1 Corinthians 2:1-5
With the understanding of true wisdom and power manifested in the gospel of Christ crucified, Paul went on to explain his approach in sharing the gospel when he first came to Corinth.
Paul was careful not to depend on human wisdom, eloquence and rhetoric in sharing the gospel; he was concerned that the message of the gospel he communicated should be a demonstration of the Spirit andpower from God. Paulʼs message was not based on his own ability in speech and persuasion. His burden was that the faith of the believers inCorinth should rest in the power of God and not in the wisdom of man.
The gospel may appear foolish to man-centred wisdom. However,because it is Godʼs wisdom, the gospel of Christ crucified is the onlypower to save.
The Corinthians esteemed eloquence and delighted in debates but Paul wanted them to know that the gospel comes to them not as something for them to debate and discuss as if they could judge it, but as a word from God to judge them.
Cleverness for manipulation and self-glorification is becoming a curse in Christian communication today. To catch peopleʼs attentionwe may need to vary our style of presentation. The Apostle Paul was not against the use of intellect and good communication; he himself communicated very effectively in all his epistles. However, Paul was conscious that he was not to feed Godʼs Word into the area of debate, but simply to proclaim it with the authority of the Lord Himself from whom it comes. He sets himself to announce the good news, toexplain it and to enforce what God has said but to rely on cleverness for manipulation or self-glorification is not something Paul would turn to. His main aim was to persuade men to receive and respond to Godʼs truth in the gospel, always in dependence on Godʼs Spirit to enable them to do so in Godʼs power.
1 Corinthians 2:6 – 3:23
The Apostle Paul went on to share that although the message of the gospel appears as foolishness to human wisdom, there is a higher wisdom, and this message of wisdom is from the Holy Spirit of God.
A personʼs thoughts are known by the spirit of the person; similarly, the thoughts of God are known by the Holy Spirit of God and these thoughts are communicated to those who have received the Spirit of God, namely believers.
Unbelievers are not able to receive these thoughts as they donot possess the Spirit of God. Therefore, they find these thoughts unacceptable and cannot understand them, branding them as foolishness.
Even rulers and leaders of this age cannot understand the thoughtsof God and His plan of salvation. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall but the plan and purpose of God remains and will come to pass and lastfor eternity.
Paul declared that believers not only have the Spirit of God butthey have the mind of Christ. In Romans 8, Paul clearly stated that those who do not have the Spirit of God do not belong to God.
We have seen earlier that Paul addressed the believers in thechurch of Corinth as saints, that is those set apart to God. The Apostle Paul acknowledged some in the church of Corinth as believers, belonging to God and set apart to Him. As believers, they would have the Spirit of God and the mind of Christ. But why is it that the church in Corinth seemed to behave not as those with the mind of Christ?
They quarrelled, pitting one leader against another. They also exalted themselves and their own gifts. Even though they had the Spirit of God, they were behaving as those without the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit.
We know that the Holy Spirit is the agent of new birth; He givesus understanding to know God and a new heart to obey Him. He dwellswithin us; He guides us and teaches us in our daily pilgrimage; and He also gives us joy, peace, power and special gifts. The Holy Spirit is also the ʻSpirit of adoptionʼ; God not only forgives us, He accepts us as His adopted children, allowing us to share the love, inheritance, and glory of His Son now and eternally. The Spirit makes us realise in increasing measures the meaning of our filial relationship with God in Christ and leads us into an ever increasing response to God in this relationship, allowing us to call God Father. The Bible reveals that we can grieve the Holy Spirit; we can harden our hearts to His ministry in our lives; we can be guilty of not using the mind of Christ. This was in fact the problem with the Corinthian believers.
Hence, Paul began chapter 3 by addressing them as worldly (carnal or fleshly in other translations). He called them infants in Christ, not able to partake of more substantial spiritual ʻfoodʼ When they werequarreling among themselves, being jealous of one another, they were demonstrating traits that showed their spiritual immaturity.
Their wrong understanding of spiritual leaders further illustratedthis state in their lives. Spiritual leaders are mere servants of God; thereis no place to idolise them. The church does not belong to them but toGod. Paul used farming as an illustration; he and Apollos only planted and watered but it is God who gave the growth.
He went on to illustrate this principle by focusing on a building. The foundation of the Church can only be Jesus Christ and no other. Paul and his co-workers were responsible to build on this foundation. The quality of their building will be manifested on the day of the Lord; those that survive the test of fire, that is Godʼs evaluation and judgement, will be rewarded but those who fail the test will be burned.
The servants of God need His wisdom and His mind to build the Church; those who depend on their own understanding and human wisdom will suffer loss. What will last and remain are given by God;there is therefore no room for any boasting.
What is required of servants is faithfulness to God. Paul gave a sober warning: “Donʼt you know you yourselves are Godʼs temple and that Godʼs Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys Godʼs temple, God will destroy that person; for Godʼs temple is sacred, andyou together are that temple” (verse 14).
Godʼs temple is destroyed by those who sow division; it isdestroyed by those who seek to build her by using worldly wisdom and methods, focusing on wrong teachings and doctrines.
The Church is made up of individuals; each believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him or her: in that sense, each believer is alsoʻtemple of Godʼ. In the same vein, the temple of God must be holy and fit for God to dwell in, individually and as a Church. The individual Christian is also responsible to keep his or her body holy; as Apostle Peter wrote: ʻBe you holy as God is holyʼ Individual believers cannot afford to be worldly, for God has called us to holiness.
It is interesting to note how the Apostle Paul used the word “crucified” three times in Galatians to describe conversion and salvation.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer liveʼ (2:20); ʻThose who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (5:24); ʻMay I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the worldʼ (6:14).
When we become believers, we are born again spiritually; theold has gone, the new has come. This corresponds with ʻI have been crucified with Christʼ. However, the old human nature, the flesh, is still very much alive and the believer tends to allow the flesh to rear its head again and influence his life and decisions. This was what happened to the believers in the church in Corinth; they were fleshly. The flesh wasalso described by Paul in the epistle to the Ephesians as the “old self” or the “old man”. There Paul exhorted the believers to put off the “old self” and to put on the “new self” or “new man” created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Putting off the “old man” corresponds to “those who belong toChrist Jesus have crucified the flesh and its passions”. The flesh has to be dealt with severely; it has to be put to death, crucified, and thisis a continual process. It will continue to trouble the believer untilthe Lord Jesus comes again. The term “mortification of the flesh” is sometimes used by theologians to describe this process. The Corinthian believers, although they have the Spirit of God, were making decisions and serving God based on their “old self” and mere human values of the “old man”. They were not using the mind ofChrist and putting off the ʻold selfʼ instead they allowed the “old man” to dominate their lives as a church. Pride, jealousy, selfish pursuits and many other aspects of the flesh rule in the lives of many of Godʼspeople.
“The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” clearly points to the fact that believers no longer should live their lives according to the values of the world. As far as the believer is concerned, the values of the world are dead, he or she should not be making decisions and living life based on the values of the world. The believer should be dead to the world. Unfortunately, in the lives of theCorinthian believers and many of Godʼs people today, the ʻworld and her valuesʼ, championed by the ʻprince of the worldʼ are influencing the outworking of their Christian lives. Worldly wisdom, status, wealth and many other worldly values are rampant in the lives of carnal Christians.
Do not be mistaken; carnal and worldly Christians may possessspiritual gifts, given by the grace of God. But spiritual gifts exercised selfishly, with pride and arrogance do not edify the Church. The Apostle Paul will deal with such issues in subsequent chapters.