1 Corinthians 1:26-31

26: For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
27: but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
28: and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,
29: so that no man may boast before God.
30: But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
31: so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

*** 

In continuing his thought about the “wise” of the world thinking the message of the cross was foolish, Paul asked them to look at who God had chosen to reveal His gospel to, and through. He hadn’t called many worldly-wise men, or the mighty or noble, but He chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak to shame the strong. The things that were simple, even undesirable, even the things that were not, to nullify the things that were.

In Matthew 11:25 we see Jesus thanking the Father for hiding these things from the wise and intelligent and revealing them to infants. God chose to do it this way on purpose so no one might boast before God. He wanted it clear that no man can save himself apart from God’s grace. It’s entirely because of His doing that anyone is in Christ.

Paul quoted Jeremiah 9:23-24 to say that him who boasts, should boast in the Lord. The only thing worth boasting about is not one’s own success, but that he understands and knows the Lord. Are wisdom and intelligence wrong? No, of course not, if it’s God’s wisdom. In fact, Jesus has become wisdom to us, along with righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It’s the “wisdom” of men, of the world, that causes arrogance and stumbling. The humble and simple of heart are the ones God gives His great treasures of both salvation and wisdom to.

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