1 Corinthians 2
You may read today's text here: 1 Cor. 2.
There are many difficult tasks before us, when we attempt to understand Paul's letters. And this is especially the case with the Corinthian correspondence. The first task is to reconstruct the thinking and behavior of the people in the church he is addressing. Since we have only Paul's side of this conversation, we have to reconstruct the other side as best we can, reading back from Paul's own language. This is called "mirror reading".
Once we reconstruct what the other side is saying, we then have to ask what they mean by these statements. We have to ask if they are actually hostile to Paul or merely misunderstanding him. Are they beginning to question his gospel or merely develop it within the framework of their own local setting and its culture. The latter process is often called "acculturation" or "indigenisation" (Chester, Conversion at Corinth [2003], 213ff.).
But even if the Corinthian believers were simply attempting this indigenisation in a sincere attempt to "digest" Paul's gospel in local terms, their sincerity does not necessarily guarantee that elements of this attempt did not threaten the core of Christian belief and mission. So the passion we see in Paul's responses to them does not necessarily indicate that he thought the Corinthian leaders were consciously deserting him and his gospel, but is rather an indication of the dangers he could see in what they were beginning to do—dangers that they themselves did not yet perceive.
There are many difficult tasks before us, when we attempt to understand Paul's letters. And this is especially the case with the Corinthian correspondence. The first task is to reconstruct the thinking and behavior of the people in the church he is addressing. Since we have only Paul's side of this conversation, we have to reconstruct the other side as best we can, reading back from Paul's own language. This is called "mirror reading".
Once we reconstruct what the other side is saying, we then have to ask what they mean by these statements. We have to ask if they are actually hostile to Paul or merely misunderstanding him. Are they beginning to question his gospel or merely develop it within the framework of their own local setting and its culture. The latter process is often called "acculturation" or "indigenisation" (Chester, Conversion at Corinth [2003], 213ff.).
But even if the Corinthian believers were simply attempting this indigenisation in a sincere attempt to "digest" Paul's gospel in local terms, their sincerity does not necessarily guarantee that elements of this attempt did not threaten the core of Christian belief and mission. So the passion we see in Paul's responses to them does not necessarily indicate that he thought the Corinthian leaders were consciously deserting him and his gospel, but is rather an indication of the dangers he could see in what they were beginning to do—dangers that they themselves did not yet perceive.
It may seem strange to us that Paul claims here not to have used the most persuasive way of presenting the gospel to these Corinthians. After all, he makes it clear that the substance of his message (Greek kerygma, mysterion) would not have been affected by the choice between a persuasive verbal presentation and one that avoided verbal and logical fireworks. Would he not have wanted to present his gospel in the most effective way possible?
Yet in verses 1 and 4 he explicitly states that he chose at the outset not to use good rhetoric of the Greco-Roman variety. The fact that he made this choice implies that he was perfectly able to speak in the rhetorical style. In fact, he seems to have used it in his speech on the Areopagos in Athens (Acts 17). Did he decide against using it in Corinth because he felt the Athens speech was a mistake or counter-productive? Some interpreters think so, but most do not.
Paul also stresses that he did not "sugar coat" his gospel by avoiding elements in its content that might be culturally or aesthetically offensive. "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (v. 2). In the Areopagus speech (Acts 17) it was the mention of Jesus' resurrection that caused the most confusion in the minds of the hearers, as well as the most scoffing. Luke's record of that speech does not include any reference to the crucifixion.
Greeks and Romans well knew what crucifixion was: both the disgusting and revolting cruelty of its form, and the fact that only persons convicted of the most serious and hateful crimes were sentenced to it. Nothing could be imagined less likely to endear the gospel message to Greeks and Romans. And even the Jews in Corinth, among whom Paul had his first opportunities to preach, and who numbered among his first converts, would be repulsed by crucifixion, since the Law of Moses pronounced a curse on anyone who died by crucifixion. Yet Paul did not dodge it in his presentation.
Perhaps the reason Paul chose this approach lay in his belief that in human weakness God's power is maximized (see 2 Cor. 12:9). And in an approach that calls the least attention to the human channel of grace the glory accruing to God is maximized (1 Cor. 1:28-31). It also may have been his conviction that a faith that is achieved by human persuasion can just as easily be undone by human persuasion. But a faith that comes because God's power (v. 5) produces it cannot be undone by any lesser power.
The Greek expression lying behind the translation "rest" in verse 5 does not signify a static faith, but a stable one. Paul's view of faith in Jesus foresees constant interacting with people and life. In the process, the mind of the believer must hear, understand and adjust to all sorts of ideas. What he warns against is not contact and interaction with the world of people and ideas, but a failure to remain grounded and anchored to truth of the gospel while being engaged with the surrounding society—a failure to draw the proper conclusions from the fundamental truths of that gospel.
Witherington (Paul's Narrative Thought World [1994], 266) correctly observes:
We must also always keep in mind that for Paul faith is not a static quality or characteristic. It can be weak or strong (cf. Rom. 14:1ff.); furthermore, it can grow (and presumably atrophy as well-see 2 Cor. 10:15). Numerous texts that do not specifically mention pistis [‘faith’] nonetheless describe the trust that accompanies or flows forth from faith. One can compare 2 Cor. 1:9ff. and Phil. 3:3ff. on this score. Having this sort of faith in or trust in God means having confidence that God will complete the work God has begun in believers and will guide them throughout their earthly existence (cf. Phil. 1:6, 25; 2:24).Holy Spirit-taught Wisdom Available to Believers, v. 6-16
Paul's hearers knew about "secret wisdom" and "mysteries". All around them were the Greek "Mystery Religions" with their secret rites and secret knowledge, only available to the initiated.
When I was growing up, high schools had their sororities and fraternities, each with their own initiation ceremonies. Once you were initiated into one, you had access to secrets and were included in affairs and gatherings that outsiders had no access to. It was important to belong to the most popular and prestigious ones. It was easier to get dates with cute girls, if you belonged to the right frat house. Greek Mystery Religions were not quite like frat houses. But the comparison at least serves as a good beginning.
Paul uses the Greek term mysterion in his letters to churches located in areas where these cults flourished. But he is careful to define his application of this term to Christian truth, so that inappropriate elements of the pagan cults not be read into what he intends to say.
There is a sense in which both aspects of the core gospel as well as truths learned subsequently by believers are God's secrets, comprehensible only to persons who have made the commitment to belong to and follow the Risen Jesus as Lord. Those who refuse or reject the gospel invitation show by this act that their eyes have not been supernaturally opened nor their consciences smitten by God's Holy Spirit. About this second class, Paul writes in v. 14 "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
This may seem strange to you. If he cannot understand them, on what basis has he decided to reject them? It would appear that by "understand" Paul means to "find plausible or persuasive". Unless the Holy Spirit of God opens the mental eyes of a person who hears the gospel or reads the Bible, the profound truthfulness of the message does not dawn upon him. Unless the Spirit of God makes hearers aware of their deep needs—moral, spiritual—they will not thirst for the Savior who offers himself in that gospel. It is those who know that they have deep needs in their lives—needs that God and Jesus are the only real answer—who respond most readily and thoroughly to the message of Jesus.
Because of this simple fact, even those whose education and wide experience might seem to have qualified them humanly speaking to recognize truth failed to understand God's wisdom and instead crucified "the Lord of Glory" (v. 8).
The good news is that "God has revealed it to us by his Spirit" (v. 10). Only the Holy Spirit of God, who is given to all believers (v. 12), is capable of knowing the thoughts of God (v. 11). Because believers have the Spirit, Paul can say "we have the very mind of Christ" (v. 16).
You may not feel like you have such a power within you. You may struggle to understand the Bible, especially if you have never read it regularly before. But do not be discouraged. Paul does not say that new believers, fresh from their first serious thinking about God and the Bible, will understand everything all at once. Instead, he speaks often of the process of "growing up" (Eph 4:15-16; Col 1:6; 2Th 1:3) in Christ.
It is nothing to be ashamed of to be a spiritual "child", so long as you realize that you are only beginning. There is a spiritual freshness and eagerness about new Christians that often puts to shame those who have long believed. There is nothing "jaded" or "stale" about the faith of a new believer.
But you need to understand that spiritual growth doesn't occur without any effort on your part. In that sense, it is not like physical growth of a human child. But like physical growth, it is aided by a proper diet and exercise. The diet is provided by daily reading and meditation in the Bible. That is what you are getting in our study. But you can also get it in your church groups, and elsewhere where true believers congregate for prayer and Bible study.
The gospel itself in its main lines is quite simple: Jesus, God's Son, became a human, lived a sinless life and offered that life upon the cross to die for your sins. After three days he rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. If you trust him and what he did on the cross, you can have full forgiveness from God for all your sins. But the full-orbed truths of Christian living are not quite so simple. They require some reading and some thought. But most of all, they require prayer and the desire to live in a way that pleases Jesus.
This is true Wisdom. So let's be wise!
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