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1 Corinthians 1: The Foolishness of the Cross

Paul thanks God for a gifted church, then confronts its divisions by exalting Christ crucified as the wisdom and power of God.

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1 Corinthians 1 (WEB)

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 to the assembly of God which is at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I always thank my God concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus;

5 that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge;

6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

7 so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;

8 who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

10 Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11 For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.

12 Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.”

13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,

15 so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name.

16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don’t know whether I baptized any other.)

17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News—not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void.

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.

19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”

20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,

23 but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,

24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;

27 but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;

28 and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are:

29 that no flesh should boast before God.

30 But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:

31 that, according as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.”

Summary

Paul opens with grace and peace and a warm thanksgiving for the Corinthians, who have been enriched in all speech and knowledge and lack no spiritual gift while they wait for Christ's return. But he quickly turns to the problem that has reached him through Chloe's household: the church is splintered into factions, each one rallying behind a name—I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, I follow Christ. Paul presses the absurdity of it: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? He is glad he baptized only a few, because he was sent not to baptize but to preach the Good News, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to the saved it is the power of God. God has made foolish the wisdom of the world; Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but Paul preaches Christ crucified—a stumbling block and folly to many, yet to the called the power and wisdom of God. God deliberately chose the foolish, weak, and lowly things to shame the strong, so that no one may boast before him. Whoever boasts must boast only in the Lord.

Main Characters

  • Paul — The apostle who founded the church, gives thanks for its gifts, and rebukes its factions by lifting up Christ crucified rather than himself.
  • Christ crucified — Jesus, who though a stumbling block and foolishness to the world is to the called the power of God and the wisdom of God.
  • The divided church — The Corinthian believers who form rival parties around human leaders, fracturing the unity they have in Christ.
  • Apollos and Cephas — Fellow ministers whose names the Corinthians wrongly use as banners for competing factions.

Key Verse

1 Corinthians 1:18 (WEB)

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.

Lessons Learned

  • A church can be gifted and grateful and still fall into damaging division.
  • Loyalty to human leaders becomes sin when it competes with loyalty to Christ.
  • The cross looks like weakness and folly but is the very power and wisdom of God.
  • God chooses the lowly and weak so that all boasting is excluded and he alone is glorified.
  • Christ is not divided. “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?” (1 Corinthians 1:13, WEB). Factions tear at the one body that belongs wholly to Christ.
  • The cross must not be emptied. Paul preaches the gospel “not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn’t be made void” (1 Corinthians 1:17, WEB). Clever presentation must never eclipse Christ crucified.
  • God's foolishness outwits the world. “The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25, WEB). What the world scorns, God uses to save.
  • Boast only in the Lord. God chose the lowly “that no flesh should boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:29, WEB), so that, as it is written, the one who boasts boasts in the Lord.
  1. What does Paul thank God for in the Corinthians before he addresses their problems? Why begin there?
  2. How do the slogans of verse 12 reveal what was really wrong in the church?
  3. What does Paul mean that the message of the cross is foolishness to some but power to others?
  4. Why does God deliberately choose the foolish, weak, and lowly things of the world?
  5. Where are you tempted to find your identity in a leader, group, or label rather than in Christ alone?
  1. Paul gives sincere thanks for God's grace and the gifts given to them before naming a single fault (1:4-7). Beginning with gratitude shows that correction flows from love and reminds the church that everything good in them is a gift, not grounds for pride.
  2. Each slogan—“I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas”—turns God's servants into rallying points for rival pride (1:12). The divisions exposed a church measuring itself by human allegiance and eloquence rather than by Christ.
  3. To those perishing, a crucified Savior seems absurd and weak; to the saved, that same cross is God's saving power (1:18). The difference is not intelligence but whether God has opened the heart to receive it.
  4. God chooses the unimpressive precisely so that no human achievement can claim the credit (1:27-29). Salvation is grace from start to finish, and the only fitting response is to boast in the Lord, not ourselves.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Invite members to consider where they draw security or status from a tribe, teacher, or reputation, and to let the cross relocate their identity in Christ. Keep it gentle and self-examining rather than accusing of others.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.