Proclaiming Christ Crucified Series

1 Cor 2:1-5

1And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Paul concludes his talk on human wisdom versus God’s wisdom in today’s section.

• He has been telling the Corinthians that their preoccupation with human wisdom and abilities, reflected in their divisions over the leaders, was uncalled for.

• They did not come to this point in knowing Christ because of human wisdom, not in the message, not in the recipients, and not in the preacher.

• It has been entirely the work of God.

LET US RECAP. Paul highlighted the few aspects of “foolishness” that were seen in the salvation of man.

• First, in the PROCLAMATION, the MESSAGE of the cross.

• It was a “stumbling block” to the learned Jewish scribes and regarded as “foolishness” by the intellectual Greek philosophers (cf. 1:23).

• The MEANS of salvation for the world – the CROSS – turns out to be incomprehensible to the “wise men”. It was the “foolishness of God” (1:25), Paul exaggerates.

Secondly, look at the PEOPLE. Even the recipients – the Corinthian believers – were not exceptional people.

• The people who heard the Gospel and believed were not intelligent or powerful.

• 1:26 “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.”

• You were not saved because you are wiser, more powerful than others, or of noble birth.

Finally, the PREACHER (Messenger) of the Gospel was not great, Paul said referring to himself.

• TWICE he said it - 2:1 “I did not come proclaiming the testimony of God with lofty speech [eloquence] or wisdom.”

• 2:4 “…and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom [persuasive], but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power…”

• The greatness was not in me but in the Spirit of God, who convicts and changes the lives of those who receive the message.

So whether it is the MEANS of salvation, the PEOPLE receiving it, or the PREACHER who preaches it, no human wisdom was involved.

• No one can boast that they played a part in the work of the Gospel. The salvation of our souls is entirely the work of God!

• It is the wisdom and the power of God, from start to finish, from inception before the foundation of the world to our consummation, the future glorification at the end.

The revealing of Christ as Saviour is the wisdom and the power of God.

• Paul has been emphasizing this from 1:18 up to this point, in our text today.

• He ends with an introduction to the Spirit of God. It is the power of His Spirit that is at work in our hearts bringing conviction and life change.

• Paul will be talking more about the Spirit in the next section.

In today’s text, we learn of the work of God through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to ponder these 3 areas:

1. Our Faith in the Testimony of God (2:1)

2. Our Faith in the Work of the Spirit of God (2:4)

3. Our Faith in the Power of God (2:5)

HAVE FAITH IN THE TESTIMONY OF GOD

Paul did not come to them proclaiming the testimony of God with lofty speeches or wisdom. He came in weakness, with fear and trembling.

• Paul does not want to boast about his preaching or to focus on the manner of his preaching but rather on the MESSAGE that he has brought.

• It’s the testimony of God, the message of God concerning Christ and Him crucified.

• “I would prefer to know nothing among you except this.” (v.2)

Paul came not as a gifted preacher but as a faithful WITNESS of the testimony of God concerning Christ.

• He came with God’s message, the revelation of God. And if it is a testimony of God, it means it cannot be of man and it did not originate with men.

The message is above the messenger. The message is from God and of God.

• This is the distinguishing mark of Christianity. The Gospel is a message of God given to us and now entrusted to us as believers. It is not a message of man.