The Beginning of Wisdom

Introduction

Background: This is actually the second letter that Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. Sometimes people think too much about that, but the reason that this letter exists is to clarify the first letter. We don’t really need it, because we have this one.

Paul knew this church well because he spent eighteen months there when he planted this church. And now he is concerned because they are extremely divided. They are fighting over who is the best Apostle, they are allowing horrible sexual immorality to take place, and Paul is in Ephesus doing a work there. So, Paul writes this letter to address those things.

This book is one of the most confrontational church epistles because Paul names names, he calls out sins, and he addresses them head on. He gives us the model here that when an issue arises, we need to deal with the issues. I think we need to have wisdom and discretion on how we handle issues, but they still have to be dealt with.

Here are the issues that Paul covers in this letter: division, sexual immorality, believers suing each other, marriage and singleness, legalism and liberalism, how to worship in an orderly fashion, how to administrate the Lord’s Supper, and how to understand and use spiritual gifts in the church. That means, that the purpose of this letter is to instruct the church, and if its good for them, its good for us.

Context: The looming issue here as we begin reading in chapter 1 is that the church was allowing the culture and the city of Corinth to determine their teaching and practice. Aphrodite was the major goddess and she is nothing more than a sex god. That is, that the people in Corinth were experiencing the height of immorality, they were worshipping sex.

I can imagine the world there at that time was even more sexually perverse than ours. Well, as perverse as it was, Paul, nor God, made any exceptions on Christian living. Sometimes we want to allow certain sins to take hold, we want to steer clear of condemning certain sins, but the plan of God has always been that the church confront sin and be separated from it. At the same time, we must live near it so that we can seek and save those who are lost, just like Jesus did for us. Jesus didn’t die for us from the Tabernacle or the Synagogue, He died for us on mount Calvary for all the world to see, so its our job to live as a sacrifice for all the world to see.

What we are going to see in this opening chapter of 1 Corinthians is three callings for the Christian.

I. A Call to be Holy v. 1-9

1 Corinthians 1:1–3 NKJV

Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Set Apart by God

Paul opens and says he is writing to those who are in Corinth and have been “set apart by God.”

In v. 2 he says that he is writing to those who are “called to be saints.”

If we are going to be wise in our Christian walk, this is the first thing that we have to understand, that when God saves us, He charges us with being set apart for Him and to Him. He calls us to live righteously, and to walk in His ways. The opening verses here are interesting considering what Paul is about to start addressing in the church. He is, right here in v. 2, setting the tone and reminding them that they are to be set apart for the service of God.

The word “saint” literally means “holy one” or “set apart”, and Paul is reminding them of this charge and of this commitment they made.

Enriched by God

1 Corinthians 1:4–6 NKJV

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,

Paul is talking about spiritual gifts here. When he says, “utterance and all knowledge”, he is talking about being so filled with the knowledge and blessing of God, that it comes out of your mouth as praise.

This is not speaking in tongues or some angelic language. This is the outpouring of the knowledge of God in the form of love, affection, edifying words, encouragement, teaching and preachings, and things of that nature.

We’re going to address those things in this letter too, and Paul is introducing the subject here.

What I really want to you focus on is that word “enriched”.

Remember what Paul’s major reason for writing is…that there is division in the church. What’s happening is people are saying that they got their stability from Paul, from Apollos, from Peter, or someone else….what Paul is emphasizing here is this truth that we know in our minds but we don’t always believe with our hearts, that if we are enriched in anything at all, it comes from God.

We can’t give men or institutions praise. When we do, the focus begins to move from Jesus to people, and when that happens, division creeps in and destroys the church.

When I die, I really don’t even care if I have a headstone because I won’t even be dead…I’ll be alive. And the more I grow in my faith, the easier it is to see glory. The easier it is to wait on the day when I am totally enriched by the presence of God.

In your life, don’t let your sorrow and your pain place you on hold…instead what you need to do is allow your pain and your sorrow to push you to your expectant hope that you are going to be made perfect in Jesus Christ.

Marriage and Parenting

Do you know what my marriage teaches me?

It teaches me just how much love God has to have to put up with me.

Do you know what being a dad shows me?

It shows me just how patient God is with me. It shows me just how badly He wants me to grow and to be made perfect. It shows me just how far God would go to make sure that I am taken care of and that I know I am loved by Him.

It’s really amazing what will happen in your heart when you begin to realize that your enrichment comes from God.

If you find houses, lands, and money, to bring you joy in life, it doesn’t even compare to what God has for us in glory.

v. 6

We are enriched by the presence and the calling of God. That’s exactly what Paul says in v. 6.

the testimony of Christ being confirmed in them was that God really did send His Holy Spirit, and God really is moving us to perfection, and that God really is continuing His work here on earth, and that He’s doing it by His Spirit, through the local church.

It’s amazing to think that God would use a group of people like us to accomplish His work, but He is, and He wants to do it every day.

Not only is Paul saying we are holy because we are set apart by God, not only is he saying that we are becoming holy because we are enriched by God, Paul says that to be holy we must continue to depend on God.

Dependent on God

1 Corinthians 1:8–9 NKJV

who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We can depend on God because His love is eternal

Paul says God will confirm us to the end. Some want to teach and preach that the Bible says you can lose your salvation. Paul says that God is confirming us to the end.

Hebrews 12:2 NKJV

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

There is no way, no chance, that you can lose your salvation. Once God has spoken, once God has set you on a path, He is going to bring you to completion.

It’s in the nature of God for Him to finish what He starts, and that includes your salvation

We can depend on God because He made us blameless through Jesus

When we stand before God and He tests our works, even those things that we did that were evil won’t be held against us.

Paul says at the end of v. 9 that we have fellowship with the Son of God.

That means that we are in harmony with God and we are like Jesus Christ, that we are sitting at His table. and when you’re sitting at the table of Jesus, you are going to be taken care of.

We can keep this call to holiness in mind only by expecting that Jesus will return to get us, and we need to be working while we are waiting.

Expectant Accountability

1 Corinthians 1:7 NKJV

so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Those two words, “eagerly waiting” is one word in the Greek…(it’s about 3 miles long so I’m not going to try and say it), but it carries with it one major implication.

The implication is that eagerly waiting for Christ’s return comes at the height of our Christian maturity. While we are immature, and while we are attempting to get better and better, we still hold on to certain aspects of this world.

But there will come a time in our lives, or it should, when we want nothing more than to be with Jesus.

You’ll hear these older saints, and you’ll know that they are in their final moments, and they have a calmness, and they have an assurance, and they will say, “I am ready to go be with Jesus.”

They have matured to the point where there is nothing left for them except for an expectant accountability to love and worship Jesus.

In our life, we have to develop that expectant accountability, because it is the expectation that Jesus is returning or that we are going to be with Him that keeps us accountable to Him.

When we are awaiting Jesus Christ, it spurs us to maturity and to receiving what He wants to give us, which is all kinds of spiritual blessings and spiritual gifts to enable us to do His work.

God’s work in us is not to make us prosperous, but it is to make us more like Jesus Christ, and that doesn’t just begin when we get to Heaven, it begins now.

II. A Call to be United v. 10-25

1 Corinthians 1:10–13 NKJV

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided?

A House Divided Cannot Stand

Paul is echoing the words of Jesus when he writes these verses.

Jesus is being accused of siding with Satan…They are saying that Jesus is of Satan, that’s why He can cast out demons. in response, Jesus says this in Matthew 12:25

Matthew 12:25 NKJV

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

Division in the church is deadly

A house divided cannot stand, and it doesn’t matter if its your house or the church house, there has to be unity for it to survive.

The Source of Division

What’s the source of division here? Some are trying to claim status by saying they are disciples of Peter, or Paul, or of Apollos and they were claiming that as a status symbol.

Even worse! There was a group of people boasting about being followers of Jesus Christ, using His name as a status symbol….and that is the height of arrogance.

Paul’s Simple Question

Paul asks a simple question: “Is Christ divided?”

Jesus says a house divided cannot stand, Paul asks them, “is Jesus divided?” The answer is no…to be baptized or to preach in any other name than Jesus Christ is false. It’s not of God. To believe that you are superior because in your knowledge you know Christ, but do not follow His ways, is arrogant.

Paul wants these believers in the Corinthian church to have a unity in their conviction and their understand of the grace of God given to us in Jesus Christ.

We as a church have to be united with one Goal

Tony Evans illustrates it like this:

The Tony Evans Bible Commentary A. Divisions in the Church (1:10–4:21)

A football team is unified—not because everyone plays the same position—but because everyone is straining for the same goal line. An orchestra is unified—not because everyone performs on the same instrument—but because everyone harmoniously plays the same song under the direction of one conductor. Likewise, the church is to be unified—not because every Christian is exactly alike—but because we all pledge allegiance to the same Lord.

A church divided cannot stand, and Paul is opening the call to unity in the Corinthian church.

Baptized into one Spirit

1 Corinthians 1:13–17 NKJV

Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Paul is making it so clear here…

“Guys, my mission is not to baptize in the name of Paul. I am not trying to earn a following. I am baptizing in the name of Jesus, and I am pointing everyone to Him.”

Obviously there were some, and there will be some that claim Paul was only interested in this subject because it was taking away from his following. Paul says it clearly here that he has his role like everyone else, and that is to preach the gospel.

And he says he doesn’t have to preach the gospel with words of wisdom. If you come to Christ because it is logically satisfying to you then you’ve missed the point of coming by faith.

We come by Faith

When we come to faith in Jesus, its not about logical understanding. That’s where we get it wrong so many times.

Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is about trusting Him and His words, not making sense of the process.

Trust, which is faith, is far more important than reasoning. We can reason ourselves into and out of sin…

And when things don’t make sense logically and our sorrow so grips us to the point where we cannot see the end, faith becomes greater.

Because faith is trusting God. If God says, “you will live if you trust Me.” Then we can trust Him that even in death we will live.

When our eyes see the end, when our body gives up and dies, no one would come to the logical conclusion that, “Oh yeah, he’s still alive!”.

But, if they trust God, that He can give us eternal life, then faith overcomes our reasoning, and we have hope.

We come to the Cross

Not only does he say he doesn’t preach with words of wisdom, he says that it is the cross that has the power.

If we convince ourselves, then we make the cross of no effect. The cross says to us, “you cannot earn it, you cannot buy it, you cannot reason it, it has to be given.”

Jesus gave us the chance for redemption by satisfying God’s wrath on that cross. He gives us a hope of new life because by the cross He paid our sin, and by His resurrection He gave us hope.

Therefore, Paul says, “Don’t claim the name of any man, only the name of Christ.”

It’s all about the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18–25 NKJV

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Translation: God’s wisdom allows us to see things from an eternal perspective.

It’s foolishness to the world to say that in order to live you have to die.

It’s foolishness to the world to say that in order to lead you have to serve.

It’s foolishness to the world to say that in order to be first you have to be last.

But the Bible says that the foolishness of God is wiser than man and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

What the world would consider to be foolish, that is death on the cross for the Son of God, God uses to save people.

This way, there is no room for boasting, there is no room for pride, there is only total surrender to God and His word. There is only total surrender to God and His ways.

I mean think about the disciples. They thought salvation was going to come from strength and from war. They thought it was going to come by an overthrow of an earthly government. They were sorely disappointed when their savior died, because to the world, that was a sign of defeat. God’s wisdom is far beyond man’s, and His plans are being enacted in a way that men cannot comprehend.

Paul’s Point

Paul’s point is this, the power lies in the gospel, not in baptism; it lies in your faith in God, not in your faith in men.

Therefore your complaint and your division over who you were baptized by, and what man you follow, is irrelevant and is blasphemous, and it is causing division.

Not only is there a call to be Holy, and a call to be united….

III. Called to Glorify v. 26-31

A Sobering Reminder

1 Corinthians 1:26 NKJV

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

Why does God do it this way? Why does God take those are unwise, unmighty, unnoble, and call them to do His work?

It’s so when they get there, they aren’t bragging in themselves, but they are pointing people to the power of God.

Think about why Paul included this in here…these Corinthians were trying to identify with the right people in the church to gain status. Paul gives them a sobering reminder saying, “Guys, I hate to break it to you, but me, and Peter, and Apollos are nobodies. Claiming status in us, by our name, doesn’t give you the clout and the prestige you think it does.”

I’ve heard it said like this, “you’re not a child of God because of who you are, you are a child of God in spite of who you are.”

That’s why you’ll hear me say so often that Christianity is not about what you are but who you are…the Bible says that Jesus is transforming us into His likeness…that means that God is taking us from who we used to be and He is making us more like Jesus…He is actively transforming us because we were useless when He found us.

A Sobering Selection

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 NKJV

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

If you want to be great in God’s Kingdom, you have to be the least of these. You can’t obtain status unless you deny your status. You can’t achieve greatness unless you deny yourself and look to Jesus for your sole supply.

It’s such a humbling thing in a church when we begin to serve God. We get to the place where we think we ought to be and think we ought to do…but when we get to the place of maturity, we are blessed to be and we are blessed to do, because all of a sudden we realize we don’t deserve any of it.

Paul says that God operates like this so that no flesh will glory in His presence.

At times, we can get the attitude, “I did it.” But when we do it we get the glory and it doesn’t come from God. When we get the glory from man then the Bible says we have our reward.

Always remember, that if God has used you in any capacity its because you are foolish and weak. But in Jesus Christ you have been made wise and strong. Never forget that it’s not from you.

When we remember this, then we are able to glorify Jesus, and we don’t give glory to any man.

A Sacred Salvation

1 Corinthians 1:30–31 NKJV

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

Church, our salvation is sacred…our relationship with God is the only thing that we need to cling to in this life.

For the Christian, everything that we hope to obtain flows from this, that we glory in Jesus Christ and the salvation of God.

Conclusion

The theme of this letter is wisdom.

If we want to be wise, then we must give ourselves over to godliness and to His wisdom and direction.