1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 Outline

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5

I. Wisdom and Foolishness

1. With Paul’s emphasis on wisdom and foolishness, it may appear that he is leaving the topic of divisiveness. However, it is best to view this section as laying the theological groundwork for why divisions are incompatible with Christian communities.

2. The wrong type of wisdom leads to boasting, rivalries, and divisions, whereas the wisdom of God brings peace. Paul begins by quoting Isaiah 29:14.

a. In this context, God warns Judah not to rest on the counsel of religious and political advisors, who seek a worldly solution by making an alliance with Egypt, instead of trusting in God. The LXX of Isaiah 29:13-14, which Paul quotes, states:

b. And the Lord said: “These people draw near to me and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching commandments and doctrines of men. On account of this, behold, I will add the removing of this people and remove them; I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and I will hide the intelligence of the intelligent.”

3. If we take the context of Isaiah into consideration, Paul’s point is that the Corinthians are only superficially religious. They might be able to speak eloquently and even have a semblance of wisdom, but in the end these things are in vain on account of their divisions.

4. Paul continues this line of reasoning by pointing out that the wise man (sophos), scholar (grammateus) and philosopher of this age (suzetetes tou aionos toutou) for all their learning are not a step closer to knowing God.

a. Part of the reason for this situation is because their wisdom is still dependant on this age (tou aionos toutou), instead of the new age, which Christ has ushered through his death and resurrection.

b. For this reason, the Jews still wait for a sign and the Greeks look for worldly wisdom, when God has already revealed himself through the preaching of the cross of Christ.

c. Who would have ever thought of this, except for God?

II. Critique of Common Sense

1. What the Corinthians need is the wisdom of God, even if it appears foolish. Herein lies the challenge. The Corinthians must invert their common sense view of the world by viewing the world through the lens of the cross of Christ. Clifford Geertz remind us:

2.  “.…Common sense is as totalizing as any other: no religion is more dogmatic no science more ambitious, no philosophy more general. Its tonalities are different, and so are the arguments to which it appeals, but like them – and like art and like ideology – it pretends to reach past illusion to truth, to as we say, things as they are.” Clifford Geertz. Local Knowledge, 84.

III. Paradox of the Cross

1. To unpack the paradox of the cross even further, Paul reminds the Corinthians about their status when God called them; they were not wise (sophoi), influential (dynatoi), or wellborn (eugeneis).

2. The calling of the Corinthians, therefore, is another example of the workings of God in a way that is humanly unexpected.

a. Paul presumably brings up the topic of boasting at this juncture, because the Corinthians were boasting in their human leaders for all the wrong reasons.

b. As Paul will point out in 1 Corinthians 3:5, “What, therefore, is Apollos? And what is Paul?” The cross of Christ should destroy all human boasting.

3. The cross, properly understood, leads only to the exaltation of God’s grace. To this end, Paul quotes the LXX of Jeremiah 9:22, 23 to sharpen his focus on the right type of boasting.

a. The Lord says these things, “let the wise man not boast in his wisdom, or the strong man boast in his strength, or the rich man boast in his riches, but let the one who boasts boast in this that he understands and knows that I am the Lord working mercy, justice and righteousness on the earth that my will is in these things.”

4. Because Christ has become the wisdom of God, that is, the solution to the problem of sin though the work of the cross, righteousness, holiness and redemption are present realities for the people of God.

a. In the milieu of a status hungry society, we cannot help but view these qualities as Paul’s answer to what people really need.

b. The implications are profound. For one thing, satisfaction of the human heart can only be found in the God who acts on behalf of people through the work of the cross.

IV. Paul’s Testimony

1. Paul offers a positive example of the application of the cross in his own ministry. He recounts the manner and content of his work among the Corinthians.

2. As for content, he emphasizes the Christ-centered nature of his preaching – nothing but Christ and him crucified.

3. As for the manner of his labor, he states that he was not marked with eloquence or wisdom, but with much fear and trembling.

4. He also gives a rationale for why he has resolved to conduct his ministry in this way. He wanted the Corinthians’ faith to rest on power of God though the Holy Spirit, instead of worldly persuasions based on rhetoric or cleverness.

5. The cross of Christ must be the ultimate reason.

V. Applications

1. There is something extremely similar to our society in the words of Paul.

2. The hunger for wealth, status, and recognition has never diminished in human history. In some circles, the right address, school, and connections are still the basic ingredients for success and cause for boasting.

3. The message of the cross is just as paradoxical and foolish sounding today as it was in Paul’s day.

a. In fact, we can make a case that the Corinthians are actually in a better situation than we. At least the Jews looked for a sign, and the Greeks wisdom; we in the modern world seek none of these things in a postmodern world.

4. We need to emphasize that Paul addresses the church and not the world. To be sure, Paul does make a distinction between the world and the church in 1 Corinthians 1:18, but by and large his point is that the church in Corinth have not grasped the implications of the wisdom of the cross.

a. In this sense, we would do well to note the use of the present participle in 1:18 “to those being saved” (tois sozomenois). Christians, therefore, are the ones who have a hard time understanding the message of the cross.