1 Corinthians 2:1-5

 

In the end of chapter 1, Paul laid out a general fact about God's plan. He showed that God's way is different than man's ways—and while men are focused on the spectacular or the seemingly wise, God used small and seemingly foolish things to advance his plan—specifically the gospel of the cross and the preaching of said gospel. There, Paul spoke mostly in generalities. Here Paul brings it down to himself and his readers personally.

Paul here appeals to their personal experience with him. Many (though not all) of the people in the Corinthian church had been saved directly through Paul's ministry and so they were in a position to judge what that ministry was like. 

And the main point is that in Paul's ministry, the emphasis was on doing things God's way. In verse 1, he says that he came "declaring unto you the testimony of God." He brought them God's message, not his own. In verse 2, he adds: "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." Robertson translates that: "For I did not decide to know anything among you." He had no interest in anything outside the gospel, at least so far as his preaching was concerned. In verse 4, he says that his preaching was "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Perhaps this refers to some kind of miracle that accompanied his ministry (which shows how signs and wonders do have their place when in service of the gospel), or it may mean an internal, personal conviction of truth. In either case, the main point is this: Paul came with God's message and depended on God for its success.

In contrast to that, we see a couple of things that he didn't do—methods that he rejected. In verse 1, he says that he “came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom.” He repeats this idea in verse 4 by saying that his “preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom.”

Many commentators take this that Paul's preaching was very simple and straightforward without any frills or complications. I personally find that a little difficult to believe; we don't have very much of Paul's preaching, but we do have a lot of his writing, and 'simple and straightforward' is probably not how I would describe most of it. (Though the difference between preaching to unbelievers and writing to the church could explain this difference.) So what does this mean?

There is a story about a young man in a small country town who was accused of stealing a pig. So for his trial, he hired a lawyer from the big city to come and defend him. There wasn't much evidence, but the lawyer was a masterful speaker, and he made a speech to the jury that swept them off their feet, and they ended up finding the defendant innocent. After the trial, the lawyer was talking to his client, and he asked: “You know, this is all over. But now I'm just curious, and I have to know: did you actually steal that pig?” And the boy answered: “Well, I sure thought I did, but after hearing your speech, I'm not so sure.”

That was what Paul wanted to avoid. There are men who, through their own skill, can sell people on anything. Perhaps Paul could have been one of those men—but he refused that course. He didn't want people to believe just because he was a good speaker. He wasn't like the lawyer in thestory—he was like a lawyer who has an airtight case that he has to get the jury to hear and understand. Obviously, he still wants to do his best at presenting the case—it will take some skill and ingenuity. But his goal is to let the evidence speak, and he is just there to present it.

Paul probably had some excellency of speech and wisdom in his preaching, but that wasn't the point; that wasn't what he had come to do. He had come to preach the gospel.

And that is why his determination to know only "Jesus Christ, and him crucified" is so important. As we talked about before, Paul could probably have gotten a larger following if he had changed the gospel. Christ crucified was not a very attractive doctrine. Robertson points out that immediately before reaching Corinth, Paul had been at Athens. While Paul was there, he had one opportunity to preach. In that sermon, Paul talked about God as the creator and sustainer of the world and used that to lead up to talking about the death and resurrection of Christ. Acts 17:32 records the Athenians' reaction: “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.” It sounds as if they were willing to listen to Paul until he brought up Jesus and his death and resurrection. Robertson puts it that “he was practically laughed out of court.” If Paul had just wanted to win converts through his own skill, he could have switched up his doctrine for something more appealing. But he stayed true because he wasn't interested merely in winning converts but in preaching the truth.

Paul was not trying to win anyone because of his own gifts or personality. This is shown by the fact that when he came to Corinth, he did not come at his best; he was not in the position to try to start a movement on his own. Verse 3 says that he was with them “in weakness.” This may be a general statement; that he had an awareness that he was not strong enough to do this on his own—that nobody would be strong enough to do it on their own. No human being can do God's work without God.

But it might even have a more particular application to Paul. In 2 Corinthians, Paul had to deal with some people within the Corinthian church who were opposing his work and influence in the church. And he mentions some of the criticism they gave of him. “For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” (2 Corinthians 10:10) This statement has led many to believe that Paul was not a strong or imposing figure: an old tradition states that he was short. He was not, perhaps, the sort of man to gain a hearing merely on his physical appearance. As many men count things, he came in weakness, and he knew it. Or perhaps this 'weakness' refers to sickness or physical weakness that was the result of his long journey.

He also states that he came to Corinth “in fear, and in much trembling.” Many commentators take this in the sense of awe or gravity--that he came with a recognition of his weighty responsibility before God, a responsibility he could not fulfill without God's help. This is consistent with the way Paul uses the phrase 'fear and trembling' elsewhere. If you take this interpretation, it explains why Paul used the methods he did—because he was aware that he was serving God and needed to proclaim God's message, not his own.

However, it is also possible that this fear and trembling represents something more commonplace—that Paul was simply, in an ordinary sense, scared and possibly discouraged. Remember what had happened since Paul's arrival in Greece. He had been forcibly driven out of three cities and had made almost zero impression on his last. It is only natural that he would been afraid and uncertain as he began work in a city with the size and reputation of Corinth.

Why do I think that Paul may have been afraid of his work in Corinth? Because of Acts 18:9-10: “Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” God sent Paul a vision telling him not to be afraid and assuring him that he would be protected. To me, this implies that he had had at least some fears on the subject.

This would feed back to our text. When Paul came, it was not as someone bold and brash, someone strong in their own self-confidence. He came in fear and trembling. But he still came and preached, because his confidence was not in himself but in the gospel he was preaching. Robertson writes: “Paul had been in prison in Philippi, driven out of Thessalonica and Berea, politely bowed out of Athens. It is a human touch to see this shrinking as he faced the hard conditions in Corinth. It is a common feeling of the most effective preachers. Cool complacency is not the mood of the finest preaching.”

The point is this. As we talked about in Chapter 1, God's ways are not the same as man's ways. Man always tries to use his strengths, but man's strength in the end is very weak. God uses things that seem very weak, but they are ultimately strong. And Paul, when he was at Corinth (and throughout the rest of his ministry, for that matter), worked within God's way. To many people, the gospel of Christ was problematic, even shameful. But Paul preached it rather than trying to rely on his own skills. Paul may have been a weak man—physically or emotionally—when he was at Corinth. And he was fine with that because he wasn't winning converts to Paul. He wasn't using Paul's way but God's way.

This is all summarized in verse 5: he didn't want the Corinthians' faith to be grounded in human wisdom. He didn't want them to believe just because some fine speaker had made a fine speech. Because even if Paul had been (in a conventional sense) a ten times better man than he was, it wouldn't have been good enough to be the basis of our faith. Paul, no matter ho great he was, couldn't save anyone. Their faith needed to be grounded in the power of God because only God can save the soul. That was why Paul's goal was only to preach the gospel, only to bring people to God.