The Church In Corinth And Wisdom Series

Commentary on First Corinthians

By: Tom Lowe

Lesson 2.3: The Church in Corinth and Wisdom

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1.26-1.31

1 Cor 1:26-31 (KJV)

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Commentary

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

For ye see your calling, brethren,

Here, Paul is addressing those he considers his brothers in Christ; those in the Corinthian Church that were called by the grace of God to have Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and they accepted Him as such. The Apostle wants them to give consideration to the manner of their calling, and to what type of people they were when God the Holy Spirit called them. For the most part, the first preachers and members of the church were men who worked with their hands and earned their living by the sweat of their brow, fishermen, illiterate persons, the very poor and loathsome of society; some were even slaves. The city of Corinth had many noble families with people of high birth and quality, and it abounded with learned philosophers and rich merchants; and yet the Christians were poor and pitiful, and Paul will dwell on their weakness and how God used it to covert the world, in the followin verses. "The whole history of the expansion of the Church is a progressive victory of the ignorant over the learned, the lowly over the lofty, until the emperor himself laid down his crown before the cross of Christ" [OLSHAUSEN].

how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, notmany noble, are called:

The apostle does not say that there were none of the wise, the mighty, and noble called; for there were Crispus, and Sosthenes, rulers of the synagogue, and Gains a rich hospitable man, and Erastus the chamberlain of the city, and there may have been some others who were rich and famous; but there were not many of them; there are few instances of this kind recorded in the Scriptures; although there is Joseph of Arimathea a rich counsellor, Paulus Sergius a Roman deputy, Dionysius the Areopagite, and some in Caesar's palace; which shows that nobility, riches, and learning do not contribute towards a man's salvation, but neither can they hinder it where grace abounds; but, generally speaking, God has chosen, for wise reasons, to choose and call persons of different standing in society.

wise . . . after the flesh pertains to the wisdom of this world acquired by human study without the assistance of the Holy Spirit: “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). Men may consider this type of wisdom to be important; but, because they are carnal they do not understand or appreciate spiritual wisdom.

Remember, the Apostle is talking about those things that were going on in Corinth, where the church mainly consisted of the poor and common people. Some of them were rescued from the dens of vice and depravity, snatched from the dregs of a cruel and heartless society, recruited from the hopeless ranks of slaves, delivered from the treadmills of commerce and industry; but Christ redeemed them, placed upon them the eternal name, announced from heaven the complete eradication of their sins, and made them partakers of the inheritance of the saints. Thank God for the church at Corinth and all churches everywhere that teaches all the word of God. Now this is what baffled the philosophers of Greece: They were ashamed when they saw that they could do nothing with their wisdom and eloquence in comparison to the apostles, whom they called idiots and uneducated. Paul uses this to prevent them from becoming all puffed-up with pride: seeing that God did not prefer them over those noble and wise men so that they could be proud, but for just the opposite reason; it was so that they would be humbled, whether they wished to be or not, and rejoice in the Lord, because, although they were the most wretched of all, they had obtained in Christ both this wisdom as well as all things necessary to salvation.