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nevertheless been gloriously saved. From what Paul said it was clear that the gospel was
spreading most rapidly among the lower classes and this was another reason why it was
despised by the elite. In this gospel not only do we see the deepest needs of every man
being met, whatever class or race he might belong to, but also that God was engaged in
overthrowing the world's false standards:
"God chose what the world counts foolish in order to put to shame the world's wise
men; and God chose what the world counts weak in order to put to shame what it counts
strong, with what the world counts base and despised, even the things that did not exist
God chose, that He might do away with what did exist, that no one might glory in His
presence" (verses 27-29 100: K. Barrett).
God has arranged the salvation of men so that they have "no finger in the pie"! If they
had, they would surely boast of it, however small it might be, and this is one thing God
will not tolerate. He Himself will have all the glory and adoration as Redeemer and Lord.
Paul is not only concerned abut the empty boasting of the world; he brings the truth to
bear on false boasting in the church where they were "boasting in men" (3: 21) and
putting wrong valuation upon some of their own apostles and ministers (1: 12). They
tended to forget that their Christian calling and standing depended not upon the merits of
these men, but upon God's call and His grace:
"But of Him (God) are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification and redemption" (30).
The verse reads literally "you are from God", that is, you had your origin in God and
His redemptive work through Christ, and He is the source of all you need in the way of
real wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, and men, whether apostles or
prophets, are but His servants. Of all the many titles of Christ, that of being the Wisdom
of God is apt to be overlooked. In Prov. 8: 22-31 wisdom is personified as being with
God at creation. In the Word of God, creation is always ascribed to Christ (see John 1: 3;
Col. 1: 14-17). What more natural then for the Apostle to use Wisdom, not in the abstract
as was so often done in Greece, but concretely, as a Person, and summed up in the
Creator and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul concludes the section by saying that
if anyone is to boast, let him boast in the same Lord. All of us have nothing but what we
have received from Him (4: 7), so it is only fit and right that He should receive our
thanks and adoration.
Chapter 2: commences with the emphatic kago, which makes clear that the Apostle is
continuing his argument and showing how it applied to his own ministry. If human
wisdom at its best is foolishness with God and all true wisdom is embodied in Christ,
then in line with this, in his ministry and the preaching of the gospel, he purposely
avoided mere cleverness or eloquence and anything that could be construed as being
showy or outwardly attractive, knowing that this, while it would appeal to the Greek
mind, could only detract from the power of the message:
"And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of
wisdom, proclaiming to you the mystery of God" (2: 1 R.V.).