1:23
Regardless of what the Jews and Greeks were looking for, Paul and his companions preached the cross. There is perhaps a lesson for us here. Each society has its own measure for what it values. This would say that we must not pander to our society. Even if the gospel is a stumbling block or foolishness, we must preach it anyway. For part of the power of the gospel is that it goes against the flow. So if we “go with the flow” we are going against the gospel. At the same time we must also remember that elsewhere Paul does speak of becoming all things to all men. We do not ignore the way that the society we are in operates.
1:24
Why do we do this? Because the gospel is the power and wisdom of God. “to those whom God has called ...” The gospel is a God driven enterprise. If we neglect that fact then we make it man-centred and it loses all its power, and indeed its wisdom. And there are people whom God has called among both Jews and Greeks. So in our anti-Christian society there are people whom God has called, and they will be saved by the gospel. Even among the most woke, there are those whom God has called. It is God who sets the agenda, not the world.
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