1 Corinthians 1:18–31

The cross speaks of the lowest extreme of human shame and suffering. It was the harshest penalty for a slave. The Son of God stooped not only to the nature of man but to the death of the cross. This was atonement for man to God, and it was also man's rejection of God. To those who are ignorant of their own sinfulness and of God's holiness, that seems the depth of folly. They must perish, living and dying as they are. That He had to suffer in order to save assumes the hopeless ruin of the race.

The wise of this world do not see the glory of the Person nailed to the cross. So they miss the love of God that gave Him to suffer. They miss the holiness of God that demanded such a sacrifice. They miss the utter ruin of man that the cross sets out. All they see is a Man nailed to a cross between two thieves. So the preaching of salvation through the cross seems to them utter folly.

The cross stands as "the great divide" among men whenever it is faithfully preached. On one side of it stand those who are perishing, on the other those of us who are saved. You can tell which group a person belongs to by watching how that person treats the preaching of the cross. To the one it is only foolishness, because they hold to the world and its wisdom. To the other it is the power of God, and that to salvation.

The point of this remark in verse 21 is not that preaching seems a foolish method, compared with working, for instance. The point is the message preached. The word of the cross is foolishness by human standards, yet it is wisdom and power by God's.

The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. To us who are being saved it is the power of God. It saves us from the guilt of sins, from the power of sin itself, and before long from the presence of sin when we go home.

To those who are saved the cross is the power of God to save, because through it God can righteously save the vilest sinner.

To man the word of the cross is the deepest offence and the sheerest foolishness. But to believers it is God's power — not wisdom only — "to us who are to be saved." Here the apostle treats it as a personal fact instead of continuing his general statement. That brings it home more closely. In this letter, salvation is not complete until the Lord comes. It takes in the whole work of bringing us through, until we are made like Christ in resurrection glory.

The cross of Christ and the wisdom of man cannot go together. If the cross of Christ is to be exalted, man's wisdom must be brought low. If man's wisdom is to be magnified, the cross of Christ must "be made of none effect."

In English, the difference between wisdom and understanding in verse 19 is this: wisdom is the effort to use what a man has learned. In Greek you could hardly call it that. We may say that the understanding of the prudent has more the character of discernment, while wisdom is more the knowledge of truth. Hebrew uses far more words for wisdom than English has.

Looking for thoughts and words that please the world shows a mind at odds with God. He had already declared that the world's best wisdom is folly in the things of God. Notice that the apostle quotes as proof God's sentence on Israel through the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 29:14). Some do not see how fitting this testimony is, and I cannot agree with them. Many scriptures declare that human resources are not enough, but none suits the apostle's purpose better, and so none serves better to warn the believers at Corinth.

Three times this scripture, or part of it, is quoted in the New Testament — twice by our Lord, and once by the apostle Paul. Looking back at Isaiah, we learn that hiding these things from the wise and prudent was not an act of arbitrary power. It was the judicial result of formality and hypocrisy in holy things, and of taking the rules of men in place of the word of God.

The cross was judgment indeed. But it was the judgment of this world. It was shame, indeed. But it was the wisdom of this world that was "made foolish" there. It was death — death dropping like a curtain and closing the story. But though the rulers aimed to "destroy Jesus" (Matt. 27:20), Jesus was not the one destroyed. Instead the cross fulfilled what had been written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart" (1 Cor. 1:19).

Christians do not need the help of the wise men of this world, for God has said, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart" (1 Cor. 1:19). All wisdom for the Christian is in Him, in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily," and we "have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority" (Col. 2:9-10).

He would strip fallen man of all glory, so that He may make Christ Jesus to be to the believer "wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." How worse than useless, then, to bring the thing God has discredited into the preaching of the gospel, the teaching of God's truth, or the ordering of His Church. Brought into the preaching of the gospel, it empties the cross of Christ of its power. Brought into the teaching of God's truth, it breeds quarrels and sects.

Not only does the discernment of the discerning come to nothing (1 Cor. 1:19); the rulers of this age themselves come to nothing. The final result, the sum total, of all the clever doings is NOTHING. The clever men themselves come to NOTHING. In contrast, the Apostle John tells us that "whoever does the will of God abides forever"... The believer, and the believer only, has power to work at what will last for eternity.

I cannot agree with those who fail to see how fitting this testimony is. Many scriptures declare how far human resources fall short. Out of them all, it would be impossible to find one better suited to the apostle's purpose, and so one better able to warn the Corinthian saints... The last words are no more than an illustration drawn from Isaiah 33. There we hear a burst of surprise at the rescue from the scornful power of the enemy. Here we hear a triumphant challenge over the failure of its proud claims against God.

They valued those who were wise, scribes, or debaters of this world. They were used to the schools of their age and country. Christianity did such great things while those who had it were poor and simple. So what might it do, they imagined, with the ability, the learning and the philosophy of men behind it! How it must ride triumphantly to victory! How the great must bow, and the wise be brought in!

No doubt these are prominent men in the world's eyes. But in the light of God's revelation they become like the magicians of Egypt when the plague of boils struck them. They could not stand before Moses (Ex. 9:11). Indeed, this matchless revelation actually renders foolish the wisdom of this world.

Worldly wisdom and strategy may have its day, but sooner or later it will fail completely. Faith already sees its folly and its moral overthrow at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified," said the apostle — "to the nations foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, God's power and God's wisdom."

Christ is revealed to the humble soul. Intellectual attainment is not in question here; it is no matter of great learning or of philosophy... The most brilliant mind could never discover the ways of God. We get effort, but never success. The simplest Christian already knows what such a mind cannot reach — things "hidden from the wise and prudent" but "revealed to babes." How painful are man's efforts to arrive at darkness! "What is truth?" asked Pilate, and crucified Christ.

Here lies the great moral secret of the whole matter. Man has to find out that he is simply a fool, and that all the wisdom of the world is foolishness. Humbling, but wholesome truth! Humbling, because it puts man in his right place. Wholesome, yes, most precious, because it brings in the wisdom of God.

They have turned their backs on everything that makes much of man, everything that men boast in and trust by nature... Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Not in the Christian assembly where the presence of the Lord is.

It was in the wisdom of God, says the apostle, that the world by wisdom did not know God. This is an inspired declaration. Thinkers of the highest natural intelligence and the widest learning had used their powers to the full and reached their final results. It was all a vain attempt to find out God by searching. In other words, God's wisdom held back the announcement of saving grace in the name of the Son of God on purpose. He waited until man's natural ability had every opportunity to reach its highest point.

God never left Himself without witness. He never meant to leave man to the blind gropings of a darkened intellect... So, in the darkness they chose for themselves, their wisdom ripened. In Greece, the nation that stood for all the peoples outside Israel, among people who claimed to seek wisdom, it produced its finest blossoms and its ripest fruits. God's wisdom gladly gave ample time for this development. Israel under law had to show that man was without strength and ungodly. In the same way, the nations had to show that the world by wisdom did not know God.

It was not that the world by its ignorance or stupidity did not know God, but by wisdom it did not know God. All the wisdom of the ages, the combined efforts of the keenest minds in the world, ends in one result. It leaves man in complete ignorance of God, and in complete ignorance of himself.

What did the philosophy of Greece do for its disciples? It made them the ignorant worshippers of "AN UNKNOWN GOD." The words carved on their altar announced their ignorance and their shame to the whole universe. And may we not rightly ask whether philosophy has done better for the Christian world than it did for Greece? Has it given the knowledge of the true God? Who would dare to say Yes?

The apostle here speaks not exactly of preaching as a mere instrument, but of the thing preached... This the Jews derided, as well as the Greeks. It was foolishness to them. That is no surprise, if they did not see the glory of the person of Christ, given to die in God's love to sinners. To the natural mind, what could seem less reasonable than a crucified man as the only Saviour from sins and the wrath of God?

This great wisdom comes in words so simple and clear that a child can understand it. That is why men who pride themselves on their superior wisdom are arrogant enough to despise it and call it foolishness. It is of course not the fact of preaching that is despised, but the subject matter.

Note this too: men owe their ruin to themselves, but salvation is from God alone. It pleases Him to save. As to the means, it is "the foolishness of preaching." To do the mightiest of works, He uses what the natural mind judges the most inadequate of means. In this way He displays both His wisdom and His power.

In this Christianity stands in sharp contrast with every human system of wisdom. Philosophy wants philosophers, science needs scientists, astronomy must have astronomers. Unless a man has the brains and ability their demands call for, he cannot claim to be their disciple. Not so with the grace that saves. The "wise and prudent" are set aside, and "babes" are put in their place.

The Jews had a background and training in the public knowledge of a God who showed Himself in visible miracles and signs. So they held that only striking visible signs could prove that a thing was from God. The Greeks, on the other hand, took pride in intellectual achievement. They looked for the kind of wisdom that would exalt the most philosophical minds.

In verse 22 we have a summary of the wisdom of this world, measured against the higher longings of mankind. It shows two features, and only two: unbelief that is still gullible, and investigation that relies on itself.

The world is busy with other things, or turns elsewhere. God gave visible signs when He sent the Lord Jesus to the land of Israel. Never since the world began had there been such a cloud of witnesses of this kind. But what can satisfy the heart when everything in it is turned away from God? The Jews overlooked all He gave and asked for a sign as if none had appeared. The Greeks expected nothing from God. But if what they were looking for was wisdom, they never learned its first lesson: the fear of the Lord.

Power and wisdom are the two things man admires. But they must be power and wisdom that suit his own thoughts. The Jews looked for a Messiah dressed in worldly majesty and glory. The Greeks looked for a god that fitted their own philosophical ideas. How then could either one recognize or receive a Saviour who came clothed with humility and weakness?

The demand for a sign gets no answer, and the questions of philosophy lead only to emptiness and hopeless doubt. Man has confessed his own failure, whether Jew or Gentile. He cannot rescue himself. Nor can he find the way of peace by the flickering light of his own intelligence. On that ground God now speaks to both alike through His ambassadors.

The Jew was waiting for the Christ, but He had to be a splendid figure, spectacular, matching what they expected. The Greek would have welcomed a new philosopher to bring their ideas to a triumphant climax. Christ crucified outraged them both. Such a Christ was a hopeless stumbling block to the Jew, and He looked ridiculous beyond words to the Greek. But there is no other Christ than the Christ who was crucified.

The merely religious man looks for a sign, while the man who trusts reason wants wisdom. The Sign God gives is also His Wisdom... He is that hidden wisdom which God planned beforehand for our glory. But the rulers of this age crucified the Lord of glory, because they did not know Him. In killing Him they showed their own folly.

What kind of sign was this? the Jews would ask. Had not many others been crucified? Yes, but not another like Him. Here is the one Man without sin, the One who is more than man, the eternal God revealed in human flesh... But on His side it was a sacrifice of infinite value — how much more than a sign!

An angel told Zacharias that his elderly wife, who had never had children, would bear a son. Even so, he asked for some sign to back up the plain Word of God. In this he showed himself to be an "unbelieving believer," though very true to type, for "Jews demand signs."

As a translator's note points out, "the foolishness of preaching" points not to the act of preaching, but to what is preached. So in verse 23 the apostle says, "we preach Christ crucified … folly to Gentiles" (older translations read "foolishness"). To those cultured, intellectual men it seemed complete folly to preach salvation through One who died a shameful death on a cross. It offended their pride, because it made nothing of man. By this means God made foolish the wisdom of this world.

The Christ whom the apostle preached was the One whom the world crucified. He was a rejected, outcast Christ — one assigned by the world to a criminal's gallows. What a fact for the poor Corinthians, so full of vanity and love for this world's wisdom!

Here it is not simply the blood shed that makes atonement. To say "crucified" says more than to say "dead." Both words declare the end of man in the flesh. But the cross carries a shame and weakness beyond anything else. God saved by means of the cross, where the world saw the worst of human suffering and humiliation. That silenced the world's wisdom. It proved that wisdom to be folly, for daring to think and speak in that way about His wisdom. … The cross of Christ is the fullest display of God's judgment of sin and of His love to the sinner.

The Jews looked for a Messiah reigning in power from a throne. He would revive the kingdom, put down their enemies, and set Israel at the head of the nations. Christ reigning on a throne they could understand; Christ crucified on a cross was an offence to them. Having no sense of their need as sinners, they could see no meaning in the cross. To them in their unbelief it became a stumbling block.

The Gentiles looked for something that appealed to reason — some new thing, some scheme of philosophy. Tell them that salvation comes through a crucified Man, life through a dying Man, power through a Man crucified in weakness, and in their sight you were talking utter foolishness. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom.

The cross sweeps away the whole of man in the flesh. It puts an end to everything the flesh could glory in. There is no glory for the flesh in the cross at all. It was God's wisdom to do this: no dignity, no heroism, but shame, reproach, disgrace, and death. It brings all of man down to a place where nothing could be found. There is not even a stone to put his foot on to keep it out of the water. Only slaves ever hung on a cross, and this is what God takes up to bring the world to nothing.

On one side stood the wise Greek, on the other the devout Jew, who testified that God is one. But Paul's testimony was the same to both, though they stood opposed to one another: "a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles." The veil lay on the heart of the one as much as on the other. Both stood opposed to the teaching of grace. The apostle counted only on the power of God to remove the veil and to open the way for people to receive His testimony.

The Jews demanded signs, because God had stepped into their history with miracles again and again. But the sign had to be of a certain kind to satisfy them. The Greeks almost worshipped the human mind, and wanted nothing that did not fit the popular ideas of the day... The Jew was waiting for a Christ who had to be splendid and spectacular, just as they expected. The Greek would have welcomed a new philosopher to bring their theories to a triumphant finish. Both were outraged by Christ crucified. But there is no other Christ than the Christ who was crucified.

To tell the Greeks there was salvation through a crucified Man, life through a dying Man, power through One who was crucified in weakness, was to say what in their eyes was utter foolishness. Still, to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. In Him they discover God's power to save, and God's wisdom in carrying out all His purposes.

The first and special effect of this preaching on "the called" is to set the person of the Saviour clearly and firmly before their souls. To such, the apostle says, "it is Christ." The news of Him reached their ears just as it reached everyone else's. But in their happy case it was mixed with faith, so His Name becomes to them the proof and assurance of His saving grace. They receive the Lord Himself when they receive God's testimony. Next, the Christ they have received is to them the power and wisdom of God. Power shows itself by what it does... And when a soul receives Christ crucified by faith, the effect is to settle it in the lasting peace of God.

The point here is not simply the blood shed that makes atonement. To say "crucified" says more than to say "dead." Both declare the end of man in the flesh, but the cross carries a shame and weakness beyond anything else. So when God saved by means of the cross, where the world saw the worst of human suffering and humiliation, He silenced human wisdom. He proved it to be folly, since it dared to think and speak that way about His wisdom.

What power can anyone show next to the "immeasurable greatness" of God's power, "that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places"? What wisdom can anyone show, after all their research, to match what God revealed when He turned the shameful cross of Calvary into the means of salvation and blessing for countless millions? Men refused His beloved Son even the small honour of kingship over the Jews, and God has made Him head over the universe.

Wisdom shows itself when the means chosen actually reach the goal. God's goal must be His own glory. So Christ crucified must be owned as His wisdom. For the cross of the Son of God empties every claim the creature could make, and at the same time shows the rich glory of His grace in the triumphant display of His own righteousness.

How fitting that the man once given wisdom beyond anyone else should be the one to reveal, in the Old Testament, the One who is that Wisdom in His own eternal Person!

The expressions "foolishness of God" and "weakness of God" just put the thing in the strongest way. Take death as an example. Death is weakness — "crucified in weakness". Yet death set aside everything of man, and in that sense it is the weakness of God. It establishes God completely. The weakness of God was the gospel, that is, as man would speak of it; and foolishness as man looks at it. And God chose that. He took it on purpose. To man it was only someone hanging on a gallows, yet it glorified God.

Men may wish to call this the foolishness of God, as in verse 25. It is still infinitely wiser than man's highest wisdom. And if they count it weakness on God's part, there is a power in it far above the greatest strength of men. It achieves such lasting results that it puts to shame the things men boast of as their greatest accomplishments.

It is not simply the blood shed that makes atonement here; and it says more to say "crucified" than to say dead. Though both declare the end of man in the flesh, the cross holds an extreme of shame and weakness found nowhere else. In the cross the world saw the worst of human suffering and humiliation. That God should save by that very cross silenced the world's wisdom. It proved that wisdom to be folly, for daring to think and speak that way about His wisdom.

Where was there ever a victory so complete and so far-reaching? It came when this Man of sorrows bowed His head and died. ... There the cunning and craft of Satan ended in his own confusion. His seeming victory became defeat, and Christ's seeming overthrow became triumph. From that lowest depth Christ went up on high. He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. For truly "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

We speak of the cross of Christ as the strongest expression of love, and of His resurrection as the brightest display of power... It was not the display of wisdom, though it certainly was the wisdom of God. To the wise of this world the cross is foolishness, and to the self-righteous it is a stumbling block. Nor was it the display of power — "He was crucified in weakness" — but it was the showing of love. If to the worldly-wise it looks like weakness and foolishness, to admiring faith it is the highest expression of love enduring.

What a human system boasts of as its glory is really its condemnation: it can run on smoothly without God. That system points to open ministry, carried on in dependence on the Holy Spirit, as proof of folly. But that is its real excellence: it cannot go on without God. If it were of man alone it would collapse in a moment. How true it is here, as in everything else: "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men!"

The apostle tells the Corinthians to consider their calling, for they had not yet given up their old admiration of man's wisdom, power and rank. In the assembly of God before their eyes was the clearest evidence that not many were wise by worldly standards, not many powerful, not many of noble birth… But the apostle goes further. He shows that this is not only a fact among men (v. 26) but a purpose on God's part (vv. 27-29)… So plainly does God judge what so often captivates the heart of Christians. They love to count up the wise and the great of the world in their own ranks, as if anything of the sort could add glory to Christ.

It is God Himself who calls His saints. So why were there not many wise men, not many mighty, not many noble among them? Did God unfairly shut these people out? No indeed; at least some of them did believe the gospel… God does not condemn intelligence or human ability. But by the preaching of the cross He strikes the death-blow to man's pride and confidence in these things. Some refuse it for one reason only: it wounds their pride. They will not come down and admit that God is greater than themselves.

This world honours the wise according to the flesh, the mighty and the noble. But "God chose what is foolish in the world … what is weak … what is low and despised … even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (1 Cor. 1:27-29). The few of the great in this world whom God has called take their place among the despised — not because of their greatness, but despite it.

High birth, wide education and wealth all work to strengthen and develop what is natural in man. So it is true, and a sad truth, that these things stand against the gaining of divine knowledge. That knowledge must begin by bringing man to complete dependence on God. But on the other hand, poverty and ignorance are no natural introduction to a state of grace. "Wicked men of the rabble" are as ready to deny the truth as philosophic pride is to ignore it. At heart, man is the same at every level of culture or social position.

God chooses to take up whomever He likes to do His work, and in fact He very often takes up very simple people… God will have a wonderful witness go out. But He will have that witness carried by His own witnesses, and His witnesses are for the most part the poor and feeble of this world. So in Acts 2 we read, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?" Galileans were the simple country folk of the day, and their leader Peter was an "uneducated, common" man. God may sometimes take up a rich man or a nobleman for some special work. But generally, as of old, so today, God's witnesses are chosen from the despised of this world.

Yet such a negative conclusion, important as it may be, is not enough for the Spirit of God. He would lead the heart away from the emptiness of man's vanity or pride. He would lead it to real moral worth, to the provision of divine grace and holiness, and to a glory that will never pass away… "And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus." What a vast change of nature, position and relationships for anyone! How blessed for those whose wretched state in the world and in the flesh the apostle had just described plainly!

The Corinthians still clung to their old admiration of man's wisdom and power and rank. So the apostle tells them to consider their calling. The assembly of God in front of them was the clearest evidence: not many of them were wise by human standards, not many powerful, not many high-born... But the apostle goes further and shows that it is not only a fact among men (v. 26) but a purpose on God's part (vv. 27-29)... His judgment is clear on the thing that always tends to capture the hearts of Christians. They love to count up the wise and the world's grandeur in their own ranks, as if anything of the sort could add glory to Christ. Did not God choose the lowly and despised things of the world... so that no flesh might boast in the sight of God?

The apostle has set aside the religious flesh of the Jew and the intellectual flesh of the non-Jew. He did it by presenting the cross and the preaching of the cross. Now he sets aside the pride of the flesh by presenting the calling of God... So a blind beggar put the wise Pharisees to shame. Simple fishermen shamed the wise rulers of Israel so completely that they had to say, "What shall we do?"

The world despises the cross; and God meant it to be a despicable thing — a gallows... There, on the basest thing in the world, He has hung salvation.

Did God shut such people out for no reason? No. At least some of them did believe the gospel... God does not condemn intelligence or human ability. But by the preaching of the cross He strikes the death-blow to man's pride and confidence in these things. Some refuse the cross because it hurts their pride. They will not come down and admit that God is really greater than they are.

God used something foolish to bring down the walls of Jericho: rams' horns, blown round a powerful fortress. The people marched round it for seven days, and the walls fell. God used weak things to rescue Israel and turn back the enemy armies: Shamgar's ox-goad, Gideon's three hundred men, Samson's jawbone.

God uses two kinds of instruments to do His work. First, those who have no value in themselves... But He also takes up instruments which are of great value in the eyes of men and to themselves. People looked up to Saul of Tarsus. He was learned, religious, energetic and careful to do right. To all appearance he lacked nothing that God could use. Yet God lays hold of him, strikes him to the ground on the way to Damascus, and, so to speak, breaks the vessel to pieces. Then He says, Now I can use him.

The very passage that tells us "God chose what is foolish in the world" at once adds, "because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God" (1 Cor. 1:27, 30). Sadly, our own imagined wisdom often stops us from benefiting from the wisdom from above — the wisdom of our Head. It is good for us to admit our foolishness and cast ourselves on the wisdom that is in Christ our Head. Then, however unintelligent we are by nature, He will give us wisdom for every detail of our life and service.

The apostle goes further and shows that it is not only a fact among men (v. 26) but a purpose on God's part. He chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise men. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong things. This is how clearly He passes judgment on what always tends to capture the heart of Christians. They love to count the wise and the great people of the world in their own ranks, as if anything of that sort could add glory to Christ.

As to "things which are not" (v. 28) … the apostle takes it as an extreme case in the whole scene of God in Christendom. God has brought to nothing all of heathenism and Judaism.

He "calls the things that are not as though they were" (Rom. 4:17). He chooses "things which are not" (1 Cor. 1:28). Things which are not to us, exist for Him.

They perceived that they were ignorant and unlearned men. But, though they despised them from the heart, they could not deny the plain evidence of miraculous power that backed their teaching. "Things which are not" began to shake the throne of present power. Pilate was afraid before the words of One who admitted that He was indeed a King, yet said His kingdom was not now of this world. And Felix trembled and Agrippa felt ashamed before Paul, a chosen servant and a minister of things unseen. For a time he broke down the stubborn wickedness of men who, if they thought of God at all, thought of Him only as someone like themselves. It belongs to God to "call the things that are not as though they were." In the same way, through the effective power of the heavenly calling, He makes present things nothing in the eyes of those who live on His word.

In truth, all five of these descriptions belong first and chiefly to Christ. Though He was God's chosen and holy One, He was "despised and rejected by men."… "He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to Him?" "As for this man, we do not know where He comes from." These sayings show what worldly judgment thought of God's wisdom in human form, in its day of opportunity.… The "chosen of God and precious" was, and still is, the One rejected by the builders of this world.

Not only has God chosen such to be His saints, but also in His work He chooses such as His servants.

The flesh must glory in something — birth, riches, or intellect. But in the presence of God neither believer nor unbeliever can glory in these things. Sadly, in the presence of one another we may try to lift ourselves up by birth, riches, wisdom, or achievements. But in the presence of Christ we are ashamed of the very things we glory in before one another.

But the apostle goes further and shows that it is not only a fact among men (v. 26) but a purpose on God's part (vv. 27-29). He chose the foolish things of the world to put the wise men to shame. He chose the weak things of the world to put the strong things to shame. His judgment is clear on the very thing that always tends to capture the heart of Christians. They love to count up the wise and the grand people of the world in their own ranks, as if anything like that could add glory to Christ.

No flesh shall glory in the presence of God. It may boast outside. It may make its claims, glory in its resources and be proud of what it does, as long as no one thinks about God. But bring Him in, and in a moment it all withers — the boasting, the empty glory, the high claims, the self-satisfaction and the self-conceit.

The flesh must glory in something — either birth or riches or intellect. But in the presence of God, neither believer nor unbeliever can glory in these things. Sadly, in front of one another we may try to lift ourselves up by birth, riches, wisdom or achievements. But in the presence of Christ we are ashamed of the very things we glory in before one another. We dare not mention them in His presence, except to condemn ourselves for glorying in them. To glory in them only shows how little we are in His presence.

Verse 29 gives us one specific goal of God's sovereign calling and choosing. Boasting cannot live with grace. The cross withers nature to its very root, and leaves nothing for the flesh to boast about.

The elder son has a natural claim; and religious people in every age have considered themselves in this position in relation to God — to a greater or lesser degree. But for this very reason God rejects them, "so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (1 Cor. 1:29). It is surely no accident that Scripture always shows the elder son outside God's blessing. It is the sinner who admits his guilt, who has nothing to plead but what he finds in God Himself, who gets the blessing.

Such was the man that God visited and chose as His servant — a man who realised his utter weakness, and who said, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel?" This gives us a first great principle about the work of God in this world. God never asks what man can offer Him. The instruments He takes up to glorify Himself are the weak ones, who know their weakness (1 Cor. 1:27-29; 2 Cor. 12:9-10).

Flesh is completely set aside, and its wisdom is now written down as folly. No flesh is to boast in His presence: "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." Flesh cannot boast before Him. We are to boast in Him. But then the whole being of man in the flesh, morally speaking, has ended for the Christian. We are in Christ Jesus because of God, and Christ Jesus is made wisdom from God to us. That is the great subject here — and then righteousness, sanctification and final deliverance.

"Of him," that is of God, "are you in Christ Jesus." I am of God. And I have my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption from God, all in Christ. It comes from Him; it is not my thinking about Him. And so man is totally set aside, flesh is put down.

Wisdom naturally comes first, because it is the point under discussion. We need it, for sin has plunged us into ignorance and folly. But sin has just as surely plunged us into guilt and condemnation, so we need righteousness. It has plunged us into contamination and corruption, so we need sanctification. And into bondage and slavery, so we need redemption. Redemption comes last, because it includes the final thing — the redemption of our bodies at the coming of the Lord.

We may have very little wisdom of our own. Still, Christ is made to us wisdom. We need not turn for wisdom to philosophy, to wise men, or to our own imagined wisdom, for we have Christ. Christ, on the cross, has fully shown us our ruin and made God known in His love.

God has made Christ to the believer "wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30). And if Christ is made righteousness to the believer, that righteousness is absolute and permanent, for Christ never changes.

Every true believer is sanctified. To each one it can be said, "because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption." So if you are truly converted and "in Christ Jesus," you may call yourself sanctified as confidently as you call yourself redeemed.

There is a practical work in us which is progressive. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Scriptures like this one have progressive sanctification in view.

Christ's holiness is not imputed. The only passage that can appear to resemble this teaching is 1 Corinthians 1:30, but imputation is not spoken of there. It is not possible to impute redemption. It is in Christ, and through Christ, that these are according to the will of God.

Last of all, Christ is made to us redemption — "the complete deliverance from the effects of sin in our bodies." We are still waiting for it. We see this redemption already set forth in Christ; we have it now in Christ our Head; we wait for it to appear in ourselves.

We have everything in Christ, and nothing in man as such. So, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." The cross, the preaching of the cross, the call of God, and our position in Christ before God shut out the flesh completely.

The flesh must boast in something — birth, or riches, or intelligence. But in God's presence neither believer nor unbeliever can boast in these things. In front of one another we may try to lift ourselves up by birth, riches, wisdom or achievements. But in the presence of Christ we feel ashamed of the very things we boast about to each other. We dare not mention them in His presence, except to condemn ourselves for boasting in them. To boast in them only shows how little we are in His presence.

We have seen, in verse 29, that the work of God silences boasting in the flesh. Now the lips open again for those who willingly bow the knee to Jesus, according to the faith of God's chosen people. For those who in Christ are already more than conquerors may boast. The revelation of God's glory as a Saviour leaves His true worshippers with little but praise. But their boast is Jesus.

How complete the blessing Christ has been made to us! And what a joy that we not only may but ought to boast in Him who has so ordered and given to us! Do devout souls call on us to beware of presumption? It is the apostle himself, on the strength of Jeremiah the prophet, who calls on the one who boasts to boast in the LORD. It is therefore not rash nor wrong, but a hallowed boast. We owe it to Him, and He deserves it of us.

God has made Him everything to us, therefore our boasting is to be in Him. This quotation is from Jeremiah. Speaking of the sad state of Israel and its leaders, he said, "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD" (9:23-24).

In what does this scripture ask us to boast? Certainly not in the state of the world! The state it is in now has made large numbers drop their old boasts about its progress. Nor do the inspired words quoted above encourage us to boast in the churches. The Spirit has pictured their declining state for us in Revelation 2 and 3, just as we see it today. Much less are we told to glory in ourselves, either naturally or spiritually.

So he says, "Let no one boast in men" (1 Cor. 3:21). Why? Because we have the Lord Himself whom men crucified to boast in; and we belong to Him.

Grace brought them all to glory in the Lord — to boast in Him! They had nothing in themselves to boast in. The heart needs something — or rather someone — a worthy object. So He is the One provided for that purpose. Anyone who boasts in people is not wise; and anyone who boasts in himself is a fool. The word boast sounds a little out of place at first. But this is the word the Spirit of Truth has used to build us up, and we do well to take hold of its force: "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." We have good reason to do so. We were once far from God, but now in Christ Jesus we have been brought near. Christ carried our sins and their judgment away on the cross, and has secured an eternal redemption and an eternal inheritance in glory for us.