Folly to Those Who Are Perishing

 

The Word of the Cross – 1 Corinthians 1:18–25

Dear Friends, Paul does not begin with what sounds impressive. He begins with a scandal. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The same message divides the world. To one group it is nonsense. To the other it is the very power by which God saves.

The church in Corinth loved wisdom that looked like wisdom — polished speech, status, the kind of brilliance that wins an argument in the marketplace. Paul will not play that game. God has already spoken. “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

The world asked for signs and sought wisdom. Jews demanded a spectacle. Greeks wanted a system. What God gave them was a crucified Messiah. That is a stumbling block to those who want power on their own terms, and foolishness to those who want cleverness without repentance. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Here is the turning of the age: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” The cross looks like defeat. It looks like God has lost. It is the place where He has won. No human scheme could have planned it. No human pride can improve it. We are not saved because we were wise enough to work it out. We are saved because God chose what the world calls weak.

That is why we must not be ashamed of a simple gospel. If we dress the cross in the clothes of the age so that it no longer offends, we have already emptied it of its power. The word of the cross will never be fashionable. It will always be either folly or salvation. The question is not whether it sounds clever. The question is whether we will receive it as the power of God.

Pause & Pray: Ask the Lord to show you any place where you have wanted a gospel that looks wiser than the cross. Thank Him that His “foolishness” has saved you. Pray for courage to speak of Christ crucified without apology, and for hearts around you to hear it as power, not as folly.

Verse to Remember: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV)

Question to Consider: When the message of the cross sounds too simple, too weak, or too offensive, do you reshape it to suit the age — or do you let God’s “foolishness” remain wiser than men?

Article written by Shaun Fereday, Leader @SFGH Church