Monday, August 29, 2011

1 Corinthians 2

The Corinthian church seems to have had high regard for lofty speech and human wisdom, for Paul picks up the same point he made in chapter 1 and builds on it in chapter 2. And we'll see in the next chapter that this attitude is causing divisions in the church, which is one of Paul's primary reasons for writing to the Corinthians.

Paul's message to them was not in the wisdom of this age, but in demonstration of the wisdom and power of God. The problem with the Corinthians was that their faith was resting on the wisdom of man instead of on the power of God (vs 5).

Paul isn't saying that it's a sin to have worldly wisdom. Indeed in a practical sense worldly wisdom can be very helpful in understanding the things of this life. The sin is in placing our faith in it. Paul's reasoning is also practical: wisdom of this age is just that-of this age! It will pass away. But the wisdom of God will never pass away.

If you ever watch the news, you'll see that people like to make a lot of promises about what will happen in the future based on what has happened in the past. While this may be entertaining, it's hardly authoritative. If you want to know where your faith rests, just ask yourself, "Am I putting my trust in the promises of men, or in the promises of God?"

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