The Power and Wisdom of God

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

    and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’

“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25 ESV)

Questions:

• What is “the word of the cross”?

• How is it folly to those who are perishing?

• What is meant by “being saved”?

• What does it mean to “preach Christ crucified”?

• What is meant by the foolishness and weakness of God?

We read in the Scriptures that Jesus Christ “bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). And we read that (by faith) “our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6). And we read that if anyone would come after Christ that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him (Luke 9:23-26). And this is “the word of the cross.”

And this is why the message of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, because it goes directly against human nature (our sinful natures) and the desires of the flesh and our own selfish wills. And this why so many people today, in the name of Christianity, are diluting and altering the message of the cross of Christ in order to make it more attractive and palatable to human flesh so that death to sin and living to righteousness and walks of obedience to our Lord are no longer required by these distortions of truth.

And those who are perishing are all who have not submitted to the Lordship of Christ over their lives, who have not surrendered their lives to the will of God, who have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and so have not been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Sin is still what they practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to the Lord, so they are perishing because they do not follow Jesus in obedience.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

And that flows right into this next question as to what is meant by “being saved.” Well, the salvation that is taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles is not this one-time decision to receive Jesus into your heart that so many are passing off as the gospel of salvation today. Jesus and his NT apostles taught progressive salvation. We are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns and he takes his bride to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation will be complete and our marriage relationship to Christ consummated.

[Matthew 24:9-14; Romans 8:24; Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Peter 1:5] 

But this salvation is conditional on us walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands in holy living and that we are no longer walking (in conduct, in practice) in sin. For if we have the correct understanding of God’s grace and of our salvation from sin, we will understand that God’s grace delivers us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin so what we will now walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands in holy living, in the power of God, and by God’s grace which trains us to renounce ungodliness and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives (see all noted Scriptures).

So, if we are preaching Christ crucified, we are teaching the purpose for why he was crucified and what he accomplished for us in his death and in his resurrection and in his ascension into heaven and in his sending to us the Holy Spirit to indwell us who follow the Lord. So we are preaching that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, that we might no longer live in sin, but now in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord. That, in a nutshell, is the essence of the gospel of Christ.

So, when this speaks of the foolishness and weakness of God, this is not stating that God is foolish nor that he is weak, but that to those who are perishing, the truth of the true gospel of our salvation is foolishness and it is weak, for they do not accept the true gospel and the true reason for why Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross. They think that their wisdom is better than God’s wisdom and so they reject his wisdom as though it is not worth their time. And so they promote their own truth which is a lie.

To Be Like Him  

An Original Work / March 16, 2014  

Based off Scripture

Crucified you are with Jesus.

To be like Him, oh, you’ll be,

Because He died at Calv’ry,

So from sin you’d be free.

Oh, what joy He brings into your life,

Giving life with Him endlessly. 

Oh, what plans He has for your life.

Share the gospel faithfully.

Show the people He loves them.

Now His witness you’ll be.

Tell the world of sin about Jesus,

How He died for them on a tree.

Purifying hearts, He saves them,

Who believe on Christ, God’s Son.

Turning now from their idols,

New lives they have begun.

Jesus saves from sin; we’re forgiven.

Over sin, the vict’ry He won!

When He comes again to take us

To be with Him evermore,

There will be no more crying.

Gladness will be in store.

Heavens joys will now overtake us:

We’ll be with our Lord evermore.

https://vimeo.com/89237609