"That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
1 Corinthians 2:5
Part 1
Today: Paul’s Message to the Corinthians
The Apostle Paul’s message to the community in Corinth was a simple one. Its focus was a straightforward proclamation of Jesus Christ, crucified for their sins (1 Corinthians 2:2). As he witnessed to them the “testimony of God,” he did not go to them and speak as an orator with lofty, “excellent speech.” Nor did he talk to them as a philosopher would, with great philosophical arguments (1 Corinthians 2:1). He was no salesman but a preacher of the Gospel. To see him, you would not think of him as a powerful man, for when he spoke to them, it was “in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.” His confidence was not in himself and his abilities (1 Corinthians 2:3) but in God. His words were different than the speakers Corinth was used to hearing because his “speech and preaching were not with persuasive words of man’s wisdom.” What made Paul’s words different from the philosophers and orators was, his words were a “demonstration of God’s Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4).
Paul could have spoken as a philosopher and hold his own with them, but instead, he depended on the power of God as he preached the Word.
“That your faith.”
Our core belief is in the God of the Scriptures and in His Son, Jesus, who died for our sin, in our place. Our faith is in the body of doctrine contained in God’s Word. This is the very basis of Christianity. It is called “the faith.”
“And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily” (Acts 16:5).
“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations” (Romans 14:1).
“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13).
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Believers in Jesus Christ are known as people of faith, as the Word says, “the just shall live by faith.”[1]
But you might ask, can’t we use the “wisdom of the world” to reach the world for Christ? Tomorrow we will think about the “wisdom of men” in the ministry. See you then.
Quote: “Nothing is impossible for the people of God who trust in the power of God to accomplish the will of God”[2] (David Platt).
[1] Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 2:20, 3:11; Hebrews 10:38.
[2] David Platt. AZQuotes.com, Wind, and Fly LTD, 2020. https://www.azquotes.com/quote/862344, accessed November 25, 2020.