Wise in Christ/Fool to the world

JRR Tolkien penned the world renowned Lord of the Rings. In his imagination, he created fabulous lands and creatures within with their own ethic, language, and purpose. One kingdom of creatures was the dwarfs. These were not the Snow White, dumpy, goofy creatures from Disney. These were the short, but strong bearded fellows who lived in the Mines of Moria. Moria was their kingdom and they made their name excavating precious metals from deep under the mountain.

The problem is that greed and discontentment was the demise of this kingdom of dwarfs. They amassed large wealth in their mining depositories and yet the coffers were never full enough. They always wanted more. They dug deeper and deeper into mountain until they unearthed an evil force that lied dormant beneath them. Their greed for more wealth resulted in their very destruction.

I am not sure exactly the inspiration that Tolkein used for the kingdom of Moria and the dwarfs but I cannot help but see a big connection. The Gk word for foolish that will be used in our study of God’s word today is Moria(Mor-ee-a). Greed and discontentment is foolish thinking that leads to destruction, even the destruction of a fictional kingdom of axe-welding, mine-carving dwarfs.

Therefore, Moria is not just fictitious land its the reality of this world that can never get enough. Moria is rooted in the sinful human condition that can never satisfy our fleshly appetites. In our day in age, the digging deeper into the mines of foolishness is not just for wealth, but also political power, social prestige, outward physical perfection. For Paul’s ministry to the Corinthians, he immediately address a dire problem among this body of believers. They were so consumed with worldly influences that they were allowing the lust for wisdom to infiltrate their own way of thinking. For a Greek culture, now under Roman rule, the quest for wisdom was its own religion. Like our culture today, that search for a higher wisdom was always subjective and rested on an imbalanced and ever changing relativism.

Macarthur writes,

1 Corinthians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Inferiority of Human Wisdom

The ancient Greeks were in love with philosophy, around which their culture was built. They had perhaps as many as fifty identifiable philosophical parties or movements, which vied for acceptance and influence. Each had its views of man’s origin, significance, destiny, and relationship to the gods—of which they had many. Some of the philosophies had detailed schemes for the religious, political, social, economic, and educational ordering of society. The Greeks were in love with human wisdom. They believed that philosophy (philosophia,, “love of wisdom”) was all-important. Philosophy provided a view, invented by man, of the meaning of life, values, relationships, purpose, and destiny. Thus there were as many philosophies as there were philosophers, and people tended to line up behind their favorite. They widely disagreed as to which philosophy was the truest and most reliable, and, inevitably, many factions developed, each with its own leaders and adherents. Without an absolute standard for truth, ideas of right and wrong were based entirely on human opinion.

When Paul addresses the church in Corinth, he is addressing the infiltration of this worldly quest for wisdom, which has caused faction within their membership. In our verses today, he marks a clear dividing line between wisdom from God and wisdom from the world.

Before we begin, the idea that must lead us in this study is who defines wisdom and truth? If you have one person who states something is wise, and another person with a contradictory view says he is wise in his beliefs, how do you know what is true? Let me tell you a few ways that DO NOT determine what is wise.

1- Being the loudest does not mean you are wise. Politicians, philosophers, and scientists all wants to scream the loudest about their views regarding humanity but having the loudest microphone and screaming your views does not mean you are wise.

2- Having the most support does not mean you are wise. History has shown us that some of the most evil leaders in the history of the human race were able to accumulate followers. A mass of supporters or disciples does not mean what you are teaching them and saying contains any wisdom in it.

For us to truly know wisdom, it cannot be a wisdom that originates in men. Instead, we know that the wisdom that we should truly cling to comes from God. Why? Because wisdom from above never changes, it not biased, it not culturally molded. It is eternal because it comes from God and therefore it is good and good for us.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

“The ethical dynamic of Greek philosophy lay in the intellect; if a person had perfect knowledge he could live the good life (Plato). Knowledge was virtue. The emphasis of ot wisdom was that the human will, in the realm of practical matters, was to be subject to divine causes. Therefore, Hebrew wisdom was not theoretical and speculative. It was practical, based on revealed principles of right and wrong, to be lived out in daily life.” Louis Goldberg

The wisdom we need comes from God and the wisdom that fools reject is God’s wisdom. Paul makes his point in this passage that human wisdom contradicts godly wisdom because in the case with GK philosophy it was a quest for the meaning and purpose of life outside of God’s revelation. Christianity has struggled through the years as it syncretized that worldliness back into church therefore only creating a deadly conglomeration resembling Edward Scissorhands.

So as the church, we learn from Paul in his dealings from the Corinthian church in order to see the stark contrast between human and godly wisdom. In understanding this contrast, we will then put our complete trust in the power of the word of God and the message of the gospel to bring about God’s purposes in Christ.

I. The Dividing Line of the Gospel (18)

1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Paul lists two distinct groups in these verses that flow from the OT Scriptures: the fool and the wise.

A. The Fool

He does use the word “fool” or “wise” in v 18 but he does state the distinction from those who are being saved and those who are perishing. The perishing think the word of the cross is foolish and therefore, they are the fool who rejects God.

We just read Proverbs 1:7 that told us that fear of the Lord is wisdom and fools reject that wisdom. It is a similar comparison. As a matter of fact, it was Solomon’s major emphasis to his son in writing Proverbs to compare the wise with the fool.

Proverbs 10:8 (ESV)8 The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

Proverbs 10:14 (ESV)14 The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

Proverbs 12:15 (ESV)15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Paul makes the point that the the fool is a fool because he reject God and the message that God has sent in his Son, the message of the cross. As a result the rejection of God means that those doing the rejection are in the processs and destined for perishing, which is the eternal judgment of God upon sinners. Simon Kistemaker makes a very good point in this commentary stating that Paul is making clear that those fools are “ not on the verge of perishing, they are in actuality perishing.” What he means is that the fool who reject God and the message of the cross, they are not reserved for God’s judgment only, but they are now currently being judged by God. How you might ask?

They are left to their sinfulness and debased mind. God offers them grace and restrains their greatest evils and yet he allows sin to reign in them. Romans 1:18-25

Romans 1: 18-32

TURN WITH ME:

v 22- Claiming to be wise, they became fools

v. 24 God gave them up to lusts of heart

v 26 God gave them up to dishonorable passions

v 28 God have them up to a debased mind

If you have ever doubted the word of God’ validity and sufficiency, then let this be the day that you trust fully that God’s word needs no change because it is applicable and sufficient for Corinth in first century Rome and for the 21st century church across the world.

As if we didn’t need another illustration, with the overturning of Roe v Wade after over 50 years of the murdering of innocent children, the fools of this world expressed their rage in unimaginable ways. You can go on social media and easily find videos of foolish mothers, so angry at the so-called rights taken away from them, that many looked down at their born children, which they were holding in their arms, and verbally wished that those children would have been or could have been aborted- because in their debased mind, it is their right to take that child’s life from them.

Church, you need to open your eyes if you haven’t already and see the storm that is coming. We need to stop looking for some political savior that is going to change things and start looking at the true Savior who only brings real change. Only Jesus can bring about the change that is needed in this country and in our world. It is Jesus who can change hearts and lives by the power of his resurrection. Any attempts that human try and create global change while leaving God and his word out of the efforts is the same as trying to slap as many fresh sweet or tangy condiments as possible on rotten, spoiled, parasite infested lunch meat and moldy bread. You can dress it up and make it look like a healthy sandwich, but if you digest it, it will kill you.

Not only are fools who reject the message and wisdom of god already perishing, but they will perish for all eternity. God leaving them over temporarily to these debasements of mind and lusts of hearts is judgment but it is a single flame of judgment in comparison to the forest fire of eternal hell they will face by rejecting the one who made them.

Jesus who spoke on the judgment of unbelievers more then of the heavenly realm with Christ, says in a parable

Matthew 13:40–42 (ESV)

40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

John also writes in the book of revelation,

Revelation 20:12–15 (ESV)

12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Church, there is no easier way to say it than this…our loved ones, friends, co-workers, neighbors are already in a state of torment and destined for a greater merciless, and eternal one . In every way, we have been rescued and they have not yet been saved. The Lord has saved us and called us to play a part in saving them. We know what is coming....the message and warning of judgment has been declared. As Noah, who Peter called a “preacher of righteousness” warned his world to turn from their wicked ways before a promised doom, as did Jonah, as did John the baptist, as did Jesus our Lord so may God so overwhelm our hearts with the reality of the judgment that we plead with the lost to love and serve Christ, turning from their wicked ways, before its too late. We must put aside political correctness. We must put aside relational rejection. We must put on love and speak the truth in that love.

B. The Wise in Christ/Fool to the world

Paul contrasts the fool with the wise. Again, the term “wise” is not mentioned in verse 18, but those who fear the Lord and submit to his word are called wise throughout the Scriptures.

ps 19:7

Psalm 19:7 ESV

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

Therefore the wisdom of God leads His people to understand the message of Christ crucified and by faith we believe. That message that comes from God then makes us wise in believing and following it daily.

Therefore the spiritual dividing line has been drawn by God that separates the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the narrow road from the broad road, the unrighteous from the righteous. That dividing line is simply the message of the cross and how a person responds to it.

Paul will go into this more fully further down in chapter 1 but he calls the message of the cross:

a stumbling block to the Jew

a folly to the Gentiles

Briefly, let me explain. The Jews were wanting a political leader and savior. Their Messiah would come to rescue them nationally and establish them as a power among the nations. They wanted a Davidic kingdom again, like under King David when their enemies were literally under their feet. But the cross was a stumbling block to the them because according to the Scriptures, everything is cursed that hangs from a tree. For some, seeing Jesus to die on a cross was a mark that Jesus was nothing more than cursed by God for his hypocrisy. They could not see the redemptive thread that God had woven through time to use the cross to bring atonement for sin. They just saw a cursed cross and they turned away.

For the Greek, which meant all Gentiles really in Paul’s audience, the gods didn’t die at the hands of men. For Jesus to offer forgiveness for sin and die like a criminal on a cross did not portray to them a true god to be worshipped. Instead, he was one to be rejected, one who showed weakness and not strength.

Therefore the Jews and Greeks rejected the cross message and all Jesus stood of accomplish because it was ridiculous to their own logic and reason. But to “those being saved” it was the power of God.

How did you understand the gospel? How did it make sense to you and not Jews in Jesus day, with all that OT history and doctrine? How did some disconnected Americans understand and begin to cherish what a Jewish man did on a crucifix 2,000 years ago?

The answer to this in not about our human wisdom to make sense of it all. It goes back to Paul’s words in 1 Cor 1:9

1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV

9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

or Titus 3:4-7

Titus 3:4–7 (ESV)

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,

5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The wise then could be categorized as “those who are being saved.” just as the fool who rejects God are perishing, the one who believes in the work of the cross is therefore wise. The problem that humanity runs into when considering wisdom is that they allow wisdom to tempt them to boasting as if that wisdom originated in them. Paul will deal with that boasting starting in v 26,

1 Corinthians 1:26–27 (ESV)

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

The joy we can have is knowing that by God’s grace we have been given understanding as the message of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was delivered to us and we received it by faith. That faith is a gift and a demonstration of the power of God.

Paul calls it a power of God because when the message of the gospel falls into soil cultivated by the power of God, in tandem with the power of the words themselves, faith is born and grows within a soil that was once contaminated and infertile. Once that faith grows into a seedling, the reality of the power of God is manifest to all.

Simon Kistemaker in his commentary on 1 Cor highlights the usage of Paul’s language about salvation across his letters

Those who have been saved-

Eph. 2:8 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”

We believe in Christ because we have been saved and gifted faith to believe. I would add that regeneration or new life in Christ is necessary for us to have faith, therefore the order of salvation is first the new birth that occurs before our hearing of the gospel and our faith or trust in it, precipitated of course by our election before the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:5 ESV

5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Those that are being saved 1 Cor 1:18

1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The work of redemption has been accomplished by Christ on the cross and via the empty tomb. As a work in the individual, it is past tense and it is present tense action. We are being saved because redemption is not fully complete. His accomplished work on the cross is complete, but the effect of that work is and is not a completed work.

Therefore, redemption has been secured in Christ and we can say with confidence, when we put our trust in him, we are saved from sin. But we also can say we are being saved. This comes daily for the individual’s spirit as each day we are being conformed into the image of Christ.

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

So our spirit’s are being redeemed but our bodies are not. They in fact are dying and wasting away and so our bodies are the last to be redeemed when Christ returns.

Also, The earth is not being redeemed daily, outside of the presence of God’s holy people in the midst of her. But she will be redeemed in the end when Christ returns. So Paul writes to the Roman Church

Romans 8:21–23 (ESV)

21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Those that will be saved (Rom. 5:9

Romans 5:9 HCSB

9 Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.

Not only have we been saved, and we are being saved but in the end, we will be saved. Our final and full salvation awaits us when Christ returns. That inheritance that is undefiled, imperishable awaits us and is secured for us so that we will receive it fully when Jesus descends again to rule and reign in his new kingdom that He will create in the new heavens and earth.

Paul’s point in this introductory verse that really summarizes his argument from cha 1-4 is that the gospel message, that declares that the Son of God, the second person of teh Trinity, came upon the earth, put on human flesh, lived a sinless life, died the death of a poor glory-less criminal, was buried and rose from the grave, is fool’s language to a lost and dying world.

You are considered a fool for believing it but that standards of foolishness is a fool’s standard. You are considered a fool by a fool. The world may think you strange, friend, but the true standard of wisdom and foolishness emanates from Christ, who we will learn is wisdom and power of God.

If you trust in him, if you worship him, if you cherish him greater than all things, He thinks you as wise for it. The world will reject such thinking and such people, but Your Savior has accepted you and loves you !

STOP

The Divine Judgment of Human Wisdom (19- 22)

Blinding of the eyes 1 Cor 2:14

This judgment was carried about not just in the last days, but the last days before the last days- at the cross!

Isaiah 29:13-24

judgment of the wise in Isaiah is accomplished by Messiah. Ciampa states in his Commentary on the OT use in the NT, that the word “wonder” is the connection to Messianic hope in Isaiah’s writings. In Is 9:6 he is shall be called Wonderful counselor. Also, in Is. 28:29 where the Messiah is “wonderful in counsel.” Therefore in Is 29:14 the “wonders” that will be performed by God that will make human wisdom perish will be accomplished by the Messiah himself.

Jews- seek signs

Greeks seek wisdom

**both signs and wisdom were for earthly advantages

When men withdraw themselves from this one salvation, they find in the gospel a sure proof of their own ruin. Since then the gospel invites all to partake of salvation without any difference, it is rightly called the doctrine of salvation: for Christ is there offered, whose peculiar office is to save that which was lost; and those who refuse to be saved by him, shall find him a Judge

John Calvin and John Owen, Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 62.

The Divine Power and Wisdom, Jesus (23-25)

The Messiah (Christos)

The Crucified Messiah (death of the Messiah meant salvation for his people) 21a, 24

The Crucified Messiah is a message more powerful and wise than any message of human wisdom that seeks God.