Don't fool yourself (1.Cor 3:18-20)

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God For it is written, "He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS"; and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS." (1.Cor 3:18-20)

The difference between the wise men and the fools of the world is this: The fool is deceived by others. The wise man deceives himself. And neither of them is really any better off than the other. The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God, and so it is that the worldly wise and the fool stands before God, they both stand there as fools. Either self-made or deceived by others.

Let no man deceive himself. Worldly wisdom is useless to God, with the exception of one use described in this passage. He will use it against you. He catches the wise in their own craftiness.

Invalid argument: I'm older than you

So here's my problem. At 27 years old I'm still a whipper snapper, and frequently I find myself in a debate with someone older than myself. If you have ever been in that situation I'm sure you are familiar with the ultimate debate-killer: "I'm older than you, so I know better."

Well alright, if you want to play that game, then all I need to do to get the upper hand again is find someone who takes my side who is even older than you. I'll say "this guy is a fossil, and he agrees with me. Now what do you have to say?"

But that's not how truth works. If it was we should all get on the phone and ask this lady to resolve all the questions for us.

Besse Cooper, at 114 years is the oldest person alive today. So if you can get this lady on your side, you can win every debate you'll ever find yourself in.

While it's true that some wisdom comes with age, and generally older people have had more experiences to draw wisdom from, there is not an absolute link between age and being right. If two people disagree on something it is not always the oldest one that is right

So let's talk about actual arguments, and not about seniority.

The wisdom that saves us - Notes on 1. Cor 2:6-16

Verse 6-8:

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

Yet we do speak wisdom

We have talked so much about wisdom over the last few sessions, that by now you'd almost think that being a good Christian is a matter of being as unwise as possible. Not by any means. What Paul has been saying is that what the world calls wisdom isn't very wise at all. Today, Paul will drop that human definition of wisdom, and show us what wisdom really is.

When Paul is talking about wisdom, he is talking about something quite different than the carefully crafted speeches of the orators and wise men that were so highly esteemed in that culture. The ancient Greeks took great pride in the development of great philosophy and advanced culture in their age. No different really from our modern times. This is not a wisdom of the current age though. It's not a modern development, but a wisdom that is older than time itself. And the rulers, the great sages and wise men of this age, those who are looked to for guidance and leadership, are more often than not completely ignorant that such a wisdom even exists.

Predestined, for our glory

We attain this wisdom not by study, but by Gods election. He has predestined for us to have it, and the purpose for us having it is for our glory.

I don't know if that term “for our glory” is shocking to you. It was too me. Because most of the time when we see the word “glory” in the Bible it is an attribute of God. We are commanded to do all we do for His glory (1Cor 6:20: “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”;1Cor 10:32: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.“). Glory is something that only rightfully belongs to God, and he is very particular about sharing it.

Yet by grace, he shares it with us. When we seek to glorify him, he glorifies us. Not in this present age, but in the age to come. Here is the promise from 1Cor 15:42-43:

So also is the resurrection of the dead It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;

 

The Lord of glory

We will be raised in glory, by means of freely receiving this wisdom as a gift from God. He however is described as the Lord of Glory. The rightful owner of it, the source of it, the master of it. When we are raised in glory, that glory doesn't flow from us. It flows from Christ in us.

Here is the contrast between those whom God have predestined for eternal glory by eternal wisdom, and those who have attained for themselves temporal glory by temporal wisdom. The rulers of this age in all of their temporal wisdom, not only missed the wisdom that could have brought them to true glory. But they hated the Lord of this glory so much that they crucified him.

Verse 9-10

but just as it is written,

"THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.

Here is the contents of this wisdom. The depths of God. Those things that godly men of all ages have longed to look into. Verse 9 is actually a quote from one such man, the prophet Isaiah, expressing this longing. We'll read the lengthier quote from Isaiah. We'll read Chapter 64 in it's entirety to gain context for what Paul is saying by that quote. That may seem long, but I would actually have wished to continue on to chapter 65 as well. We see in those two chapters a plead for Gods intervention, to redeem and save the sinful people of Israel, ending in chapter 65 with God's answer. A promise of a new heaven and a new Earth.

Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence--As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil--To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved? 
 

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities. 
 

But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD, Nor remember iniquity forever;

Behold, look now, all of us are Your people. Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house, Where our fathers praised You, Has been burned by fire; And all our precious things have become a ruin. Will You restrain Yourself at these things, O LORD? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

Does it strike anyone else that Isaiah's longing is exactly what was fulfilled in the Coming of Christ? What no eye has seen and no ear has heard. A God who Acts on behalf of those who wait for him. Furthermore, we see the description of Israel's sin, and recognize our own sin in it. Even our righteous deeds are like filthy rags to God. And while we were in this condition, he tore the heavens apart, that thick veil of God's silence in judgment of our sins. And he sent his son down to this earth to take our place and atone for our sins.

Love and righteousness in harmony

And no greater picture of the depths of God could ever have been given to us. In the Gospel we see Gods nature more than in anything else. God's judgment on those who hate him is a great and glorious expression of his righteousness, but the knowledge of it doesn't penetrate very deep into his divine nature. You can see it and know God a little, but you have only scratched the surface. Likewise, God's great rewards to those who love him and obey his commands is a great and glorious expression of his love and grace. But it's not deep knowledge. If that's all you know you know God a little. But he has not yet revealed the depths of his nature with you.

The depths of God is where his righteousness meets his love, without either of them being compromised or diminished in any way. The depths of God is where the impossible happens. That God, as Paul puts it in Romans 3:26, can be just andthe justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. You see, letting a guilty man go unpunished might be loving, but it wouldn't be righteous. Giving us what we deserve would be righteous, but he loved us so much that he wouldn't. So he took all the suffering that we deserve on himself in stead, and in so doing remained both completely just and completely loving.

The depths of God is love and righteousness in harmony. The Gospel is where we see it. And it is the wisdom by which he will glorify us. The Gospel is the wisdom that brings us to salvation. And having not only understood it, but taken part of it, we know the depths of God.

Yet the question remains of exactly how we have cometo take part of it. How have we received this knowledge? In verse 10 Paul says that it God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. Then he goes on to explain to us how that exchange works.

 

Verse 11:

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.

 

What the spirit knows

A very common conversation I'll have with my wife goes something like this. One of us will ask “What are you thinking about”, to which the other will invariably reply “nothing”. I sometimes wonder what will happen first. That we'll finally learn give up on trying to have that conversation, or that we'll grow in unity to a point where one of us will finally be able to answer the question?

There are some thoughts that can be put into words, and then there are some thoughts that are rooted so deep in your being that when you try to share them they come out the wrong way no matter how you say it. You have to be you to understand what you mean. That's what Paul means when he asks the question “Who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?”

If you, being a human, sometimes experience this inability to communicate with another human who has a very similar nature to you, then imagine being God. By definition he is something completely different from anything we have ever known. So how can such a being communicate his thoughts to us? Nobody knows our thoughts except our own spirit. All the more, no one knows God's thoughts except for His own Spirit.

 

Verse 12-13:

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words

 

What we can know

Nobody can know God except for the Spirit of God. However, the way God saves us is by bringing us into a union with Christ. And this union is a spiritual union. That means that the Spirit, who is from God, is now also in us. That means that in the same way that you in your natural state have knowledge about yourself that you can't communicate to others, you now have knowledge about God that you find yourself unable to explain to anyone who doesn't have the same Spirit. Paul goes so far as to say in verse 16 “we have the mind of Christ”.

Note however, that we don't know everything there is to know about God, but only the things God has freely given to us. God has chosen to reveal some things, and to keep other things a secret. He says in Deut 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.“

 

What we can share

He says in verse 13 that not only do we know certain things, but we speak of them. That is, we who have the Spirit can share in this knowledge with each other, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

However, when we talk about what we know by the Spirit, a word of caution would be in place. Because human nature is so susceptible to pride. Many have fallen into the temptation of making themselves seem more spiritual than the rest, by making up new doctrines about God that are not supported anywhere in the Bible. They will claim that their own spiritual connection with God is the source of this knowledge, and if you disagree they will say you just aren't spiritual enough to see it. Even if you show them Bible verses that contradict their claims, straightforward, black on white, they will say that they have a “spiritual” understanding of the verse, and say you are wrong to read it literally, and think it means what it actually says.

You are almost certain to meet such people. Notice who they are, and don't listen to them. Pray for them, correct them when you can, and keep an eye on who they talk to, because they will go around spreading their venom to anyone who will listen, and they will do much damage. Especially to newer and immature believers, who might fall for their lies.

 

Verse 14-16:

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

 

The natural man

The experience of those who are united with Christ stands in stark contrast to the experience of the natural man. Explaining to them the deep thoughts of God, would be like if a random stranger on the street asked me what I was thinking of, and in stead of having the common sense to say “nothing” I would start to pour out my inmost thoughts to someone who didn't even know my name. My thoughts would be foolishness to them. Gods thoughts, being so entirely different from anything human, would be even more foolish to them, until they come to know Him by His Spirit.

 

Appraised by no one

The word Appraised means discerned, evaluated or judged. The Spiritual man has received wisdom from God to know and discern between truth and falsehood. And at the same time he knows who he is in Christ, and doesn't need anyone else to affirm ore evaluate that connection. He is appraised by no one. He stands before God, and even if many might have differing opinions about his performance or spirituality or godliness, he is only worried about the opinion of one. The one who called him. And while he is humble toward rebuke from those who are spiritual, he does not take too much note of unfounded criticism.

 

The mind of Christ

The chapter ends with a Bold statement, and I've mentioned it briefly already. He quotes Isaiah again, this time chapter 40, verse 13, and asks the question “Who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct him”. It was unthinkable to the old testament believers to know God in the same intimate way that we know ourselves. And we may have heard it so many times that we're starting to take it for granted, but I want to finish with Paul's shocking claim: But we have the mind of Christ!

So you think you're smart, huh? - Notes on 1. Corinthians 1:18-31

Verse 18-19:

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE."

This is where we left off last time. God's rejection of the wisdom of men. This wisdom is not what Paul preached in Corinth, and it is not the means God has ordained for salvation. Today we will learn why not. And if not wisdom, then what is the means that he has ordained for salvation?

Verse 20-21:

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Wisdom of the world

I think it would be helpful before we move any further to define what exactly we mean when we talk about the wisdom of the world.

When God created us in his image, one of the attributes he chose to let us inherit from him was the ability to reason. None of the animals have been given this gift, it is only for us. When there's a dispute about some fact, we are able to hear different arguments, consider any evidence presented to us, and from that draw a logical conclusion. This mechanism is built into our souls by our Creator, and it is not meant to be bypassed. It is unnatural for us to go anywhere else than the evidence takes us.

Many mistakingly think that Christian faith stands in opposition to this gift of reason. That faith is believing what you know isn't true, and the more evidence there is against what you believe in, the stronger your faith is. Many Christians even advocate such an idea of faith when, faced with hard questions, they offer answers like “I guess this is just on the level of faith”, or “It's just what I chose to believe”.

When they say that, they are saying “I'm under some compulsion that forces me to ignore the evidence and make an irrational conclusion”. While they might imagine it's a very spiritual answer it's obviously not a very satisfying one. An atheist, rejecting such a testimony would actually be right in doing so, because he is only using his God-given gift of reason to conclude that they themselves don't even believe what they believe. The Bible does not afford us cop-out answers like that. To the Contrary, 1Peter 3:15 says

“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”

So if we are called to use the gift of reason in defense of our faith, we cannot possibly at the same time be asked to ignore reason to acquire this faith. Not to mention that this gift of reason is so central to everything we do that it is very hard to ignore. If you don't believe me, try surviving for one day without using logic and reasoning. It is in every way a completely unreasonable request. No matter how persuasive and winsome we may be, we should not expect to be taken seriously if we go around asking people to believe in God in a way that is contrary to the gift of reason that God has given them.

So if logic and reason is not the wisdom of the world, then what is?

Atheists seem to take great pride in the delusion of their own superior ability to reason, independently from what they see as the bondage of religious doctrine. They imagine themselves to be completely objective, since they do not work from a predefined set of unchangeable truths established by divine authority.

Of course they are delusional on several levels. Firstly by inconsistency, because the very laws of logic and reason are borrowed from the set of divinely authoritative truth that they take such pride in claiming to avoid. Secondly by presumption, because in establishing their freedom from divine truth, they must by necessity enslave themselves to the lie that there is no divine truth. They throw out a true presupposition, replace it with a false presupposition, and then pretend that there is no presupposition at all.

How do I know this?

Romans 1:18 to 25 teaches us that an objective mind, never having heard the Gospel, following the evidence to it's natural conclusion would not only know that there is a God, but would even know some of his attributes. And that anyone who comes to a different conclusion is in fact “suppressing the truth in unrighteousness”

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

And here, my friends, you see a picture of the wisdom of man. You start with our God-given gift of reason, exchange the truth of God for a lie, worship whatever you think most worthy of your devotion, and live life with no other moral compass than your own personal preference. God is out of the picture and you are at the center. There's no higher law than your own.

Here we have the sinner that we want to reach. Now let's look at our two options. We can either try wisdom, or we can try supernatural power.

I'd like to see you reason with the sinner, starting at their presupposition that there is no divine truth, and build on that until you end up at the conclusion that the Bible is divine truth. It is a logical impossibility. The only way I could imagine it being done is if you at some point got so entangled in the argument that you both forgot what was the original presupposition.

So that alone would explain why God has rejected that way of salvation, but more important in todays text is the pride aspect.

Verse 22-29

For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

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

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 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, 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, so that no man may boast before God.

God's pleasure in crushing human pride

We will not repeat to much of what we have gone through earlier on the subject of God's calling and it's effect on us, but what we will consider is the fact that God takes such pleasure in crushing human pride. Verse 21 said He is “well-pleased” to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached.

Foolishness here does not mean that it's illogical, or irrational. It just means that it's simple, and easily understood, even by common people. Those that the Greek debaters and philosophers would look down upon and call fools. I believe that when Paul is choosing to use the word foolishness, he is making a sarcastic reference to this prideful attitude in the Greek elite. In other places the Bible says the same thing using other words than foolishness.

For example in Matthew 11:25-26, after Jesus has preached, and His hearers have pridefully rejected Him and walked away, rather than being discouraged He is filled with praise to His Father, when He says:

“I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.”

There it is again. “This was well-pleasing in Your sight”. Are you shocked that this is in the Bible? We just witnessed Jesus himself praising the Father because it literally pleased Him to hide the truth of the Gospel from certain people, effectively sealing their eternal destiny in Hell.

Are you shocked or outraged by that? That might be because you take the sin of pride much more lightly than God does.

If I asked you to write down for me on a note the five worst sins you could imagine, I could predict with some certainty what your notes would say. Murder, various sexual perversions, abuses, and so on. And I dare propose that the sin of pride would not make it to your list at all.

Yet all of those other sins are only mentioned briefly a handful of times in the Bible. But the sin of pride is treated in length, from every possible angle, again and again and again. It is so often repeated that we would tend to not take note of it anymore when we see it, like in this passage.

Pride is not merely a sin among other sins. It is the sin of sins. It is evil in its most basic and undiluted form. Every other sin on your note flows from it.

Pride was the sin that got Lucifer kicked out of Heaven:

How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;' (Is 14:12-14)

Likewise it was with pride Adam and Eve were tempted, and fell, casting the curse of sin over all of mankind:

The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:4-5)

And would you not have to agree that it is pride—yourself usurping God's role as law-giver, and deciding for yourself—that has been at the foundation every single time you yourself have fallen into some sin?

This then, is why God has taken pleasure in hiding the truth of the Gospel from the proud. A proud heart would do nothing else with the Gospel than twist it into an instrument of their own self-worship. So even if it had been logically possible to grasp the gospel by worldly wisdom, those who got it would take great pride in having conquered such a magnificent concept by the power of their own intellect.

God will not cooperate on such terms. He is the creator of everything, the infinite, all-powerful, all-knowing, self-existing supreme being, totally fulfilled and satisfied in himself. He alone is worthy of worship, and he is not an idolater. God does not bow down to anything lesser than himself. Least of all weak and insignificant men pridefully reaching for his crown.

So he made sure that no one would have any occasion to boast before him. He chose a simple way for simple people to be saved. Faith is the most basic intellectual mechanism there is. Even a child is able to practice it, and will do so gladly with everything they are told. You hear, and you believe. It's that simple.

And still, in our natural state we are all so proud that it takes a miracle of God to enable us to do it.

Verse 30-31

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."

By his doing:

This seems to be another thing we keep coming back to. Salvation by His doing, and not ours. Even such a simple thing as faith is out of our reach, and we can only receive it as a gift from God. This ensures that everyone who comes to him comes on their knees. Humble, offering noting on his own.

What do we say then when we are asked why, all of a sudden, we're so different? “I cleaned up my life”? “I pulled myself together and became a better person”? “I found Jesus, and he helped me take responsibility for my life”? All of those are out of the question. Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.

All we can do is point to Christ and say “He did it”.