The wisdom of the cross: a divided church in Corinth

1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, ²To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: ³Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵For in Him you have been enriched in every way, in all speech and all knowledge, ⁶because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. ⁷Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. ¹⁰I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction. ¹¹My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹²What I mean is this: Individuals among you are saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” ¹³Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? ¹⁴I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. ¹⁶Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that I do not remember if I baptized anyone else. ¹⁷For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. ¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” ²⁰Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²²Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. ²⁶Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, ²⁹so that no one may boast in His presence. ³⁰It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. ³¹Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

2When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. ⁶Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” ¹⁰But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹²We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. ¹⁴The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. ¹⁶“For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

3Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. ²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, ³for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? ⁴For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? ⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. ⁶I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. ¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds. ¹¹For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, ¹³his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames. ¹⁶Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. ¹⁸Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise. ¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” ²⁰And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” ²¹Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours, ²²whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you, ²³and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

4So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ²Now it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. ³I care very little, however, if I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. ⁴My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. ⁶Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another. ⁷For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? ⁸Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Without us, you have become kings. How I wish you really were kings, so that we might be kings with you! ⁹For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as well as to men. ¹⁰We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are dishonored. ¹¹To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹²We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. ¹⁴I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. ¹⁵Even if you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. ¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me. ¹⁷That is why I have sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which is exactly what I teach everywhere in every church. ¹⁸Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. ¹⁹But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only what these arrogant people are saying, but what power they have. ²⁰For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. ²¹Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?