1 Corinthians 1:18–2:5 Sermon Notes

1 Corinthians 1:18–2:5 (LSB) Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

This block spans two LSB section headings – “Christ the Power and Wisdom of God” (1:18–31) and “Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit” (2:1–5) – with a further LSB paragraph break at 1:26.

Christ Crucified

1 Corinthians 1:18–25 (LSB) The Word of the Cross Is the Power of God

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

V. 18 summarizes the whole section. The word of the cross is…
The cross appeared foolish across multiple cultural contexts: Romans reserved crucifixion for the worst criminals, Greeks believed gods transcended human suffering, and Jews considered it a divinely-imposed curse.
Folly. Foolishness. To the perishing. Because they do not have a love or the Truth
2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 (LSB) 1 Now we ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken in your mind or be alarmed whether by a spirit or a word or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it has not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, …. 8 And then that lawless one will be revealed—whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming— 9 whose coming is in accord with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of unrighteousness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 And for this reason God sends upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness.
Power of God. Romans 1:16–17 (LSB) 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous will live by faith.”
Be careful how you hear, Luke 8:18 (LSB)18 “So beware how you listen, for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”
Hebrews 2:1 (LSB)1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away.
Being Saved. Already and a not yet. Ephesians 1, yet working out in our everyday life.
Perishing / Being saved, work in progress one way or the other, moving toward one or the other.
V. 19 “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise … the cleverness of the clever I will set aside” – quoted from Isaiah 29:14:
Paul follows the LXX almost word for word (Ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν) but swaps the closing verb: LXX κρύψω (“I will hide”, matching the Hebrew תִּסְתַּתָּר, tistattar, “will be hidden”) becomes Paul’s ἀθετήσω (“I will set aside / nullify”) – a sharper verb than either the LXX or the Hebrew:
Isaiah 29:13–14 (LSB)13 Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their mouth And honor Me with their lips, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their fear of Me is in the command of men learned by rote, 14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be hidden.”

V 20. Wisdom of the world.
Where is the wiseman?
The disputer of this age “was the man who wanted to dispute every issue and solve it by human reason.” (Mare)
Pilgrims progress. Mr Worldly Wiseman. Tried to talk Christian out of the way he was to shed his burden that Mr Evangelist advised. The little wicket gate. Warning of all the trouble he was going to have to face.
V 22. Jews demand a sign. Greeks wisdom.
Miracles played a strong role in confirming the messages of the Jews. Patriarchs, Moses, great leaders, and the prophets.
Problem it was never enough.
Greeks, demand wisdom, think of Mars Hill. Read vs 21, the worlds wisdom didn’t come to know God.
God used the folly of believing instead.
Guzik – “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.”
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 amongst themselves collectively, as a class. The students discussed it for a while and decided they had 5% of all human knowledge amongst themselves. Einstein thought that their estimate was a little generous, but he replied: “Is it possible that God exists in the 95% that you don’t know?”

Boast in the Lord

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 (LSB) Not Many Wise, Not Many Mighty, Not Many Noble

26 For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are, 29 so that no flesh may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

V. 26 look around. How many of you Corinthians came from nobility or great wisdom? Hasn’t God always had a track record of upending man’s expectations and favoritism?
Rarely did He not choose the underdog. The youngest.
Special care to the poor, vulnerable and widows.
Jesus also, Shepherds, fisherman, the women.
James 2:1–5 (LSB)1 My brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in bright clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
V. 29. Because relying on our own wisdom is a form of relying on our own flesh, which is a curse as far as righteousness goes.
Philippians 3:4–7 (LSB)4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
We are dependent on God for all things, including our understanding, our wisdom is plainly insufficient.
Psalm 119:18 (LSB)18 Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.
Something I greatly appreciate in a Bible scholar, is a little humility.
Guzik – “God’s wisdom is not man’s wisdom multiplied to the highest degree. It is wisdom of a different order altogether.”
Isaiah 55:8–9 (LSB)8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares Yahweh. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Matthew 11:25 (LSB)25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
V. 31 “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord” – a free summary of Jeremiah 9:23–24:
Paul’s eight words (ὁ καυχώμενος ἐν Κυρίῳ καυχάσθω) keep the LXX’s καυχάσθω/καυχώμενος (“boast”) and κύριος (“Lord”) but compress the LXX’s long relative clause – boasting is defined there as “to understand and know” that the Lord practices lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness – into a single formula; not a verbatim LXX quotation:
Jeremiah 9:23–24 (LSB) 23 Thus says Yahweh, “Let not a wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast in his might; let not a rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Yahweh who shows lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares Yahweh.

Paul’s Approach to Ministry in Corinth (Application)

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 (LSB) Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit

1 And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with superiority of word or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the witness of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my word and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Here’s Paul taking all this and applying it, very practically from his example in founding their church.
V1. The witness or mss mystery.
What is used to bring them in must be the same as what keeps them. Practical for any church.
The divisions arose because they’d adopted worldly standards for evaluating spiritual leadership, preferring eloquent speakers like Apollos, rather than recognizing that God’s power operates through apparent weakness and simplicity.
I was surprised there was not a huge turnover in our church after pastor Mike retired. There was one couple though, that just hated my sermons. Honestly, met with me, pleading that I would do sermons like their favorite preacher on the radio. I took a listen, and there was plenty of good things about the sermon style, and I’m always looking to grow, but because I couldn’t, they left.
If what brings someone into fellowship with Christ and His people are excitement, incredible wisdom, signs and wonders, or worldly status, those fronts must all remain pushing the boundaries to keep the person's interest.
Think of the polling data. Christ crucified. A scandal and offensive to both Jews and Greeks, but Paul didn’t shift his message, he doubled down on it.
He didn’t want their faith to rest in the wisdom of men, as attractive as that is, but the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:17 (LSB)17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, not in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty. (of no effet)
What does your faith rest in? What keeps you coming back to Christ, day after day? What keeps you coming back to this church?
I’d hope it’s in the simplicity of Gods Word being shared, and the love of the saints.
Also, what are you relying on in your witness to others? If it’s your wisdom, great speaking abilities, etc, then you will find yourself either deluded, or rightly insecure, leading to inaction.