Left Contextbar Edge Background Right Contextbar Edge2 Prior Book Prior .. As is evident from 1 and 2 Corinthians, Paul's standing and authority as an In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul will deal more fully with what makes a person an apostle.
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- 1 Corinthians chapter 1
And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it , why do you boast as if you had not received it? The puffed up state of the Corinthian Christians meant there was a pride problem. Though the pride was evident in the cliques around the different apostles, the cliques weren't the problem as much as pride was the problem. Paul addresses their proud hearts with three questions.
Who makes you to differ from another? If there is a difference between us, it is because of what God has done in us. So, there is no reason for pride. Everything we have has come from God, so there is no reason for pride. Why do you glory as if you had not received it? If what you have spiritually is a gift from God, why do you glory in it as if it were your own accomplishment? There is no reason for this self-glorying pride. These three questions should prompt other questions in my heart: Do I live with a spirit of humble gratitude?
Seeing that I have received from God, what can I give to Him? Augustine used this text often in proclaiming the total depravity of man against the Pelagians. He knew that it taught there is nothing good in us except what we have received from God. You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us; and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ!
We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat.
We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now. You have reigned as kings without us: Isn't it funny that we apostles have nothing! Though Paul is using strong sarcasm, his purpose isn't to make fun of the Corinthian Christians. His purpose is to shake them out of their proud self-willed thinking. Indeed I could wish you did reign: Wouldn't it be great if they really were reigning already? Then Paul also might reign with you! God has displayed us: Instead of being full , and rich , and reigning as royalty, the apostles were on display in a humiliating spectacle to the world.
The Corinthian Christians looked at themselves so highly, while God has displayed the apostles so low! The image of verse 9 is either from the coliseum, or the parade of a conquering Roman general, where he displayed his armies first, the booty second, and at the end of the procession, the defeated captives who would be condemned to die in the arena. And, just as before going into the arena, the gladiators would say, morituri salutamus "we who will die salute you" , so Paul now salutes the Corinthian Christians!
The word spectacle is theatron , from which we get our word "theater. This kind of humiliation was the greatest horror to the pride of the Corinthian Christians.
The Corinthian Christians had two problems: Paul is trying to address both of these problems! With contrast after contrast, Paul sarcastically shows how foolish it is for the Corinthians to think that they are more spiritually privileged, or blessed, or endowed, than the apostles were. We both hunger and thirst: Paul's description of his own ministry focuses on deprivation and humiliation. These were things that the Corinthian Christians, in their pride, wanted to avoid at all cost. Today, the church is heavy with this same attitude of the Corinthian Christians.
They were concerned about the image of worldly success and power, and many of them despised Paul and the other apostles because they did not display that image. Today, there is no shortage of ministers who want to display the image of worldly success and power, and no shortage of Christians who will value that in their minister.
And we labor, working with our own hands: The Corinthians, in their love of Greek wisdom, embraced the Greek idea that manual labor was fit only for slaves. It would offend them that one of God's apostles would actually work with his own hands!
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Being defamed, we entreat: Paul is saying that when they were slandered, the apostles would reach out in kindness to the one who spoke against them. This also was offensive to the Greek ideal; they thought a man was a wimp if he didn't fight back when slandered. The offscouring of all things: Some ancient Greeks had a custom of casting certain worthless people into the sea during a time of plague or famine, while saying "Be our offscouring! So Paul may have a double meaning here when using the words filth and offscouring ; he may be mean he is both despised and a sacrifice on their behalf.
It's a little embarrassing to read Paul's description of his ministry while working on a nice computer and surround by several hundred books. And especially, knowing how much I'd like to have the respect and admiration of the world. After all, think of Paul's resume: Our problem is we often want a middle road; a little popularity, a little reputation, but still the anointing of God.
We want the power without the cost. God help us to choose Paul's way! I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. Shame you … warn you: With his biting sarcasm, Paul knows the Corinthian Christians might be pretty ashamed.
He wants them to know his purpose hasn't been to make them feel ashamed, but to warn them of a significant spiritual danger: You might have ten thousand instructors: The instructor was a paidagogoi , a guardian or "slave-guide," who escorted the boys to and from school, and who supervised their general conduct. The instructor did have legitimate authority, but certainly not like a father. Paul had a unique place of authority and leadership among the Corinthian Christians, not only because he fathered the church itself in Corinth I have begotten you through the gospel , but also because of his apostolic authority.
We don't have apostolic authority like this. Leading someone to Christ does not give you special authority over their lives, but it does give you a special relationship. I urge you, imitate me: The first reaction of many of the Corinthian Christians would probably be horror. You are regarded as a fool, as weak, as dishonored; you are hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed, homeless and beaten; you work hard to support yourself with manual labor. People look at you and see filth and the offscouring of all things. And you want us to imitate you? Paul might reply, "Yes, imitate me.
Not because of all these difficulties, but despite them, and often because of them, the glory and power of Jesus Christ shines through me. Because they didn't have printing back then, Paul couldn't just hand out Bibles. People had to learn the gospel by watching his life. Maybe that wasn't so bad after all! I have sent Timothy: Timothy seemed to be Paul's chief "trouble shooter," often being sent to problem churches.
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Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
Some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you: Some Corinthian Christians were so arrogant as to think that Paul was afraid to visit them. When they thought Paul was afraid of them, it made them all the more proud in their hearts. Not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power: Those among the Corinthian Christians who loved high sounding words and the image of success had their words, but Paul had the true power of the gospel. The final test of wisdom is power; the Word of the Cross not only has the power to mentally illumine, but also to morally save.
Essentially, Paul threatens to pop the bubble of these puffed up gas-bags. Paul leaves the ball in their court. Which Paul did they want to come? The Paul with the rod of correction used by shepherds to smack disobedient sheep , or the Paul with the spirit of gentleness? There is no doubt Paul would prefer to come in gentleness, but he'll leave that decision up to the Corinthians! Paul is facing some of the real challenges of ministry; how to confront sin without being too harsh, or implying that you are above sin; how to get people to conform their lives to the gospel when they think too highly of themselves.
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Yet, these positives were no great credit to the Corinthian Christians themselves. They were not the spiritual achievements of the Corinthians, but the work of the grace of God in them. You come short in no gift: Paul thanks God for the gifts among the Corinthians, even though they were causing some trouble.
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He recognizes that the gifts were not the problem, but wrong attitudes and beliefs about the gifts. The Corinthian Christians were indeed gifted, yet carnal. Confirm you to the end: The Corinthian Christians had their strong points, and they had their weak points. Paul praises God for their positives, and expresses confidence that God will take care of their weak points, and confirm them to the end , so that they would be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. How can Paul be confident of this when the Corinthian church has so many problems?
He can be confident because God is faithful. He is the One who has called them into the fellowship of His Son , so He is the One who will confirm them to the end and present them blameless. In these first ten verses, Paul refers to Jesus in every verse, for a total of eleven times. In this emphasis on Jesus, Paul is promoting the sure cure for the problems of the Corinthians: Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
I plead with you, brethren: Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ. He had authority in the church. He had the right, and the authority, to command the Corinthian Christians in these matters. Instead, with loving heart, he begs them - he pleads with them - to be unified as believers. That there be no divisions among you: The ancient Greek word for divisions is schismata.
Although we derive our English word "schism" from this Greek word, it does not really mean a "party" or a "faction"; it properly means "tear, or rend. The contrast to divisions is to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Instead of being torn apart, Paul pleads that they would be joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Barclay on joined together: The disunion is unnatural and must be cured.
For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household , that there are contentions among you. Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Those of Chloe's household: Chloe was a woman probably a Christian whose business interests caused her representatives those in her household to travel between Ephesus and Corinth. Paul is writing this letter from Ephesus, where these people from Chloe's household have visited him and told him about what is happening in the Corinthian church. The Corinthian church suffered under quarreling and conflict.
This conflict had made them divide up into "parties" or "cliques," each party having its own "leader. There was the "Paul Party," who declared "We are following in the footsteps of the man who founded our church, the apostle Paul. We're the ones really right with God! There was the "Apollos Party," who declared "We are following in the footsteps of a man who is great in power and spiritual gifts, and an impressive man.
There was the "Peter Party," who declared "We are following in the footsteps of the man who is first among all the apostles. Jesus gave him the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and he's our man. There was the "Jesus Party," who declared "You all are so carnal, following after mere men. We are following in the footsteps of no one less than Jesus Himself. Later in this letter, Paul writes that he transferred to himself and Apollos what was applicable to others 1 Corinthians 4: The actual Corinthian factions may have been centered around people in the congregation, not the different apostles who ministered to them.
Even if this is the case, the picture fits. Paul may be "changing the names to protect the innocent," or to show mercy to the guilty! The Corinthians' boasting about their "party leaders" was really boasting about themselves. It wasn't so much that they thought Apollos was great, but that they were great for following him. Though division is ungodly, it is not wrong to make distinctions between churches and ministers. God has made different churches and different ministries with different callings and characters, because the job of preaching the gospel is too big for any one group.
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If there were not men who differed a little in their creeds, we should never get as much gospel as we do … God has sent different men to defend different kinds of truth; but Christ defended and preached all … Christ's testimony was perfect. It is one thing to prefer one minister to another, but we cannot divide into cliques behind one minister or another. We ought to honour those most whom God most honoureth, either by a more plentiful giving out of his Spirit, or by a more plentiful success upon their labours; but we ought not so far to appropriate any ministers to ourselves, as for them to despise others.
We are not bound to make every minister our pastor, but we are bound to have a just respect for every minister, who by his doctrine and holy life answereth his profession and holy calling. Jesus does not belong to any one "party. There was an old, contentious Quaker who went from one meeting to another, never finding the "true" church. Someone once said to him, "Well, what church are you in now? Even more foolish than "dividing Jesus" is to center parties in the church around men: When Paul puts it like this, it shows how foolish it is to focus on anyone but Jesus.
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
Apparently, some of the Corinthian Christians probably those of the "Paul Party" made a big deal of the fact that they had been baptized by Paul. Because it was becoming a divisive issue, Paul was therefore grateful that he had not baptized very many in Corinth lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Of course, Paul did baptize a few in Corinth.
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Crispus is likely mentioned in Acts 8: I thank God … Christ did not send me to baptize: For Paul, preaching was more important than baptizing, though he was certainly not opposed to baptism. Yet, we can see by this that baptism is not essential to salvation. If it were - if the teaching of baptismal regeneration were true - then Paul could never thank God that he baptized so few in Corinth, and he, as an evangelist, could never say Christ did not send me to baptize.
That Paul did not regard baptism as essential to salvation is also seen by the fact that he did not keep careful track of whom he had baptized: Surely, Paul remembered his converts, but the issue of baptism, though important, was not as important to Paul. In light of I thank God that I baptized none of you , it is impossible to claim that Paul was a sacramentalist. This passage also makes it clear that the individual doing the baptizing doesn't really affect the validity of the baptism.
Those baptized by the great apostle Paul had no advantage over those baptized by some unknown believer. The power of baptism is in the spiritual reality it represents. How did Paul preach in Corinth? Not with the wisdom of words cleverness of speaking.
1 Corinthians chapter 1
Paul came speaking plainly, without any attempt to dazzle with eloquence or intellect. Paul came to Corinth from Athens, where he contended with the great philosophers of the day in terms they could understand Acts Some people think that Paul was disappointed by the results in Athens, and resolved to preach differently in Corinth. It's wrong to say that Paul preached a watered-down gospel in Athens; "Like the biblical revelation itself, his argument begins with God the creator of all and ends with God the judge of all … The speech as it stands admirably summarizes an introductory lesson in Christianity for cultured pagans.
There is another significant difference between Paul's ministry in Athens and his work in Corinth. Paul was in Athens a day or two; he stayed in Corinth for a year and a half. Lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect: Paul makes it clear that it is possible to preach the gospel in a way that makes it of no effect.
If one preaches the word with a reliance on wisdom of words , they can make the gospel of no effect. How sobering this is! The great gospel of Jesus Christ, the very power of God unto salvation - made empty and of no effect through the pride and cleverness of men! This danger was constantly on the mind of the apostle Paul, and should be constantly on the mind of any preacher or teacher. How the perishing see the cross, and how the saved see the cross.
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. In 1 Corinthians 1: Paul now will show why this is true of the cross and the message of the gospel. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing: To those who reject the salvation of the cross, the idea of being saved through the work of a crucified man is foolish. The words message of the cross sound kind of noble and religious to our twentieth-century ears. But in the first century, saying message of the cross was about the same as saying message of the electric chair - except worse!
What message does a cruel, humiliating, unrelenting instrument of death have? No wonder it is foolishness to those who are perishing! To us who are being saved it is the power of God: Though it is a strange message, and regarded as foolish by the perishing, to those who trust in it and are being saved , this message of the cross becomes to them the actual power of God. There is inherent power in the preaching of the true gospel, when it is received with faith. The hearing and trusting of the true gospel will bring the power of God into your life!
Though the word gospel isn't in this verse, it is in the previous verse. For Paul, the message of the cross was the gospel. It was impossible for the Apostle to preach the gospel without presenting the message of the cross. So, preaching a high moral standard is not preaching the gospel, preaching the universal fatherhood of God is not preaching the gospel, and preaching the universal brotherhood of man is not preaching the gospel.
The gospel is the message of the cross. The verb tenses of are perishing and are being saved are significant. They both describe a work in progress. Each of us is definitely moving in one of those two directions. For it is written: Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
In this quotation from Isaiah He will destroy the wisdom of the wise , not bow down before it. Where is the wise? Paul is saying, "In light of what God says in Isaiah Where is your scribe? Where is your disputer of this age? God has made them all foolish through His wisdom. He has destroyed the wisdom of the wise, just as He said He would. The disputer of this age "was the man who wanted to dispute every issue and solve it by human reason.
The point is plain: There is no wise man, no scribe, and no debater who can do what Jesus Christ has done. The world through wisdom did not know God: There is a constant tendency to think that the smartest and wisest humans will know the most about God. But God cannot be found through human wisdom, but only through the message of the cross. The pursuit of human wisdom may bring an earthly contentment or happiness though this is rare , but in itself, it can never bring the true knowledge of the true God.
It is significant that often the most educated people have the least regard for God. This is not always the case; some of the most brilliant men of history have been Christians such as Isaac Newton. But largely, the "smarter" one sees themselves as, the less regard they have for God.
Human "wisdom" is constantly rejecting God and opposing Him, and ultimately showing itself foolish and perishing in doing so! One day, students in one of Albert Einstein's classes were saying they had decided that there was no God. Einstein asked them, how much of all the knowledge in the world they had among themselves collectively, as a class. Einstein thought that their estimate was a little generous, but he replied: Through the foolishness of the message: The Corinthians wanted to believe that the gospel itself was a sublime form of wisdom, as the Greeks considered wisdom sophia.
Paul replies, 'how foolish can you get? What is there 'wise' in the Greek sense of wisdom about a crucified Messiah? The phrases foolishness of the message and foolishness of God do not mean Paul actually considered the message and God foolish. He is describing them as they appear to the perishing man, the "wise" man of this age. God's wisdom is not man's wisdom multiplied to the highest degree; it 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. Paul isn't condemning all learning or education here; he is merely saying that they are, in themselves, useless for obtaining spiritual wisdom. God takes pleasure in accomplishing our salvation in a way no one would have expected.
He is happy to do it in this way which offends the height of human wisdom. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but 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. For Jews request a sign: In Paul's day, the Jewish world was looking for a sign.
Specifically, they wanted the sign of a miraculous Messianic deliverance. They were not looking for the message of the cross. Their desire for deliverance was not bad, but their rejection of God's way of deliverance was. Greeks seek after wisdom: The Greek culture valued the pursuit of wisdom, usually expressed in high, academic, philosophical terms.
They did not value the wisdom expressed in the message of the cross. Their desire for wisdom was not bad, but their rejection of God's wisdom was. We preach Christ crucified: Instead of giving the Jews and Greeks what they demanded in deliverance and wisdom, God gives them something unexpected: Christ Messiah meant power, splendor, and triumph.
Crucified meant weakness, defeat, and humiliation. Christ crucified was the ultimate oxymoron, and this was what Paul preached! If the cross doesn't seem strange to you, then you either don't understand how the cross was seen in Jesus' day, or you don't understand who Jesus is. You don't understand the tension between Christ and crucified.
The great Roman statesman Cicero said: If you must execute this man, do it honorably. Let him die the death of a dignified man. But don't expose Him to the horror and the humiliation of hanging on a cross. Let every pulpit rightly say, " we preach Christ crucified! Over time, two things happened: The growth of the ivy, covering the message, showed the spiritual decline. Originally it said strongly, we preach Christ crucified. But as the ivy grew, one could only read we preach Christ , and the church also started 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 also had even lost Jesus in the message, preaching religious platitudes and social graces. Finally, one could only read we , and the church also just became another social gathering place, all about we and not about God.
The Jews regarded Christ crucified as a stumbling block ; perhaps this is better understood as an offense or a scandal. The Greeks regarded Christ crucified as foolishness. But God did not respond to the polling data. He kept to His gospel, because for those who believed it both Jews and Greeks , Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
If the cross and its message seem weak, they are not; they are powerful and wise. But our expectations of what God should do keep us from receiving that power and wisdom. Paul knew this by experience. He was once scandalized by a crucified Christ; it infuriated him that one obviously cursed by God according to Deuteronomy So, he persecuted the church before being confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus Acts 9. As much as Paul was once offended by a crucified Messiah, so the Greeks thought a message of salvation through a humiliating instrument of death foolish.
A well know piece of graffiti in Rome shows a worshipper standing next to a crucified figure with the body of a man and the head of an ass, and it says "Alexamenos worships his god. Those who insist that we must change the emphasis of the gospel because people can't relate to it today 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. 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.
The foolishness of God is wiser than men: God was at His most "foolish" and very "weakest" at the cross; but it was infinitely wiser and stronger than anything man could do. Salvation is not the achievement of human wisdom; it is the embrace of God's dramatic, unexpected act of love at Calvary. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
You see your calling, brethren: Paul says to the Corinthians, "Look at yourselves. You're no great bargain.