According
to Paul the apostle, “Christ” is
“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”,
and in chapter one and verse twenty-six of
First Corinthians, Paul the apostle continued his letter by sharing
how “not many wise, mighty
or noble are called”
by God where we read:
For
you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the
flesh,
not
many mighty, not many noble, are
called:
The
verse begins, “For
you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the
flesh,...” Paul
began with the word, “For”
which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and
therefore” “you see”
which refers to the Corinthian church members “discerning,
perceiving, gazing upon and discovering” “your
calling”
which means “the church members' divine invitation to embrace
salvation of God”, “brethren”
or “fellow believers who are united to others by the bond of
affection”, “how that not many”
which means “because and since there were not plenteous and large
numbers of” “wise men”
or “skilled, expert, cultivated and learned people” “after
the flesh”
which refers to “down from, throughout and according to the mere
human and earthly nature of man apart from divine influence which is
therefore prone to sin and opposed to God”. The “fleshly”
“wise”
people of the world were few in number among the church members of
Corinth who were “called”.
The
verse goes on to say, “...not
many mighty, not many noble, are
called:”.
Paul
continued with the words, “not many”
or “not
plenteous and large numbers of” “mighty”
which means “able, powerful and strong” “not
many” or
“not plenteous and large numbers of” “noble”
which refers to “people who are well born and aristocratically
minded”, “are called”
which means “invited to embrace God's salvation”. There are few
people who are “powerful”, born “aristocratically” and trust
in the world's wisdom who are “called” by God to His salvation.
When
we think through these words from Paul, we understand the limitations
of trusting in and relying upon the “wisdom”, “strength”
and “nobility” of the world. God's invitation to receive His Son
Jesus as Savior is available to every person, however, those who put
their faith in “fleshly strength, worldly wisdom and social
position” rarely ever give their lives to Jesus Christ. These with
such “worldly” advantages often resist God's salvation because
they rely upon and trust in themselves. God is “calling”,
have we heard and answered His call, or are we trusting in our
“knowledge, strength or social status”?
Next
time Paul shares how “God
has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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