God's Wisdom in Salvation

Introduction

Attention

Have you ever been in a conversation where someone was talking about one thing, and then that reminded them of another thing? Then by the end of the second topic, neither of you can remember how you got there in the first place! Maybe you're one of those people! It feels a little bewildering, doesn’t it?

Significance

Tonight we’ll be back in 1 Corinthians 1, and at first glance Paul might seem like that distracted talker. The first and original issue in Corinth was division. The church had decomposed into factions. But now, within just a matter of verses, Paul is knee-deep in his philosophizing about preaching and the gospel. And he really gets into it!

This apparent rabbit trail goes on through the end of chapter 1, through chapter 2, and through chapter 3. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3:21, though, where Paul finally lands the plane. Let me read from 1 Corinthians 3:21,

1 Corinthians 3:21–23 LSB

21 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

This conclusion is pretty amazing! Here we discover that Paul has been addressing division within the church for three whole chapters! All this instruction was not a tangent. It is a single, sustained argument.

This is important because it is the context of our passage for tonight. Like pearls on a necklace, Paul is stringing together one argument after another to rebuke the Corinthians. Division within the church is deadly. It is so dangerous that Paul not only addresses it first in the letter, but he also devotes three whole chapters to it.

Remember this issue of strife, argument, and conflict. It will probably take months to get through these three chapters, but don’t forget the context. If you ever feel like you’re getting lost in all the wisdom, foolishness, and philosophy that Paul mentions, just remember that it all deals with controversy among church members.

Thesis & Beginning

Our text for tonight will be verses 19-21, though I will read from the beginning of the section in verse 18.

1 Corinthians 1:18–21 LSB

18 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. 19 For it is written, “I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.” 20 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? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.

Pray. Not cast stones but consider whether their is any foolish ambition in our own hearts.

As we begin, let me just briefly explain the structure of our text. As we saw, the larger context of these three chapters is focused on division within the church. The near context is a section in verses 18-25 that deals with two responses to the gospel. You can respond either in folly or in faith, as it says in verse 18. Then in verses 19-20, Paul expounds the foolishness of trusting in worldly wisdom, and in verses 21-25, the salvation of believing in divine wisdom.

In the first half here about foolishness, you might hear Paul saying something like this, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for destruction to everyone who is wise in his own eyes, to the Greek first and also to the Jew.” Then in the second section, you’ll hear the familiar “power of God for salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” In both cases, though, Paul is demonstrating the power of God through the preached word.

We will take these as our main headings: the power of God for destruction, and the power of God for salvation. This are not just abstract theories. These verses are addressing controversy in the church. If you disagree with another church member about something, you need to discern between proceeding with worldly or heavenly wisdom. Worldly wisdom stirs up further conflict, but heavenly wisdom will make peace and draw you nearer to God.

The Power of God for Destruction (19-20)

As we warm up to talk about the power of God for destruction in verses 19-20, I want to remind you of a few things from last week. Verse 18 begins a section that continues through verse 25. In verse 18, Paul says “the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” We talked about that last week, but I want to mention it again.

Preaching the cross in the first century would be like saying today, “Pick up your electric chair and follow Christ!” There was a shock effect in the language of the cross. It was a brutal instrument of torture, and it definitely wouldn’t be just lying around the house. We’d be scared if you had a real electric chair in your basement! This command was not normal. It did not make sense. Nobody had a cross to pick up, and nobody wanted one either. When Jesus was crucified, there was no loincloth or Hallmark card. The cursed tree was savage, barbaric, and merciless.

This is why the world thought it was foolish. And today it is no different—the cross symbol may seem common, but the concept of Christianity is still just as repulsive as ever. Our pride bars us from accepting the free gift of grace. We desperately want to earn our own salvation. We want to prove our own merit and save our own life. Ironically, Jesus says in Matthew 16:25, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Notice that Paul speaks of “those who are perishing” in verse 18. Then look down at verse 19, and see how the Lord states, “I will destroy.” In Greek, the same word is used in both places. It would not be wrong to translate verse 18 as “those who are being destroyed.” The grammar in verse 18 is parallel. One group is being destroyed, while the other is being saved. The meaning here is that God is fulfilling His prophecy. God is using the word of the cross to destroy the wisdom of those who disregard that cross. In verse 20, Paul asks us to decide whether God has been successful.

Let’s look at this quotation in verse 19 more carefully. Yahweh says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” Notice that the Lord is confronting the wise and clever head on. He does not plan to destroy merely the counsel of the wise or the schemes of the clever. He attacks their essential identity.

And the context of this quotation matters too. Paul pulls this from

Isaiah 29:13–14 LSB

13 Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their mouth And honor Me with their lips, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their fear of Me is in the command of men learned by rote, 14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the discernment of their discerning men will be hidden.”

See this is an old, old problem. Ever since Cain killed Abel, religious hypocrites have been the bane of humanity’s existence. It was no different in Isaiah’s day; it was no different in Paul’s day; and it is no different in our day. But that is not all. You may remember from the sermon I preached on Isaiah 66 last month that the first 39 chapters of Isaiah deal with the times of King Ahaz and King Hezekiah. Both kings were invaded by the Assyrians. King Ahaz relied on his wise and discerning men, and he sent to Egypt for help. But that completely backfired. In Hezekiah’s day, Yahweh’s angel struck down 185,000 Assyrians. God snacked on Sennacherib, just swallowed him up.

None of the wise men saw that coming. I bet the discerning men thought Hezekiah was a kook for trusting God and inquiring by ole Izzy. But that divine deliverance was a foreshadowing of the cross. Yahweh promised once again to deal marvelously with the Jews. And He began to deliver through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

After this Paul doubles, triples, and even quadruples down in 1 Corinthians 1:20,

20 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?

Paul is getting aggressive here! There are so many questions. At first glance, he seems to be taking on the elite men of society. And that is probably the best way to take these three classes. Commentators get all tied up in knots trying to differentiate and explain each group precisely. We don’t really know who exactly Paul was talking about, but we can tell what they shared in common: they were the trained professionals, the skillful experts. In particular, they were good with words and held leadership roles. Normal people looked to them for help with difficult issues.

But now these experts are hiding in shame, disgraced for seeking God on their own terms. Their fatal flaw was that they were “of this age” and “of the world.” Their wisdom came with an expiration date. Now it is rotten, and their salt has lost its savor. For all their learning, they failed to anticipate or recognize God’s plan in Jesus’ death on the cross. They scoffed at it and rejected Him. But in the resurrection, God turned their “wisdom” into folly.

So if you are a trained professional or just successful in the eyes of the world, then be warned. Your learning and skill have an appropriate place in this age, but they will not save you in the age to come. Do not go astray by relying on worldly best practices to accomplish spiritual goals at home or in the church. God says that He has made worldly wisdom to be foolish, so why would you invite it into spiritual sanctuaries? Cling to God’s word instead of your own judgment. As Paul will say in a few chapters, “You were bought with a price.” So don’t sell out to worldly thinking.

The Power of God for Salvation (21)

Now with that being said, I also want to caution you against the other extreme. If God has made foolish the wisdom of the world, then what place is there for human reason? Is it okay that common sense is not very common?

No! Paul is not saying that we should gate-check our brains before boarding as believers. Let’s look at verse 21, where we will move into our second main point: the power of God for salvation. Here Paul answers our question,

21a For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God,

Paul explains that worldly wisdom is characterized by seeking God apart from His word. This is just like the tower of Babel. Those rebellious builders said they wanted to make “a tower whose top will reach into heaven.” They wanted a city and a name. They wanted glory, and they challenged God’s word. As a result, God destroyed their wisdom.

One commentator says, “A God discovered by human wisdom will be both a projection of human fallenness and a source of human pride, and this constitutes the worship of the creature, not the Creator.”

From this we learn that Paul is condemning only the misuse of human reason. Worldly wisdom cannot help you obtain access to God. The world will never come to know God through its own intellectual ability. However, if you are transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will able to apply wisdom and reason biblically.

I’ll give you some examples. These represent humanity’s best efforts at knowing God apart from His word. They are interesting but miss the mark entirely. Hear how they fail to teach you who God is or what He requires of you.

The ontological argument states that if you can imagine a perfect being, then there must be one out there.

The cosmological argument reasons that there must be a first cause in the universe.

The teleological argument realizes that the world is so complex it needs a designer.

The moral argument points out that the concepts of right and wrong must have come from god himself.

The universality argument observes that since almost all humans believe in the divine, then God must exist.

The progress argument says that human civilization has developed so much that a wise god planned it.

Do you see the problem with all of these so-called “natural proofs”? While worldly wisdom may indicate there is one or more gods, it cannot teach you to know Yahweh. That is why there are so many false religions. They each believe in a god, but they cannot tell what he is like. That is dangerous! Before Israel entered the Promised Land, do you remember when Joshua was confronted by a man with a sword drawn in his hand? Nobody needed to ask Joshua, “Hey, is that a man with a sword over there?” The real question was, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” The man replied, “No! Rather I indeed come now as commander of the host of Yahweh.” Now that is a helpful answer!

The only way we can know God is through direct revelation. He has to tell us who He is and what He requires. More than that, He has to regenerate our hearts and open our eyes. Without God, we are lost in darkness and on the way to destruction. He has to arrest our attention, explain Himself to us, and save us from ourselves!

In response, we must bow with humility. You must give glory to God and obey His word. And when you want to share the gospel, you have to use words of revelation. Your good works and social efforts cannot bring the world to a saving knowledge of God. Only the message preached will do. Look at the rest of verse 21,

21b God was well-pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.

God’s chosen instrument of salvation is the message preached. It is the word of the cross proclaimed. From Day 1 in the universe, God has always chosen to demonstrate His power through the spoken word. When He commanded, let there be light, then it was so. Yahweh constantly correlates his word with creation and salvation.

Jeremiah 23:29 says, “Is not My word like fire?” declares Yahweh, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

This is God’s modus operandi. It is no surprise that God prefers to use the message preached. But it is surprising when a word from God is rejected! How is it that God would suffer to save us obstinate wretches?

Paul even says God is well-pleased to save those who believe. Why is that? How can it be? It is because of Jesus.

Ciampa (CHAM-pa) and Rosner in Pillar Commentary say,

The verb “to be well pleased” is used in other parts of the New Testament to refer to stupendous things that God does against all expectation. Significantly, they are all in connection with his Son. God was pleased with his Son at his baptism (Mark 1:11; Matt. 17:5; 2 Pet. 1:17). He was pleased to give the kingdom of his Son to “the little flock” (Luke 12:32). He was pleased to reveal his Son in Paul so that the apostle might preach to the Gentiles (Gal. 1:15–16). He was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son (Col. 1:19). He was pleased to predestine the elect for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5). He was pleased to make known the mystery of his will which he purposed in Christ (Eph. 1:9). And here in 1 Corinthians 1:21, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe in his Son.

From this we learn that God is not pleased to save because we deserve it. Instead, God is pleased to save because He wants the cross of His Son to be made full. He opposes and destroys those fools who empty the cross of Christ through their own worldly wisdom. 1 Timothy 2:4 says God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.” All those who enter by the gate of repentant faith are welcome. This is the free gift of eternal life! Christ died to save sinners, and it was according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of our loving Father. To the world, it was the victory of lawless men. To believers, it is the dawn of the resurrection.

Conclusion

Back in verse 18, Paul taught that the word of the cross is the power of God. Tonight we’ve seen that this word is the power of God for the destruction of the worldly wise and for the salvation of those who believe. The last thing we need to do is figure out how this is related to the conflict at Corinth. These truths have real-world implications.

Jeremiah 8:9 raises a question, “The wise men are put to shame; They are dismayed and captured; Behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh, And what kind of wisdom do they have?” Go ahead and turn with me to James 3:13-18. In this final passage, I want to show you the relationship between worldly wisdom and conflict.

James 3:13–18 LSB

13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good conduct his works in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not coming down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James attributes church conflict to the presence of worldly wisdom. Paul is arguing the same thing in Corinthians. The church at Corinth missed the fact that the word of God preached is what saves, not the preacher. God may use different men at different times and in different places to deliver His word, no doubt. But that’s not the point. The common denominator is that they all preach the same word, the same gospel. This gospel is what breathes life.

The Corinthians were trying to earn their standing with God. They didn’t really care so much about Paul, Apollos, or Cephas. They just wanted the prestige of name-dropping. The first letter in their alphabet was not “a”, it was “i.” In Greek, the report from Chloe’s people said, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” The only thing they all shared in common was an obsession with I, me, and my. It was all about them, not about the cross of Christ. The Father was well-pleased with His Son. They were only well-pleased with themselves. This is why that church was full of bitter jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and every evil practice.

What a contrast with the wisdom from above! It is pure, peaceable, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, without doubting, without hypocrisy. Learn from this painful lesson. Decide today that you will make peace by sowing the fruit of righteousness. Receive the preached word, and don’t boast about the preacher. If you want to prove that your wisdom is godly, then take a hard look at your relationships. Are you conducting yourself wisely? This is the true test. Your love for others indicates the status of your love for God. Rejoice that God is well-pleased to save those who believe. If you are a believer, it is because He regenerated your heart to love the word of the cross. It is not possible to approach Him any other way—you can only know God through the revelation of His Son. This access is the privilege of all those who have repented of their sin and have believed in Jesus unto salvation.

Postlude

What is the proper response?

Rom 1:16, 18, 21-22 - “The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… but men suppress the truth in unrighteousness: they knew God, but they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.”

Give thanks to God for His wisdom. Glorify Him because He was well-pleased to save you in Christ.