God's Wisdom Only

 DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTNIANS

 GOD’S WISDOM ONLY

1 Cor 1:13-17

13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

NIV

We are in the midst of Paul's comments about being united in mind and thought. Again, there was problems going on in this church, just as we considered how the modern church may not be as united in mind and thought as it should be. Now Paul asks these questions. Of course, we know Christ is not divided, and that no man was crucified for us. That is the whole point we should remember about being of one mind and thought. It is Jesus who was crucified for us all, and we are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Although, we do not know if that was the practice of the early church, and it was only in the name of Jesus that people were baptized. For the most part, we talk about following Jesus in baptism, because he had John the baptizer, baptize him, and at the moment the Spirit descended upon Jesus and the Father spoke from Heaven. Therefore, in that sense, the trinity's wholeness was present; thus, we use the same wholeness for our baptisms. Although this is important, we want to focus on this new thought the Spirit introduces through Paul. We do have to remember Paul is but a man, with human wisdom, but that he is inspired by the Spirit so that what he writes is from the wisdom of God. This is exactly what Paul now confesses to the church in Corinth and to us. He is not speaking from the wisdom of man, lest the cross be emptied of its power. Paul has more to say, but let us ponder more on this one issue. We think that it is crucial for us as humans, when we speak the word of God, especially those who preach the word, seek the influence, the inspiration of the Spirit, so that we are not speaking from the wisdom of man, but rather from the wisdom of God. Of course, for the most part, many of the preachers of the word of God have attended institutions of higher learner, earning various degrees in different aspects of biblical studies. Most denominations require these degrees for ordination. However, that education does not necessarily correspond to the wisdom of God, however, those individuals can also be filled with the Spirit, hearing his wisdom, and therefore speaking not from their wisdom. However, for an individual to speak from the wisdom of God does not require attaining human wisdom, but only having a dependent mind and spirit on the wisdom of God. If we but listen to that still small voice, and obey his inspiration, he will empower our words, just as his power was displayed on the cross. Let us live completely dependent on the power of Christ in our lives so that we speak by God’s wisdom only.