1 Corinthians 1:17–2:16

¹⁷Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to preach the good news. He commanded me not to use the kind of wisdom that people commonly use. That would take all the power away from the cross of Christ.

Christ Is God’s Power and Wisdom

¹⁸The message of the cross seems foolish to those who are lost and dying. But it is God’s power to us who are being saved. ¹⁹It is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of those who are wise.

I will do away with the cleverness of those who think they are so smart.”

²⁰Where is the wise person? Where is the educated person? Where are the great thinkers of this world? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? ²¹God wisely planned that the world would not know him through its own wisdom. It pleased God to use the foolish things we preach to save those who believe.

²²Jews require miraculous signs. Greeks look for wisdom. ²³But we preach about Christ and his death on the cross. That is very hard for Jews to accept. And everyone else thinks it’s foolish.

²⁴But there are those God has chosen, both Jews and others. To them Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. ²⁵The foolish things of God are wiser than human wisdom. The weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were considered wise by human standards. Not many of you were powerful. Not many of you belonged to important families.

²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸God chose the things of this world that are common and looked down on. He chose what is not considered to be important to do away with what is considered to be important. ²⁹So no one can brag to God.

³⁰Because of what God has done, you belong to Christ Jesus. He has become God’s wisdom for us. He makes us right with God. He makes us holy and sets us free. ³¹It is written, “The one who brags should brag about what the Lord has done.”

2Brothers and sisters, when I came to you I didn’t come with fancy words or great wisdom. I preached to you the truth about God’s love. ²I made up my mind to pay attention to only one thing while I was with you. That one thing was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.

³When I came to you, I was weak and afraid and trembling all over. ⁴I didn’t preach my message with clever and compelling words. As I preached, the Holy Spirit showed his power. ⁵That was so you would believe not because of human wisdom but because of God’s power.

Wisdom From the Holy Spirit

⁶The words we speak to those who have grown in the faith are wise. Our words are different from the words of the wise people or rulers of this world. People like that aren’t going anywhere. ⁷No, we speak about God’s secret wisdom. His wisdom has been hidden. But before time began, God planned that his wisdom would bring us heavenly glory.

⁸None of the rulers of this world understood God’s wisdom. If they had, they would not have nailed the Lord of glory to the cross. ⁹It is written,

“No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has known

what God has prepared for those who love him.”

¹⁰But God has shown it to us through his Spirit.

The Spirit understands all things. He understands even the deep things of God. ¹¹Who can know the thoughts of another person? Only a person’s own spirit can know them. In the same way, only the Spirit of God knows God’s thoughts.

¹²We have not received the spirit of the world. We have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit helps us understand what God has freely given us.

¹³That is what we speak about. We don’t use words taught to us by people. We use words taught to us by the Holy Spirit. We use the words of the Spirit to teach the truths of the Spirit.

¹⁴Some people don’t have the Holy Spirit. They don’t accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. Things like that are foolish to them. They can’t understand them. In fact, such things can’t be understood without the Spirit’s help.

¹⁵Everyone who has the Spirit can judge all things. But no one can judge those who have the Spirit. It is written,

¹⁶“Who can ever know what is in the Lord’s mind?

Can anyone ever teach him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.