The Foolishness of God's Chosen

Introduction

Without thinking about it, often our reasoning is this: “I—by my stupidity—got into this mess; therefore I—by my stupidity—will get out of it.”1205

The story is told of a carpenter who was nailing shingles on the roof of a house. He lost his footing and started to slide off. As he was sliding he began praying, “Lord, oh, Lord, help me!” Still he kept sliding. Again the man prayed, “Lord, oh, Lord, help me!” He kept sliding until he got to the edge and a nail sticking up caught hold of his pants. After he came to a stop he said, “Never mind, Lord. The nail’s got hold of me now.”1206

Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 326–327.

The Complete Book of Zingers: Over 5,000 Perfect One-Liners (Selfishness)

Americans used to say, “Give me liberty.” Today they just say, “Give me.”

We might be more eager to accept advice if it didn’t continually interfere with our plans.

People want things to come easy to them today. The world today is very much about the consumer. We live in a world that wants to go from nothing to something overnight. We live in a world that self has become their God. With this in mind, Paul in 1 Corinthians writes to correct faulty thinking that was creeping into the church. It was a thinking that at its roots were founded on self and how one’s own reasoning and logic impacted how they viewed the gospel.

Self-reliance and self-gratification or self-congratulation are common threads through the text we looked at a couple weeks ago and what we are looking at this morning.

A few weeks ago we looked at the foolishness of the cross to the unbelieving. We looked at how it does not make sense to the depraved human mind that a God would send His only son to die for a world of millions of people that live each day in opposition to who he is and what he desires. Because of how God created mankind, every person looks for fulfillment, they want peace but because of sin what and how people do to obtain that becomes self-centered and unfulfilling. Depending the depth of how much they have allowed sin to control their lives in spite of God’s common grace determines the level to which they dive to fill the void in their life that only God can fill. It is from this combined with not understanding and seeing the cross as utter foolishness that drives the unsaved world to hate God as much as they do. How God works and who He claims to be does not match up with the god people want or have constructed. They return God’s love and sacrifice with ridicule and hatred.

Truly, what Paul is pointing out in verses 18-25 is God chose to use a way of salvation that goes against all human reasoning to magnify and glorify himself. He chose the cross because it eliminates all human elements to achieving salvation. It is completely divine and supernatural. It makes man’s achieving salvation impossible and magnifies God’s miraculous power to save the sinner from eternal separation from God forever in hell.

Paul does not stop there in explaining away the human expectations about God. As one commentator states it, “he turns from the content of the gospel to the existence of the Corinthians themselves as believers.” He follows this by explaining the foolishness of the messenger or the proclaimer of the gospel.

Paul in our text this morning lays out how who God has chosen to save and the proclamation of the gospel destroys the fascinating approach people take with what they accept and see as what salvation is and large than that who God is.

Our big idea this morning deals with understanding that our wisdom, our eloquence, and our very standing in life has no impact on what God has, is, and will do in saving people from sin. You say so what is the principle for us to think through as we look at this text--

Main Truth: We must let God strip away our self-reliance in living and proclaiming the Gospel.

Our text this morning gives to us two important truths that are necessary for us to receive and apply to our lives in order that we may not live self-reliant, self-indulgent, and self-congratulatory lives. The first truth comes from 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 (NASB95)

26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 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, 28 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, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

God chose the insignificant person to save. The second truth this morning is God chose the unfascinating method to proclaim the gospel. We will see this from 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 (NASB95)

1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Transition: Let’s look at the first truth on why self-reliance is wrong as a christian—God chose the insignificant person to save.

I. God chose the insignificant to save (26-31).

The insignificance we are discussing is not a insignificance to God but what man sees as insignificant or as our text points out, the wise, mighty, and noble.

The First Letter to the Corinthians 2. Reminder of God’s Unexpected Choice of the Lowly in Corinth: Worldly Wisdom in the Light of Divine Election, 1:26–31

With God choosing the lowly things of this world, Paul completes the reversal of the triad he introduced in v. 26: (1) God chose the foolish over the wise; (2) the weak over the influential; and now (3) the lowly over those of noble birth.

God chose the foolish things to shame the wise. - Your salvation is not dependent on how well you can make ethical and moral decisions.

God chose the weak things to shame the strong. - Your salvation is not dependent on how influential you are.

God chose the base and despised to shame the noble. - Your salvation is not dependent on how well the status of life you were born into. In Corinth and during that time as well as other times throughout history, it was the noble born that received all the immediate riches and the better life while the lowly born were treated with disdain.

Paul is speaking that God chose to save mostly society’s insignificant.

The First Letter to the Corinthians (2. Reminder of God’s Unexpected Choice of the Lowly in Corinth: Worldly Wisdom in the Light of Divine Election, 1:26–31)

The point is that not many is indefinite and does not necessarily mean “not any.” In fact, evidence points to the presence of some Christians in Corinth with means or influence. These include (1) officeholders—Crispus (1:14; cf. Acts 18:8) and Erastus (Rom. 16:23); (2) heads of significant households—Crispus, Stephanas (1:16; 16:15), and Chloe (1:11); (3) those capable of “service” to Paul or others which presupposed a measure of wealth—Gaius (1:14; cf. Rom. 16:23) and Titius Justus (Acts 18:17); and (4) those who traveled for business purposes or as merchants—Aquila and Priscilla (16:19; cf. Rom. 16:3; Acts 18:2, 26), Phoebe (Rom. 16:1–2), Erastus, Stephanas, and possibly Chloe’s people (1:11).71

The First Letter to the Corinthians 2. Reminder of God’s Unexpected Choice of the Lowly in Corinth: Worldly Wisdom in the Light of Divine Election, 1:26–31

Ironically, honor was the very thing the Corinthians wanted to leach from their powerful and wise leaders. Yet God acts to shame those whom the world regards as impressive. But it is not just a matter of losing face or reputation, as serious as this may have been in Greco-Roman society. Rather, the “shaming” must be understood in the sense of being condemned by God in judgment. The Prophets and Psalms regularly attest to God’s determination to vindicate the righteous and bring the unrighteous to a shameful end (Isa. 41:11; Jer. 2:26; Pss. 6:10; 31:17; 35:4, 26–27; 40:15).

The First Letter to the Corinthians 2. Reminder of God’s Unexpected Choice of the Lowly in Corinth: Worldly Wisdom in the Light of Divine Election, 1:26–31

The two verses together leave the unmistakable impression of the deliberate, sovereign action of God in assembling, or “calling,” his people in Corinth contrary to all expectations. God’s choice of the humble nation Israel was likewise surprising and unanticipated: “The LORD your God chose you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more numerous than any other people” (Deut. 7:7).

The First Letter to the Corinthians 2. Reminder of God’s Unexpected Choice of the Lowly in Corinth: Worldly Wisdom in the Light of Divine Election, 1:26–31

Paul’s point is not that none of them amounted to anything, but that, as v. 27 indicates, they are “weak” and “foolish” as far as the world counts power and wisdom. The Corinthian Christians are themselves proof that God’s categories of wisdom and power are not the world’s.

Why did God do all of this? SO THAT no person can claim in anyway genuine credit for salvation from sin. Paul uses the four terms to describe salvation, to describe the gospel. He does so by referring these to the person of Jesus Christ and his work on the cross. The work of all of it is done by God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ. The four terms are: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians (B. God’s Folly—The Corinthian Believers (1:26–31))

These are not three different steps in the saving process; they are rather three different metaphors for the same event (our salvation that was effected in Christ), each taken from a different sphere and each emphasizing a different aspect of the one reality

Christ exchanges the righteousness of God.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians B. God’s Folly—The Corinthian Believers (1:26–31)

“Righteousness,” therefore, is not so much an ethical term here as it is forensic, and highlights the believer’s undeserved stance of right standing before God, despite his/her guilt from having broken his law.

Paul here is talking about the believer’s standing before God. Our standing before God is not accomplished by a group of wise academics or some man that may have a dream supposedly revealed to him from God. Our standing before God is not does through knowing as much about God and being able to talk for hours about God. Our standing before God does not even lean on how much of God’s Word you have memorized. It stands purely on the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross! Jesus death, the cross, an act that humanly speaking was foolish and illogical gives to people when accepted by faith with repentance of sin a right standing before God.

Christ models the sanctification of God.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians B. God’s Folly—The Corinthian Believers (1:26–31)

This is a “religious” metaphor, and in this kind of list it moves us into the ethical sphere. It is a recurring motif in 1 and 2 Thessalonians and is picked up again in 6:11.

Paul is telling us that Christ modeled for us and made possible for us to live proper and godly in this present world. It is living the Christian life according to the principles of God’s Word the Bible. Our own dictionaries define ethics as moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.

Living right cannot be done in our own wisdom. We cannot successfully live righteously and godly when trying to do so from a position of self-reliance. Living the gospel out in our lives as Paul states down in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 happens through the power of the Holy Spirit.

James describes to us that it is God’s wisdom, heavenly wisdom that provides righteous living not earthly wisdom that is influenced and concocted by the devil.

Christ made the payment for redemption by God.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians B. God’s Folly—The Corinthian Believers (1:26–31)

The term “redemption” is a metaphor from slavery, and had a rich history among the Jews to express their own deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. The emphasis is more on the deliverance of captives unto freedom than it is on the concept of “ransom” by payment;40 in Pauline usage (e.g., Rom. 3:24; Col. 1:14) it usually refers to deliverance from the bondage of sin.

Have you ever been tied up? Maybe it was when you were a kid and you were playing cowboys. Maybe you like to play cops and robbers and you put handcuffs on? When you were tied up or handcuffed or restrained, could you get out of that situation on your own? No, you could try and rely on your own might, your own wisdom but whatever you did you could not release yourself.

The term redemption here is pointing out to us that it took someone other than ourselves to release us from the extremely strong bond of sin. That person was Jesus Christ.

People today use their own wisdom to find ways to heaven. From those who are believers, they forget the full force of the redeeming power of God through Christ and in their own self-reliance “wisely” come up with a method or methods to assist God in saving people.

As Christians we need to be careful that we do not fall prey to thinking that anything we do will help the power of God. Yes, God has chosen us to proclaim the gospel. No, God does not need our input on how to go about it! You and I cannot redeem anyone no matter how hard we want to try.

The First Letter to the Corinthians 2. Reminder of God’s Unexpected Choice of the Lowly in Corinth: Worldly Wisdom in the Light of Divine Election, 1:26–31

Righteousness recalls the law court and speaks of vindication and acquittal, holiness brings to mind the temple and being set apart for God, and redemption evokes the slave market and emancipation on the analogy of Israel’s deliverance in the exodus.

Christ embodies the wisdom of God.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians (B. God’s Folly—The Corinthian Believers (1:26–31))

Wisdom does not have to do with “getting smart,” nor with status or rhetoric. God’s wisdom—the real thing—has to do with salvation through Christ Jesus. In a community where “wisdom” was part of a higher spirituality divorced from ethical consequences, Paul says that God has made Christ to become “wisdom” for us all right, but that means he has made him to become for us the one who redeems from sin and leads to holiness—ethical behavior that is consonant with the gospel

It is through Christ we can live righteous. Paul takes the wisdom that the Corinthians were so enamored with and redefines it as Christ dying on the cross. In other words, to gain wisdom is to renounce your own “wisdom” which “foolish” and receive the “foolish” which is truly “wise.”

The First Letter to the Corinthians 2. Reminder of God’s Unexpected Choice of the Lowly in Corinth: Worldly Wisdom in the Light of Divine Election, 1:26–31

Paul insists that God has repudiated the world’s wisdom in choosing people like the Corinthians out of all the inhabitants of the world.74

When we rely on ourselves to understand God and the gospel we fall short. For us as believers, we need to live in the realization that unless living the gospel, true wisdom will not be afforded to you. We cannot live in our own way and expect true wisdom to be granted to us. Christ embodies the wisdom of God through his death on the cross so that no man or woman can boast in anything or anyone other than God himself.

Who are you boasting in this morning? Maybe it is not an outward boast but maybe this morning you are looking at yourself as not that bad. You know a decent amount of what the Bible says. You read it periodically. In your own wisdom you justify not spending significant time with your Savior because “You got this!” God tells us to be ready to give an answer of the hope that lies within us. We are told to know God personally! We are told to proclaim and share God’s good news not when we feel like it but as God in his Spirit empowers us and providentially opens opportunity.

You and I do not got this! Our wisdom is from God’s view foolish. When we really let this truth sink in of what God is sharing through the example of the Corinthians is that we aren’t all that! We are not anything special in comparison to who God is and what God has done. On the positive it calls for us to praise and boast in God for saving us! How much are you praising God by boasting in him to those God has placed in your life?

We are small and GOD IS BIG!

Transition: We are insiginificant. Our wisdom, our status in life, our abilities in life will not save us or aid us in living and proclaiming the gospel. Along with this Paul brings it personal and uses himself as another example of how our wisdom and self-reliance cannot advance the gospel.

II. God chose the unfascinating method to proclaim the gospel (1 Cor 2:1-5).

Each of us here this morning have listened to multiple people speak publicly both in and out of church. Some of these people had us on the edge of our seats. We could not wait to listen to them again. They were engaging and easy to listen to. They were eloquent and polished.

Then there were the speakers that weren’t. They spoke like they were playing an arcade pinball machine with their thoughts bouncing everywhere without any ability to predict what was coming next. Their word choice was to be desired and struggled to communicate their point.

Here Paul is sharing that no matter how eloquent and polished someone is in their speech, it will not further the gospel. God does not need the eloquent and refined. The time Paul is writing, the leaders and teachers were known for being eloquent public speakers. In Corinth they were dis-unified over different teachers.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

Paul was determined to allow Jesus Christ to be what he proclaimed. It was the single focus of his ministry. He admits to his shortcomings and struggles in speaking and proclaiming. He admits they were not persuasive in a manner that was altered to manipulate how people responded. His words were persuasive but they were persuasive by the power of God through the Holy Spirit. Paul was direct in much of his preaching. In fact throughout this letter, he is very persuasive. However, he did not shape his message with words that were specifically to gain a response. He preached so that the power of the Spirit was front and center. It was so that their faith was not standing on the shakiness of man’s wisdom but on the sure power of God.

You may be sitting here this morning and right now are saying, shoo, I am good. I am not a pastor or teacher or preacher of any kind. If that is you this morning, your thoughts could not be further from the truth.

God has called all of us to proclaim the gospel. The gospel is not dependent on persuasive words or excellent speech. It is built on the power of God. SO HOW does this impact each of us believer's this morning?

Stop being afraid of messing up in proclaiming the gospel to others.

Stop fearing that your weaknesses may come to the surface?

Stop letting the thought of needing to have the right words?

It does not matter how persuasive or eloquent you sound! What matters is that you stop relying on your own strength and submit these things to the Lord. It is not about you and how wise you need to be.

Rely on the Spirit of God! It is God’s power that saves, not our eloquent or non-eloquent words. Is it important that we know God’s Word? YES! Is it important to refrain from proclaiming the truth because of our fear and our weaknesses? NO!

Conclusion

We must let God strip away our self-reliance in living and proclaiming the Gospel.

We do so by accepting the truths that God has chosen the insignificant people and method of proclamation to reach the unsaved with gospel truth!

How much are you depending and relying on your own wisdom when it comes to living out the gospel?

How much are you depending and relying on your own wisdom when it comes to proclaiming the gospel?