1 Corinthians 1:17–2:16

¹⁷Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the Good News, and to tell it without using the language of human wisdom, in order to make sure that Christ’s death on the cross is not robbed of its power.

Christ the Power and the Wisdom of God

¹⁸For the message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God’s power. ^19*The scripture says:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and

set aside the understanding of the scholars.”

^20*So then, where does that leave the wise? or the scholars? or the skilful debaters of this world? God has shown that this world’s wisdom is foolishness!

²¹For God in his wisdom made it impossible for people to know him by means of their own wisdom. Instead, by means of the so-called “foolish” message we preach, God decided to save those who believe. ²²Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom. ²³As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles; ²⁴but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For what seems to be God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

²⁶Now remember what you were, my brothers and sisters, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing. ²⁷God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. ²⁸He chose what the world looks down on and despises, and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. ²⁹This means that no one can boast in God’s presence. ³⁰But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God’s holy people and are set free. ^31*So then, as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done.”

The Message about the Crucified Christ

2When I came to you, my brothers and sisters, to preach God’s secret truth,^b I did not use big words and great learning. ²For while I was with you, I made up my mind to forget everything except Jesus Christ and especially his death on the cross. ^3*So when I came to you, I was weak and trembled all over with fear, ⁴and my teaching and message were not delivered with skilful words of human wisdom, but with convincing proof of the power of God’s Spirit. ⁵Your faith, then, does not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power.

God’s Wisdom

⁶Yet I do proclaim a message of wisdom to those who are spiritually mature. But it is not the wisdom that belongs to this world or to the powers that rule this world—powers that are losing their power. ⁷The wisdom I proclaim is God’s hidden wisdom, which he had already chosen for our glory even before the world was made. ⁸None of the rulers of this world knew this wisdom. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ^9*However, as the scripture says:

“What no one ever saw or heard,

what no one ever thought could happen,

is the very thing God prepared for those who love him.”

¹⁰But^c it was to us that God made known his secret by means of his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, even the hidden depths of God’s purposes. ¹¹It is only the spirit within people that knows all about them; in the same way, only God’s Spirit knows all about God. ¹²We have not received this world’s spirit; instead, we have received the Spirit sent by God, so that we may know all that God has given us.

¹³So then, we do not speak in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, as we explain spiritual truths to those who have the Spirit.^{d 14}Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God’s Spirit. Such people really do not understand them; they are nonsense to them, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis. ¹⁵Whoever has the Spirit, however, is able to judge the value of everything, but no one is able to judge him. ^16*As the scripture says:

“Who knows the mind of the Lord?

Who is able to give him advice?”

We, however, have the mind of Christ.