Lessons #39 and 40
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+ 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. +
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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.”
We have been considering the things the Father made the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for us. The first is described with the word “wisdom” that is, He is the display of God’s wisdom regarding our salvation in the clause of 1 Corinthians 1:30 who has become for us wisdom from God. The second is the agent of us having right standing with God. In other words, that Jesus Christ is the One who gave us the position of good standing with God in the sense of our eternal salvation. It is this standing that is given in the next verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 1:30 that is, our righteousness. The third is the agent of us being dedicated to God as His own people given in verse 30 with the word holiness. So, we come to the fourth.
The fourth and final thing in the section we are considering the Father made the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for us is the agent of forgiveness of our sins or deliverance from the bondage of sin. It is this fact that is given in the last phrase and redemption of 1 Corinthians 1:30. What is redemption as used in our passage? To answer this question, requires examining the Greek word translated “redemption.”
Our examination of the Greek word translated “redemption” begins with consideration of related Greek words. The Greek noun used is our passage is related to a Greek verb (lytroō) that literally mean to “redeem”, that is, to free by paying a ransom so that the word is used for liberation of a slave or a prisoner. In the Septuagint, the word is used of human’s freeing something by substituting one thing for another as in the redeeming of the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb in Exodus 13:13:
Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.
However, in the Septuagint, the Greek word is overwhelming used of God’s action hence it is used of God’s redeeming of the Israelites from slavery, as in the Septuagint of Deuteronomy 7:8:
But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
The translators of the Septuagint used our Greek word to translate a Hebrew word (pādâh) that means “to redeem, deliver, save.” Hence, our Greek word is also used in the Septuagint to convey God’s deliverance of David from troubles in 2 Samuel 4:9:
David answered Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of all trouble,
It is in the sense of God acting favorably to one in trouble that our Greek word is used in the psalmist’s prayer of deliverance from oppression in Psalm 119:134:
Redeem me from the oppression of men, that I may obey your precepts.
In the NT, our Greek verb is used with the meaning “to set free, redeem, rescue” in the sense of liberating from oppressive situation. The oppressive situation may be that of a repressive government as it was the situation of Roman domination that some Jews had expected Jesus Christ to rescue or set them free from, as recorded in Luke 24:21:
but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.
The oppressive situation may involve sinfulness as it is used of Jesus’ deliverance of us from wickedness in Titus 2:14:
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
The word “wickedness” here refers to a state or condition of being disposed to what is lawless but lawlessness is sin so that it is from sin that Jesus Christ redeemed us through His death on the cross. Our Greek verb is used figuratively in the sense of freeing by paying a ransom as it is used to describe our salvation accomplished by the death of Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 1:18–19:
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Thus, our Greek verb means “to redeem, to set free, to deliver.”
We have a Greek noun related to the one used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:30. It is a Greek word (lytrōsis) that refers to the experience of being liberated from an oppressive situation, hence means “ransoming, releasing, redemption.” It is in this sense that the word is used in Zechariah’s song in Luke 1:68
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.
The verbal phrase has redeemed is literally has done redemption for. It is with the meaning “redemption” that the word is used to describe what Jesus accomplished for us, as recorded in Hebrews 9:12:
He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
Thus, both the verb and the noun we considered convey the sense of freeing from oppressive state.
In anyway, the word “redemption” in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:30 is translated from a Greek word (apolytrōsis) that originally meant “buying back” a slave or a captive, that is, a prisoner of war, by paying a ransom. The word appears only once in the Septuagint where it is translated as a verb in most of our English versions in connection with the recovery of Nebuchadnezzar from his mental illness or madness in Daniel 4:34:
At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
The expression my sanity was restored is more literally the redemption came to me.
The word in the NT is used in two ways. It means “release” or “set free” so it is used for martyrs who refused release in return for denying of their faith in Hebrews 11:35:
Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection.
In this passage, the translators of the NIV handled the Greek noun as a verb since the expression refused to be released of the NIV is more literally not accepting release. Another meaning of the Greek noun in question is “redemption, deliverance.” It is this meaning of the word that is used primarily in the NT. It seems that there is the attempt to retain the basic meaning of the word as redemption based on payment of a ransom, as indicated by the fact that the translators of the NIV used the meaning “ransom” to translate our Greek word in Hebrews 9:15:
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
However, despite the use of the word “ransom” in the NIV, majority of our English versions used the meaning “redemption” or “deliverance” in this passage. Thus, our Greek word has the sense of “redemption” or “deliverance” or even “restoration.” To understand the further meaning of our word we need to consider its usage in Ephesians 1:7, a passage we will focus because “redemption” is mentioned in Ephesians 1:7:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
There is no agreement among scholars as to how the word “redemption” is to be understood in its appearance in Ephesians 1:7. Two general approaches have been advocated in consideration of our Greek word in this passage. A first approach is to take it as a metaphor and the second is to consider it not as a metaphor but as a word that simply means freedom. This second approach while it makes sense is unlikely because if the apostle meant “freedom” he would have used a Greek word (eleutheria) that means “freedom” since he used that Greek word to describe the freedom that Christ brought to us, as recorded in Galatians 5:1:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
For this reason, it seems to me that it is the approach that takes the Greek word in Ephesians 1:7 as a metaphor that is the correct one.
Be that as it may, the approach that takes the Greek word as a metaphor has its problems because those who take the word as a metaphor interpret the metaphor in two different ways. A first interpretation is that the word refers to the freeing of a slave or captive by the payment of a ransom. The implication is that the metaphor indicates Christ redeemed us by dying for us like a slave is redeemed by the payment of a ransom. A second interpretation is that while the metaphor is that of freeing from slavery but that there is no ransom paid for redemption. It is suggested by some that the apostle’s view of redemption is colored by the subject of redemption in the OT. There is the redemption of one who enslaves himself to others because of economic situation but the person retains the right of redemption, as given in Leviticus 25:48–49:
48 he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his relatives may redeem him: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.
This situation notwithstanding, it is indicated that primary in the apostle’s mind is the deliverance or redemption of Israel from slavery in Egypt in a passage we cited previously, that is, Deuteronomy 7:8:
But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
The redemption or deliverance of Israel from Egypt did not involve any ransom but the display of God’s power. Thus, it is argued that the redemption the apostle had in mind involved no ransom price.
Which of these two interpretations of the metaphorical approach is correct? The approach that indicates no payment of ransom avoids the problem as to whom the ransom was paid but has problems with facts that support the approach of payment of ransom. The Scripture indicates severally that salvation involves ransom. In the gospels, we are informed that Jesus gave His life as a ransom, for example, in Matthew 20:28:
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Apostle Paul indicates that a price was involved with believer’s salvation, as he penned in 1 Corinthians 7:23:
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
In another passage, the apostle concords with the assertion in the gospel, of Jesus giving Himself as a ransom for us in 1Timothy 2:6:
who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.
In addition to these passages, the idea of paying a price is indicated in the phrase through his blood of Ephesians 1:7. Based on these passages, I believe that the position that takes the approach that our Greek word that is rendered “redemption” is a metaphor of being freed or released through a ransom is one that the apostle intended. However, the emphasis is on the result of redemption and not in the ransom paid as the apostle probably did not intend for us to press on every detail of the metaphor.
In any event, in keeping with the basic meaning of the Greek word translated “redemption” of being set free or being released, then redemption requires an object or objects from which one is to be set free or delivered. It happens that the Scripture presents to us different objects in connection with redemption.
Redemption could refer to being set free or delivered from physical and spiritual assaults of all the forces of evil or deliverance from suffering and tribulation as well as the consummation of our salvation. It is in this sense that the word “redemption” is used in Jesus’ address to His disciples in Luke 21:28:
When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Redemption could refer to the deliverance or being set free from bodily decay or limitation of the body. In this sense, the word redemption has the sense of the transformation of the body as implied in the assertion of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in Romans 8:23:
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
It is difficult to understand the phrase the redemption of our bodies if it does not mean that our body will be set free from decay and from its limitations. The way our body is set free from decay or its limitations is for the body to be completely transformed. This is exactly what the Holy Spirit says will take place with respect to our bodies in Philippians 3:21:
who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Redemption also refers to deliverance or being set free from the bondage of sin or guilt. This deliverance or being set free from sin is indeed described as forgiveness of sins as the Holy Spirit asserted through Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:14:
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
It is in this sense of redemption that involves forgiveness of sins that the Greek word translated redemption is used in, Ephesians 1:7 since the assertion given in it is similar to the one that relates redemption to forgiveness of sins here in Colossians. Anyway, we need to note few facts regarding redemption as presented in the Scripture.
First, redemption has a present aspect and a future aspect. The present aspect of redemption is evident in Ephesians 1:7 we cited in the sentence we have redemption. The word “have” is translated from a present tense of a Greek word (echō) that means “to have or possess.” The present tense implies that redemption is a present reality to those who are believers in Christ, those who have been adopted into the family of God. There is a sense in which we can say that redemption is part of our experience even as we deal with sin. Believers at the present time should experience daily deliverances from sin so that we can say we have a present redemption from sin. Although redemption is our present possession but there is still redemption that is in the future. That there is a future aspect to redemption is evident from the fact that we indicated that our bodies will be transformed in the future as part of our redemption. Of course, the apostle in his epistle to the Ephesians also conveys the sense that redemption is yet a future event, as he stated in Ephesians 1:14:
who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Later in the same epistle, the apostle conveys that redemption is still a future event because he spoke of what will happen on the day of redemption in Ephesians 4:30:
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
The day of redemption, no doubt, involves the time when we enter the fullness of our inheritance that God has promised us. That notwithstanding, we have received redemption at the present, but we must wait for final redemption in the future.
Second, redemption is involved with the act of God putting believers in right relationship with Himself or, as some put it, the act in which God pronounces men acquitted or not guilty in His sight, that is, justification. This fact is stated in Romans 3:24:
and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Third, redemption is achieved through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. This fact is stated in the passage of Ephesians 1:7 we cited since we are told that redemption is through the death of Jesus Christ in the phrase through his blood. The Greek preposition (dia) rendered “through” in Ephesians 1:7 is used as a marker of means or instrument. This means that the phrase his blood refers to the means or the instrument by which redemption is accomplished. This means or instrument of bringing about redemption is not something that we can fully understand. It is for this reason that we indicated we should not press hard on every detail of the metaphor of redemption in our passage as the means of redemption does not necessarily mean that ransom was paid in the sense that a captor is compensated to free a slave. No! The Holy Spirit simply tells us that the blood of Christ is the means or instrument for achieving redemption. Of course, the phrase his blood presents much difficulty to many believers.
The problem with the phrase his blood is that many Christians are ignorant of what this means simply because of such songs as “what can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus” or “there is power in the blood of Jesus.” Or because we see the term “sprinkling” associated with the blood of Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 1:2:
who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Furthermore, we read of blood of Jesus purifying us from sin in 1 John 1:7:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
Because of these passages and related ones in the Scripture, many Christians take blood of Jesus in a literal sense implying that the literal blood of Jesus is what washes away their sins or that there is power in the literal blood of Jesus. Those who think that way really do not give a serious thought as to what it is that they believe. For, one thing, the blood of Jesus that dropped on the ground of Golgotha dried up or clotted immediately so that there is no physical blood that could wash away a person’s sins. Even if that blood did not dry up or clotted, it was not sufficient to keep washing away sins of people. Besides, sin is not a physical item as it is a rebellion against God. When we commit a physical act that indicates sin, it is not so much the physical act that is the sin as it is the rebellion against God who has commanded against the physical act. For example, a man has sex with the wife, and it is not a sin but if those who are not married to each other do the same thing, it is a sin. Why? Is it not because such involved rebellion against God’s word that forbids it. We are saying that sin is immaterial in that we cannot touch the actual thing called sin. We are only aware of physical acts but not the sin itself. We may view sin as the radio waves that we send to God when we disobey Him. Sin is that which registers before God that a person has rebelled against Him and so it is not a physical thing like the stain on clothes. So, how can a physical thing like blood wash away our sin that is an act of rebellion against God? My point is that people who think of blood of Jesus in terms of His physical blood are not being realistic in their thinking, if at all they are doing so. Generally, the phrase his blood or “blood of Christ” refers to the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. In case, you are not fully convinced that the mention of the blood of Christ is the same as His death, let us look at two passages concerned with the subject of reconciliation, to give rest to any doubt as to the meaning of the blood of Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul says that God reconciled us to Himself through the death of His son, that is, Jesus Christ, in Romans 5:10:
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
The same apostle spoke of the idea of God reconciling Himself to all things but this time he used the same phrase his blood that is used in Ephesians 1:7 in Colossians 1:20:
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
If reconciliation mentioned in Romans 5:10 is through the death of Jesus Christ, certainly it is the same reconciliation that the apostle had in mind in Colossians. But instead of using the word “death” in association with Christ he used the word “blood” that was shed on the cross. Therefore, there can be no doubt that the blood of Jesus Christ refers to His death on the cross. The point then is that the blood of Christ should not be thought of in a literal sense but in a figurative sense to refer to His sacrificial death on the cross. In any event, the third fact we stated is that redemption is achieved through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross since the apostle used the phrase his blood in Ephesian 1:7. We have established that the phrase refers to Jesus death on the cross for our sins; hence, the Holy Spirit wants us to recognize that redemption, whether we look at it from our present status or as a future event, it is only possible because of the death of Jesus Christ.
Fourth, redemption involves forgiveness of sins. This point is clearer if we read again the first clause of Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. The Greek syntax enables us to recognize that the word “redemption” is related to the word “forgiveness” because both words are the direct objects (i.e. accusative) of the verb have in the Greek. Without considering the Greek syntax used in our passage, let me use our English translations to show that redemption is related to forgiveness of sins. If we ignore for the moment the phrase through his blood then the clause reads In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. This resultant clause is the same as we find in a passage, we previously cited, that is, Colossians 1:14:
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Hence, we assert that redemption is the same as forgiveness of sins in the sense of being set free from sins. The point is that redemption involves forgiveness of sins. In any event, the fourth thing the Father made the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the agent of our redemption, that is, the forgiveness of our sins. It is this truth that is conveyed by asserting that Jesus Christ has become for us “redemption.” With this we have examined the major assertion or thesis of the passage we are considering, which is that no one can boast before God because of the reasons we have considered. Therefore, we consider the final concern of our passage which is a conclusion.
Our use of the word “conclusion” is to be understood as that which expresses the end of the apostle’s teaching about boasting that we indicated is the dominant theme or thesis of the section of 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 that we have been expounding. That aside, the apostle ends his teaching in verse 31 that he began with a Greek conjunction (hina) that in our context is subject to two possible interpretations. The conjunction may be interpreted as a marker of result in which case it may be translated with “so that” or “therefore” as it is used in the NIV to begin verse 31 or it may be interpreted as a marker of purpose or objective, leading to the translation “in order that” or “that.” Both interpretations are represented in our English versions although some English versions such as the NJB and GW did not directly translate the Greek conjunction. Nonetheless, although in some context, it is difficult to differentiate purpose from result, it is probably the case in our passage that the apostle used the conjunction to indicate both purpose and result in the sense that the purpose should lead to an expected result. This notwithstanding, it is probably that the apostle was more focused on result than he was of purpose. We say this because result would be more fitting if we take the main assertion of the apostle as the declaration that believers are in Christ that is given in verse 30 or that he was referring to all that God has done for us in Christ. Thus, the apostle would be saying that one of the results of being in Christ is what he stated in verse 31 regarding boasting.
The apostle could have stated the result directly, but he demonstrated an important principle that should govern all believers, which is that our actions should be governed by the Scripture. One of the troubling things today among us Christians is that we are quick to do things because others do them or because it is considered popular instead of questioning the basis of whatever the practice is. In other words, we seem not to be overly concerned that our practices should be rooted in the Scripture. This was not the case with the apostle. He had great deference for the Scripture although he himself was writing part of the Scripture as the Holy Spirit directed him. Therefore, to show that he had great deference to the Scripture, he stated the result he expected by citing the existing Scripture that dealt with the result he expected of believers, as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
The formula it is written is one that is usually used in the NT or even in the OT to introduce a quotation from the OT Scripture. The formula may be used to make reference to an existing Scripture passage without actually quoting the exact words used but refers to the subject matter as Daniel used the formula in referencing the judgment of his people in his prayer in Daniel 9:13:
Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.
However, the formula is often used in direct quotation. The apostle used the formula in quoting a passage that does not exactly match what we have quoted in 1 Corinthians 1;31. The quotation does not match any specific sentence in the Scripture since the apostle quoted from Jeremiah 9:24:
but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.
Clearly this passage does not contain the exact wordings the apostle cited because the Hebrew text used the pronoun “this”, but the apostle used the word “LORD” in its place. He was able to do this because he wrote under the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that he considered what he wrote as what the Holy Spirit conveyed through Prophet Jeremiah. By the way the word LORD in the original context of Jeremiah refers to the God of Israel but in 1 Corinthians 1:31, it is a reference to Jesus Christ whom the apostle had mentioned several times in the section we are considering. Furthermore, when the apostle used the word “Lord”, he generally refers to the Lord Jesus Christ so when he quoted the passage and supplied the word “Lord,” he would have been thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Anyway, the apostle’s concern is with the proper boasting that is to be done in the Lord and not about anything a human has done or achieved so he states Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. To understand what the apostle conveyed here we need to examine the word “boast”, which is a review of what we have done in a previous study of 1 Corinthians 1:29, although with some additions.
The word “boast” is translated from a Greek verb (kauchaomai) that means to express an unusually high degree of confidence in someone or something being exceptionally noteworthy and so means “to boast.” However, there are several nuances to the Greek word. It may mean “to brag”, that is, to say something boastfully, as in Romans 2:17:
Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;
The word may mean to rejoice as Apostle Paul used it to describe his attitude and that of his team towards suffering for Christ in Romans 5:3:
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
The clause we also rejoice in our sufferings is literally we also boast in our afflictions. The Greek word may mean “to glory”, that is, to take great pride or pleasure in something or to rejoice proudly, as in Philippians 3:3:
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
The verbal phrase glory in Christ Jesus is literally boasting in Christ Jesus. The Greek word may mean to “to take pride”, as in 2 Corinthians 5:12:
We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.
The verbal phrase to take pride in us is literally to boast about us. Hence, we see that our Greek word can be used in different ways. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:31, it is used positively with the meaning “to boast” in the sense of displaying or proclaiming publicly of being satisfied or content in the achievements of Christ on our behalf.
Boasting can be right or wrong depending on the object or reason for it. Boasting that is wrong is one that self-centered so that God is left out or robbed of His glory and a human claims credit for what God has done. Apostle Paul mentioned this kind of wrong boasting as that which characterized his opponents who want to boast as to the number of people they get to become circumcised, as we read in Galatians 6:13:
Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh
As we indicated, when God is left out in any kind of boasting then it is wrong, as conveyed in James 4:16:
As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.
In the context of James, the boasting that is evil is any kind of assertion about the future that is devoid of the recognition that God controls the future as should be indicated by prefacing such assertion by saying if God wills or permits or by the thought that a person’s plan is wholly in God’s hand.
The right kind of boasting is one that is centered on God or what He did or does through others or directly. Thus, we have examples of the right kind of boasting in the Scripture. Apostle Paul indicates that his boasting is in what Christ did on the cross hence, his assertion of wanting to boast about the cross of Christ 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 not only the cross of Christ that led the apostle to boast but also the impact of the cross in the spiritual lives of believers. Therefore, the apostle boasted about those who excel in their spiritual life, as he did to Titus regarding the Corinthians, according to 2 Corinthians 7:14:
I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well.
He did the same thing in praising the Corinthians to the Macedonians concerning their generosity, as we read in 2 Corinthians 9:2:
For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.
The apostle also boasted about an aspect of the spiritual life of the Thessalonians, as we read in 2 Thessalonians 1:4:
Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
Anyway, we should be careful about boasting that is self-centered. The apostle was careful of this that when he boasted of the revelations he had received from the Lord, he used the third person, as in 2 Corinthians 12:5:
I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.
The “man” the apostle meant is himself. It is because he was cautious regarding boasting about self that he used the third person in his boasting of the visions he received from the Lord. A reason we should be careful not to boast about self is so that others do not overrate us, so to say, as the apostle stated in 2 Corinthians 12:6:
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
Boasting about self or self-achievement is an indicator that one does not understand that there is nothing that the person achieved or attained were it not for the grace of God, as indicated in that penetrating questions of 1 Corinthians 4:7:
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
It is important that we be conscious that whatever we have by way of blessing is from God, as the Holy Spirit taught us through Apostle John in John 3:27:
To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
The word “heaven” here is a reference to God. Consequently, it is important that we constantly remind ourselves that everything we receive is from God. Boasting that is correct should be related to spiritual matters. It is this kind of boasting that the apostle states should be the result of knowing that we are in Christ. Therefore, when we boast we should do so in a way that honors the Lord who has done so much for us to have eternal salvation. We should boast of what the Lord does in our lives by telling them to others. Hence, we end with a reminder of the message of this section of 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 that we have expounded, which is: No one can boast about salvation since it involves God’s choices, but one can boast in the Lord.
04/13/18