Pauline Ecclesiology, 1 Cor 1-6
By Jay Wegter
1:1-26
The power of God is manifested in the make up of the Church (not many wise, mighty, etc. – vv. 27, 28). We are to glory in God‘s power and wisdom – not the world‘s value system and wisdom. In chapter one, Paul states 10 times in 10 verses that Jesus Christ in HIS Church. Paul incorporates four major verbs to declare in ―divine passives‖ that God did it – He formed the Church, He owns it in Christ.
It is the problem of divisions in the church that has led Paul to expound the meaning of wisdom in the first place. In seeking the wrong kind of wisdom, the Corinthians had split the church into cliques. Until they realize the scandal of the cross has put an end to human boasting, they will remain carnal babes. Only when they embrace the scandal of the cross are they ready for the diet of the mature. It‘s an unacceptable diet to those who think in terms of human achievement and glory. Christ crucified must be realized in the Corinthians‘ lives – if not, they will continue to operate by means of ―earthly score cards‖ in which ego driven spiritualism allows self to dominate.
The focus is to be upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Corinth had forgotten that focus. How they needed the recovery of Christ‘s glory in His Church.
Spiritualist teachers made experience the integration point and badge of the Christian life. Paul refutes that false concept – power comes through bearing Christ’s weakness! God‘s power is perfected through human weakness. The cross is the paradigm for this formula. By contrast, spiritualist power is powerful only when it is no longer weak or needy. Paul boasts of his weakness because it preserves the cross paradigm, then God‘s power rests upon him. The Corinthian letters constitute a sustained theology of the cross – which is God‘s way of working in the world. But God‘s way is considered insufficient to men. It is regarded as a way of weakness scorned by human wisdom; but hidden in the cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Paul‘s call to unity – speak the same thing, no divisions, the same mind. But at Corinth there was speaking different things, divisions, different mind, upsmanship, party spirit, triumphalism. The contrast is clear, Corinth was fraught with divisions and a preoccupation with human leadership. What the Corinthians were doing detracted from Christ.
The cause of divisions – The problem centered on the focus on man – dependence on human wisdom. By contrast, only the wisdom of God exalts God‘s power.
1:17 – This verse marks the transition from the problems in the church to the solution for the church. The Grk. Conj. gar introduces why Paul did not baptize many in Corinth.
(v. 12) ―I am of . . .‖ – The challenge was to dismantle the thinking of the Cephasite party without saying anything disparaging against Peter. In order to subdue sin and promote spiritual life – only the cross can do it. Human wisdom with its Jewish elements cannot do the above. (Political strife is a challenge in any church – only God‘s wisdom in the cross.)
1:17, 18ff -- Paul is resolute about keeping his entire Gospel away from this sphere of the wisdom of men. Paul‘s preaching is in strong contrast with the ―wisdom of words.‖
1:18 – Begins the emphasis upon the power of God. (v. 18 is in effect the fulfillment of v. 19). God showcases His wisdom and power in the destruction of the wisdom of the world. (Every time Jesus responded to Satan, He used geigraptai (Grk.) – it is written. In 2:5, the concluding thought is that your faith might be in the power of God, not in the wisdom of men.
1:24, 25 – The wisdom of God and the power of God are brought together in one person, our Lord Jesus Christ. To the extent that we promote God‘s wisdom, we exalt God‘s power in Christ. Unless Christ is preeminent and central, God‘s wisdom is not exalted. Christ is pivotal in God‘s wisdom and power.
How has God made foolish the wisdom of the world – He has made it foolish ―through the foolishness of the message preached.‖ How foolish to depend on man‘s wisdom – how foolish to exalt it in the church!
The wisdom theme continues at the forefront in chapter 2. Paul‘s purpose statement and purpose clause – he did not want the central point of the gospel to be robbed of its power (neutralized). Paul will exalt God‘s power and God‘s wisdom. He did not want to empty the cross of its effect on the lives of people. It’s a disturbing prospect that by philosophy, eloquence, psychology, tradition, human wisdom – the power of the cross in peoples‘ lives can be emptied. Paul exalts God‘s wisdom and power in the cross, lest the effect of the cross be emptied in peoples‘ lives. (―After the flesh‖ is a reference to a wise person – as the world perceives wisdom.)
1:26 – The power of God is seen in the make up of the church – God put the people in the Body according to His wisdom. Note in this verse whom God has called and whom He has not called. Application: If you would consider your calling (―consider‖ as an imperative) you wouldn‘t be living the way you are living. (Grk. Blepo – ―consider‖ used metaphorically of a mental vision.
1:27 – God intends to shame the wise – this is His divine purpose. God is energizing a clash in worldviews! This is not passive. (Christ, Gospel, the Word of God, the Word of the Cross are used somewhat synonymously.)
God‘s wisdom in salvation: God destroys the world‘s wisdom, and He does so with cosmic ramifications. How He destroyed it, He did destroy it, He will destroy it – is laid out in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2.
Now Paul personalizes it. The Corinthians are to consider their call. The church at Corinth is commanded to remember their past (their own salvation – that they were foolish, weak, base, poor born). Look at your calling to see the foolishness of human wisdom (this is divine viewpoint).
The Corinthian problem – Corinth was overturning the whole saving purpose of God – namely that no flesh should glory in God‘s presence. (Spiritual and religious upsmanship, and its resulting strife, is a byproduct of the assimilation of the world‘s wisdom and values in the church.)
1:30 -- God’s wisdom – Christ is the only source of total, final, absolute wisdom that
there is. God‘s ―dualistic wisdom‖ in Christ: 1.) hypostatic union and incarnation, 2.) the
dereliction of the God-man at Calvary.
The whole fulcrum, the whole balance point, the arrow point, the focus of
God‘s wisdom, the very axis of God‘s wisdom is Christ and Him crucified.
(God‘s dualistic wisdom is not conceivable to the natural human mind. The cross is filled with paradox. It is filled with mystery that towers over the human intellect. To think that the dereliction of the God-man should reconcile the derelict – to think that the God-man‘s willingness to be a victim in the face of evil should conquer evil. His abject weakness and ignominy in His passion should overpower the most powerful enemies of man. To think that succumbing to death should conquer death; that being made the curse of God should lift the curse of God; that death and entombment and resurrection should bring the redeemed from defiled dust to glory. This is made understandable to God‘s people through the Spirit.)
We are to glory in God and His mercies in Christ alone. In God‘s wisdom is infinite wisdom – wisdom that baffles natural reason, wisdom that towers over the human intellect, wisdom that is so infinitely far above man‘s greatest efforts (Plato etc.). God has as dualism, a dichotomy in His infinite wisdom. ―Christ and Him crucified‖ is the divine wisdom which invades the realm of human wisdom. Human wisdom is a feeble wisdom – God‘s wisdom invades like a wedge, piercing the impotent realm of human wisdom. (―Christ and Him crucified‖ is a double mystery which ‗scandalizes human wisdom. First, Christ Himself is God‘s mystery—Jesus is both God and man, and second, He was crucified for sinners in a perfect substitutionary atonement.)
2:1 – The power of God is manifested in the message of the church. Paul reflects upon his coming to them and calls the Corinthians to think about his coming to them – the contents of his message, his conduct, were all in agreement with the divine message. Paul‘s manner, mode, and appearance (humble, loving, trembling, Word of God-cross only, weak, unimpressive, “clay pot”) were in total synchrony with God‘s wisdom in Christ and Him crucified.
The ideal Greek man; was the epitome of human wisdom: strength, rhetoric, philosophy, pride, dynamism, partisanship, asceticism, man cult, Greek dualism (in the Corinthian church there was a dimension of Jewish religious elements and party spirit as well). The cross overturns all of this. God‘s value system is encompassed in God‘s dualism; Christ (the God-man incarnate and Him crucified). God is doing all through the cross.
(Note the ethics of the cross are found in 1 Peter 5 – ―to Him be the power forever.‖ 1 Peter 5 is the summary of the undershepherd‘s mindset.)
1 Cor 2 – God‘s wisdom and power. How is this wisdom applicable to us?
THE ANTITHESIS: God‘s wisdom and man‘s wisdom do not mix!
Paul always starts with Christ. He always takes his readers and converts back to Christ. This is how he deals with man-centeredness. Whether the issue is immorality (the body is for the Lord), ―cup of demons‖ (we don’t share in the cup of – discern the body of Christ – 1 Cor 11), the resurrection etc. Paul runs every problem at Corinth through the cross of Christ
Paul runs everything through Christ and Him crucified.
The citizens of Corinth envied the Athenians. In effect, Paul was saying,‖ you are trying to be like Athens.‖ You want a great rhetorical preacher in front of you. Paul was not trying to win them by his ability to communicate. Paul proclaimed that each local church was solely founded on Christ‘s cross (not on being a great communicator, not by adding anything to the cross).
Divine wisdom overturns human wisdom. (Note here the manhood of the first and last Adam. Christ‘s manhood was absolutely permeated with the mindset of Philippians 2:1-8. Christ had no ―will to power.‖ By contrast, the spirit of Athens had a fallen, Adamic value system of human wisdom characterized by boasting and self-assertion.)
2:7 – To know Christ and Him crucified is the point of beginning in the understanding of God‘s whole purpose of creation and redemption. So Paul says this wisdom was foreordained before the ages for our glory. We who behold the glory are being changed from glory into glory (2 Cor 3:18). God‘s wisdom leads to our glory. God‘s people are destined for glory, not shame – how this contrasts to the rulers of this age who are destined for shame.
2:8 – The sad irony is that the Corinthians in pursuing wisdom are pursuing what belongs to this age and is passing away (this is Paul‘s point – the rulers and wisdom of this age is on its way out). The rulers were blind; they hated truth, therefore they used human standards of wisdom. Christ‘s glory, manifested in His obedience unto death, was not recognized by the rulers of this age – they did not recognize Christ as the agent of God‘s salvation of man – therefore in their rebellion, they lose their glory.
2:12 – The spirit of the world loves spurious wisdom, but despises the wisdom of God in the cross. The Apostle and his co-laborers apprehend and possess these blessed things of God‘s wisdom in order to convey them to others.
2:14 – The natural man‘s incapacity is characterized by the fact that he can‘t welcome, receive, nor comprehend spiritual things. He cannot – he has no power to do so (Grk. dunatai).
Spiritual truth is spiritually discerned. The unregenerate man operates by the empirical, rational, reason – he is not up to the task to discern spiritual truth.
3:1 – (Grk. hos, hos, hos.) ―as, as, as,‖ – I would like to deal with you as spiritual people, but I cannot. I have to deal with you as fleshly, as babes (even though they were in Christ!).
Our message – there is one cross, one wisdom of God – But there are different reactions to God‘s message. We have one message; Christ and Him crucified. Our whole lives are to be built upon this one message (the response will vary – even within churches! A Scripture-based, cross-centered ministry is what is called for; if the brethren do not accept this one expression of love – God’s will for them in the Word from the heart, then they must be dealt with in another expression of love – discipline by the church and/or by God).
The Corinthian error – This error is what happens when believers imbibe the world‘s wisdom and make it the basis for values, relations, identity, church polity, decisions. The result is strife and jealousy (3:3).
3:6 – When you are planting and watering you can‘t see anything happening, but God is behind the scenes causing, giving the yet to be seen increase.
3:9 – The emphasis is altogether on God (emphatic genitive – ―of God‖ – we are fellow workers ―of God.‖) Possessive sense – it is God‘s church. He holds all of the individuals – He owns them all. We hold them lightly. All individuals; kids, friends, family, relations-- they all belong to God.
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book Life Together, pp. 33-37, makes the following remarkable observation concerning the difference between natural and spiritual love: ―[There] is a human love of one‘s neighbor. Such passion is capable of prodigious sacrifices. Often it far surpasses genuine Christian love in fervent devotion and visible results. It speaks the Christian language with overwhelming and stirring eloquence (1 Cor 13:3). [But] human love is directed to the other person for his own sake, spiritual love loves him for Christ’s sake. [By contrast] human love seeks direct contact with the other person; it loves him not as a free person but as one whom it binds to itself. It wants to gain, to capture by every means; it uses force. It desires to be irresistible, to rule. Human love has little regard for truth. It makes the truth relative, since nothing, not even the truth, must come between it and the beloved person. Human love cannot tolerate the dissolution of a fellowship that has become false for the sake of genuine fellowship, and human love cannot love an enemy, that is one who seriously and stubbornly resists it. Right here is the place where spiritual love begins. This is why human love becomes personal hatred when it encounters genuine spiritual love, which does not desire, but serves. Spiritual love comes from Jesus Christ; it serves Him alone; it knows that it has no immediate access to other persons. Jesus Christ stands between the lover and others he loves. Contrary to my own opinions and convictions, Jesus Christ will tell me what love toward the brethren really is. Therefore spiritual love is bound totally to the Word of Jesus Christ. Where Christ bids me to maintain fellowship for the sake of love, I will maintain it. Where his truth enjoins me to dissolve a fellowship for love‘s sake, there is where I will dissolve it, despite all the protests of my human love. [Spiritual] love commends itself in that everything it says and does commends Christ. It will not seek to move others by all too personal, direct influence, by impure interference in the life of another. It will rather meet the other person with the clear Word of God and be ready to leave him alone with this Word for a long time, willing to release him again in order that Christ may deal with him. It will respect the line that has been drawn between him and us by Christ, and it will find full fellowship with him in the Christ who alone binds us together.‖)
We are to find the place of giftedness – be fulfilled in that place of giftedness. Our delight is to see God‘s people in the place of God‘s intended giftedness (this is the whole of Paul‘s theme in 1 Cor 12).
3:11 – ―Careful how you build‖ – this is not (according to Pastor McDougall) addressed to the general congregation, but to the people building, the leaders. The thrust entails the fact that the clergy-laity split in the area of giftedness was not scriptural.
The evaluation of our work is how built with what materials. The issue is what lasts and what doesn‘t. The FOUNDATION for our building is God’s wisdom in the cross; Christ and Him crucified. This is the cornerstone which sets the pattern for the rest of the building. The foundation dictates the nature, shape, content of the structure. It shapes and dictates the quality and kind of work. Christ and Him crucified – Paul laid the foundation of Christ for all that the church does.
3:16 – The foundation of Christ and Him crucified produces an incredible tension here. You are in quality and by quality a temple, the dwelling place of God. You must see yourself and the local body in this way as the abode of God. The Church is Christ‘s abode. This alludes to a huge ecclesiological tension – pertinent to this is, ―whose idea will rule the church?‖ At the outset, the beginning – everyone must park their baggage at the door and abide in Christ (including the pastor).
3:17 – You play around with what is holy and God will deal with you. (Grk. oitineis – holiness is the referent here, not the temple.)
Careful how you build! To most professing Christians, the church is not a holy entity, it is a Christianized YMCA, not a holy of holies. They think they can do whatever they want to churches. To so many people, the church is a Christianized social group or country club. It‘s frustrating to preach this section because of the above sentiment. (Men who employ the world‘s wisdom attempt to run the church as ―Evangelical deists,‖ that is as if God started the Church, then left it to man to run in absentia, since ―Christ has departed.‖ The truth is, according to Paul, we are nothing but stewards – 1 Cor 4 – we carry out Christ‘s rules; we don‘t make the rules.)
Because people are security driven, they want structure and tradition, instead of the liberating principles of Scripture. This tendency is in tension with the Word of God – the carnal pull is toward methods, hyper-structuralism, and pragmatism.
3:18 -- The Corinthians were quarreling under their leaders under the guise of wisdom. Paul again erects the narrow gate of God‘s wisdom. He goes back to the theme of God‘s wisdom. Like a security check point, he wants his readers to walk through it like a metal detector that they might drop the world‘s wisdom like contraband. The wisdom of the
world cannot be developed into the wisdom of God.
The ―foolishness‖ of God‘s wisdom – Paul‘s intent is to show the saints their inheritance. The future is no cause for panic – it‘s already theirs. This is another way of saying, ―release the world‘s values and wisdom.‖
We could say that 1 Cor 3 reminds us not to exalt pastors too high (there is a level of loyalty and devotion that is reserved solely for Christ), and that 1 Cor 4 reminds us not to cut down pastors too much (pastors are Christ‘s gift to the church). ―Christ and Him crucified‖ as your wisdom will keep you from both errors. Paul exalts the role of the Corinthians in chapter 3 but diminishes their role in chapter 4. Sometimes we are afraid to tell the truth of chapter 3 – we (as pastors) fear the loss of power, influence and respect.
1 Corinthians 4 – It‘s remarkable just how eschatologically driven Paul is. The Corinthians‘ triumphalism was an overly realized eschatology that produced irresponsible behavior. Triumphal life will have to wait until the final triumph of Christ and the messianic age. The path now is after Christ‘s earthly life – it is the path of the cross, self denial, and death to self.
By contrast, the Corinthians thought they had arrived. They lived a ―power life‖ as above others (Grk. power -- dunamis). They lived a relational life of upsmanship, not servanthood through radical identification with Christ. (Note the ―over-under‖ Grk. hupo theology of the Corinthians in 2 Cor. – See Frederick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit, Eerdmans, 1974, pp. 285-319 – ―Huper: The Relevant Spiritual Problems in Corinth.‖)
Humility comes when we exalt Christ and the comprehensiveness of His crown rights. As Christ is displayed, the desire to know Him, worship Him, and emulate Him increases.
4:3 – It is so liberating to live under the eye of Christ. Paul reveals how he was set free from the fear of man, ―Your estimation of me and my life doesn‘t really carry much weight compared to the Judge who is the Lord.‖ It‘s not that we don‘t care what others say – it is the weight of the Lord‘s evaluation that counts. (As Spurgeon said, ―Compared to what Christ thinks of me, the opinions of others are like so many chirping sparrows.‖) If we had the above central truth straight, we wouldn‘t be so prone to strife and jealousy. Strife and jealousy are symptoms of living under the eye of man. (Grk. anakrino – the examination process. Krino – deals more with guilt or innocence.
(On judging the motives of others – we too often judge the motives of men – when we start being overly confident that we can judge the motives of men, we go beyond Scripture. We must not violate the only standard we have.)
4:11 – ―Let me tell you how we are living now!!‖ Note that the Apostles were suffering circumstances characterized by indignities – just the opposite of the grandiose state of the Corinthians.
We take a confident Scripture-based approach to ministry. This must be the norm. This is what ministry needs to be. If the brethren do not accept one expression of love (God‘s will in His Word) from the heart, then they must be dealt with in another expression of love (discipline by the church, and/or by God).