When Folly is Wise – Pt. 4

If God’s people would, please
take your Bibles once again. We’re in 1 Corinthians chapter
1, 1 Corinthians. And if you would, the overall
title to this section is When Folly is Wise. The world has identified the
gospel as foolishness, folly, and yet For those who hear and
understand and accept the gospel, that is truly wisdom. And so we have begun our series
by looking at, first of all, in verse 20 and 21, the humiliation
of divine wisdom, not that God’s wisdom is humiliated, but the
humiliation that divine wisdom brings. Just as God had rebuked
the Israelites for arrogantly supplanting God’s law with their
own so-called wisdom, God is rebuking the world even now by
shaming their so-called wisdom with his own, the gospel, God’s
magnificent plan of redemption. And his rebuke is infinitely
practical. It is not a mere verbal scolding. The wisdom of the world withers
before the revelation of God’s wisdom because worldly wisdom
saves none. No one, whereas God’s wisdom
does. There are no mere men, whether
wise men or scribes, experts in the Old Testament law, who
can purpose to match wits or performance with God himself. Their efforts are miserable failures. Whatever their approach, they
did not come to know God. They did not save people and
they could not save themselves. God had seen to that himself
in that no man could reason his way to heaven. Instead, it was
God’s plan that salvation would be by way of a message that the
world deems as foolish. The good news. the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so by this message, God humbled,
literally humiliated the wisdom of the world. We not only saw
the humiliation of divine wisdom, we considered the power of divine
wisdom. We saw that in verses 22 through
25. Here, Paul assesses the performance
of human wisdom over the course of human history, and he finds
it to be utterly weak and absolutely unproductive. Their perpetual
search for answers left them empty-handed while God introduced
the message of the gospel, Christ crucified. The message of the
world alternately, men alternately stumbled over it or scoffed at
the message of the gospel altogether. But for those few who humbled
themselves at the message preached, the called, as he identifies
them, who were answering a divine summons, these came to saving
faith. God had chosen them from eternity
past and now had called them to life and salvation by the
gospel. The very power of God, that same
power that created the world and raised Christ from the dead,
made full atonement for their sin and raises and saves them. It must be the power of God.
And God must receive all the glory because Paul shows God
has humiliated man’s wisdom by means of the kind of people that
he saves. Not many wise, not many mighty,
not many noble. We found this in verses 26 through
29, where we see the proof of divine wisdom over and over again. We noted
in this third discovery that God had chosen. Three times it says it, that
God has chosen. God has chosen the foolish things,
the weak things, the base and the despised, the things that
are not, God has chosen. And that brings us to the fourth
jewel. that is discovered in this cave
that the world brands as foolishness. And yet, as we have entered into
a consideration of this cave, we’ve discovered jewel after
jewel. And here, finally, in addition
to the humiliation of divine wisdom and the power of divine
wisdom and the proof of divine wisdom, we find the graces of
divine wisdom. And Paul rounds out this chapter,
chapter one, and specifically in these blessings, or as we
have called them, jewels, Paul rounds out this discussion with
one last glistening treasure, the graces or the blessings of
divine wisdom. And herein, Paul answers the
question. If the humiliation of divine wisdom shames the so-called
wisdom of the world, and if this is revealed by the power of divine
wisdom, that it actually saves people by this message preached,
and if the proof of divine wisdom is plainly evident in looking
and observing and noting at the great host of people whom God
has saved, not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble,
but instead the foolish and the weak and the base and the despised. If God has done all of that,
and he has, the believer has only to take inventory. He has
only to take inventory of God’s many blessings in doing so, And
that is exactly what Paul brings us to in verses 30 and 31. Would
you consider as we read beginning in verse 20 of chapter one, the
entirety of that section, 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. For indeed Jews ask for signs
and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To the 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, 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. 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. When folly is wise and we have
entered into this cave that the world has placarded with the
ugly title foolishness, it’s the gospel. But as we have wandered
in, we have discovered these jewels time after time. And they
seem to get more valuable, more beautiful, more ornate with each
discovery. Not only the fact that God has
humiliated the world’s wisdom and that he has exerted his power
and that we see that by looking around at the people that he
saved. But it’s almost as if he saves the best for the last
in the discoveries of these graces of divine wisdom. I see four, four graces of divine
wisdom here in verses 30 and 31. First of all, look at the
blessed state of our salvation. Look at verse 30 just briefly.
but you are in Christ Jesus.” It’s a simple statement. What
does it mean? Paul uses a phrase here that
is nearly the cornerstone of his profound theology. It is the glorious message of
salvation. This phrase, in Christ Jesus,
or its near equivalent, in Christ, is plentifully discoverable in
nearly every one of his letters, except for two, 2 Thessalonians
and Titus. This phrase, in Christ Jesus,
or as we have it here, is used 51 times in his letters. And the shorter version, in Christ,
another 37. And then if we carefully add
similar phrases like in whom or in him with reference to Christ,
we add yet another two dozen such references. And this is
why I say that the idea that these phrases communicate is
the very cornerstone of Paul’s theology. that every spiritual
blessing is granted to those who are in Christ Jesus. Look
first at just some, just a few of the blessings communicated
to those who are in Christ Jesus. And I only wanna look at one
epistle. I’m not gonna have you turn there, because I’m gonna
move too quickly, but just in the epistle of the Romans, listen.
We are justified as a gift by his grace, Romans 324, through
the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. In 611, he speaks of the
fact that we are alive to God in Christ Jesus. In 623, he speaks
of the free gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. In 8.1, he speaks of the fact
that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And then in Romans 8.38, he speaks
so fondly of the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. The
list is overwhelming. Several years ago, I went back
and I pulled up this verse and I looked at every reference.
I wanted to see what we enjoy as believers. What do we gain
because of our standing, our having been placed into Christ? The list was two pages long.
I’m not gonna read them all, but you know me, I’m gonna read
some. Because of Christ, we are a new spiritual temple. If we
are in Christ, we have access to God. We have adoption in Christ,
boasting in Christ, boldness, completion, confidence, discipline,
election, enablement. We have an eternal residence
in Christ. We have faith working through
love. We have grace. In Christ, we have growth and
harmony and inheritance and joy and justification and liberty. And peace and reconciliation
and redemption and renewal and resurrection and revelation and
sainthood and salvation, we have ceiling, we have steadfastness
and strength and the supply of our needs. If we are in Christ,
we have victory. But what is the significance
of this phrase here in 1 Corinthians? Paul presents Jesus Christ as
the spiritual sphere or realm into which the believer is placed
at salvation. At the moment of regeneration
unto faith, the Christian is understood to be placed into
the spiritual being of Christ and thereby joined to him inseparably. What an incredible thought. He
or she is said to have union with Christ. And so Paul’s point
here is that the believer is in Christ Jesus and this, We
should note he introduces by way of a contrast to the foolish
world. Paul is very emphatic here when
he breaks stride in the course of this long discussion and says,
but you glance back, if you would, at
verse 25 where Paul there initiates the contrast
of the foolishness that the foolishness of God is wiser than men and
the weakness of God is stronger than men. And then he goes on
to present proof of that in the verses that follow. And in verse
29, then he draws this solemn conclusion that no man may boast
before God. The people of the world may think
to take pride in, yes, may think to boast in their so-called wisdom
or influence or wealth or bloodline. But Paul says, but you. You don’t put your hope, you
don’t boast in those things, but you are in Christ Jesus. There in verse 30 and in contrast
to the arrogant people of the world who call the idea of a
crucified Savior foolishness. There are those who believe.
And they reside in the supremely safe haven. Of Jesus Christ himself. Because as Christ is God. And
God could never be destroyed to be in Christ. Is to enjoy
absolute eternal security. But the fact that we are in Christ,
Jesus begs a question, doesn’t it? How did we get there? We know the simple answer to
that someone shared, we believed we were baptized. How did we
come to the safe haven of Christ? And Paul is only too eager to
answer that question. We find his answer in full in
that tiny three-word prepositional phrase, by his doing. This is the gracious means of
our standing with Christ. And so we see, secondly, not
only the blessed state of our salvation, that we are in Christ
Jesus, but the gracious means of our salvation. Look at verse
30. But by his doing, you are in
Christ Jesus. That’s right, by his doing. It’s
God’s doing. God made it happen. God places
the believers there in this safe haven. Now literally, depending
on what translation you’re reading, you’re probably just buckling
up because it says, from him. But I think by his doing is a
great translation there in the NAS. The ESV has it equally understandably
as because of him. And that’s fine too. But even
the more obscure translations that say of him, It communicates
the same thing. We know what Paul means here. When he says that of him you
are in Christ Jesus, it’s God’s doing. It’s God’s doing that
a believer stands in unassailable security being placed in Christ. God is the one who accomplishes
this. And ultimately, we will see, even in this passage, God
is the one who receives all the glory. Whoever they are, wherever
they are, it is only because of the marvelous grace and power
of God himself. It wasn’t our doing. It wasn’t
our idea. It wasn’t our good works, it
wasn’t our faithfulness, it wasn’t our wisdom, our influence, our
appeal, our family lineage, our human potential, our diligent
pursuit of him. It was God and God alone. And
he alone gets the credit, he alone gets the glory. Just as
our very life and existence depends on God as our creator and sustainer,
so our spiritual life and standing is entirely dependent on God. And you say, what did God do
exactly? What did God do to place us in
Christ as believers? Paul tells us succinctly, In
a passage we considered several weeks ago, Romans 8, would you
turn just briefly? Romans 8. What did he do? Glanced down
at verse 29. For those whom he foreknew, he
also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, so that
he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom
he predestined, he also called. He beckoned them with a divine
summons to himself. They could not ignore it. These
he called, and those whom he called, he also justified. And these whom he justified,
he also glorified. He chose us from eternity past. He called us in real time. He regenerated us, brought us
to life and brought us to faith. He justified us, declaring us
to be righteous before him, the very righteousness of Christ.
And one day he will glorify us as we are welcomed into his kingdom.
Speaking of eternity future in God’s actions. In other words,
God did everything. We did nothing. It’s by his doing
and by his doing alone that we are in Christ Jesus. And as might
be expected, there are blessings that attend this mighty work
of God. I’m sure for the first thousand
years, we’d be comfortable just knowing that we are safe and
secure regardless of whatever blessings there are. But there
are also blessings to note that it’s not wrong for us to observe.
As we’re looking at the graces of divine wisdom, not only the
blessed state of our salvation and the gracious means of our
salvation that it’s by His doing, but look thirdly at the glorious
blessings of our salvation. Look at verse 30 once again,
but by his doing you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom
from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
We thought as we glanced and caught a glimmer of this jewel
that it might be just a one-faceted gem. And the more we begin to
spin it, we see that there are many blessings. countless blessings
to having been placed in to Christ. Let’s be very clear. When Paul
says here that Christ became to us these certain things, he
means that we came to realize these things in time. He does
not mean that Christ had to grow up or develop or mature in any
of these areas. While the world sought and still
seeks its own brand of so-called wisdom, God bestows it upon the
believer in rich measure. As we ponder and understand and
esteem Jesus Christ for who he is, he becomes to us the very
wisdom of God. Remember, wisdom is the very
theme of this entire section. And it will take us all the way
into chapter four. In this consideration, this contrast
between the world’s wisdom and God’s. Paul says here that Jesus
becomes to us the very wisdom of God. Jesus said it this way,
that he is the way and the truth and the life. John 14, Paul told
the Colossians that in Christ, all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge are hidden in Christ. So someone who knows and I mean,
really knows and believes in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord,
this person is truly wise. Regardless of what the world
says or believes. But Paul elucidates this wisdom
with a trio of attendant blessings, righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Righteousness. This is truly
a blessing, isn’t it? Because this is the very thing
that sinners lack. A lack of righteousness is the
very thing that stands between them and a holy God. This righteousness,
then, is the very thing that sinners need most, right? They cannot achieve this righteousness
by their own moral efforts. Such effort will always end in
relative failure. To meet with God’s standard,
they need a perfect righteousness. They need the righteousness of
Christ. And in Christ, and only in Christ,
it is fully given to those who place their faith in Christ for
salvation. This is their salvation. Because in placing their faith
in Jesus Christ for salvation, God declares them to be righteous. He declares them to be in the
very righteousness of Christ. It’s not that such a person actually
becomes or is made perfectly righteous. You don’t need me
to tell you that. But because of Christ’s atonement
for them, they are declared as such. God declares them as such. Christ’s sacrifice has met the
law’s demands so that the believer may stand before God justified. Now, we’re a man. able to think and reason his
way through life and somehow stumble upon righteousness, a
righteousness that equipped him to know and fellowship with God
for all eternity. He would be thought of as the
wisest man who ever lived, right? He found his way to God. But as it is, This truth is undiscoverable
to anyone except to whom God reveals this rich mystery. What Paul says in Romans 10 is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes that
is Christ. Philippians 3 9 Paul was all
too willing to give up whatever human righteousness he had attained,
desiring, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law,
but that which was through faith in Christ, the righteousness
which comes from God on the basis of faith. And yet here is yet
another of the numerous blessings that God bestows upon believers. not only wisdom, righteousness,
but sanctification. This is another concordant blessing
that when we say we are declared righteous, but in doing so, God
also initiates a work in us to make us like Christ. Holy. We are declared righteous,
but in time by the Spirit’s work, we are made such. The word here
literally means to set aside for a sacred use, and God does
that work. While God does that, he also
sets about by way of the Holy Spirit. indwelling the believer
to begin to make the individual more and more holy in his or
her thoughts and actions. Peter in his first epistle speaks
of the sanctifying work of the spirit. That’s it. The work of
God’s spirit begins with regeneration in the sinner’s life, initiates
repentance and faith, and ultimately, and yet progressively, holiness
of life. This is what Jesus had in mind
when he looked at Nicodemus in the eye and told him, you must
be born again. It’s precisely what Paul means when he writes
to the Corinthians a second time, second Corinthians 517, if anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things have passed away.
Behold, new things have come. God has done a mighty work, not
only in saving us, but also in the process of sanctification.
But there is, as I already pointed out, a third attendant blessing
here that is communicated to us under
the single heading wisdom. And yet as described, it is righteousness
and sanctification, and then thirdly, redemption. Now you
and I might have thought that Paul got his order mixed up. We might have thought that he
would put redemption first, that we were redeemed and then we
were sanctified and then we were made righteous. Or perhaps that
we were redeemed and then we were made righteous or declared
righteous and then ultimately we were sanctified. Paul does
this. In fact, he does this for emphasis. He wants us to remember redemption. The biblical meaning of this
word, we’ve seen it before, is obscured partly due to our culture. The word gets used often of a
team that has been beaten. It’s come up against a great
obstacle of a team that beats them every time. And then finally,
when they win, we have a tendency or the announcer tends to say
that they got redemption. They won the game. Well, that
really cheapens that word, doesn’t it? Or the word is used of someone
who fails miserably at some task, maybe even committed a crime
in the process, whether in athletics or politics or business. But
then at some point when they eventually overcome, it is often
said of them that they redeem themselves, right? That’s how
we tend to understand this word. But redemption is a biblical
word. It’s a biblical concept and it
has a wonderful significance. And it doesn’t have any reference
at all to revenge. The root meaning of this word
literally means to be loosed, untied, freed. And here, it’s a compound word
prefixed with a preposition, apa, which basically has the
meaning from. We have been set free from something. To be loosed. or to be released
from with the implication of someone perhaps jail or in captivity
of sorts from chains or some kind of bonds. And further, it
has a clear implication in this, in this particular use of the
cause of this release, namely a ransom paid. This was the language
used to describe the transaction of buying slaves out of bondage. And so Paul points to one of
the significant blessings, the most significant blessings ever
bestowed upon sinners, that of having been released from bonds
by the payment in full of a ransom. We’ve been freed. Our sin had
justly imprisoned us. And the Bible tells us that Jesus
Christ came for this very purpose, to give his life as a ransom
for many. As Paul tells us in Titus 2 and
numerous other places, Christ gave himself for us that he might
redeem us from every lawless deed. Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer,
perfectly accomplished our redemption. He paid our ransom with his own
life. And as Paul explained it to the
Galatians, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. And
to the Romans, we have been bought with a price. Because of that redemption, we
can no longer be held. We can no longer be imprisoned.
We’re free. Legitimately free. Exonerated. Completely. Read this past week were a thousand
criminals in Minnesota from the last couple of months. Efforts
in the streets. They were just let free. Not
even going to be tried. They’re still guilty. They committed
crimes for which they were arrested. No judge exonerated them. Some
coward released them. They’re not innocent. But in
our case, Christ paid for our penalty in full. We are free. And it’s only because He paid
our penalty in full. And he expresses this thought
in Ephesians and in the companion epistle, Colossians. In both
letters, he describes redemption. We have redemption, the forgiveness
of sins. Our sins are forgiven. Paul tells
us plainly that redemption means forgiveness. It is redemption
unto forgiveness. And Paul tells us here that this
redemption, which came at such a cost, secured something that
could never be purchased with material goods. It secured our
forgiveness with a holy God. This is Paul’s heart when he
says in Romans 3.24 that we are justified as a gift by his grace
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Well, and one day we will know
that redemption in full, won’t we? Ephesians 1.14 speaks of
it, a view to the redemption of God’s own possession to the
praise of his glory. One day we will know it in full. And so as we are pondering the
graces of divine wisdom, this final jewel that we’ve extracted
out of the mind that the world calls foolishness, we see not
only the blessed state of our salvation and the gracious means
of our salvation, that it’s by his doing, the glorious blessings
of our salvation, wisdom and righteousness, sanctification
and redemption, But that brings us to the elicited response of
our salvation. Look at verse 31, and we’ll take
it in full. 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. And with this, Paul closes This
is opening argument against their division in Corinth. Paul cites this loose citation
of Jeremiah 9. Thus says the Lord, let not a
wise man boast of his wisdom and let not the mighty man boast
of his might. Let not a rich man boast of his
riches, but let him who boasts boast of this. that he understands
and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness
and justice and righteousness on earth. For I delight in these
things, declares the Lord. Well, here, Paul’s citation of
this verse is very much a call to worship. He has shown them. Paul has. the blessed state of
their salvation, the gracious means, the glorious blessings,
but he brings them here to the elicited response. What does
all this mean? This is the whole point of the
section. In this exposure of the division that was prevalent
in the Corinthian church, he has leveled two arguments against
such disunity. His argument from the common
baptism, There weren’t multiple baptisms. There wasn’t a baptism
of Paul and a baptism of Apollos. There weren’t multiple baptisms.
There was one. And then his argument from wisdom,
which verses we have read entirely this morning. The wisdom of God
is seen in his message of salvation by faith in a crucified Savior. That’s God’s wisdom. This word
translated as boast here is a frequently used word by Paul. But hang on. I learned a little something
these past few weeks. Paul uses it twice only in the
letter to the Galatians and once in his epistle to the Ephesians
and once to the Philippians. And he never once uses it in
Romans or Thessalonians or Colossians or 1st or 2nd or 2nd Timothy
or Titus. And yet in his letters to the
Corinthian churches, Paul utilizes this word 21 times. Uh-oh. He repeatedly uses this word
to challenge the Corinthian church or to set forth or to correct
the ground or cause of their boasting. That tells us that
the Corinthians were a proud people who had the habit of boasting
in all the wrong things. And therein lay the reason for
Paul’s repeated correction of this church. This is what they
had done. They had taken the same grid
that used they used and that worked in the world and they
tried to apply it to the church. They tried to build these. Popularity
groups built around individuals. Picking and choosing their doctrine,
prioritizing it according to their own wisdom. Paul says the church has a firm
and common foundation. They cannot be divided. Even
here, the church is to be engaged in worship. And if their eyes
and hearts are focused upon their gracious Lord in gratitude for
an undeserved salvation, they cannot remain divided. It was no more than that it pleased
God that he should enact such a plan of redemption that saved
sinners and bestowed such divine gifts as wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. All eyes should be on God, not
on ourselves, not on our efforts, not on our factions, We cannot
take any credit whatsoever for the salvation that God has bestowed. And in order to strip away all
such boasting, Paul reminds them that He, that is God, had called
them, that He, that is God, had chosen them, that it is by His
doing that they enjoy salvation. We must glory in God alone since
our salvation is entirely of him. Would you worship him now
in prayer? Our merciful king, we did not,
do not deserve your kindness. We never would. And yet you have
had mercy on us and it moved in such a profound and powerful
way so as to place us into Christ himself. How much more security could
we ever enjoy? And that you did this, not us.
Lord, we rejoice in your work, in the completeness of your work,
that we enjoy your redemption, what Christ paid And we are so
thankful that we don’t have to measure up because we never would. But as you glance down on us,
you see the righteousness of Christ. Not our own pitiful condition. And even still, by your spirit,
you are leading us. Teaching us. wooing us to holiness through
the process of sanctification. Lord, what a great cause we have
to worship you. And we pray that by our one worship
of Almighty God, you would destroy. Any. And all division. We humble ourself before you
and we plead these things in Christ’s name. Amen.