1 Corinthians 3:18-23—4:1-5 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
In this breakfast we see Paul enlarging the theme that Christians should boast in Christ alone and not in the wisdom or knowledge of men. To know God they need nothing more than to trust in Jesus Christ and his works. Christ alone has the power and authority to bring people into God’s eternal kingdom. However the Corinthians were squabbling over who they should follow to enrich their personal lives and the church’s life. They were arguing over who they should follow in their spiritual development: Paul or Apollos or Cephas or maybe someone else. This argument had caused a great deal of damage in the church’s unity. Paul tells them that these men are but servants of the Lord. They serve God to help the church, but Jesus is the Lord of the ship. Because of Christ all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. Because they are IN CHRIST, everything that is God’s is theirs. Jesus told the people that He does only what the Father God tells him to do. The wonders and miracles that Jesus does in the mantle of his flesh are done through the power of God. All power of the Father God is in Jesus because the Father loves his Son. “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. (John 5:19-20) Paul is telling the Corinthians that they are alive in Christ. He wants them to know they are inheritors of the works and power of God through their faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus in the flesh had power because God gave him that power to do marvelous wonders and works. Deeds that no man could do from the beginning of time testified that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Redeemer of all mankind. I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. (John 5:36) The Good News is that those who trust in Jesus also receive the power of God. Those who are born anew in Jesus Christ receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:12-14) Jesus did only what the Father showed him, because his will is not separate from the Father’s will. Jesus is in unity with the Father. Sadly, Paul sees the Corinthians, who possess great power because of believing in Christ, squabbling over the things of this world. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile. The Corinthians who through Christ possess the very mind of God are now trusting in the wisdom and knowledge of finite men and women to discover the truth of how to live.
The Corinthians are functioning way below their pay grade. They are functioning as if they do not even know who they really are IN CHRIST. They ought to be living under the new covenant of grace and mercy; instead, they are dwelling in the land of judgment and pain. Only Jesus has the right to judge, not people based on the knowledge and wisdom of men. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save the world. IN CHRIST they are children of God, servants of the Most High, citizens of a heavenly kingdom. As members of this new kingdom, they are no longer part of this human condition on earth, a condition of wickedness, manifested by violence, disagreements, and wars. As brethren in this new kingdom, in the household of the Lord, they need not instruct others to know the Lord or direct them to different shepherds other than Jesus the Lord. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, Know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34) This new kingdom is one of peace, mercy, and grace, not one of anger, discord, and violence. God has forgiven the innate wickedness of people, replacing this inherited condition of mankind by God’s Spirit of peace and love. The Corinthians divisiveness over leadership has a wicked component in it. The Corinthians wanted their will above other people’s will and sadly God’s will. This divisiveness was first evident in the Garden. Eve succumbed to the devil’s temptation. Consequently, Adam and Eve were dismissed from the Garden. No longer would they live in a land of peace and unity. This wickedness within their family was first manifested by the sin of murder: Cain kills Abel. Sin is the product of inherited wickedness, which is rebellion against God’s authority. In Romans 7, Paul struggles with intrinsic wickedness within him. This condition of evil causes him to sin, seeking to fulfill his wicked desires, not the righteousness of the law. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:21-25) Sin is the product of the condition of the heart. Thoughts and activity that are against God’s goodness and love come from evil. But this reality of the nature of men and women cannot resist the efficacious blood of Jesus Christ. The new covenant that is promised to ALL PEOPLE in and through Christ is centered in God’s grace, mercy, and love towards all He created. For I will forgive their WICKEDNESS (intrinsic in all people) and will remember their SINS (thoughts and activities) no more. The blood of Jesus cleanses the rebellious nature of men and women to God’s control over their lives. As long as they are in the garment of the flesh, flesh has its temptation to sin. Regardless of our struggles on earth with our self-willed nature, violating God’s holiness is revealed through the law. God will forgive, and He will remember our sins no more because of the cross.
This message of Christ the Redeemer has been taught to the Corinthians by Paul. He reminds them to boast only in the Lord’s work, not in the knowledge and wisdom of men. They should know the voice of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in them. If they follow their own voice of their basic nature, they will struggle with sin. He knows when men and women lean on the knowledge and wisdom of others, they are messing with the absolute authority of God in their lives. Valid teaching, inspiration, knowledge always point to the works of Christ, especially the cross. Any other teaching than the cross should be rejected even if an angel claims there is another way to God. We see Jesus in his commission to his disciples before He leaves them for good, stating what they should teach to all people. And of course it hinges on CHRIST ALONE AND HIS WORKS. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:45-49) The cross and the resurrection should be taught, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be the center of this new covenant between God and men. No other than this should be taught to men and women. Over the years since this commission to the disciples, all kinds of cults and variant religions have come into being, all of them based on the beliefs of men and women. Their followers look back to these men and women with admiration and love. Sadly, these alternate ways to God will lead to hell, eternal judgment. Paul is struggling with the Corinthians, for they are deciding to follow people, to place their trust in the wisdom and knowledge of finite men and women. He knows this kind of division away from Jesus Christ will only lead people away from the new covenant that God has made through Jesus. Men and women caught in this diversion will go around the world, lifting up men and women as the way to God, all of it leading to hell. Only the cross has the power to save men and women from their intrinsic wickedness; only the cross will make people holy. No other work will make God forgive the wicked nature of mankind; only the cross will cause God not to remember the sins of the people. Jesus told the disciples to stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. Do not go anywhere until the Spirit of God indwells you. Then you will be capable to battle the wickedness in the world. Then you will lift up the name of Christ even under the threat of death. Peter and the apostles faced the threat of the Sanhedrin, who desired to kill them with these words, “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:29-32) Our friends around this breakfast table: We must obey God. We serve not men or women and their knowledge of life: we must serve and honor God only in our lives.
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