1 Corinthians 1:25-28 - Foolish things

1:25

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Man’s wisdom and man’s strength cannot actually set anyone free. Man mocks the gospel, he mocks God. Yet only the gospel can set people free, and God is proved to be more powerful and infinitely wiser than man.

1:26

The church was obviously not limited to the upper strata of society! However, note why Paul is highlighting this point here. Some, at least, in the church were looking to be like the “elite” in society, namely the philosophers and the influential. Paul is pointing out that they were not called because of their wisdom and power or status. So why were they now looking to use influence, wisdom and status as a measure of things? A similar thing happened in the Galatian church. They started off by faith, but then they were being tempted to rely on religious ritual, particularly circumcision, obeying the Law. Why when we are saved one way (ie purely by the grace of God, through faith) do we then so easily seek to make further progress by human means? Why do we not continue to live and grow by faith? We can see this pattern time and time again in history, and in our own churches. We start off with spiritual means, then revert to worldly means. Faith is not just how things start, it is how things grow.

1:27,28

Salvation is the work of God. Maybe part of the reason for the error we make that was outlined in my comments on v26 is a wrong understanding of salvation. We are so convinced that we must have played a part in our salvation, that there must be something within us that somehow merited God showing us grace! Salvation is the work of God, it is not the work of us. And God is shaming the wise, showing up the so-called wisdom of the world for the foolishness that it is. So He will not depend upon human methods and human strength. He will use the weak to shame the strong. We need to have a God-centered view of salvation, not a man-centered. We also need to realise that salvation is not just about us being saved, but it is also about the name of the Lord being glorified.