The Wisdom Of The World: Foolishness In God's Sight

Do not deceive yourselves.

If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age,

He should become a 'fool' so that he may become wise.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.

As it is written:

'He catches the wise in their craftiness'; (Job 5:13) and again,

'The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.' (Psalm 94:11)

(1 Corinthians 3:18-21)

For Christ did not send me to baptize,

But to preach the gospel--

Not with words of human wisdom,

Least the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

But to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written:

'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

The intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.' (Isaiah 29:14)

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God

The world through its wisdom did not know him,

God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached

To save those who believe.

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,

But we preach Christ crucified:

A stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

But to those who God has called, both Jews and Greeks,

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom,

And the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called.

Not many of you were wise by human standards;

Not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;

He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—

And the things that are not –to nullify the things that are,

So that no one may boast before Him.

It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus,

Who has become for us wisdom from God—and redemption.

Therefore, as it is written:

'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.' (Jeremiah 9:24)

(1 Corinthians 1:17-31)

2 When I came to you, brothers,

I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom

As I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ

And Him crucified.

I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,

But with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,

So that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

(1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Wisdom From The Spirit

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,

But not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age,

Who are coming to nothing.

No, we speak of God's secret wisdom,

A wisdom that has been hidden

And that God destined for our glory before time began.

None of the rulers of this age understood it,

For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

However, as it is written:

'No eye has seen , no ear has heard, no mind has conceived

What God has prepared for those who love Him' (Isaiah 64:4)--

But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things even the deep things of God.

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man

Except the man's spirit within him?

In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

We have not receive the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God,

That we many understand what God has freely given us.

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom

But in words taught by the Spirit,

Expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

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.

The spiritual man makes judgments about all things,

But he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:

'For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?'

(Isaiah 40:13)

But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2)

Every born again Christian

Who has received their personal Day of Pentecost;

Who allows Christ to live in and through them,

Has the mind of Christ and therefore the wisdom of God.

They know that the wisdom of this age and the rulers of this age

Are coming to nothing!

They await the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in His glory!