v 1 – “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom”

  • Reminding the Corinthian believers of his first visit to them, he points out a distinction that separates him from these so-called SuperApostles.
    • He did not intend to showcase:
      • His amazing ability to speak (to manipulate them into believing?)
      • His ability to keep their attention with his delivery
      • His command of the scriptures
      • His power and authority given by God over them in his appointment

v 2 – “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

  • Instead, Paul shows that he only spoke of Jesus the Christ and him crucified:
    • This is, as mentioned above, a ridiculous claim in an age of many, MANY gods – all of whom were conquerors and rulers – mighty rulers and kings – but NONE of which would deign to subject themselves to the rule of men, much less die in their place.
    • A God who died, in the natural mindset, is a weak god and one with no power to do anything at all. To those outside the covenant of grace (Rom 1:16-17):
      • He is a faulty savior who needs, himself, to be rescued.
      • He is a weak leader who cannot command and his people snap into alignment as he has directed.
      • He is worthless in all aspects of the godly rule of that day.
    • This, however, was done in order to reveal the ridiculousness of it (from a worldly perspective) to reveal that it cannot happen by any other method at all but by the hand of God, and so that he, not us, gets the glory. But more on that later.
  • Also, this commitment to the sufficiency of Jesus and his work on our behalf reveals that this word alone is all that is necessary for the conversion of the hearts and minds of the elect, and also to set in order the people of God for proper service to their community, to their families, and to the body of Christ.
    • Jesus, in his life, is our example of how to execute the daily tasks before us – completely, and to the glory of God in our human weakness. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it to the glory of God.
    • Jesus, in his death, is our example in doing that which we do not want to do, but that we know is necessary. This commitment to completing those tasks shows that we are not self-pleasers, who will refuse to do that which is not fun or personally beneficial to us. In this dedication to serve those in our circle of influence – even in the hard things – we follow Christ in his actions that he knew would be wholly destructive to himself and extremely painful, yet the end result – the glorification of God the Father and the plan of redemption that had been set in place before even the first molecule of the universe was called into existence.
    • Jesus, in his resurrection, reveals that all that he said was true. This, then, becomes our hope.
      • His deity was established before the world.
      • His message was solidified as truth.
      • His life, bound in perfect obedience to the Father, was exemplified as what it was – unattainable by the common man, but wholly possible with God.
      • His death, completing the old covenant, and all of its ordinances which pointed to the new covenant to come, and which completed the work of the full and final payment for the sins in the place of those who believe in his work on our behalf.
      • His resurrection, which revealed his word was true, and that we, who believe in him, would be like him – as he is the firstfruit – raised again to the glory of God, that we also would, upon our earthly death, be raised anew – with a new heavenly body that is free from the stain of sin and desire for self-worship and self-glorification, and instead free to wholly serve God with our whole heart, with our whole mind, and with our whole and pure intent.

v 3-4 – “And I was dealing with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and message were not in plausible words fo wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”

  • Having come directly from Athens, Paul had a long history of vicious pursuit from the Asian Jews. His work had appeared to be largely unfruitful as even when there were small sparks of conversion, he was ultimately chased out of town and sometimes beaten – even to death.
  • Paul, knowing his weaknesses (physical – eye troubles and physical woes – small and not great to look at, and mental – he was not the best speaker), and in the fear of God over the seemingly impossible task set before him – preaching to the whole Gentile peoples, appeared to them as a weak man who needed their support and help, not the other way around.
  • His speech and message made no sense to the worldly mindset. As already mentioned, a God who dies, even for the sake of his followers, is, to the worldly people, a worthless god by any stance.
  • Yet this message, when it brings about the conversion of men, wholly changing them in their outward demeanor, their minds now bent on serving others and not self, and willing to engage others for the sake of Christ – this wholly systematic change in the core of these new converts, reveals that the transformation cannot come from this message of foolishness, but in the power of God alone who could affect this change.
    • As anyone knows who has tried and failed, then tried again – some many, MANY times over (myself included) to change our own lives and to live according to the proper ways that our conscience demanded, but knew that we would, in shame and brokenness, fall back into our own ways – this is a shocking thing to all.

v 5 – “so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God”

  • All of these things –
    • Paul’s
      • Physical struggles
      • His imperfect speech
      • His seemingly impossible message
    • Point to the power of God alone
      • Using these imperfect men who have imperfect speech and with imperfect delivery and providing an impossible message to people who are, at their core, wholly bent against it…
      • Yet… People are converted.
        • Instead of shunning and attacking these speakers, they long to hear more.
        • Instead of revolting against it and shutting it down, they pursue this new life.
        • Instead of living to themselves, they realize their own sinfulness – their inability to meet God’s standard of perfection, and turn to the God who died – who died in their place, and trust in him ALONE for their salvation.
    • All of this is a miraculous work that could only be completed by God.
  • This is performed in this manner, according to God’s perfect plan, so that you will not trust in the wisdom of men – in these plausible arguments and statements, because then other plausible arguments and statements can turn you away again – but by the power of God alone, through the Holy Spirit alone so that it is not the one who delivered the words of salvation to you who gets the glory of your salvation, but God alone – who deserves all the glory, will receive it as intended from the very beginning. From that time before time, when not even a single molecule or atom that now exists in this vast universe had been called into existence – it was all intended and set into motion so that God would be the on to receive all the glory for our conversion.