ವ್ಯಾಖ್ಯಾನ ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಲಭ್ಯವಿದೆ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಅನುವಾದ ಪ್ರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ.
1 Corinthians 1 — But God Hath Chosen the Foolish Things of the World to Confound the Wise
Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. To the church of God which is at Corinth. There are divisions among you — I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. That no flesh should glory in his presence. Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
— 1 Corinthians 1:18
- v.1-9 Greeting and thanksgiving
- v.10-17 Divisions over leaders
- v.18-31 The foolishness of God; the wisdom of God
Christ crucified. The message. Not Christ in general, not Christ the moral teacher — Christ crucified. The cross is the content, not an embarrassing detail.
A test for any pulpit. If Christ crucified is being managed out of the message, the message has lost its center.
God's preference for the unlikely vessel. The wise and mighty would credit themselves; the foolish and weak know it is His doing.
A perspective for those who feel inadequate. Your weakness is not a disqualification; it is the qualification. He uses what cannot boast.
Christ is four things to the believer at once — wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. The verse is a complete theological summary in one breath.
Of him. The Christian's standing in Christ is God's doing. The credit is God's; the inheritance is the believer's.
Verse 27 is the encouragement for the not enough. Not eloquent enough, not credentialed enough, not strong enough. God prefers it. He chooses the weak so the credit cannot be hijacked. Bring your weakness; He will not be embarrassed.
1 Corinthians 1 plants Christ — Christ crucified — at the center of every theme. He is the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption of the believer. The chapter's answer to division is not strategy but Christ — when He is at the center, the partisan names lose their pull.
The cross divides hearers. To the perishing it sounds foolish; to the saved it operates as power. The verse does not say all will think it wise — it says the saved experience its power.
A check on apologetic anxiety. The world's laughter at the cross is not evidence against it. The verse predicts the laughter.