The following quote is of the 2nd century philosopher Celsus. It was meant to be a mockery of Christianity but instead it goes quite well with Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 1.
“Let no cultured person draw near, none wise and none sensible, for all that kind of thing we count evil; but if any man is ignorant, if any man is wanting in sense and culture, if anybody is a fool, let him come boldly [to become a Christian]. … We see them in their own houses, wool dresses, cobblers, the worst, the vulgarest, the most uneducated persons. … They are like a swarm of bats or ants creeping out of their nest, or frogs holding a symposium around a swamp, or worms convening in mud” (quoted in MacArthur Commentary Series: 1 Corinthians).What is wisdom? Where does wisdom come from? Who is truly blessed? In what can a person boast? These questions have drastically different answers when asked of the world and of the Bible. To the world one can be both wise and corrupt, both rich and spiritually bankrupt, blessed and yet depraved. To the Bible the only one who is truly wise is the one who sees his wisdom as from God. The one who is blessed is the one on whom the Lord has shown His infinite mercy.
Paul begins the paragraph by pointing each person back to an event. That event isn’t said to be “the moment you believed” but “your calling” (1 Cor. 1:26). He doesn’t attribute this calling to them being wise, wealthy, and powerful, but instead reminds them that they were poor, weak, and foolish. But God chose them in order to shame people like Celsus who put their trust in worldly values.
Verse 30 adds “and because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God…” Remember last week we saw that our election is “in Christ” and I reminded you that there are those who see this as a clear sign of conditional election. However, here Paul literally says “And from him [God] you are in Christ.”
This tells us two things:
1. The nature of election excludes the ability of anyone to boast.
2. God’s work in our salvation is, in part, to put to shame the values of a fallen sinful world.
A closely related text that will not be expounded on in later posts is Matthew 11:25-30. Jesus praises the Father for His sovereign work in salvation, even in keeping the gospel from being seen for its true beauty by the “wise and understanding” He makes it clear that the Son has the sole authority of revealing the Father to whomever he pleases. We also see that the invitation to come to Christ is still universal.
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
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