Lessons #31 and 32
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boasting (1 Cor 1:26-31)
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
This section of 1 Corinthians 1 may appear to be unconnected to the preceding section firstly because there is no connective at the beginning of verse 26 in majority of our English versions. Secondly, because the apostle introduced assertions that on a surface reading may seem out of place. However, that is not the case. To properly understand the message the Holy Spirit wants to convey to us through Apostle Paul in this section, it is important to recall the issues involved in the preceding contexts. The apostle had dealt with the problem of division in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 that involved partisan spirit that will certainly cause pride in that one boasts of loyalty to a recognized spiritual leader. The immediate, preceding section, that is, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 is concerned with the message of the cross. The message of the cross brings salvation to the elect who respond to it. The apostle had indicated that although its message is foolishness or makes no sense to non-elect unbelievers but those who are the elect apprehend it certainly through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They assess its message differently from even the wise or the learned of this world. In other words, we Christians, regardless of our education level understand the simple gospel message that the most educated unbelievers who are not aided by the Holy Spirit cannot understand. Their intellectual pursuit does not help them regarding comprehending the message of the cross. Thus, those who are the elect that hear that they have the right perception of the message of the cross may fall into the sin of pride and may not know it. You see, we humans are quick to boast when we perceive that we have advantage over others. Thus, it is not unlikely that those who hear the doctrine taught concerning how they understand what the highly educated, non-elect unbelievers do not, may boast about their status in Christ as if it depended on them. Thus, there are two possible causes for boasting so far in the preceding context; the partisan spirit and the message of the cross with focus, of course, on the message of the cross. Both can lead to boasting. Therefore, to prevent such taking place, the Holy Spirit through the apostle cautions the Corinthians against boasting in the wrong manner because of their position in Christ. Thus, the message of this section is: No one should boast about salvation since it involves God’s choices, but one can boast in the Lord.
The message we have given may cause problem to some because the word “salvation” or its equivalent does not appear in our passage. But, it is as we recall the preceding context as concerned with the message of the cross, that is concerned with salvation, that it becomes clearer that although our passage does not mention salvation directly that that is what the apostle had in mind as he wrote our passage. If the salvation was not in the mind of the apostle, then it would be difficult to understand the reason for the assertions of the apostle in this passage that indicate he was concerned about someone boasting of something that is not directly stated. Hence, it is salvation that is brought to the elect that was in the mind of the apostle as he wrote the section we are about to consider.
We indicated that it is difficult to recognize that our passage is connected to the preceding section because majority of our English versions have no connective at the beginning of verse 26 although the Greek has a connective in the verse. The connective that is used in verse 26 is a Greek conjunction (gar) that is often translated “for” in our English versions. Thus, it is not surprising that the English versions that are more literal such as the ESV and the NASB began verse 26 with the word “for.” That notwithstanding, the Greek conjunction used at the beginning of verse 26 has several usages. It may be used as a marker of reason or cause so that it may be translated in the English as “for, because.” Another usage is as a marker of inference hence means “certainly, by all means, so, then.” Another usage is as a marker of clarification with the meaning “for, you see.” However, under this usage we find other nuances. For example, it may be used in a narrative to mark continuation or connection. Another example is its usage to signal an important point or transition to another topic in which case it may be translated “now, well, then, you see.” The translators of the TEV probably had this usage in mind when they began verse 26 with the conjunction “now.” Of course, when the Greek conjunction is used to indicate a transition to another topic, it may not be translated. This usage seems to be the way majority of our English versions interpreted it since these versions contain no connective at the beginning of verse 26. That aside, it is probably that the apostle used the Greek conjunction to signal that he was changing his topic but that the topic is important because of the teaching of the preceding section. Hence, we contend that the apostle in using the Greek conjunction that is not translated in majority of our English versions, wanted us to recognize that although he moved into a different topic but that it is an important one that should be understood by linking it to the preceding section where his focus was on the message of the cross that brings salvation.
Be that as it may, as we have indicated, the message we believe the Holy Spirit wanted to convey to the Corinthians and so to us is this: No one can should about salvation since it involves God’s choices, but one can boast in the Lord. We will expound on this message by considering a major assertion of the apostle and a conclusion that is based on his main assertion. This approach is justified because there are two sentences in the Greek: long and short. The first long sentence in the Greek is given in verses 26 to 29 in the English while the short is given in verses 30 and 31 in the English. However, the concept of the first long sentence bleeds into the first part of the short sentence in verse 30 before a conclusion in verse 31. Thus, it is fitting to be concerned with a major assertion and a conclusion regarding the passage we are considering.
The major assertion of the apostle in this section is that no one can boast before God. Thus, the apostle intended to convey to the Corinthians, the original recipients, and so to all of us believers, that no one can boast before God as it relates to our salvation. There are three primary reasons the apostle made this assertion. The first reason concerned the status of the Corinthians before they were saved. It is this that is given in the instruction of 1 Corinthians 1:26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called which is an expanded translation of the Greek that reads consider your calling, brothers.
The instruction of the apostle is addressed to fellow believers in Corinth since he used a Greek word (adelphos) that may mean “brother” with several nuances. “Brother” may mean a male from the same womb as the referenced person, as the apostle used it to describe the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, James, in Galatians 1:19:
I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
It is not only one from the same womb that the word “brother” will apply but also one from the same ancestors as that is the sense Apostle Paul used it to address his fellow Jews in his defense that began in Acts 22:1:
“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”
The Greek word translated “brother” may refer to one who shares beliefs with another. Thus, Jesus calls those who are devoted to Him His brothers in Matthew 12:50:
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Similarly, those who believe in Christ, regardless of gender, are described as brothers in relationship to each other, as the apostle used it to describe fellow believers in Rome in Romans 1:13:
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
It is in this sense of those who belong to the family of God in Christ, that is, fellow Christians – male and female – that the apostle used it in our passage. Those, he addressed are believers in Corinth regardless of whether they were Jews or Gentiles. He perceived each believer as belonging to the same family of God in Christ as himself.
To ensure believers in Corinth and so all believers do not boast regarding their status in Christ in a wrong way, the apostle assigned us the responsibility of being thoughtful regarding our status prior to salvation although he originally addressed the Corinthians as in the expression of 1 Corinthians 1:26 think of what you were when you were called. The word “think” is translated from a Greek word (blepō) that may mean “to see,” that is, to perceive with the eye, as it is used in the apostle’s assertion in 2 Corinthians 4:18:
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
The Greek word may mean “to look at, observe” as the word is used in the declaration of angels to the disciples who were somewhat dejected as they watched the Lord Jesus ascend to heaven in Acts 1:11:
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
The word may mean “to watch, look out, be aware” as it is used by Apostle Paul in the instruction given regarding believers’ conduct in Galatians 5:15:
If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
The Greek word may refer to the processing of information in the sense that one gives thought to something hence, it means “to consider, to note, to direct one’s attention to something” as it is used in the instruction of Jesus Christ recorded in Luke 8:18:
Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”
It is in this sense of “to consider”, that is, to direct one’s thought to something in a thoughtful manner that the word is used in our passage.
It is important to recognize that the thoughtful consideration the apostle commands here is one that is to be ongoing, that is, that a believer should form the habit of considering what the apostle mentioned in the verse we are considering since he used a present tense in the Greek. In effect, the Holy Spirit expects us to do what is instructed here, again and again, until it is our habit. We can understand this requirement if we recognize that we have the constant tendency to be proud or boastful in the wrong way. Because we are constantly being tempted in the direction of being boastful in a wrong way, it is necessary for us to counter this temptation by continuously considering what the apostle indicated in the passage we are considering. If you have not begun to do this, the apostle in effect says you should begin right away to do it until it becomes your habit. Of course, I mean that you should do it not when this teaching is taking place but once you leave here. If you are already doing this, then continue to do it until it is a habit.
The thoughtful consideration the Holy Spirit through the apostle wants us to focus concerns our status prior to salvation. That it is our status prior to salvation that is involved is conveyed in the clause of the NIV of 1 Corinthians 1:26 of what you were when you were called that literally reads your calling that refers to what happened when the calling occurred. Although the translators of the NIV used a verbal form of the Greek word but we have a noun in the Greek. The literal word “calling” is translated from a Greek word (klēsis) that may refer to the invitation to experience special privilege and responsibility hence means “call, calling, invitation.” The sense of special invitation along with the responsibility that goes with it is implied in the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to the Ephesians, and so to all believers, in Ephesians 4:1:
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
The Greek word may refer to “a position one holds” or “station in life,” as the word is used in 1 Corinthians 7:20:
Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:26, it is in the sense of invitation to salvation that is actualized that the word is used. In other words, “calling” in our passage may be understood in terms of the result of the call which is salvation. The Scripture declares that God’s call cannot be withdrawn, as in Romans 11:29:
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
This being the case, it is impossible for God to extend the invitation to experience salvation and the recipient of the invitation would not be saved. Therefore, we contend that the Greek word in our passage although means “calling” refers to the actual salvation that occurred. Hence, the apostle’s instruction is for believers to ponder or contemplate their status prior to their salvation as that is the antidote to boasting in a wrong way with respect to salvation.
What then should a believer ponder? The Holy Spirit did not leave us to figure that out but provided us things we should ponder. The first thing the Corinthians and so all believers should ponder regarding their status prior to salvation is that many believers even before they were saved were not considered intellectuals according to the world’s estimation or standard. It is this fact that is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 1:26 Not many of you were wise by human standards.
The word “wise” is translated from a Greek adjective (sophos) that pertains to knowing how to do something in a skillful manner hence means “clever, skillful, experienced, expert” as it is used in 1 Corinthians 3:10:
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
It may pertain to understanding that results in wise attitudes and conduct hence means “wise, prudent” so it can be used to describe being learned and so refers to an individual with intelligence and education above the average person, as that is the sense of the word in Romans 1:14:
I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
The meaning “wise” may refer to a state that is divine and originates from God reflected in one’s conduct, as it is used in Romans 16:19:
Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:26 it has the sense of having intelligence and education above the average person so means “learned” or “wise.”
The Holy Spirit does not mean that there are no learned persons or intellectuals according to human standards among the Corinthians, and so among all believers but that they are few as that is the meaning reflected in the phrase not many of you. You see, from the time of Jesus Christ, the world has viewed believers as those who are not intellectuals or learned based on human standard. Jesus Himself recognized this truth in His thanksgiving to God the Father for revealing His truth to the disciples who were not learned according to world’s standard that Jesus described as “little children” in Luke 10:21:
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
The Jewish religious leaders considered those Jews who believed in the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry as those who are not learned in the Law, as we read in John 7:47–49:
47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”
The apostles were for the most part considered uneducated as evident in the description of Peter and John in Acts 4:13:
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
It is true that most of the apostles were not learned according to human standard but that does not mean that there was no exception since Apostle Paul was highly educated. The fact that he was an exception is in keeping with the phrase not many of you. The Holy Spirit does not deny there are those who are highly educated before their salvation but that they were not many in Corinth. This is also true today. There are not many today who are believers that can be considered highly educated so that what the Holy Spirit spoke through Paul to the Corinthians is still true and applicable today. Most of the highly educated people on the planet today are unbelievers; consequently, majority believers are not highly educated. The point is that from the inception of the Christian faith that many have considered Christians as people of low intellect or uneducated. Consequently, it was not surprising that the second century pagan Philosopher who attacked Christianity belittled the intellect of those who are Christians as reported in Origen’s rebuttal of his writing, as we quote here:
Their injunctions are like this. “Let no one educated, no one wise, no one sensible draw near. For these abilities are thought by us to be evils. But as for anyone ignorant, anyone stupid, anyone uneducated, anyone who is a child, let him come boldly.” By the fact that they themselves admit that these people are worthy of their God, they show that they want and are able to convince only the foolish, dishonourable and stupid, and only slaves, women, and children.[1]
It was not long ago in this country that a governor from Minnesota made similar comment to imply that Christians are ignorant people. That aside, the truth is that majority of Christians are not highly educated; nonetheless, there are some who are highly educated.
By the way, the phrase by human standards governs the word “wise” although some extended it to the other two things the apostle mentioned in our passage, influential and noble birth, but the Greek structure suggests that we limit the phrase to the description of the word “wise.”
Be that as it may. Why does the Holy Spirit through the apostle remind the Corinthians and so all believers of all times that not many of us are learned? It is to tell us that we should never become arrogant because of our understanding of spiritual matters that the highly educated have failed to comprehend. Even if one is highly educated prior to salvation, it should also be clear to such an individual that because most of those in the same class as the individual in terms of education do not understand the message of the cross that it is not because of his/her high intellect that the person understands that message but God in His wisdom has opened the individual’s minds to perceive the message of the cross that makes no sense to the non-elect unbelievers. God has showered such a person with His grace. We are who we are in Christ because of God’s goodness and good pleasure and not because of any thing else.
The second thing the Corinthians and so all believers should ponder regarding their status prior to salvation is that many believers were not considered prominent individuals or politically powerful or connected. It is this fact that is given in the next phrase of 1 Corinthians 1:26 not many were influential. The word “influential” is translated from a Greek adjective (dynatos) that may mean “prominent” as it is used in Governor Festus’ suggestion to the Jews to provide those who will go with him to Caesarea to present their charges against Paul, as recorded in Acts 25:5:
Let some of your leaders come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong.”
The expression Let some of your leaders come with me is more literally Let those among you who are prominent go down with me. The Greek word may mean “competent, expert, skilled, adept” as it is used to describe Apollos in Acts 18:24:
Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.
The phrase with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures is literally powerful in the Scriptures. The Greek word may pertain to “being possible” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to instruct believers to live in peace with everyone in Romans 12:18:
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
The word may mean “able, capable, powerful” as it is used to describe a qualification of an overseer in Titus 1:9:
He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
The sentence he can encourage others is more literally he may be able also to exhort. In our passage, of 1 Corinthians 1:26, the sense of the Greek word is as a description of someone who is characterized by having some degree of authority or influence, especially in a political sense.
We should understand that the phrase of 1 Corinthians 1:26 not many were influential does not mean that there are no believers who are prominent; for there are, but that there are few believers who could be considered prominent or influential. For example, Joseph of Arimathea that arranged for the burial of the body of Jesus was certainly prominent being a wealthy person, as implied in John 19:38:
Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away.
The Proconsul that responded to the gospel through the Apostle Paul’s ministry was both educated and prominent as we can gather from Acts 13:7, 12:
7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.
12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
Erastus, who was a director of public works in his city was certainly an influential person that is mentioned in Romans 16:23:
Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.
These examples notwithstanding, the truth is that there were not many prominent or influential people that were believers in Corinth as it is also true today. In any case, the Holy Spirit through the apostle wanted to remind the Corinthians and so all believers that most of us are not influential or prominent. This should keep us from being boastful in the wrong way, knowing that our salvation is not based on any prominence on our part.
The third thing the Corinthians and so all believers should ponder regarding their status prior to salvation is that many believers were not considered as belonging to human royalties or the aristocratic families or in the higher classes of any society. It is this assertion that is given in the last phrase of 1 Corinthians 1:26 not many were of noble birth.
The expression “noble birth” is translated from a Greek word (eugenēs) that appears three times in the NT; it may pertain to having high status, with the possible implication of special family relations contributing to such status so means “well-born, high-born, important.” It is in this sense that the word is used with the meaning “noble birth” in the NIV in the Lord’s parable recorded in Luke 19:12:
He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return.
The Greek word may pertain to having qualities expected of those well-born, especially the quality of being willing to learn and evaluate something fairly, hence means “noble-minded, open-minded.” It is in this sense that the word is used to describe the Bereans who were receptive to what they heard from Paul so that they invested time to examine the OT Scripture, as we read in Acts 17:11:
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:26, it is in the sense of “well-born” or “noble birth” that it is used. Thus, the Holy Spirit intended to convey that most believers in Corinth in general were not those from famous families of the world or those from human royalties. We have examples of those associated with famous families in the Scripture but there is no indication that they were of noble birth. For example, one of the teachers of the early church, Manaen that was brought up with Herod the tetrarch that was himself of a noble birth, but we are not sure he was of noble birth, as we can gather from Acts 13:1:
In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
We also have a reference of those who belonged to the household of Caesar mentioned in Philippians 4:22:
All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.
However, there is no indication that those mentioned here were of noble birth as they could have been slaves in Caesar’s household. Anyway, the point is that there are not many believers who belong to human royalties. This being the case, the Holy Spirit wants believers to recognize that their salvation is not because of something they could cling to such as human nobility. Instead, it is God’s grace and goodness that will take people who are ordinary inby human standard and make them members of God’s royal family described as royal priests in 1 Peter 2:9:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
In any event, the first reason for the assertion that no one can boast before God is because of the status of the Corinthians and so all believers when they were saved.
The second reason for the assertion that no one can boast before God is because God removed basis of boasting through His choices and purposes served by His choices. The choices of God that remove any basis of boasting concerned three things in the passage we are considering. But before the apostle describe them, he conveys to us the sense of contrast between what these choices are and what human standards approve or value. This contrast is introduced with the word but that begins verse 27. It is used to indicate that the things God chose, stand in stark contrast to what we, humans, value or consider important. We value education, power or influence and royalties or privileges associated with royalty or being well-born. However, in contrast to these, God’s choices are things we will not expect. Hence, the conjunction but alerts us that the choices of God the apostle described here are not what we will expect God to make for His purposes. With this signaling of contrast, the apostle proceeds with the contrasting things God chose for His purpose.
The first thing God chose concerns what people would consider ridiculous or makes no good sense. It is this that is given in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 1:27 God chose the foolish things of the world. What does the apostle mean in this sentence? To answer this question requires consideration of the three key words used in the Greek.
The first is the word “chose” that is translated from a Greek word (eklegomai) that may mean “to gather” as it concerns crops as it is used in Jesus’ teaching stated in Luke 6:44:
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.
The verbal phrase pick figs is literally gather figs. The word may mean “to choose” with indication of that from which the selection is made hence Jesus is said to choose His disciples from the world in John 15:19:
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
The word may mean “to select someone/something”, that is, to make a choice in accordance with significant preference. Thus, the word is used to indicate that God chose Israel’s forefathers in the sermon Apostle Paul delivered in Pisidian Antioch, as we can gather from Acts 13:17:
The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country,
The word is used to indicate that the choice is made with a purpose, as in God’s choice of the elect for a purpose, according to Ephesians 1:4:
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
It is in the sense of selecting someone or something for a purpose that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:27.
The second key word is the word “foolish” that is translated from a Greek adjective (mōros) that means “foolish, stupid.” It is, of course, in the sense of not making good sense that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 1:27. The adjective has a definite article associated with it that led the translators of the NIV to render the Greek phrase as foolish things. The phrase gives the impression that the apostle means things that do not involve humans. However, according to Greek authorities, the Greek phrase may also apply to persons. Thus, the phrase in our passage refers both to persons and concepts. This understanding will help in our interpretation of what the apostle intended to convey in the sentence God chose the foolish things of the world.
The third key word is “world” that is translated from a Greek word (kosmos) that may mean “world” in the sense of the planet earth as a place of inhabitation, as in the venue of preaching of the gospel in Matthew 26:13:
I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
It may mean “the world” in the sense of humanity in general as it is used to describe how all humans are held accountable before God in Romans 3:19:
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
The phrase the whole world certainly refers to people and not the world as a place of habitation of people. The Greek word may mean the world as the system of human existence in its many aspects including the system of practices and standards that conflict with the word of God, as that is the sense of the world that Apostle Paul said was crucified to him in Galatians 6:14:
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
It is in the sense of humanity in general that the Greek word translated “world” is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:27.
Our consideration of the key words used in the sentence God chose the foolish things of the world indicates that the apostle meant to say that God chose not only the message of the cross to bring about His purpose in salvation but that He chose from humanity individuals that the world would not have chosen as recipient of salvation. You see, the apostle had indicated that not many believers were wise, influential, and of noble birth; consequently, those God chose would not have been chosen if humans were involved in the matter of salvation.
God’s choice of the message of the cross and the elect of who are not highly esteemed by the world has a purpose, which is to humiliate the wise of this world as in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 1:27 to shame the wise.
The word “shame” is translated from the Greek verb (kataischynō) that may mean “to disappoint” as the apostle used it in relation to hope in Romans 5:5:
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Another meaning of the Greek word is “to dishonor, disgrace” as the apostle used it to describe the situation of a man that prays with his head covered in 1 Corinthians 11:4:
Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.
The Greek word may mean “to put to shame” as it is used in the way of conduct expected of believers in order to silence the critics, as we read in 1 Peter 3:16:
keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
It is in the sense of “to put to shame” or “to humiliate” that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 1:27. The wise will be humiliated publicly whether they know it or not when it is shown that God chose those they would not expect to receive His salvation as its recipients.
In any case, the apostle indicates that God’s purpose for the choice He made regarding the message of the cross and the choice of the recipients of eternal salvation is to put to shame the wise. The “wise”, of course, refers to the learned or highly educated people of the world. They have their expectation of how salvation should come through human learning or philosophy, but God chose the message of the cross to bring this about which they consider ridiculous. Their expectation is that the beneficiaries of salvation should be those who are wise, influential and of high-born of the society, but God stunned them by those He chose as recipients of salvation. God often does things that will stun people who rely on their human understanding. For example, the psalmist wrote of praise for God coming from children instead of adults in Psalm 8:2:
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
The Lord Jesus demonstrated the same thing in that when He chose His disciples, He stunned people because of the type of persons He chose. Take for example, no religious Jew would have a high opinion of a tax collect but Jesus chose a tax collector as His disciple, according to Matthew 9:9:
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
In any event, the first thing God chose that is contrary to human expectation involved not only the message of cross for salvation but His choice of the recipients of salvation that consist primarily those who by human standard are not wise, not influential, and not of noble birth or not well born to shame those who are learned of this world.
03/16/18
[1] Quoted by Origen in Contra Celsum 3.44 (transl. H. Chadwick; Cambridge, 1965, p. 158). Origen rightly goes on to respond, on the basis of 1 Cor 1:26, that this is not the whole picture, but in so doing he quite neglects Paul’s own point.