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God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise

  Good morning. For consider your calling that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 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, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. That’s easy for you to say, Paul. If man were going to devise a system of religion, he would set it up so that the people that were involved in it would be intelligent, strong, rich - the cream of the crop. Then man could say that he did it; that it was his vision that created the salvation. But God says like Lee Corso on College GameDay, “not so fast“. It cannot have anything to do with you; it has to be strictly My doing. He did the impossible thing with improbable people. Now no one can boast in himself; it strictly depends on God ...
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But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.

  Good morning. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom. And so if God chooses to reveal Himself in a way different from these, then they will not believe it. But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness. To the Jews, the Messiah was supposed to remain forever (in the book of John you even had the public saying that to Jesus); and so saying that the Messiah was crucified was heresy. The whole thing sounded ridiculous to the intellectuals. Surely you had to seek God in some philosophical way, and by using your great intellect find Him. But to those who are the called, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (we will refer to this last phrase again at the end of the chapter). The Jews wanted signs - Jesus rose from the dead. The Greeks wanted wisdom - God‘s wisdom had the perfect way to bring about salvation, so that it depended on Him and not man. Because the foolishness of God (simply believing in what Jesus did for ...
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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.

  Good morning. 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. It does sound foolish in the natural. How can someone dying on the cross save me, and all that is required of me is to believe that it will? Shouldn’t I have to do something to obtain salvation? “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside“. People today are trying to show off their “wisdom“ by saying they have figured out how salvation should come about. And of course it is not the way that God says it is to come about. 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? Mankind through its various philosophies has concluded that it has found another way to God; in fact there are many ways. In all of these various supposed ways to God, they all depend on man’s beliefs or actions instead of solely on God’s. For since in the wi...
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For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would be not be made void

  Good morning. So after Paul tells them to all agree and that there be no divisions among them, He says: I have been informed concerning you by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,… and I am of Christ“. Has Christ been divided? We have that today in the church, in that people will say I am of this evangelist or of that apostle or this Pastor. And what’s worse, if you don’t agree with what my idol is saying, then you are not a good Christian. Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except…, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. For Christ did not send me to baptize (remember that in the book of John people were saying that Jesus was baptizing, but John said that it was not Jesus, but rather His disciples that were baptizing), but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ ...
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God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

  Good morning. God is faithful (even when we are not), through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I exhort you by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree (literally, speak the same thing) and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. That’s pretty harsh, Paul. Sadly though, it can be necessary in some churches. It’s hard for any group to do much of anything unless there is agreement on most topics. This is especially true in the church. My interlinear New Testament translates the phrase that is here translated “be made complete“ as “having been joined together”. Instead of division, we are to be joined together. The only way we can do that is to be “in the same mind and have the same judgment”. Father help the church to be in agreement and that there be no divisions; instead that we be made complete, in the same mind, and in the same judgment; that we may s...
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Awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  Good morning. I think my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whew, what a sentence! It is only through the grace of God that we can have or be anything of worth. Some people get all puffed up about their knowledge or about their eloquence of speech. We need to realize that we depend on Him for any speech or knowledge that is worthwhile. In chapters 12 and 14 he will be speaking specifically about their giftings in the Holy Spirit. What everyone who operates in the gifts of the Holy Spirit needs to realize is that it is a gift; it is not through some special power or ability of your own. We should be eagerly awaiting t...
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To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

  Good morning. Last time we finished the book of Romans, and today we start the book of first   Corinthians. My Bible says that in Paul’s day the city of Corinth had a population of about 250,000 free persons, plus as many as 400,000 slaves. Paul starts out like he does a lot of times listing his credentials. Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. As was the custom, he starts the letter with his name instead of having it just at the end. An apostle was a messenger, or one sent by some one or group. Paul says that he was sent by Jesus according to the will of God – he did not go out on his own. We now find out to whom he wrote this letter. To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. My Bible says that the term “church of God“ was only used by Paul and only in one place in Acts, here, and one...
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