Christ Our Wisdom; the Preaching Not in Persuasive Words (1 Corinthians 1:29–2:5)

1 Cor. 1:29. That no flesh should glory in His presence.

Let not all flesh glory, that is, let not every man glory before God. For there is nothing of which he can boast. People prominent according to the flesh have nothing of which to boast, for they have nothing spiritual, and their external show is exposed and shamed as having no worth. People unknown according to the flesh, called to spiritual perfections, are left externally in the same humble state; their inner self, however high, is recognized tangibly as a gift of grace, in no way earned by their effort. Thus the salvation arranged by God through faith in the word of the cross leads directly to this: that no flesh shall glory before God.

Or by ‘flesh’ is meant the fleshly, external, visible, and the thought here is this: let not fleshly things boast, let them not be considered something important, worthy of attention, and let those possessing them not boast: I am rich, I am learned, I am noble. All this leads to nothing worthy of value, but rather turns away from it. Behold—God called not those who possess these things, but those who do not have them, and when He called them, He did not enrich them with these things but with perfections of spirit; and He rejected the others after calling as He did not regard them at calling. So it is not worth praising or boasting in what is prominent according to the flesh. Saint John Chrysostom makes eloquent exhortations on this passage.

“God did this in order to humble pride and haughtiness, to destroy boasting. But especially through this He showed that we cannot save ourselves. Thus He arranged it from the beginning: for then it was also impossible to achieve salvation by oneself; one needed to contemplate the beauty of the sky and the magnitude of the earth and investigate the nature of other creatures, in order to ascend to the Creator of creatures. By this He wished to destroy the haughtiness that was to arise. Just as a teacher, having commanded his student to follow where he leads, when he sees that the student runs ahead and wants to learn everything by himself, leaves him to wander and, having given him to experience that he cannot learn by himself, then begins to guide him himself, so God in the beginning commanded to go the way of contemplating creatures, and when men would not do this, He, having given them to experience that they themselves cannot go, began to lead them to Himself differently. He gave us the world like a tablet (or table of stone); but philosophers did not think about this, did not wish to obey Him and go to Him in the way He commanded. Therefore He proposed another way, clearer than the first and teaching that man alone is not sufficient for himself. Before, one could indulge in reasoning, use external wisdom with the guidance of nature; but now whoever does not become ‘foolish,’ that is, does not abandon all reasoning and all philosophizing and does not give himself to faith, cannot be saved. Thus He accomplished no trivial deed: He proposed an easier way while at the same time destroying the former disease and teaching not to boast, not to be high-minded: ‘that no flesh should glory’. Much trouble arises from the fact that men want to be wiser than God’s laws and do not wish to learn as He commanded: thus they learn nothing. So it was from the beginning. God said to Adam: do this, but not that; but he, thinking to find something greater, did not obey, and lost what he had. Then He said: do not stop at creatures, but through them know the Creator, and men, as if seeking something more wise, built themselves countless labyrinths; thus they themselves became lost and came into conflict with one another, found not God, and understood nothing clear about creatures or formed no proper and true understanding of them. After this, wishing decisively to destroy their haughtiness, He called first of all simple people, and thereby showed that all have need of wisdom from on high. Not only in relation to knowledge, but in all other matters, men and all other creatures have great need of Him; and He did this that He might give them a strong incentive to obedience and surrender, so that, having turned away from Him, they might not perish. Therefore He did not allow them to be self-satisfied. For if even now, when they have need of Him, many leave Him, what oblivion would they come to if this were not so? Not out of jealousy did He deprive them of grounds for boasting, but to deliver them from the destruction arising from it.”

1 Cor. 1:30. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

God chose the foolish, the weak, the base, so that from this side we have nothing of which to boast. “But do not think that, having deprived us of grounds for boasting in anything, He left us so; no, He granted us another boasting, a greater one” (Saint John Chrysostom). In place of the visible insignificant advantages, He enriches believers with advantages spiritual, of the highest worth. They do not have nobility of blood from fleshly birth; in place of this is given them sonship according to spiritual birth. From “Him,” says the Apostle, “you are,” that is, from God. By this the Apostle points not to the beginning of being, but to new spiritual birth, concerning which it is said: “To those who received Him” (Christ the Lord, the incarnate Son of God), “He gave the authority to become children of God, to those believing in His name. Those who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12–13). Therefore he says: “of Him you are in Christ Jesus.” By faith in Christ Jesus the Crucified, you became born of God in the font of baptism. You are His children and became so through Christ. You became more noble than all, because you have God as your Father; and the author of this nobility is Christ the Lord (Saint John Chrysostom, Theodoret).

“Who became for us wisdom from God.” Worldly wisdom is not accepted into the realm of faith and the work of salvation. In its place believers are filled with divine wisdom, that which comes from God. This wisdom combines clear understanding of all that is and comes to be—of God worshipped in Trinity, of creation and providence, of the fall and rising again, of the incarnation of God the Word, His death on the cross, resurrection, sitting at the right hand of the Father, and the sending of the Holy Spirit, of the ordering of the Church, of the gifts to Christians, of their hopes and means to prevent them from becoming vain, of what the present life is, and how to live so as to be worthy of blessed eternity. All these understandings, of which each is beyond the grasp of the highest philosophy, become the possession of every person at the beginning of his life in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is for us this ‘wisdom from God,’ because He brought it from heaven from the Father and communicated it to us first Himself, and then through the Apostles. ‘But why did the Apostle not say He made us wise, but ‘became for us wisdom’? By this He shows the abundance of the gift’ (Saint John Chrysostom). And it was said thus because Christ the Lord in Himself combines all the understanding enumerated and many others besides. Begin to reason about Him, and in His one Person you will find all wisdom. Here is the Trinity of Persons, and creation with providence, from the fall redemption, and bestowal of grace, and hopes in the future with obligations in the present, and all the mysteries of salvation. And something even greater can be thought upon, since He is wisdom itself, and believers, united with Him, become one spirit with Him; communing with Him so intimately, they become partakers of His wisdom as well. But in every way here it is shown that the sole source of Christian wisdom is Christ the Lord. There is no other source for it. There is the revealed word; but it only serves as initial guidance. True wisdom must be learned from God, according to the ancient promise.

“And righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Believers do not have wealth and external power; but they have spiritual wealth and moral power: righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ is our ‘righteousness,’ because in His name is given remission of sins and grace strengthening us for the doing of all good. He is our ‘sanctification,’ because under His banner, under His guidance and His power we wage war against passions and lusts, and through them against the world and the devil, and achieve purity not only in external conduct but in the secret heart of man, purity wherein true holiness dwells throughout all our nature. This is our sanctification. It comes from Christ the Lord, for it comes through being clothed in Him. He is also our ‘redemption.’ From the sanctified all bonds fall away: the bonds of sin and flesh, and the bonds of the world and the devil. He enters into the full freedom of children. Like a free bird from paradise, he soars in the heavens. He bears Christ in himself and is borne by Him, and no longer fears the former binders of his hands and feet, but they fear him. This is the summit of spiritual goods and of spiritual perfection in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Thus Saint John Chrysostom portrays it, saying: “See what order the Apostle preserves. First God made us wise, freeing us from error; then righteous and holy, granting us the Spirit; and thus He delivered us from all evils, so that we became His (possession, or part).” The same writes Theodoret: “He granted us true wisdom. He granted us remission of sins, made us worthy of justification, made us holy, delivering us from devilish torment.”

1 Cor. 1:31. As it is written: Let him who glories glory in the Lord.

“External advantages are nothing; all worth belongs to spiritual advantages. But since they all are received from the Lord and in the Lord, if you wish to boast, boast only in the Lord. To boast in the Lord will mean, therefore, not by tongue alone but by constant feeling of heart to confess that if there is anything in spirit, all that is from the Lord and the Lord’s, and that if there is hope in preserving what we have and gaining more, all that depends on the Lord. To boast in the Lord means to glorify the Lord for His mercies with the confession of hope for their continuance. The same thought is in that place of the Prophet Jeremiah, in accordance with which the Apostle speaks here. ‘Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, and let not the rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, doing mercy and justice’ (Jer. 9:23–24). “Therefore ascribe nothing to yourself, but in all things boast in God. Never ascribe anything to any man, for if you should ascribe nothing to Paul, then certainly not to others. I, he says, planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth (1 Cor. 3:6). Whoever has learned to boast in the Lord will never be arrogant, but will always humble himself and thank Him for all things” (Saint John Chrysostom).”

“And what has been said before was sufficient to destroy the pride of those glorying in their wisdom; even part of it would have sufficed. But that the victory might be more glorious, he continues his discourse, trampling already upon overcome opponents. Having shown that God set out to save believers through the foolishness of preaching, ‘destroying the wisdom of the wise,’ and therefore called more of the uneducated (and unknown), now he proves that even the very manner of preaching might have confused, yet it did not. Not only disciples, he says, simple men, but the very preacher is such” (Saint John Chrysostom).

1 Cor. 2:1. And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.

Since I was sent to preach not in the wisdom of speech, and since it was established that through the foolishness of preaching to save believers, I came to you to preach and proclaimed among you the testimony of God not with eloquent speech and not with wise argumentation. “Not with excellence of speech or wisdom” ου καθ υπεροχην λογου η σοφιας —not with superiority of speech or wisdom. “The testimony of God”—God’s revelation; teaching testified by God or affirmed as true, offering the true path of salvation, outside of which it is impossible to be saved. “When I came to you, I came.” In coming to you and having arrived, I had no thought of holding discourse with you with distinguished eloquence or wise argumentation. But as I was sent and as God ordained, so I took to heart to proclaim to you the testimony of God plainly, as it is, in simple speech.

1 Cor. 2:2. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Above he said that when he came to them he proclaimed the will of God not in the wisdom of speech but as Christ commanded; now he says that, being among them, he fulfilled God’s determination—through the foolishness of preaching to save believers—and proclaimed only the word of the cross. I taught, he says, but so that it was as if I knew nothing else except Jesus Christ the Crucified, or so that I did not wish you to know anything else except Jesus Christ the Crucified. There was nothing in my discourse but Christ Jesus. But about Christ Jesus one can speak much without touching on His death upon the cross; I, he says, spoke only of the Crucifixion of the Lord. I began with it, ended with it, and filled my discourse with it. Yet the Apostle’s word does not deny the thought that his discourses touched on other matters of faith, only it affirms that whenever I began to speak about anything, I always proceeded from the cross and returned to it. The Crucified Lord dominated in my discourses to you over all things. The word about the Crucified One is brief: God became incarnate and for our salvation died upon the cross; believe in Him and you will be saved. But to approach Him, one must say that we, fallen, have angered God and cannot save ourselves; having said that we are fallen, one must speak of the original state, and then of creation and providence, and even further of the Holy Trinity. Then, having spoken of the incarnation of God the Word, of His deeds and teaching, and finally of His crucifixion, one could not stop there but must speak of the resurrection, of the ascension to heaven, of sitting at the right hand of the Father, of the sending of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, of their being sent to preach, and finally of what those hearing the preaching and believing must do—that is, that one must be baptized, then through the laying on of hands (anointing with chrism) receive the Spirit, and by its power overcoming passions, live from now on in holiness according to the commandments, in hope of a blessed life in eternity. All these matters, entering into the discourse, introduced nothing superfluous to it but made the discourse about Christ the Lord Crucified complete. And though these matters seem many, all of them reduce to the discourse about the Crucified—so that the Apostle, speaking of much, spoke only of Jesus Christ, and moreover the Crucified.

1 Cor. 2:3. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

And my speech among you was simple, not eloquent, and the subject of the speech was such as to seem to some a scandal and to others madness, and moreover my external appearance and outward position had nothing impressive about them. “In weakness”—some understand general weak health, or some illness that befell him then, others—weakness of voice, others—poverty, poor appearance, others—something else. We bring the words of Saint John Chrysostom, which explain this whole passage. “Here is yet another circumstance. Not only are believers simple men, not only is the preacher a simple man, not only is the manner of teaching full of simplicity, not only is the very subject of preaching able to disturb listeners—for this subject is the cross and death; but besides this, there were also other obstacles, namely tribulations and snares, daily perils and persecutions. He often calls persecutions ‘weakness,’ as for example: ‘If I must boast, I will boast of my infirmities’ (2 Cor. 11:30). Of what weakness? ‘The governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me’ (2 Cor. 11:32). And again: ‘Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities’; and what he means he explains further: ‘in reproaches, in hardships, in persecutions, in distresses’ (2 Cor. 12:10). This is what he means now as well, for having said, ‘I was with you in weakness,’ he does not stop there but, to show that by weakness he means dangers, he adds: ‘and in fear and in much trembling.’ What is this? Was Paul truly afraid of dangers? He was afraid, and feared greatly. For he was, though Paul, nevertheless also a man. This is not a fault of Paul but the weakness of human nature, and at the same time a praise of his will, if he, fearing death and wounds, did nothing unworthy out of fear. Therefore those who say that he did not fear wounds not only do not honor him but greatly diminish his worth. For if he had not feared, what firmness or what philosophy would there have been in enduring tribulations? And I for this reason marvel at him—that he, though he feared, and did not merely fear but trembled at tribulations, nevertheless always contended gloriously, and did not weaken at any danger, cleansing the universe and everywhere, on land and sea, sowing seeds of preaching.”

1 Cor. 2:4. And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

What does he mean? Was his speech and preaching such when among them, or in general such? He says they were such when among them, for immediately after he says: “that your faith.” By “enticing”—πειθοις—persuasive, convincing. He wishes to say that his speech was not seasoned with the turns and devices that human wisdom usually employs to convince someone and turn them to its side. Such devices, he says, I did not use, but spoke simply. He has already said this above; now he merely repeats it in order to show thereby by what means the hearers were convinced, how they inclined to the word and believed. The power of my preaching, says the Apostle, consisted in “the demonstration of the Spirit and power.” What does this mean? Nothing other than this: that my preaching was accompanied by signs and was convincing, and as the Evangelist Mark says, when the Apostles went out to preach, the Lord “went with them and confirmed the word through the signs that accompanied it” (Mark 16:20). What was in all the others was also with Saint Paul. There is no doubt that the grace of the Spirit acted through Paul’s word upon souls and disposed them toward faith: this is always the case with anointed speech. But this alone cannot explain the establishment of faith; for the transformation it produced was extremely great, and to persuade someone to undertake it, it was necessary to make a striking impression, a shaking one, in which there was at the same time a testimony that the teaching offered comes from on high, that God sent it and requires obedience. As the Apostle Paul himself was converted, so then the Lord gave him to convert all peoples. Everywhere his preaching was accompanied by signs—by these demonstrations of the Spirit and power, which sealed finally the persuasion and faith. All our commentators understand it this way. Theodoret writes: “Signs of the Spirit served as testimony to the preaching. Very fittingly the Apostle placed alongside the weakness of suffering also the power of the Spirit.” Saint John Chrysostom says at greater length: “If preaching had nothing sophistic in it, and the called were simple men, and the preachers were likewise simple, and besides this there were persecutions, fear and trembling, then tell me, how did they achieve victory? By divine power. Therefore Paul added: ‘but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power’. Simple preachers, restricted and persecuted, overcame their persecutors. Why? Because their preaching was accompanied by demonstrations of the power of the Spirit. For tell me, who would not believe, seeing the resurrection of the dead and the casting out of demons? This precisely proved that it was divine and had a higher, heavenly origin.”

1 Cor. 2:5. That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Thus the Lord arranged it so that your belief would not be at all obliged to human wisdom but all to God’s power. And God sent you preachers, and God convinced you through powers and signs. There is nothing of which man should boast. All in your faith is from God. Glory in the Lord and boast in Him. And do not waver. For if you have such tangible testimony that our teaching is from God, then, having believed, stand firm in faith. Then the Lord arranged everything so that doubts and suspicions would find no support in the form of your belief. You cannot help but acknowledge that God so commands; and to God one must obey with all the soul. Behold what good God sent you, sending the preaching in simple speech but with the demonstration of the Spirit and power. Theodoret writes: “For this very reason the Master did not allow us to employ eloquence, that your faith might prove not subject to suspicions and fluctuations, as not aroused by the power of speech, but led by the power of the Spirit.”

Saint John Chrysostom speaks on this an extensive exhortation that applies to all times: “Do you see how clearly he presents the great benefit of simplicity and the great harm of wisdom? The latter debased the cross, the former proclaimed God’s power; this produced the result that men did not know what they ought to and boasted in themselves, while that disposed them to accept the truth and boast in God; wisdom led many to consider apostolic teaching human, while simplicity clearly showed that it was divine and descended from heaven. When proof consists of wise words, then often even the less worthy, being stronger in speech, triumph over the more worthy, and falsehood takes the place of truth. But it is not so here: the Holy Spirit does not enter an unclean soul, but having entered (one desiring purity) cannot be overcome, even if against it all the power of eloquence were arrayed; for proof through deeds and signs is far clearer than proof through words. But perhaps someone will say: if preaching must triumph and has no need for the power of speech, ‘let the cross not be nullified,’ then why have signs now ceased? Why?! Do you not believe, and think that they did not exist even in the Apostles’ time, or do you truly only want to know why? If you do not believe, I will dwell on this first. If signs were not then, then the Apostles, being persecuted, oppressed, subjected to fear and imprisonment, common enemies to all and hated by all, having in themselves nothing attractive, neither eloquence, nor nobility, nor wealth, nor renown in the city, among the people, by birth or by are, and nothing else like this, but having the opposite—ignorance, obscurity, poverty, simplicity, and abjection, and moreover rising up against entire peoples and proclaiming such truths—produced persuasion? Tell me, how? Their rules were not easy, their doctrines difficult to understand, and their listeners, whom they had to persuade, were given to pleasure, drunkenness, and great impiety. How did they convince? How did they gain trust? If they, as I said before, convinced without signs, then this is even a greater sign. So from the fact that there are no signs now, do not conclude that there were none then. Then they were useful, and now it is beneficial that there are none. However, from the fact that now persuasion is produced by the word alone, it does not follow that now preaching depends on wisdom. As the first sowers of the word were simple and uneducated and said nothing of themselves, but what they received from God they delivered to the universe, so also we now present not our own, but what we received from them we proclaim to all. And now we convince not by syllogisms but by testimonies of the Divine Scriptures, and by the signs of that time we lead to believe the proclaimed. However, the Apostles also then convinced not by signs alone but by discourse as well; only their words gained more power from signs and testimonies of Old Testament Scripture, not from the are of eloquence.”

The Lord spoke in parables—for what reason? For this reason, He says, that whoever has the seed of life from God can, even under the parabolic veil, behold the hidden treasure; and then, having become attached by faith to Him and entered into the company of disciples, received along with them the open explanation of what was hidden. The same was commanded to be done by the Apostle: to present to all the word of the cross simply, without adornment and reasonings of the mind. Whoever, despite this simplicity, approached faith and through baptism entered into the number of believers, who that is became a perfect Christian and not merely was instructed in Christian teaching, then heard within the full disclosure of Christian wisdom. On this now the Apostle speaks, explaining at the same time that it is impossible to act otherwise; for the understanding of Christian wisdom requires the grace of the Spirit, which is given within faith. Only the spiritual understand Christian wisdom; and the Spirit of God makes men spiritual.