared to Christ. The words, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord (v31) remind us that if we really want something to treasure, to cherish, to exalt in, and to be thrilled by, then Christ, the ultimate treasure, is what we are looking for! 3) THE SPIRIT WHO EMPOWERS, ENLIGHTENS AND TRANSFORMS (2:1-3:4) In this last section (2:1-3:4) we see the central role that the Holy Spirit plays in the Christian life. Specifically, we see how he empowers us for ministry (2:1-5), how

19 he enlightens our hearts and minds with the gospel and the deep things of God (2:6-16), and how he seeks to transform our character (3:1-4). He empowers. He enlightens. He transforms. 1 Corinthians 2 1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. Gospel messengers are to be different to other communicators in society. The Corinthian church had become enamoured with the culture of their city. In their city, intellectually fancy speeches delivered in a highly skilled, impressive, beautiful, oratorical, wise-sounding way were highly prized. People who could speak in this manner were famous and were perceived as being above the ordinary person. Paul reminds them that when he came and preached the gospel message to them, he came as a very ordinary person ( I came to you in weakness ), and that he preached neither an intellectually fancy message ( I did not come with human wisdom ) nor did he preach in a very fancy way ( I did not come with eloquence). Still today, gospel messengers need not deny nor hide their humanity. Many people today assume that a spiritual teacher needs to be a highly evolved, extraordinary human being that has climbed above the vulnerabilities of normal humanity. The truth is, like in the case of Paul, God likes to use ordinary humans, sometimes even extraordinarily weak human beings. Paul came with weakness, great fear and trembling (v3). What were his weaknesses at the time? We can t be sure. We remember that Paul often battled with illness in his travels (see Gal 4:13). He was daunted by the persecution that followed him, as well as all the likely troubles on his horizon (see 2 Cor 12:10). We also remember that he arrived in Corinth on his own, without having a supportive team initially (see Acts 18:1). Corinth was a city of great public speakers. Yet he acknowledged that public speaking was not one of his strengths (2 Cor 11:6). He was just an ordinary person. The point is that God specializes in using ordinary people who are in touch with their own weakness and humanity. We don t need to have it all together for God to use us. If anything, God is more likely to use us when we feel weak in ourselves than when we feel strong (2 Cor 12:10), because then we re more likely to depend on him, not ourselves. Still today, we need not come up with fancy new ideas. Paul saw himself as a messenger with a testimony about God (v1). The word testimony refers to the account given by a witness in a legal court. Paul was simply giving account, as honestly as he knew how, of what he had experienced. His message was simple and straightforward. It was a message about Jesus and him crucified (v2). The gospel message is raw and unsophisticated. It is not a new idea or ideology or philosophy we re trying to promote. It is news that we are proclaiming of what God has already done through Jesus his Son, especially through the cross, to reconcile the world to himself. Still today, we need not communicate the gospel in an impressive way. Of course Paul would have done his best to get the attention of his listeners, and to proclaim