By Randall L. Broad
Read: Ezra 3:1-4:23; 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4; Psalm 28:1-9; Proverbs 20:24-25
Today in First Corinthians we read about a church struggling with internal disputes.
These were the early day of Christianity and the centuries of doctrine, ritual, and orthodoxy we take for granted were not there to guide the early believers. They relied on teachers and evangelists to share the gospel while leaders were still struggling to define the concept and practices of community worship. The believers in Corinthians were not born Christian; they were born Jew or Gentile and somehow had to synthesis their new faith with their old–as well as with each other. Exactly how that was to be done-was still a work in progress. Paul and Barnabas brought the gospel to Corinth on their second missionary journey. Paul spent eighteen months teaching in the synagogue and later at the home of Titus Justus. Our reading yesterday ends with his testimony.
1And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did
not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2For
I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3And
I was with you in weakness and in fear and much
trembling, 4and my speech and my message were not in plausible
words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so
that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Paul had come before the Corinthians as he was commanded by Jesus …
17For Christ did not send me to baptize but
to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of
Christ be emptied of its power.
1 Corinthians
1:17
What we know about the Apostle Paul creates a paradox for us because it is hard to envision the great evangelist as weak, or afraid, or trembling when it comes to pronouncing the gospel. His letters reveal a man who was a bold speaker, with a keen intellect and a profound sense of mysticism. He was one of the greatest thinkers in all of history but his thoughts were tempered by an uncommon wisdom, sense of purpose, and a willingness to act on what he believed. This is demonstrated even as a Pharisee because while other men whispered in the shadows about the followers of Jesus: Saul of Tarsus acted on his convictions becoming the most feared persecutor of the Christians all the way up to the fateful day on the Road to Damascus. The Apostle Paul was not an intimidating man physically, but he possessed a toughness which allowed him to endure all the hardship in his life and he earned his living through manual labor–a provision unacceptable to any Pharisee of his day. Yet despite all his trials, Paul’s true strength was not physical nor of this world.
6Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom,
although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are
doomed to pass away. 7But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of
God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8None of the
rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love
him”—
These verses underlie Paul’s understanding of wisdom formed from his own training and experiences. He was trained to know the wisdom of men, but he learned the wisdom of God through the Spirit. Before that day Saul served the law as a Pharisee, but his life was changed that day on the road, and once he arrived in Damascus a disciple named Ananias came to see him:
14And he said, ‘The God of our fathers
appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice
from his mouth; 15for you will be a witness for him to everyone of
what you have seen and heard. 16And now why do you wait? Rise and be
baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
Acts 22:14-16
The Spirit he encountered on the Damascus Road helped Paul and Barnabas plant the church in Corinth and now their teachings have been questioned he writes to them to defend the things they taught:
10these things God has revealed to us through
the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For
who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in
him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now
we have received not the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by
God. 13And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom
but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are
spiritual.
The significance of this spiritual dynamic is intently personal for Paul. Jesus revealed to him a deeper level of wisdom and sent him into the world to share it with the Gentile. All throughout the Apostle Paul’s missionary journey’s he would deliver his message through the power of the Spirit and defend it to his dying day as higher and more meaningful than all the wisdom of men. Here in chapter two Paul defends his ministry and reminds all the Corinthians they should become imitators of Christ as he had, and their work, families, and lives should be empowered by the Spirit to worship the living God. His experiences taught him you can seek God through the wisdom of men but you encounter Him through the power of the Spirit.
Even today too many people know “the wisdom of God” through the sermons they hear and the devotionals they read. In other words, the Word of God filtered through the minds of others. The Bible is hard to read and understand; so too many people let others do the work for them. But that is not the path God laid out to wisdom. Sermons and devotionals are an essential tool to bring clarity and understanding to the Bible, but one thing I learned as an academic is to never put second-hand sources (… even these commentaries) over the original source. The path to understanding the wisdom of God is being led through his word by the Holy Spirit and living a spirit-filled life. Let the Holy Spirit lead you through the Holy Bible; I promise you the reward will be worth the effort.
Yet even Paul understood there was a necessary relationship between these two methodologies because it is the power of the Spirit that allows us to go beyond the wisdom of men and accept the wisdom of God.
14The natural person does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to
understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15The
spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16“For
who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the
mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
For the Apostle Paul, the activities and
ministry of the Holy Spirit was essential for the Christian walk. There was
simply no other way Christ could be experienced other than through the Spirit.
He himself had met Christ on the Damascus Road not in the ‘world’ but in the
‘Spirit’. He took away from his experience the idea unity with God was not in
the law, the Sanhedrin, or religious ritual; but rather in the joining of your
spirit with the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit who is from
God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God (v. 12).
Walk with the Lord
…
Ephesians 1:17
(RLB230806)
© Copyright 2021: Randall L. Broad.
Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L. Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.
