Let no one deceive himself if any one thinks himself to be wise among you in this world, let him become foolish, that he may be wise.
Paul has just warned that God's temple is holy. Now he turns from the builders to the mindset that ruins the building. The danger here is not open unbelief. It is quiet self-flattery: a man inside the church who counts himself wise by the standards of his own age, and never suspects that he is fooling himself.
One writer explains who had slipped into the church at Corinth, and how hard this failure is to catch in yourself:
The verse seems to hint that unconverted men had already found a place among the believers there, through an outward acceptance of the Gospel. On the strength of their supposed intelligence, they were taking the place of teachers in the Church. Nothing is easier than deceiving yourself; nothing is harder than really judging yourself. What Paul rejects here is any recognition of natural gift or influence as carrying weight in the Church of God. True grace in believers will freely admit the many social differences among those whom God has called. But to use natural ability, or the accident of birth or social position in the world, as a way to get ahead or to gain personal influence in the Church means forgetting completely what God's house is. It means forgetting the presence and the holiness of Him who lives there by His Spirit.
Self-deception has a source, and one writer names it:
It is possible, then, to deceive yourself that what is being taught is true, when in fact it is worthless. The great source of deception is trying to stand well with the world by fitting Christianity to the wisdom of this world. The servant who will stand for the truth must be willing to become a fool in the eyes of the world. Then, indeed, he will have the wisdom that is true in God's sight.
Being wise is not the same as knowing a lot:
We have to remember that knowledge and wisdom are different things. Knowledge covers far more ground in our day than in the first century, yet the Apostle could write, "We all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (1 Cor. 8:1). There is nothing wrong with real knowledge. But the men who gain it are fallen sinners, and it puffs them up to their own ruin. Wisdom is the ability to apply and use knowledge well. That ability fallen man has not.
Paul had already taken this road, and one writer asks what became of the men who thought him a fool:
How much better and safer it is to become a fool, so that you may be wise! That was the path the apostle took, in obedience to the vision from heaven. Did he not seem foolish in the eyes of all with whom he broke? Was he not wise, whatever a Festus might say? What and where is Festus now? And Agrippa and Bernice? And the high priest and the accusing chiefs of the Jews? They thought themselves wise. So did others in the Corinthian church who brought in the wisdom of the schools to dodge the cross and stand well with the men of their time.
Those were the powerful men of Paul's day, and they are gone.
Let worldly wisdom into the church, and it changes everything it touches:
Bring man's wisdom into the preaching of the gospel, and it empties the cross of Christ of its power. Bring it into the teaching of God's truth, and it causes strife and sects, and puts "philosophy and empty deceit" in the place of that mystery in which "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Bring it into the ordering of the Church, and it pushes out the directions of Scripture for rules and forms that men have invented.
Becoming a fool ends in gain, not loss. The wisdom on offer is a Person, and all things come with Him:
Worldliness and worldly wisdom were dangers to the believers at Corinth. So the Apostle shows them that it was the worldly wise, the rulers of this age, who crucified the Lord of glory. And He is the hidden wisdom of God, the One whom God has made wisdom to us who are in Christ Jesus… "So let no one boast in men." Why? Because we have the Lord Himself, whom men crucified, to boast in; and we belong to Him. And since we are His, the Apostle adds, "All things are yours. You are Christ's, and Christ is God's."
- Deceived — nothing is easier than fooling yourself, and nothing is harder than judging yourself. That is where the verse starts.
- Motive — wanting to stand well with the world feeds the lie. So we trim the faith until it sounds respectable.
- Diagnosis — knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge well, and fallen man has lost it.
- Cost — becoming a fool means walking Paul's road. The confident men of the age will write you off, and they come to nothing.
- Gain — the one who lets go of his reputation for wisdom receives Christ as his wisdom, and with Him, all things.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; for it is written, He who takes the wise in their craftiness.
Paul has just told the Corinthians that they are God's temple, and that God will destroy anyone who destroys it. Now he says why the clever thinking they admired has no place there: God calls it folly, and He catches clever people in their own cleverness.
The word translated "world" means more than the people in it. One writer explains what it covers, and what human wisdom has made of it.
Paul had to say that the wisdom of this world is folly with God. Now the word he uses for "world", kosmos, means the world as an ordered system. All human wisdom has been at work ordering that system. Well, what a mess the world is in! There will be no way out of it until Divine power, working in Divine wisdom, steps in.
The verdict is not that the world's thinkers were stupid. It is that their best effort ended nowhere near God.
The world had plenty of time to develop its wisdom. The result was that all the wisdom of the philosophers proved to be folly, because it left man in complete ignorance of God. The end of all man's wisdom is that "the world by wisdom knew not God". It was not that the world failed to know God through ignorance or stupidity; it was by its wisdom that it did not know God. All the wisdom of the ages — the combined efforts of the keenest minds in the world — leaves man in utter ignorance of God, and in utter ignorance of himself.
The line Paul quotes comes from the book of Job. His use of it settles something about that book.
People have written whole volumes to prove — as if that were possible — that Job never existed, and that the book is only a page of Arabian romance. But Ezekiel among the prophets (Ezek. 14:14, 20), and James among the apostles (James 5:11), guarantee the life, trials, and death of Job. And Paul confirms the divine character of the book by quoting from it, introducing the quotation with the usual formula "it is written" (1 Cor. 3:19, with Job 5:13).
God does not need to argue the wise down. He lets their own scheming close on them.
The wisdom of this world commands the respect of the natural man. At times it may look very attractive even to the Christian, as it did to the believers at Corinth. Still, it is folly with God. The very wisdom of the world becomes its undoing, for it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness". The wisdom of this world is mere craft, and it traps those who boast in it.
Worldly wisdom is folly anywhere. Paul aims the words at one place in particular.
But everywhere, outside even more than inside, "the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God"; yet nowhere is its character so exposed, nowhere is indulging it so dangerous, as in the temple of God — the church. So it is written in Job and in Psalm 94. Whether one looks back on past experience or forward to the kingdom, it makes no difference: least of all can human craft or clever reasonings suit God's temple, and those who trade in them there will not escape His judgment.
Another writer pictures the sentence as a notice carved over the entrance of that temple.
"The temple of God" is in view. As I come up to this building — and it is God's building — I see written over the entrance, as it were, these words: "He catches the wise in their craftiness." It says this to me: if you bring the wisdom of the world into this building, you will be found out. Remember, this is God's temple, and what is of the world — what is human — will all be found out and judged. Human wisdom is of no use there.
The warning of verse 18 names the trap the verse then explains.
It is possible, then, to deceive oneself that what is being taught is true, when, in fact, it is worthless. The great source of deception is trying to stand well with the world by fitting Christianity to the wisdom of this world. The servant who will stand for the truth must be content to become a fool in the eyes of the world; then, indeed, he will have the true wisdom according to God.
- Wisdom — "World" here is the whole ordered human system. Human wisdom arranged every part of it, and the result is the mess we see.
- Folly — God's verdict falls on man's cleverness, not his ignorance. By its wisdom the world never came to know God, or itself.
- Craft — The line Paul quotes from Job says the world's wisdom is mere craft, and craft is the net that catches those who boast in it.
- Temple — God's temple is the worst place of all to bring worldly wisdom. There it is found out and judged.
- Fool — The deception to avoid is making Christianity fit the world's thinking. Be content to look foolish, and you will have real wisdom.
And again, [The] Lord knows the reasonings of the wise that they are vain.
Paul ends his warning about God's temple by quoting Scripture back at a clever church. The word behind "thoughts" also means reasonings. Where the ESV says they are "futile," older translations say "vain." One writer shows how the world's wisdom defeats the people who trade in it:
The wisdom of this world wins respect from people who do not know God. At times it can look very attractive even to a Christian, as it did to the believers at Corinth. Still, it is foolishness with God. The very wisdom of the world becomes its undoing, for Scripture says, "He takes the wise in their own craftiness." The wisdom of this world is mere craft, and it traps those who boast in it. The Lord knows that the "reasonings" of the wise are vain.
People assume that what stays inside the head stays hidden. One writer answers that assumption, and points to the Son who came to bring hearts into the open.
Thoughts are hidden inside the heart, and one of man's strange delusions is that they are therefore hidden from God, who knows all things. Yet Scripture says, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are vain" (1 Cor. 3:20; Ps. 94:11). The Son, come as man, had this same complete knowledge and showed it. Simeon told Mary that one purpose of His mission was that "the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed" (Luke 2:35).
Paul is not saying anything new here; he is repeating words already written in the Old Testament. Another writer shows where this wisdom does the most damage, and what makes boasting pointless.
Everywhere — outside the church even more than inside it — "the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God." Yet nowhere is its true character so exposed, and nowhere is giving in to it so dangerous, as in the temple of God — the church. Whether you look back at past experience or forward to the kingdom, it makes no difference. Human craft and clever reasonings least of all suit God's temple, and those who deal in them there will not escape His judgment. And why should people boast, when with Christ they have all things?
after_note: none
One writer names what prompted the warning.
The Corinthians were a clever people in this world, and they were beginning to bring their own cleverness and energy into the temple of God; they had not learned to become fools that they might be wise. Our own wise thoughts are our greatest hindrance.
The same instinct reappears wherever people feel qualified to sit in judgement on what God has said.
It is very important to remember this, because a spirit of mental arrogance is the special mark of the present age. Men have made such wonderful discoveries. They have solved such difficult problems and built such complex, highly imaginative philosophies, that they feel completely competent to set themselves up as masters of the Christian faith. They claim the liberty to criticise it and change it as they please. In the end they only give an excellent modern example of how true the inspired words are.
The verse leads straight to a command about boasting, and to what belongs to those who obey it.
So he says, "The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise that they are vain. So let no one boast in men" (1 Cor. 3:20, 21). Why? Because we have the Lord Himself whom men crucified to boast in; and we belong to Him. And since we are His, the Apostle adds, "All things are ours. You are Christ's, and Christ is God's."
- Known — the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise. Nothing we reason out inside our heads is hidden from Him.
- Futile — the world's wisdom is mere craft, and craft traps the people who boast in it.
- Exposed — nowhere is worldly wisdom more out of place, or more dangerous, than in God's temple, the church.
- Surrendered — the Corinthians carried their own cleverness into the church. Our own wise thoughts are our greatest hindrance.
- Enriched — the boast moves from men to Christ, and with Him all things are already ours.