but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong. God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist, that no flesh should boast before God. Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
Show the surrounding paragraph
1 Corinthians 1:27-30 sits inside this longer paragraph.
For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong. God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist, that no flesh should boast before God. Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: that, as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”
Parallel Translations
-
but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong.
God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist,
that no flesh should boast before God.
Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
-
but God hath chosen the folysshe thinges of the worlde to confounde the wyse. And God hath chosyn the weake thinges of the worlde to confounde thinges which are mighty.
And vile thinges of the worlde and thinges which are despysed hath God chosen yee and thinges of no reputacion for to brynge to nought thinges of reputacion
that no flesshe shulde reioyce in his presence.
And vnto him partayne ye in Christ Iesu which of God is made vnto vs wysdome and also rightewesnes and saunctifyinge and redempcion.
Show all 3 translations
-
But God hath chosen the foolish thinges of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weake thinges of the worlde, to confound the mightie things,
And vile things of the worlde and thinges which are despised, hath God chosen, and thinges which are not, to bring to nought thinges that are,
That no flesh shoulde reioyce in his presence.
But ye are of him in Christ Iesus, who of God is made vnto vs wisedome and righteousnesse, and sanctification, and redemption,
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (118)
- James 2:5 (v27) Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he…
- Ephesians 1:7 (v30) in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
- Matthew 11:25 (v27) At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding,…
- Philippians 3:9 (v30) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the…
- 1 Corinthians 1:20 (v27) Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Show all 100 cross-references
- Romans 8:1 (v30) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
- Psalms 8:2 (v27) From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the…
- 1 Corinthians 1:2 (v30) to the assembly of God which is at Corinth—those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all who call on the name of our…
- 1 Corinthians 6:11 (v30) Some of you were such, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the…
- Colossians 1:14 (v30) in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
- Luke 21:15 (vv27, 30) for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict.
- Ephesians 2:10 (v30) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
- Isaiah 29:14 (v27) therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their…
- John 14:6 (v30) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
- Jeremiah 33:16 (v30) In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. This is the name by which she will be called: Yahweh our righteousness.”
- Acts 4:11-21 (v27) He is ‘the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.’ There is salvation in no…
- 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (v27) for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, throwing down imaginations…
- 2 Corinthians 4:7 (v27) But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.
- Proverbs 2:6 (v30) For Yahweh gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
- Jeremiah 23:5-6 (v30) “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will…
- Galatians 3:13 (v30) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”
- Ephesians 1:17-18 (v30) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him,…
- Job 34:24 (v28) He breaks mighty men in pieces in ways past finding out, and sets others in their place.
- Matthew 21:16 (v27) and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing…
- 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (v30) Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. But all things…
- Zephaniah 3:12 (v27) But I will leave among you an afflicted and poor people, and they will take refuge in Yahweh’s name.
- Romans 3:21-24 (v30) But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness…
- 1 Corinthians 1:24 (v30) but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God;
- 2 Corinthians 4:6 (v30) seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory…
- Galatians 1:4 (v30) who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—
- Ephesians 1:3-4 (v30) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,…
- James 1:5 (v30) But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
- Isaiah 26:5-6 (v27) For he has brought down those who dwell on high, the lofty city. He lays it low. He lays it low even to the ground. He brings it even to…
- Isaiah 29:19 (v27) The humble also will increase their joy in Yahweh, and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
- Ephesians 5:26 (v30) that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
- 2 Peter 1:1 (v30) Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our…
- Revelation 14:4 (v30) These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were…
- Romans 3:27 (v29) Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
- Romans 4:17 (v28) As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the…
- 1 Corinthians 12:8 (v30) For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;
- 2 Corinthians 10:10 (v27) For, “His letters”, they say, “are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.”
- Galatians 5:22-24 (v30) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things…
- Ephesians 4:30 (v30) Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
- 2 Timothy 3:15-17 (v30) From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.…
- Titus 2:14 (v30) who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for…
- Hebrews 9:12 (v30) nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained…
- 1 Peter 1:18-19 (v30) knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your…
- Isaiah 2:11 (v28) The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the arrogance of men will be bowed down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.
- Jeremiah 9:23 (v29) Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his…
- Matthew 4:18-22 (v27) Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for…
- John 17:8 (v30) for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you. They have…
- Ephesians 2:9 (v29) not of works, that no one would boast.
- Ephesians 3:9-10 (v30) and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through…
- Colossians 2:2-3 (v30) that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that…
- Matthew 9:9 (v27) As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and…
- Acts 24:24-25 (v27) But after some days, Felix came with Drusilla, his wife, who was a Jewess, and sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ…
- Romans 4:6 (v30) Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works,
- Romans 4:25 (v30) who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.
- Romans 5:19 (v30) For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
- Romans 5:21 (v30) that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 12:27 (v30) Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
- Job 34:19-20 (v28) He doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respect the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands. In a moment…
- Isaiah 45:24-25 (v30) They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh.’ ” Even to him will men come. All those who raged against him…
- Isaiah 54:17 (v30) No weapon that is formed against you will prevail; and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the…
- Daniel 2:20 (v30) Daniel answered, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.
- Daniel 9:24 (v30) “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make…
- Hosea 13:14 (v30) I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction?…
- Matthew 1:21 (v30) She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”
- Luke 19:39-40 (v27) Some of the Pharisees from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” He answered them, “I tell you that if these were…
- John 1:18 (v30) No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
- John 8:12 (v30) Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have…
- John 15:1-6 (v30) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit,…
- John 17:17-19 (v30) Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world. For their sakes I…
- John 17:21-23 (v30) that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that…
- John 17:26 (v30) I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
- Acts 6:9-10 (v27) But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines”, and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and…
- Acts 17:18 (v27) Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said,…
- Romans 1:17 (v30) For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
- Romans 3:19 (v29) Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world…
- Romans 8:9 (v30) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of…
- Romans 8:23 (v30) Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption,…
- Romans 11:36 (v30) For of him, and through him, and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.
- Romans 12:5 (v30) so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another,
- Romans 15:17 (v29) I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God.
- 1 Corinthians 1:31 (v29) that, as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”
- 1 Corinthians 4:7 (v29) For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not…
- Ephesians 1:14 (v30) who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
- Psalms 71:15-16 (v30) My mouth will tell about your righteousness, and of your salvation all day, though I don’t know its full measure. I will come with the…
- Isaiah 2:17 (v28) The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the arrogance of men shall be brought low; and Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day.
- Isaiah 10:15 (v29) Should an ax brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a rod should lift those who…
- Isaiah 41:12 (v28) You will seek them, and won’t find them, even those who contend with you. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as a non-existent…
- Isaiah 45:17 (v30) Israel will be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting.
- Acts 26:18 (v30) to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins…
- Romans 4:2 (v29) For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God.
- Romans 16:7 (v30) Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and my fellow prisoners, who are notable among the apostles, who were also in Christ before me.
- Romans 16:11 (v30) Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet them of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 5:6 (v29) Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?
- 1 Corinthians 12:18 (v30) But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired.
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (v30) But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will…
- Ephesians 1:10 (v30) to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth,…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (118 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (23 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv28–30 28. Things that are not He makes use of…
28. Things that are not He makes use of similar terms in Romans 4:17, but in a different sense. For in that passage, when describing the universal call of the pious, he says, that we are nothing previously to our being called, which must be understood as referring to reality in the sight of God, however we may appear to be something in the eyes of men. Here, the nothingness (οὐδενεια) of which he speaks must be viewed as referring to the opinion of men, as is manifest from the corresponding clause, in which he says that this is done in order that the things that are may be brought to naught For there is nothing except in appearance, because in reality we are all nothing. Things that are, therefore, you must explain to mean things that appear, so that this passage corresponds with such statements as these: —
He raiseth up the poor out of the dunghill, (Psalm 113:7.)
Read full note →
He raiseth up them that are cast down, (Psalm 146:8,)
and the like. Hence we may clearly see how great is the folly of those who imagine that there is in mankind some degree of merit or worthiness, which would hold a place antecedent to God’s choice.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv28–30 Which in man’s judgment are almost nothing.
Which in man’s judgment are almost nothing.
To show that they are vain and unprofitable, and nothing worth, see Rom. 3:31.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv27–30 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of…
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
Ver. 27. But God hath chosen] In our Church assemblies the meaner usually, like little fishes, bite more than the greater. The poor are gospelized, Mat 11:5.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv27–30 God hath even amongst you chosen persons that are…
God hath even amongst you chosen persons that are in the account of the world as foolish things, to put the wise to shame; and persons of weak esteem, to confound those that are mighty in the repute of the world.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v30 Our apostle had in the foregoing verses acquainted the…
Our apostle had in the foregoing verses acquainted the Corinthins how low and despicable their outward condition was in this world; he tells them the world looked upon them as weak and foolish, and, as such, despised and disdained them, but as a superabundant recompence for the despicable meanness of their outward condition, he tells them what they are in Christ Jesus, how rich they are as Christians; that Christ is made unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Observe here 1. An enumeration of the believing Christian’s privileges, received by virtue of his interest in Christ, and union with him; and they are wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; to relieve us against our ignorance and blindness, he is our wisdom, the fountain of divine illumination, enabling us to see both our sin and danger; to discharge us from the burden of our guilt and obnoxiousness to divine wrath, he is our righteousness, the author of justification, procuring for us remission of sin, and acceptance with God; to free us from the pollution and power of sin, he is our sanctification; purging us by his Spirit, as well as pardoning by his blood, coming both by water and blood into our souls: and to set us at liberty from captivity and thraldom to sin and Satan, and the law, he is made our redemption, that is, the blessed author of a beloved redemption, not from Egyptian bondage or Babylonish captivity, but from the dominion of sin and servitude to Satan, from the wrath of God, from the curse of the law, from the danger and dread of death.
Read full note →
Learn hence, That God hath stored up in Christ all that we want, a suitable and full supply for every need, and made it communicable to us: he is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and redemption, our all in all, our all in the want of all.
Observe, 2. The method, way, and manner, by and after which believers come to be invested with, and made partakers of, these glorious privileges: Christ of God is made unto us; this denotes,
(1.) That Christ with all his benefits becomes ours by a special and effectual application: he is made unto us.
(2.) That this application of Christ is the work of God, and not of man; of God he is made unto us.
Learn hence, That the Lord Jesus Christ, with all the precious fruits and invaluable benefits of his death, became ours by God’s special and effectual application.
Observe, 3. The reason here assigned why the whole economy of grace is put into the hand of Christ, why all is communicated by him, and derived from him, namely, that all the saints’ glorying may be in him, and not in themselves: That no flesh should glory in his presence, but as it is written, Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord, ver. 29, 31.
Infinite wisdom and sovereign pleasure has centered all grace in Christ; it hath pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; and the fullness that is in him is a ministerial fullness, it dwells in him on purpose to dispense to us, according as our exigencies do require, and our faith deserve; for of him are we in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv27–29 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the…
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world,.... So the Jews, in distinction from their wise Rabbins and doctors, call others, , "the fools of the world" (p); the persons whom God made choice of from all eternity, as appears by his calling them in time, are such who with respect to the wisdom of the world are foolish; have not those natural parts and abilities, that sagacity and penetration in things natural and civil, that knowledge and learning which many others have; and are therefore esteemed foolish by the men of the world, in comparison of whom; who are the wise and prudent, they are but babes: and God's end in his choice of them, and calling them, is
to confound the wise; who sooner or later will be brought to shame and confusion, to see such idiots, as they took them to be, wiser than they in the business of salvation; having been directed and influenced by divine grace to choose that good part, which shall never be taken from them, when they will be stripped of their nobility, wealth, and wisdom; to see these men go into the kingdom of heaven, and they themselves shut out:
Read full note →
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world; who cannot boast of their birth and pedigree, of their ancient and illustrious families; have no titles of honour to aggrandize them, nor estates, possessions, and worldly substance to support themselves with; and this he has done,
to confound the things which are mighty; as Haman was by the advancement of Mordecai. It will be to the utter confusion of the rich and mighty, to see persons of the lowest class in life made kings and priests by Christ, set among princes, and upon the throne of glory; and they themselves fleeing, and calling to the mountains to fall upon them, and cover them from the sight of him that sits on the throne, and the Lamb,
(p) Zohar in Numb. fol. 63. 3. & 65. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv28–30 Things that are not - The Jews frequently called…
Things that are not - The Jews frequently called the gentiles, "Them that are not," 2 Esdras vi. 56, 57. In so supreme contempt did they hold them. The things that are - In high esteem.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv27–30 Verse 27. But God hath chosen the foolish things]…
Verse 27. But God hath chosen the foolish things] God has chosen by means of men who are esteemed rude and illiterate to confound the greatest of the Greek philosophers, and overturn their systems; and, by means of men weak, without secular power or authority, to confound the scribes and Pharisees, and in spite of the exertions of the Jewish sanhedrin, to spread the doctrine of Christ crucified all over the land of Judea, and by such instruments as these to convert thousands of souls to the faith of the Gospel, who are ready to lay down their lives for the truth. The Jews have proverbs that express the same sense as these words of the apostle. In Shemoth Rabba, sec. 17, fol. 117, it is said: "There are certain matters which appear little to men, yet by them God points out important precepts. Thus hyssop in the sight of man is worth nothing, but in the sight of God its power is great; sometimes he equals it to the cedar, particularly in the ordinance concerning the lepers, and in the burning of the red heifer. Thus God commanded them in Egypt, Ex 12:22: And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, c. And concerning Solomon it is said, 1Kgs 4:33: And he discoursed of trees, from the cedar on Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. Whence we may learn that great and small things are equal in the eyes of the Lord, and that even by small things He can work great miracles."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv27, 30 1Co 1:27-29. But God hath chosen the foolish things…
1Co 1:27-29. But God hath chosen the foolish things — Or, supplying the word προσωπα, the foolish persons of the world. Such persons as are of little esteem in the world, for want of learning, parts, eloquence, and such other endowments as some have attained, and who are judged altogether unfit to teach others, especially the Greeks and Romans. To confound the wise — To shame those who account themselves, and are accounted wise; and of whom the world is most ready to boast. In this passage the apostle imitates the contemptuous language in which the Greek philosophers, and men of learning, affected to speak of the Christian preachers: yet, as he does it in irony, he aggrandizes them. The first preachers of the gospel, as Bishop Newton observes, “were chiefly a few poor fishermen, of low parentage, of no learning or eloquence, of no reputation or authority, despised as Jews by the rest of mankind, and by the Jews as the meanest and worst of themselves. What improper instruments were these to contend with the prejudices of the world, the superstition of the people, the interests of the priests, the vanity of the philosophers, the pride of the rulers, the malice of the Jews, the learning of the Greeks, and the power of Rome!” But the weaker the instruments who converted the world, the greater was the display of the power of God by which they acted. See on 2Co 4:7. And the weak things of the world — Persons who pretend to no extraordinary abilities or endowments; to confound — Or shame; the things which are mighty — Which, with all their boasted powers and qualifications, have never been able to work such a reformation among men, as these despised disciples of Jesus have been the means of effecting. And base things of the world — Things accounted vile and despised, εξουθενημενα, set at naught; and things which are not — Which are as little regarded, or as much overlooked, as if they had no being, and were below contempt itself; hath God chosen — To be his instruments in renewing and saving mankind; to bring to naught — To annihilate; things that are — In the highest esteem, and that make the most illustrious figures among mankind. That no flesh — A fit appellation; flesh is fair, but withering as grass; should glory in his presence — That no human being might boast of any advantages or distinctions, or of any excellence in himself, as the cause of his being appointed an apostle, evangelist, or minister of Christ, and employed in preaching the gospel: and that none who are converted by the preaching of such, should consider their conversion as the effect of any human abilities, natural or acquired, but should be compelled to ascribe the glory of all to God.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv27–30 But God hath chosen - The fact of their…
But God hath chosen - The fact of their being in the church at all was the result of his choice. It was owing entirely to his grace.
The foolish things - The things esteemed foolish among people. The expression here refers to those who were destitute of learning, rank, wealth, and power, and who were esteemed as fools, and were despised by the rich and the great.
Read full note →
To confound - To bring to shame; or that he might make them ashamed; that is, humble them by showing them how little he regarded their wisdom; and how little their wisdom contributed to the success of his cause. By thus overlooking them, and bestowing his favors on the humble and the poor; by choosing his people from the ranks which they despised, and bestowing on them the exalted privilege of being called the sons of God, he had poured dishonor on the rich and the great, and overwhelmed them, and their schemes of wisdom, with shame. It is also true, that those who are regarded as fools by the wise men of the world are able often to confound those who boast of their wisdom; and that the arguments of plain people, though unlearned except in the school of Christ; of people of sound common sense under the influence of Christian principles, have a force which the learning and talent of the people of this world cannot gainsay or resist. They have truth on their side; and truth, though dressed in a humble garb, is more mighty than error, though clothed with the brilliancy of imagination, the pomp of declamation, and the cunning of sophistry.
And the weak things - Those esteemed weak by the people of the world.
The mighty - The great; the noble; the learned.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v29 Glory in his sight. God wished it to be…
Glory in his sight. God wished it to be known, that the establishment of his Church was not the work of human wisdom or power, but of the omnipotent power of his divinity. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv27–30 the foolish things--a general phrase for all persons and…
the foolish things--a general phrase for all persons and things foolish. Even things (and those, too, foolish things) are chosen by God to confound persons, (and those too persons who are wise). This seems to me the force of the change from neuter to masculine.
to confound--The Greek is stronger, "that He might confound (or put to shame)." God confounds the wise by effecting through His instruments, without human wisdom, that the worldly wise, with it, cannot effect, namely, to bring men to salvation.
Read full note →
chosen . . . chosen--The repetition indicates the gracious deliberateness of God's purpose (Jam 2:5).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv27–30 27. God hath chosen—It is a divine revolution; and…
27. God hath chosen—It is a divine revolution; and we have the divine honour of being its instruments chosen of God. In this revolution the foolish things and the weak overthrow the wise and the mighty.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv27, 28, 30 27. to confound] Literally to disgrace, bring to shame.…
27. to confound] Literally to disgrace, bring to shame. That which is disgraced can have no ground for self-glorification.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv27, 28, 30 (27) Foolish things.—The neuter is used probably for the…
(27) Foolish things.—The neuter is used probably for the purpose of generalising, and it expresses the qualities of the men whom God has chosen—“the wise” is masculine in the Greek, showing that it is still of “persons” the Apostle is speaking.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv27–30 God chose; not, hath chosen out. We may remark,…
God chose; not, hath chosen out. We may remark, once for all, that there was no reason why the translators of 1611 should thus have turned the Greek aorists of the New Testament into perfects. In this and in many instances the change of tense is unimportant, but sometimes it materially and injuriously affects the sense. The foolish things the weak things. So, too, the psalmist, "Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength"; (Psa_8:2) and St. James, "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?". (Jam_2:5)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v30 But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who…
1Co_1:30
But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption
Read full note →
The life of the Christian from Christ
In using these words the apostle seems to have in mind the principal phases of Christs being.
I. Wisdom, by His life and teaching.
II. Righteousness, by His death and resurrection.
III. Sanctification, by His elevation to glory.
IV. Redemption, by His future return. (Prof. Godet.)
The union of the genuine disciple with his Master
This union is--
I. Most vital. In Christ, not merely in His school, dispensation, character, but in Himself, as branches are in the vine. He is their life.
II. Divinely formed. Of Him--Whom? God. It is the Eternal Spirit that brings the soul into vital connection with Christ. My Father is the Husbandman.
III. Blessedly productive.
1. Wisdom.
2. Righteousness.
3. Sanctification.
4. Redemption, come out of this union. What transcendent blessings are these!
IV. Exultingly adoring (1Co_1:31). It inspires the highest worship. It causes the soul to triumph to God Himself. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The connection of Christ with Christians
I. A most intimate connection exists between Christ and Christians. In Christ. The connection is--
1. Real. Ye are in Christ Jesus. Not imaginary; not theoretical; not prospective.
2. Vital. Not that of a sapless branch with a decayed root; not that of a pulseless arm with a lifeless head.
3. Essential to the continuance of spiritual life. Not merely a life like Christs, but a life that is a part of Christs life. The temperament of Christ pervades the whole body.
II. This connection has been formed by God. Of Him. Our Lord referred to Divine operation as well as supervision when He said, My Father is the Husbandman (Comp. Rom_11:17-24). Union with Christ is--
1. Not natural. Our natural condition is one of separation and alienation.
2. Not affected by human agency; neither our own, nor anothers.
3. Effected by Divine agency--
(1) Incomprehensible in the mode of operation.
(2) Inexplicable in the selection of its subjects.
III. This connection has been productive of most advantageous results to Christians. These, as well as the connection, are of Divine ordination.
1. Observe the progression of thought.
(1) There is the truth by which the mind is arrested, instructed, convinced, strengthened, and elevated.
(2) There is the work without us by virtue of which we are accepted and treated as righteous; conjoined with--
(3) The work within us by virtue of which we are purified and made actually righteous.
(4) There is the final deliverance from all evil; when with the redemption of the body the soul will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God; when salvation will be consummated in the glorification of all.
2. Christ is--
(1) Our wisdom. He said I am the truth. He is the light of the world. He is that by which we are enlightened. The condition of the non-Christian is described in Eph_4:18, and Rom_10:3. Ignorant of our real spiritual state, Christ enlightens us respecting it. Ignorant of our relation to God, Christ reveals our alienation from Him, and invites us to be reconciled. Ignorant of what is to be done, Christ tells us what is essential. Ignorant of the way of salvation, Christ says, I am the way, &c.
(2) Our righteousness. The revelation of truth is not all we want. Christ was not only the Revealer but the Doer, not only the Teacher but the Mediator. The condition of the non-Christian is represented as one of condemnation, guilt, and rebellion. Out of this we are brought by Christ. He is our Representative; in nature and character perfect; possessing immaculate righteousness; therefore competent to appear and act for us. His life and death of obedience are accepted on our behalf, and we are accepted through Him. The rebel is pardoned; alienation is displaced by friendship; as virtually righteous he is received into Gods family, a joint heir with Christ.
(3) Our sanctification. The condition of the non-Christian is one of corruption and defilement. Christ will have all His followers conformed to His image. The process of sanctification is--
(a) Effected by direct and indirect agency. Direct. The influence of Spirit upon spirit. The Spirit dwelleth in you, &c. Indirect. Christian ordinances and privileges, providential circumstances, social influences; every temptation resisted, trial endured, difficulty overcome, passion quelled, habit corrected; triumph over self, steadfast opposition to evil, loss suffered for the cause of Christ; manful exhibition of godliness, true-hearted adherence to principle.
(b) Invisible and indescribable. More mystery respecting the internal work of the Spirit than the external work of Christ. Facts perceived by the senses are more easily described than those perceived by consciousness.
(c) Sometimes prolonged. If immediacy may be regarded as a characteristic of justification, progressiveness is characteristic of sanctification. It is the work of our lifetime.
(d) Generally apparently incomplete. But we cannot unveil the spiritual world. What constitutes completeness? Enough for us to aim at her lofty attainment. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, &c.
(4) Our redemption. Reference to the final release from the bondage, dangers, and trials of humanity. The condition of the non-Christian is one of bondage to sin (2Pe_2:19). Christ makes His people free. The liberty of the sons of God includes not only release from the condemnation of law and from the power of sin, but also from the laws and limitations of human nature; from the habits which bind us, and dispositions which enslave us; from the annoyances of earthly life; from associations with evil; from injurious influences, human and satanic.
IV. This connection and its results are designed to promote the glory of God (verses 29, 31). Not to glorify ourselves, but to live, in time and in eternity, to the glory of His grace, who hath made us accepted in the Beloved. (T. T. Waterman, B. A.)
The relation of Christ to His people
He is set forth as made unto us--
I. Wisdom. A controversy has been carried on as to the character of real wisdom from the days of Job (Job_28:20). But his definition is the only correct one (verse 18).
1. What is wisdom unconnected with Christ? It can elevate mans mind by leading it up the pathway of science, it can help to the study of men and manners, it may solve some of the higher problems of morality. But its best efforts are only as the light of the taper compared with the sun. It cannot bestow peace or joy in the moment of trial, or in the day of death.
2. What is wisdom connected with Christ (Jam_3:17)?
II. Righteousness (Jer_23:6; Rom_8:33).
III. Sanctification.
1. It is necessary to distinguish between justification and sanctification. They differ essentially--
(1) In their nature; the one being an alteration of his state in the sight of God, the other a change in his character before man and his conscience.
(2) In their causes; the former is imputed through Christs obedience, the latter is communicated by the Holy Spirits influence.
2. Sanctification is a difficult work, so far as we are concerned in it.
(1) Our nature is opposed to it.
(2) The world generally is opposed to it.
(3) Satan with all his varied instruments are opposed to it.
3. But yet it is possible and easy; for Christ is made such unto us. How is this? It is simply to have Christ enter the lists with sin in us (Php_4:13; 1Th_5:23).
IV. Redemption. Our present redemption is only partial. We have a privilege to come into Gods presence, &c. Nevertheless the glorious liberty of the sons of God yet remains to be enjoyed. Then every fetter shall be knocked off. The mind no longer shall be hindered in its investigations; the heart shall be deceitful no more; the body itself shall no more be weary. (G. F. Galaher, M. A.)
What is Christ to us
I. Our prophet to impart wisdom.
1. Anointing us with His Spirit.
2. Revealing Himself in us.
3. Giving us understanding to know Him as the only way to the Father.
II. Our high priest to impart righteousness.
1. Making atonement for us.
2. Pronouncing our absolution.
3. Constantly interceding for us at the right hand of God.
III. Our King to communicate holiness.
1. Pouring out His Spirit.
2. Ruling in our hearts.
3. Giving us dominion over sin.
IV. Our final deliverer from all evil. (E. Fraser.)
Gods device for the salvation of sinners
I. The whole of mans salvation is from Christ. God has made or constituted Him the fountain of all salvation, from whom it must be conveyed to all that shall partake of it (Psa_89:24).
1. Man is ignorant naturally of the way to true happiness; he has lost God, and knows not how to find Him again. For remedy of this Christ is made wisdom (Col_2:3), and He is constituted the grand Teacher of all that seek for eternal happiness.
2. Man is unrighteous, and cannot stand before a righteous God. Now, the natural man, for remedy of this, goes about to work out a righteousness of his own. But when it appears in the light of the holy law, it is nothing but as a moth-eaten garment, that cannot cover the soul before the Lord (Isa_64:7). For remedy of this Christ is made righteousness. He, by His obedience to the laws commands, and suffering the wrath it threatened, hath brought in everlasting righteousness, which is a large garment, able to cover all that betake themselves to it.
3. Man is unholy, unfit for communion with a holy God here or hereafter. The natural man, to help himself in this point, calls together his natural powers, and endeavours to turn the stream of his life into the channel of the law. Some prevail this way to the reformation of their outward conversation; but there is as much difference betwixt true holiness and their attainment as between a living body and an embalmed corpse. Others find all their endeavours to no purpose, and so they come to despair of sanctification, and therefore even lay the reins on the necks of their lusts (Jer_2:25). But for remedy in this, Christ is made sanctification. There is a fulness of the Spirit of holiness lodged in Him, to be communicated to the unholy; and to Him God sends the unholy sinner, that out of His fulness he may receive, and grace for grace.
4. Man by the fall is become liable to many bodily infirmities and miseries, and at length must go to the grave. Nature could find no remedy for this. But mans salvation cannot be complete without a remedy; therefore Christ is made redemption, who will give in due time deliverance to His people from misery and death (Rom_8:23). And in this sense He calls Himself the resurrection and the life.
II. All who are saved must be saved by virtue of union with Christ. As the stock is stay, strength, and sap, to the branches, so is Christ wisdom, &c., to those who are united to Him. The sap of the stock is not conveyed to branches that are not in it; neither is Christ wisdom, &c., to any but those who are in Him. He is the Saviour of His body; and we must be partakers of His salvation as members of His body. (T. Boston, D. D.)
Adaptedness of Christianity to mans spiritual necessities
This is a very strong evidence of its Divine character.
1. An individual is taken suddenly ill in the street. Persons gather round him, administering many things for his relief; but all is in vain. A stranger draws near, examines his symptoms, and from his case administers a medicine. Immediately he is relieved, and they all cry out, He is a doctor! His ability to make a correct diagnosis and to prescribe the proper medicine demonstrates his professional character.
2. We are all of us sinful, and suffering, and dying. Can any one provide a relief? Men have been experimenting ever since the days of Cain; the wisest and best have utterly failed. It follows, then, that if there be a provision by which we can be saved from sin, such provision must come from God.
3. We claim that in the gospel God has made such a provision, which is very comprehensively stated in our text. God is its author, Christ is its medium or agent, and wisdom, &c., are its benefits. Christ is made unto us--
I. Wisdom.
1. What is the first great need of mankind? Light; knowledge of God, of His law, of Christ, of the way of salvation, of duty and interest.
2. We have evidence of this in the general practice of Christian parents in seeking the spiritual welfare of their children, which is to impart instruction. And when our missionaries go to heathen countries, their first work is the same. And is it not a constant effort of the Church, both at home and abroad, to spread religious knowledge through the Sabbath school, the pulpit, and the religious press?
3. The gospel provides this light. Hence Jesus Christ is made unto us wisdom, by furnishing to us--
(1) The Bible. But for His mediation we should never have received it. These Scriptures are able to make us wise unto salvation.
(2) The institutions of the Church.
(3) The lives, activities, and instrumentalities, of Christian believers, who are the light of the world.
(4) The teachings of the Holy Spirit; His Divine illumination, His assistance enabling us to apprehend and understand the written Word.
II. Righteousness.
1. Light, in its first revealings, does not always bring comfort and hope. When we see our moral condition we discover ourselves to be lost sinners; as absolutely helpless as was a poor man once upon the rock just above the falls of Niagara. Certainly he saw and felt that if he ever regained the shore and the home of his love, it must be through some agency other than his own. And when we discover our sinfulness and helplessness, how anxiously do we inquire where help may be found!
2. Righteousness is a conformity to law. If we observe the laws of the State there is no unrighteousness in us in relation to those laws. And if we could observe the law of God, there would be no unrighteousness in us in respect to His law. It is because we have transgressed that law that we are unrighteous.
3. Being thus under condemnation, Christ rendered a perfect obedience to that law, and having thus honoured it, He submitted to its penalties in our stead. Thus Christ has wrought out a righteousness for us; He has made it possible for us to obtain the remission of our sins.
4. But if this were the extent; of the atonement, it would leave us still unrighteous in character, unconformed to the law in our motives and spirit. It was, therefore, necessary that there should be the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost; so that; Jesus Christ might work a real righteousness within us.
5. If the provision were to stop here it would still fail of meeting the whole case, because we are accountable to God, and our conduct subsequent to this great exercise of mercy toward us must be in conformity with the principles and spirit of His law. We consequently need the constant help of our Lord and of the Divine Spirit.
6. And even with these helps we are not able so fully to meet tile claims of this law that we do not need constantly to depend upon the atonement.
III. Sanctification. But the regenerate have still further spiritual needs.
1. The converted man hates sin; and when he finds it in his heart he is afflicted. To him there is nothing so lovely, so precious, as holiness. How he hungers and thirsts after it! He cannot be satisfied until he realises it, any more than a famishing man can be satisfied without; food and drink. His heart, his soul, cries out for the nature and image of God!
2. Can we realise this full salvation? Yes, for He is able to do exceeding abundantly, &c. The blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanseth us from all sin. When we are thus brought to bear the image of the heavenly--
IV. Is there still anything further needed? Yes, we still need Christ as our redemption. To redeem is to deliver from some obligation, or embarrassment, or danger, or necessity, from which a person is unable to deliver himself.
1. We are subject to affliction, and we need the presence, and power, and comfort, of Christ to enable us to stand.
2. We have many duties to perform. Who of himself is competent to work the works of our Divine Master? None of us; but, through Christ strengthening us, we can do all things, meet all our obligations to our own souls, to our fellow-men, and to God.
3. And how about the dying hour? With the Captain of our salvation with us, we can meet death with joy, accounting it a gain. (Bp. Janes.)
Christ Jesus the believers wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption
Let us--
I. Explain the words. Christ is made unto us--
1. Wisdom.
(1) As in knowing Him we know everything that is essential, and especially God, whom to know is life eternal. God in nature is God above us; God in providence is God beyond us; God in law is God against us; but God in Christ is God with us and for us.
(2) As He is the Author of our wisdom. He opens the eyes of our understandings, and, by His Spirit, leads us into all the truth. And the knowledge, which He imparts, is always distinguished by its influences and effects. Wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence, but the excellency of this wisdom is that it giveth life to them that have it.
2. Righteousness. Christ is the end of the law of righteousness, to every one that believeth.
3. Sanctification.
(1) The former is a relative thing, this is a personal. The former is the change of our state, this the change of our nature; the former is a work complete at once, but the latter is gradual, and carried on through the whole of life. But then, though these are distinguishable, they are never separate.
(2) But what is this sanctification. It must be something more than mere reformation or morality. A man cannot be sanctified indeed, unless he be moral; but he may be moral, without being sanctified. Sanctification is a transformation by the renewing of the mind; the implantation of new principles; a separation from the Spirit and course of the world, and a deliverance from the dominion and the love of sin, and a dedication of ourselves to the service and glory of God.
4. Redemption. The resurrection is called so--
(1) Because it is the effect of the Saviours purchase; for He ransomed the bodies of His people, as well as their souls.
(2) Because of the grandeur that awaits us.
II. Apply the words. If we be made of God unto us wisdom.
1. We see the state we are all in by nature. We see that we are destitute of all these things, and that, if ever we have them, we must obtain them from another.
2. We see the value and importance of the Lord Jesus.
3. We need not wonder that He should be the subject of the whole of revelation.
4. He ought to be the theme of every minister.
5. We see the wretched and dreadful state of unbelievers. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life, hath not wisdom, &c.
6. What can be so worthy of our pursuit as to seek after union and communion with Him. This was the apostles conviction--That I may win Christ, and be found in Him.
7. We learn the happiness of all those who belong to Him--or rather to whom He belongs. (W. Jay.)
Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption derived from Christ
This is one of the most comprehensive texts in the Bible. It is a short but full inventory of the invaluable blessings of the gospel; enough to make a poor sinner rich, and a miserable sinner happy.
I. Wisdom
1. Wisdom chooses the best objects, and then pursues the best means of obtaining them.
2. All wisdom is from God; but there is a peculiar and superior kind of wisdom, viz., religion (Pro_28:28); and this St. Paul terms being wise unto salvation, and James, the wisdom that is from above.
3. Christ is the original fountain of wisdom. He is wisdom itself (Pro_8:1-36.; Col_2:3); so that whatever true wisdom is found in the world is derived from Him, even as the natural sun is the source of all the light of this world. Accordingly, we find Him, by His personal ministry, diffusing wonderful light, and when He ascended into heaven He committed this work to the Holy Spirit. The natural man knoweth not the things of the Spirit of God; but, by His gracious help, they are spiritually discerned, and believers learn the mind of Christ.
4. Other kinds of wisdom have their value; yet what do they avail? I have spent my life, said a great scholar on his dying bed, I have spent my life in laborious trifling! Compared with heavenly wisdom, all literary attainments will be as a grain of sand to a mountain, or a drop of water to the ocean.
II. Righteousness, i.e., perfect conformity to the will of God. The word signifies that which is full weight or measure, the standard being Gods holy law. And is there any man thus righteous? No; there is not a just man upon earth; that is, one that doeth good, and sinneth not. Yet, without a perfect righteousness, no man can be justified. But must we, then, despair? Yes; of making ourselves righteous; but not of becoming righteous by other means, for Christ is made unto us righteousness (Rom_4:24). But do any suppose that we may therefore become careless about good works? Let them attend to the declaration that Christ is made unto us--
III. Sanctification.
1. By this we mean the renewing of our nature in the image of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and through the mediation of Christ.
2. Sanctification differs from justification. Justification respects the state of man; sanctification respects His nature, disposition, conduct. A man may be tried for his life, and he may be acquitted; but if he have, at the same time, a mortal disease upon him, he will die. The province of a judge and a physician are very different. Justification is the act of God as a Judge; sanctification is the work of God the Spirit as the great Physician of souls; and we find both these works united in Psa_103:3. It is also to be observed that our title to heaven is founded only on the righteousness of Christ, by which we are justified; but in sanctification consists our meetness for heaven.
3. Christ is made unto us sanctification.
(1) Because He first relieves us by His atoning sacrifice from the guilt and defilement of sin.
(2) By His intercession (Joh_17:15; Joh_17:17).
(3) By His Word--its doctrines, precepts, examples, promises, and threatenings.
(4) By union to Him.
(5) By His example.
(6) By His love, which is, of all motives to holiness, the strongest and most effectual.
IV. Redemption. If Christ be made unto us wisdom, we are delivered from the powers of darkness; if righteousness, we are redeemed from the curse of the law; if sanctification, we are delivered from the dominion of sin. In these things consists the redemption of the soul. But the redemption of the body seems to be intended; and this agrees with Rom_8:21. (G. Burder.)
Christ the believers wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
I. I would point out to you the fountain from which all those blessings flow, that the elect of God partake of in Jesus, who of God is made unto us, the Father, He it is who is spoken of here. Not as though Jesus Christ was not God also; but God the Father is the fountain of the Deity.
II. I come to show what these blessings are which are here, through Christ, made over to the elect.
1. Christ is made to them wisdom; but wherein does true wisdom consist? Were I to ask some of you, perhaps you would say in indulging the lust of the flesh; but this is only the wisdom of brutes. Others would tell me true wisdom consisted in adding house to house; but this cannot be true wisdom, for riches often take to themselves wings, and fly away. But perhaps you despise riches and pleasure, and therefore place wisdom in the knowledge of books; but it is possible for you to tell the numbers of the stars, and call them all by their names, and yet be mere fools; learned men are not always wise. Know thyself, was a saying of one of the wise men of Greece; this is certainly true wisdom, and this is that wisdom spoken of in the text, and which Jesus Christ is made to all elect sinners. They see the necessity of closing with a Saviour, and behold the wisdom of God in appointing Him to be a Saviour; they are also made willing to accept of salvation upon our Lords own terms: thus Christ is made to them wisdom.
2. Righteousness. Christs whole personal righteousness is made over to, and accounted theirs.
3. Christ is not only made to them righteousness, but sanctification; by sanctification I do not mean a bare hypocritical attendance on outward ordinances, nor do I mean a bare outward reformation, and a few transient convictions, or a little legal sorrow; for all this an unsanctified man may have; but by sanctification I mean a total renovation of the whole man. Their understandings, which were before dark, now become light in the Lord; and their wills, before contrary to, now become one with the will of God; their affections are now set on things above; their memory is now filled with Divine things; their natural consciences are now enlightened; their members, which were before instruments of uncleanness, and of iniquity unto iniquity, are now instruments of righteousness and true holiness. But, before we enter upon the explanation and contemplation of this privilege
(1) Learn hence the great mistake of those writers and clergy who, notwithstanding they talk of sanctification and inward holiness, yet they generally make it the cause, whereas they should consider it as the effect, of our justification. For Christs righteousness, or that which Christ has done in our stead without us, is the sole cause of our acceptance in the sight of God, and of all holiness wrought in us: to this, and not to the light within, or anything wrought within, should poor sinners seek for justification in the sight of God.
(2) From hence also the Antinomians and formal hypocrites may be confuted, who talk of Christ without, but know nothing, experimentally, of a work of sanctification wrought within them.
4. Let us now go on, and take a view of the other link, or rather the end, of the believers golden chain of privileges, Redemption. But we must look very high; for the top of it, like Jacobs ladder, reaches heaven, where all believers will ascend, and be placed at the right hand of God. By the word redemption we are to understand, not only a complete deliverance from all evil, but also a full enjoyment of all good both in body and soul. (G. Whitfield, M. A.)
The fourfold treasure
I. Our spiritual existence.
1. Its origin, Of Him, i.e., as some think, through Him. Are you this day united to Christ--a stone in that building of which He is both foundation and topstone--a limb of that mystical body of which He is the head? Then you did not get there of yourself. By the grace of God I am what I am. He hath begotten us again unto a lively hope.
2. Its dignity. Being in Christ you are of God. Gods husbandry, people, children, beloved. Some have thought it a great thing to be of a princes household; but you are of the Divine family.
3. Its essence. We have no life except as we are in Christ Jesus. Out of Christ we abide in death.
II. Our spiritual wealth. Here are four things, and in the original the second and third have a peculiar connecting link. The wisdom stands alone, and the redemption, but the righteousness and sanctification have a special link, as though we should be taught that they always go together. Christ is made unto us--
1. Wisdom. The apostle had been speaking of some other wisdom which set itself up in opposition to the Cross. Now, instead of pointing to his own brain, or to the statue of Socrates or Solon, he says Christ is made of God unto us wisdom. There are those who will have it that the gospel such as was preached by Banyan, Whitefield, and Wesley, was very well for the dark times in which they lived; but that there is wanted in this intensely luminous century a more progressive theology. We are afraid that instead of bringing greater light, the advanced thinkers have made darkness worse. Christ makes us wise--
(1) By His teaching. All you want to know of God, of sin, of life, of death, of eternity, &c., Christ has either personally, or by His Spirit in the Word of God, taught you. Anything that you find out for yourself over and above revelation, is folly.
(2) By His example. You shall never be a fool if you follow Christ, except in the estimation of fools.
(3) By His presence. Let none of us ever be so foolish as to suppose that when we have received Jesus we have occasion to blush when we are in the company of the very wisest. Carry a bold face when you confront the brazen-faced philosophy which insults your Lord.
2. Righteousness. The doctrine of imputed righteousness is firmly established in the Word of God; yet it is possible to put too much stress upon imputed, and scarcely enough upon righteousness. Not only is Christs righteousness imputed to me, but it is mine actually, for Christ is mine.
3. Sanctification.
(1) Because we are in Christ we have the basis of sanctification, which consists in being set apart.
(2) The power by which we are sanctified comes to us by virtue of our union with Christ. The Holy Spirit who sanctifies us through the truth works in us by virtue of our union with Jesus.
(3) Let Jesus always be the motive for your sanctification. Is it not a strange thing that some professors should look to Christ alone for pardon and justification, and run away to Moses when they desire sanctification? The love of Christ constraineth us; not fear of hell.
4. Redemption. Somebody says: That ought to have come first; because redemption is the first blessing that we enjoy. Ay, but it is the last as well. You are not yet redeemed altogether. By price you are--but you are not yet redeemed by power. In a measure you are set free by Divine power, but there are links of the old chains yet to be snapped from off, and there is a bondage still about you from which you are ere long to be delivered. You are waiting for the adoption, to wit the redemption of the body. Conclusion: If all this be the case, then let all our glory be unto Him. What insanity it is to boast in any but in our Lord Jesus! How foolish are they who are proud of their wisdom, of their wealth, &c. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ the wisdom of believers
I. Because of those new and illustrious revelations which he has given to us of God. Christ is the great Teacher of God.
1. By declaration. In the course of His ministrations He did not reason concerning God. No man hath seen God at any time. Man, therefore, must darkly reason, and doubtfully infer. The only-begotten Son, who lay in the bosom of the Father, neither acquired nor made known this knowledge in that way. He hath declared Him. An instance of this declaratory mode of teaching we have in His conversation with the Samaritan woman (Joh_4:21-24). What instruction is here! What a contrast to the teachings of men!
2. By action. In His life, He was the visible image of Gods purity; in His works, of Gods power; in His condescending compassion, of Gods yearning goodness; in the freeness of His gifts, of Gods abundant grace and liberality; in His intercourse with His disciples, of Gods regard for pious humble souls; in His denunciations of judgment, of Gods justice; and in His death, the brightest and most awful demonstration was given of His holiness, justice, and love united.
II. By the views which He has given us of the moral condition of man. The sinfulness, helplessness, and danger of mankind have all been acknowledged and felt; but in what new and awful views are they placed by Christ! Sin is not a trifle. See the proof of this in the sufferings of thy Saviour. It is not in man to make atonement for sin. Behold, the Victim which God appointed was both God and man. The punishment of sin is not light. If the Substitute so suffered, what must the principal suffer, should he reject his Saviour? By those sufferings justice was satisfied, and God reconciled to man; and this light is thrown upon our condition, that, sinful, helpless, and endangered as it is, we are all invited to obtain mercy.
III. In the discoveries he has made of the nature, extent, and possibility of holiness. The foulest blot in creation is an unholy spirit. The brightest, the loveliest idea that can enter the human mind is that of moral order, and the purity of the heart. The nature of real holiness is explained to us by Christ. It is not a ceremonial holiness--the mistake of superstition. It is not merely a regulation of the heart and conduct--the mistake of philosophers. It is not a sentimental approval of what is fair and good--the mistake of men of imagination. It is the conversion of the heart to God; the renewal of the primitive image of God in man. The possibility of this is explained by Christ. Without hope there could be no effort. The agency exhibited by Christ in the accomplishment of our sanctification is equal to the effect. His Spirit is the sanctifier; and the whole process of our consecration to God is the mighty working of the Holy Ghost, with the means which He has appointed in order to that end. (R. Watson.)
Wisdom in Christ
Having Christ, believers have a key which unlocks the mysteries of Gods eternal purpose of mercy and of the present life; and knowing this eternal purpose and the eternal realities, they are able to choose their steps in life. (Prof. Beet.)
Union with Christ the only way to sanctification
Consider Rom_7:4; Joh_15:5; Gal_2:20.
I. The holiness derived from Christ. It is that disposition of heart and course of life which is conformable to Gods holy law, and pleases Him.
1. True holiness is universal in respect of the commands of God (Psa_119:6). A profane life is a sure evidence of a profane heart (Gal_5:19, &c.).
2. True holiness is not only in external duties, but necessarily includes internal obedience of the soul to the will of God (Psa_24:3).
3. In true holiness there is a bent, inclination, and propensity of heart to obedience. By Adams fall the hearts of men got a wrong set (Rom_8:7; Hos_11:7). Now, in sanctification it is bent the other way, towards God and godliness (2Th_3:5), that as the needle in the compass, touched with a good loadstone, turns towards the north, so the heart, touched by sanctifying grace, inclines Godward and Christward.
4. As the love of God is the great comprehensive duty of holiness, love is the fulfilling of the law; so love runs through all the duties of religion, to give them the tincture of holiness (Heb_6:10).
5. True holiness is influenced by the command of God. The will of God is not only the rule, but the reason of a holy life (Joh_5:30).
6. True holiness has for its chief end the glory of God (1Co_10:31). He that is the first cause of all goodness must needs be the last end of it.
7. Lastly, true holiness is universal as regards man.
(1) Mortification is universal (Gal_5:24). It is no true mortification where one lust is spared.
(2) Vivification is universal (2Co_5:17). As when the body of Christ was raised there was life put into every member; so when the soul is raised to live the life of holiness, the image of God is repaired in all its parts, and the soul embraces the whole yoke of Christ, so far as it knows the same. So that sanctification sets a man on every known duty.
II. This holiness is derived from Christ, according to the grand device of infinite wisdom for the sanctifying of an unholy world.
1. God made the first Adam holy, and all mankind was so in Him (Ecc_7:29).
2. Adam, sinning, lost the image of God, so that all mankind are naturally dead in sin.
3. Mans sanctification by himself thus being hopeless, it pleased God to constitute a Mediator, to be the head of sanctifying influences to all that should partake of them.
4. Though by the death and resurrection of Christ the sanctification of His people is infallibly insured, as the corruption of all mankind was by the fall of Adam; yet we cannot actually partake of Christs holiness till we have a spiritual being in Him, even as we partake not of Adams corruption till we have a natural being from him.
5. As Christ is the prime receptacle of the Spirit of holiness, as the head of all the saints; so the continual supplies of that Spirit are to be derived from Him for the saints progress in holiness, till they come to perfection. And faith is the great mean of communication betwixt Christ and us (Act_15:9).
III. Uses.
1. Of information. This lets us see--
(1) The absolute necessity of holiness.
(2) In vain do men attempt sanctification without coming to Christ for it.
(3) Unholiness ought not to stop a sinner from coming to Christ, more than a disease ought to hinder a man to take the physicians help, or cold from taking the benefit of the fire.
(4) True faith is the souls coming to Christ for sanctification as well as justification. For faith must receive Christ as God offers Him, and He offers Him with all His salvation. Now He is made sanctification. Wherefore the soul, being willing to take Christ with all His salvation, to be sanctified, comes to Him for it.
2. Of exhortation. Come then to Christ for sanctification, and note the following motives.
(1) If ye be not holy ye will never see heaven (Heb_12:14).
(2) Ye will never attain holiness if ye come not to Christ for it.
(a) While ye are out of Christ ye are under the curse; and is it possible for the cursed tree to bring forth the fruit of holiness?
(b) Can ye be holy without sanctifying influences, or can ye expect that these shall be conveyed to you otherwise than through a Mediator, by His Spirit?
(c) Ye have nothing wherewith to produce holiness. The most skilful musician cannot play unless his instrument be in tune. The lame man, if he were ever so willing, cannot run till he be cured. Ye are under an utter impotency, by reason of the corruption of your nature.
(d) If ye will come to Christ ye shall be made holy. There is a fulness of merit and spirit in Him for sanctification. Come then to the fountain of holiness. The worst of sinners may be sanctified this way (1Co_6:11). (T. Boston, D. D.)
Christ our righteousness
One day, as I was passing into the field, and that too with some dashes on my conscience, fearing lest all was not right, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, Thy righteousness is in heaven; and methought withal I saw with the eyes of my soul Jesus Christ at Gods right hand. There, I say, was my righteousness, so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, He wants a righteousness, for that was just before Him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame that made my righteousness better, nor my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed. I was loosed from my afflictions and my irons; my temptations also fled away, so that from that time those dreadful Scriptures of God left off to trouble me. (John Bunyan.)
Christ is our sanctification
I. What is sanctification?
1. It is to be changed (2Co_3:18). Sanctification makes a great change; the judgment is changed, the disposition, the way, the company.
2. It is to be cured. Sin is the sickness of the soul. The only physician is our Lord Jesus Christ, raised up of God for that purpose; no hand but His can heal us.
3. It is to be cleansed. Sin is the pollution of the soul; and it is pollution in grain, such as nothing can wash us from but the fountain opened, and that fountain is Christ (Zec_13:1).
4. It is to be clothed. A sinful condition is a naked condition (Rev_3:17). And what must poor naked souls do, but come to Christ, to His shop, and here buy of Him white raiment (Rev_3:18; Zec_3:3-4). I clothed thee also with broidered work, &c. (Eze_16:10-14). Grace is rich raiment, princely, priestly, comely clothing, that waxeth not old.
5. It is to be consecrated. Sanctifying is the same with consecrating, that is, setting apart from common and profane to holy and spiritual uses, as persons, places, vessels, times, were under the Old Testament.
II. How is Jesus Christ made all this to us?
1. Principally by the working of His Spirit and grace. The Spirit of Christ is the Sanctifier. When He comes into the heart to dwell there, He renews, and He regenerates, and He raises, and He reconciles. It is through Jesus Christ. If He had not satisfied and died, to make God friends with us, He would never have sent the Spirit, to make us friends with Him.
2. Instrumentally by the Word, Sanctify them through Thy truth (Joh_17:17). Error never sanctifies. Truth only doth that (Jam_1:17; Tit_1:1). The Word of truth begins, and the same carries on this good work.
III. The practical improvement.
1. Shall I propound one needful question to you? Are ye sanctified? is Jesus Christ made of God sanctification to you? It is a thing that may be known. There are three marks:
(1) Where Christ is made to us sanctification, it is become natural to us to walk in all holy obedience to the will of God. I say natural, not to the old, but to the new, nature. Then, says one, I fear I am not sanctified. I reply, The trial is not to be made by any one single action at any one time, but by our course and way. How is it ordinarily with us? There is no man but doth something that beasts do; but is he therefore a beast? There is no beast but doth something that a man doth; but is he therefore a man?
(2) Where Christ is made to us sanctification, holiness is highly prized and dearly loved, and more and more of it earnestly desired. I believe it is never otherwise among the truly sanctified.
(3) Where Christ is made to us sanctification, He is owned and acknowledged as our all in all. The crown is set upon His head. To us to live is Christ.
2. I shall suppose you now propounding to me another needful question. What may I do that Christ may be made to me sanctification?
(1) We must be inwardly and thoroughly convinced that there is an absolute necessity He should be so. If we mean to please God in this world. None but the sanctified are accepted of Him, He hath no pleasure but where His image is. Our sacrifices are an abomination, our prayers an abomination, otherwise. Till the tree is good the fruit cannot be good. And also, if we mean to enjoy God in the other world. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Heb_12:14).
(2) We must apply ourselves to the Lord Jesus by faith and prayer.
(3) We must attend upon the ordinances. These are the conduit pipes through which the grace of sanctification is conveyed to poor souls.
3. What must they do to whom Christ is already made sanctification?
(1) They have cause to bless God for it every day, all their days (Psa_103:1-3).
(2) They must press after further degrees of sanctification, more and more. Dying to sin. Living to righteousness. (Philip Henry.)
Christ is our redemption
That Jesus Christ is made of God unto all men that are in Him redemption.
I. What does this mean--made redemption? He is made of God redemption to us; that is, God hath ordained and appointed Him from all eternity, and in the fulness of time raised Him up, and sent Him, to be the author and procurer of redemption for us; or, which is all one, to be a redeemer to us (Luk_1:68). Now to redeem is, in general, to recover those that are in bondage out of bondage, as the Jews were released by Cyrus out of their captivity in Babylon. Redemption, viz.
1. By power; when those who kept us in bondage are conquered and overcome.
2. By exchange; when one prisoner is let go for another.
3. By price; when a sum of money is paid to buy off a prisoner, more or less, according as the quality of the prisoner is. Now this last is properly redemption, and this last is the way in which Jesus Christ hath made us free. To this purpose we are told of a covenant of redemption which was transacted from all eternity between the Father and the Son, the terms whereof were--That if the Son would come and be man and die, that dying of His should be accepted as the price or ransom of all the elect, how many soever there were. The Son accepted of this motion, did what was to be done, suffered what was to be suffered, and so became our redemption. See some footsteps of this covenant transaction in two Scriptures (Psa_40:6-8 : Isa_49:2; Isa_49:6; Isa_49:9). But--
II. What find of redemption is this?
1. Needed redemption. It is the redemption that we needed. He came to supply all our needs. Now among other needs, being in bondage, we needed one to redeem us; not only one to clothe us, being naked; to feed us, being hungry; to wash us, being filthy; to heal us, being wounded; to cure us, being sick;--but to redeem us. If He had done all this for us in our bondage, and left us still in bondage, we had been miserable notwithstanding.
2. It is a nonsuch redemption, when compared with other redemption. Whether personal, as Joseph out of prison, or Peter (Act_12:1-25.), or Daniel out of the lions den. Whether public, as from Egypt, from Babylon. It surpasses them all in number, way, and consequences.
3. Distinguishing redemption. It is denied to the angels that sinned. The commons are ransomed, the nobles left behind. He paid no price to redeem them.
4. It is divers, manifold redemption according to the manifold evils that we lay under. They are of three sorts--temporal, spiritual, eternal.
(1) He is redemption to us from temporal evils. Such as concern the body, and the life that now is; such as sickness, death, poverty. Not that they shall not befall us, but that they shall not hurt us. The sting of them is taken out (Psa_91:10).
(2) Which is better, it is redemption to us from spiritual evils. These are worse evils than the former, because they affect the better part of us. The guilt of sin; whereby we are bound over to punishment, the fear whereof causes bondage (Heb_2:14). To redeem us from this, He is made righteousness to us for our justification. The filth and power of sin; whereby sin hath dominion over us, and we are perfect slaves to it, the vilest of slaves (Joh_8:34). To redeem us from this He is made sanctification to us.
(3) There is another sort of evils yet, and those are eternal evils; and by redemption here we are especially to understand our deliverance from those. Because it is mentioned after righteousness and sanctification as a thing different from them; and because of what we find in other Scriptures, where redemption is applied to something in the other world: Waiting for the redemption of the body (Rom_8:23), that is, the resurrection and glorification of our bodies: compare Luk_21:28 with Eph_4:30, the day of redemption.
1. What those eternal evils are which redemption frees us from.
(1) It frees us for ever, not only from the guilt, and filth, and power of sin, but from the very being of it also.
(2) It frees us from Satan ever having any more to do with us, either as a tempter or as a tormentor. He is busy now with the saved (1Pe_5:8), and he will be more busy hereafter with those that perish (Mat_18:34). But where the redeemed are he comes not (Rom_16:20).
(3) It frees us from all sorrow and suffering, of what kind soever, in mind or body (Rev_21:4).
(4) It frees us from all society with wicked and ungodly men, and that for ever. They are blended here, and it pleases neither (Psa_120:5-6). But there is a redemption coming (Mat_25:33).
2. What there is that is positive in this redemption.
(1) As soon as the redeemed die their souls immediately go to God, to the vision and fruition of Him in glory (Luk_23:43; Php_1:23).
(2) At the resurrection, at the last day, the same soul and the same body shall come together again. Though we are not redeemed from death, we are to be from the grave (Isa_26:19; Hos_13:14).
(3) To all eternity there shall be a fulness of uninterrupted joy and felicity; a remaining rest; a Sabbath without a week of working days after it, perpetual, eternal.
3. I shall show how Jesus Christ is made this to us, this future redemption. He is the purchaser of it; it was bought with His blood, bought back. We had mortgaged it for an apple, and must never have retrieved it, had not He died (Eph_1:14). He is our forerunner in it (Heb_6:20). He went thither as our attorney or proxy, to take possession of the purchase in our name and stead (Joh_14:1-2). It is He that Himself actually puts us into possession of it. At the resurrection it is His voice and trumpet that raises the dead; He is the resurrection. It is He Himself alone that is the sole object of all our future happiness; to be with Him, to see and enjoy Him, is our future redemption (Rev_21:23).
III. The improvement.
1. Then it concerns us all, by all means, to give all diligence to make sure to ourselves our interest in this redemption.
2. If Jesus Christ be made of God this redemption to you, then, in Gods name, take the comfort of it. Lift up the head and hands that hang down; Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say, rejoice.
3. Then live as the redeemed of the Lord. (Philip Henry.)
Christ our sanctification
I remember a short time ago, when I was conducting a service at Oxford, a working man came into the meeting. He was the first penitent that night, and he has frequently told me since that he had been most honestly and sincerely trying for twenty years to be a true Christian, but he had failed every day and almost given up in despair when he came by accident and heard this truth--that his failure was due to the fact that he had been trying to be a Christian in his own strength. He then went into the inquiry-room, trusted in Christ, and was united with Christ, shared the life of Christ, and from that day to this he has done what he could not do for twenty years before, although he was really trying, because he was strong in the life which he shared with Christ. Are not some of us in danger of supposing that we can make ourselves better Christians, more Christlike Christians, by our own resolution, and efforts, and rules, and discipline? (Hugh Price Hughes, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv27–30 27. But God hath chosen the foolish things. Men…
27. But God hath chosen the foolish things. Men whom the world would call foolish, with a gospel that it called foolishness; yet these “confounded the wise” and upturned the world's philosophies.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv27–30 27. “But God elected out the foolish things of…
27. “But God elected out the foolish things of the world that he may confound the wise.” We see this Scripture verified in our Savior’s apostles, “unlearned and ignorant men” (Act 4:13). He could equally conveniently have put His hand on the champions of Rabbinical and Grecian lore. Why did He select the heralds of salvation from the illiterate and uninfluential rabble? He wanted blank paper on which to write the message of salvation. The learned clergy would have been under great temptation to mix their human dogmata with the pure message of gospel grace, and thus adulterate it. Again, the popular mind would intuitively attribute the power to the gifted and cultured dispenser of the gospel benefactions, and fail to see the real Divinity in the plan of salvation. Hence Divine wisdom has in all ages utilized the elements regarded as “foolish” in worldly estimation to bear the message of redeeming grace and dying love to earth’s perishing millions. “And the weak things of the world God elected out that he may confound the strong.” When a church becomes strong numerically, financially and influentially, God lets her slide away. He has no more use for her. The Holy Ghost retreats away and leaves her to enjoy her worldly power and glory. You must remember that the Holy Ghost is God in the Church. What an awful evacuation of the Protestant churches by the Holy Ghost in the last twenty years. “He that rejecteth sanctification rejecteth not man but God, who giveth unto you his Holy Spirit.” God gives His Holy Spirit to all His people to sanctify them. When they reject the work, in so doing they reject the worker, and fall into the hands of Satan, who then delights to play off on them, robed as an angel of light, passing himself for God, inflating them with wonderful enthusiasm in church work, thus employing and comforting them in the absence of the Holy Ghost. The churches are apostatizing fearfully in the trend of human power and worldly influence, and equally rapidly forsaken by the Holy Ghost and given over to the delusions of the devil. Consequently God the Holy Ghost is everywhere raising up an army of blood-washed and fire-baptized evangelists, male and female, from hovels of poverty, retreats of ignorance, slums and jungles of iniquity, and sending them out to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ “with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven,” thus rapidly laying in the shade the cultured clergy, who depend on their intellect and education, instead of the omnipotent Galilean.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv27–30 but God chose the foolish things of the world,…
but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world [ Psa_8:2 ; Joh_2:5 ], that he might put to shame the things that are strong ;
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv27, 30 kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield "Mat 4:8").
world
kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield "Mat 4:8").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv28, 30 what is low and despised
what is low and despised
the people whom the world rejects. AT: "people who are humble and rejected"
Read full note →
things that are regarded as nothing
This can be stated in active form. AT: "that which people usually regard as without value" (See: Active or Passive)
nothing, to bring to nothing things that are held as valuable
"nothing. He did this so he could show that the things that are held as valuable are really worthless"
things that are held as valuable
This can be stated in active form. AT: "things that people think are worth money" or "things that people think are worth respect" (See: Active or Passive)
He did this
"God did this"
translationWords
world
boast
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv27, 30 1:27-29 God chose despised and humble people in order…
1:27-29 God chose despised and humble people in order to demonstrate his judgment on human pride (cp. Rom 3:27; 4:2; 2 Cor 4:7-11; 12:8-10; Eph 2:9).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.