He also knows the inconceivable plan of the Lord to save sinners in Christ. No one can search the heart of God except the Holy Spirit! It is the very work of the Spirit to search all things, even the deep things of God (cf. In Paul’s preaching the Spirit was speaking, the Spirit who revealed the secret thoughts of God’s heart. But the Corinthians should not be mistaken.

Paul’s preaching was indeed totally different from the philosophers’ stirring speeches. What has been hidden from eternity is now revealed by the Spirit: the unique wisdom of God in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the salvation of lost sinners. For in this preaching the Holy Spirit him self is active as the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. The apostles and all those who accept their preaching in faith may know this unique wisdom of God. In the light of this divine wisdom, all human wisdom is exposed as foolishness. Never has anything like that come up in the heart of man never has anybody seen or heard anything like this. God’s plan of salvation for lost sinners is a unique wisdom indeed. But it was the wisdom of God that by its nature is a divine mystery, that for centuries was hidden from man, until God revealed it in Jesus Christ. This was not the wisdom that triumphed in Corinth and by which the rulers of the world let themselves be governed. Actually his preaching contained an exceptional wisdom, namely, the hidden wisdom of God. But that does not mean that he did not proclaim wisdom. Indeed, the apostle did not come with verbal power, with impressive speech full of beautiful, profound ideas after worldly taste. If God would not prevent it, the congregation would become estranged from the gospel and would exchange the wisdom of God for the wisdom of the world. What could someone, who could not even stand in the shadow of those highly educated teachers of wisdom, tell them? Actually they thought that the apostle’s performance did not make the grade. In fact, in his preaching Paul avoided everything the people of Corinth appreciated so highly in the itinerant philosophers. Paul did not speak with lofty eloquence, with fascinating arguments and brilliant word play. Paul’s way of doing things was so different from that of the wisdom teachers to which they were accustomed. They started to ask critical questions about Paul’s performance.

Philosophers and wisdom teachers visited the city and knew how to captivate the citizens with their eloquent speeches.įrom this letter it is evident that the Christians in this city were quite impressed by the imposing, cultural society in which they lived. Its location made it also an influential cultural city. As a prominent harbor city it had a very diversified population. Corinth was one of the chief cities of the large Roman Empire. There is a reason why the apostle deals with this so extensively in the first part of his letter. This wisdom forms a sharp contrast to all that sophisticated man commends as wisdom.

He lays it upon the hearts of the congregation of Corinth that true wisdom, the wisdom of God, is revealed in the gospel of the crucified Christ. In the first chapters of this letter Paul takes a passionate stand against the wisdom of the unbelieving world. Some translators have placed the heading “True wisdom” above this part of Scripture in which we find our text.

Define eloquent wisdom