The first two chapters of 1 Corinthians are very difficult to understand. You may read these chapters again and again without understanding what Paul is talking about. You may be impressed by many different verses and yet not be able to see Paul’s main point. The main point in these chapters is that in his spirit Paul was endeavoring to bring the distracted philosophical believers back to Christ. For this reason, in these chapters Paul does not emphasize the resurrected Christ or the ascended Christ; instead, he emphasizes the crucified Christ. In 2:2 he says, “I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ. and this One crucified.” To the Corinthians Paul proclaimed a crucified Christ, a Christ who had been killed.
We have pointed out that the best way to solve problems among people is to terminate everyone involved. However, the human way of solving problems is to negotiate. God’s way, on the contrary, is not to negotiate, but to terminate. When everyone has been terminated, there is silence. The best way to bring in silence and simplicity is to have a Christ who has been crucified. It seems as if Paul was saying to the Corinthians, “I testified to you a Christ who had been crucified. When I first came to you, I preached to you concerning the crucified Christ. The Lord’s life on earth ended with death by crucifixion.”
The fact that Christ was crucified implies many things. It implies that He was despised, rejected, and defeated. No one could be crucified without first being rejected and defeated. Through crucifixion Christ suffered man’s rejection. He was able to avoid death by crucifixion, but He did not do so. He could be crucified only because He was willing to be killed. The crucifixion of Christ has silenced the entire universe and simplified the extremely complicated situation in the universe.
Deep in his spirit, Paul was yearning to impress the distracted, philosophical Christians in Corinth with this crucified Christ. Among the saints there was turmoil and trouble. Many voices were speaking different things: “I am of Apollos,” “I am of Cephas,” “I am of Paul,” “I am of Christ.” What could silence all these voices? Paul knew that they could be silenced only by a crucified Christ. Therefore, in Paul’s spirit was the burden to bring the believers back to the Christ whom he had preached to them and testified to them. Paul could say, “The Christ I preached to you was a silent Christ, a Christ who was willing to be crucified without a word. He was willing to be despised, rejected, and put to death. This is the Christ I ministered to you when I came to you. Now I want you to know that such a Christ is God’s power. Only a crucified Christ can save you. God’s saving power is not a strong Christ but a crucified Christ, not a fighting Christ but a defeated Christ.” I repeat, Paul’s spirit was to bring back these striving, philosophical Christians to the simplicity and silence of the crucified Christ.
Furthermore, in 1:17 Paul said that he preached the gospel “not in wisdom of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.” In this verse wisdom of speech refers to philosophical speculations. In 2:1 Paul says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, came not with excellence of speech or wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God.” Literally, the Greek term rendered “with excellence” means according to elevation or superiority. Paul did not come to Corinth to display excellent speech or philosophical wisdom in the testimony of God. On the contrary, Paul avoided philosophical speculation and excellence of speech and preached the simple word of the cross. The word of the cross is simple, having nothing to do with excellence of speech.
When Paul ministered Christ to the Corinthians, he did not exercise philosophical wisdom, for he realized that the Corinthians were a philosophical people, a people who had been born into a philosophical environment and raised under its influence. Paul’s goal was to deliver the Corinthians from the philosophy into which they had been born. Paul seems to be saying, “You were born into philosophy and worldly wisdom. But I came to you not with philosophy, but with Christ and the cross. I did not preach Christ according to the excellence of your philosophical speculations. Instead, I preached Christ to you in a simple way, telling you that He had been crucified. Christ was willing to be despised and rejected. He accepted man’s rejection. When He was arrested, He did not resist. When He was put on the cross, He did not fight. He was silent, for He was willing to be crucified. This is the Christ I preached to you.”
Paul’s preaching was absolutely contrary to the principle of Greek philosophy. According to the philosophy of the Greeks, Paul’s preaching of a crucified Christ was neither logical nor philosophical. Here Paul seems to be telling the Corinthians, “My preaching was not according to philosophy or worldly wisdom. Nevertheless, you accepted my preaching and my testimony, you were enriched in Christ in all expression and all knowledge, and by grace you received the initial gifts—the divine life and the Holy Spirit. However, you have not lived according to what you have received from the Lord. The initial gifts you received have not been developed. They have not grown to maturity. Rather, you have remained in a stage of infancy. You are still babes in Christ. Now my burden is to bring you back to the crucified Christ and to the initial gifts. You need to forget your Greek culture, wisdom, and philosophy and return to Christ and Him crucified.” This was Paul’s spirit in writing the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians. Writing with such a spirit, Paul pointed the believers to the crucified Christ and spoke to them the word of the cross. He told them that Christ crucified is the power of God for saving us and the wisdom of God for fulfilling His plan.
In this message we shall consider 1:18-25. Our understanding of these verses depends on a proper understanding of the foregoing seventeen verses. Verses 1 through 9 are the introduction to this Epistle. In this introductory section Paul speaks of the initial gifts and of the participation in Christ. In verses 10 through 17 Paul goes on to show that Christ is not divided. He beseeches the saints through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to all speak the same thing—Christ and the cross—and to be attuned in the same mind and in the same opinion. Then in verses 18 through 25 Paul shows us that Christ crucified is God’s power and God’s wisdom.