1 Corinthians 1
1
1 PAUL, SUMMONED by the will and purpose of God to be an apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church (assembly) of God which is in Corinth, to those consecrated and purified and made holy in Christ Jesus, [who are] selected and called to be saints (God's people), together with all those who in any place call upon and give honor to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
3 Grace (favor and spiritual blessing) be to you and [heart] peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God at all times for you because of the grace (the favor and spiritual blessing) of God which was bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
5 [So] that in Him in every respect you were enriched, in full power and readiness of speech [to speak of your faith] and complete knowledge and illumination [to give you full insight into its meaning].
6 In this way [our] witnessing concerning Christ (the Messiah) was so confirmed and established and made sure in you
7 That you are not [consciously] falling behind or lacking in any special spiritual endowment or Christian grace [the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating in your souls by the Holy Spirit], while you wait and watch [constantly living in hope] for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and [His] being made visible to all.
8 And He will establish you to the end [keep you steadfast, give you strength, and guarantee your vindication; He will be your warrant against all accusation or indictment so that you will be] guiltless and irreproachable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
9 God is faithful (reliable, trustworthy, and therefore ever true to His promise, and He can be depended on); by Him you were called into companionship and participation with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 But I urge and entreat you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in perfect harmony and full agreement in what you say, and that there be no dissensions or factions or divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your common understanding and in your opinions and judgments.
11 For it has been made clear to me, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions and wrangling and factions among you.
12 What I mean is this, that each one of you [either] says, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas (Peter), or I belong to Christ.
13 Is Christ (the Messiah) divided into parts? Was Paul crucified on behalf of you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 Lest anyone should say that I baptized in my own name.
16 [Yes] I did baptize the household of Stephanas also. More than these, I do not remember that I baptized anyone.
17 For Christ (the Messiah) sent me out not to baptize but [to evangelize by] preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel), and that not with verbal eloquence, lest the cross of Christ should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain (fruitless, void of value, and of no effect).
18 For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.
19 For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learning of the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning; I will frustrate and nullify [them] and bring [them] to nothing. [Isa. 29:14.]
20 Where is the wise man (the philosopher)? Where is the scribe (the scholar)? Where is the investigator (the logician, the debater) of this present time and age? Has not God shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world's wisdom?
21 For when the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know God by means of its own philosophy, God in His wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [salvation, procured by Christ and to be had through Him], to save those who believed (who clung to and trusted in and relied on Him).
22 For while Jews [demandingly] ask for signs and miracles and Greeks pursue philosophy and wisdom,
23 We preach Christ (the Messiah) crucified, [preaching which] to the Jews is a scandal and an offensive stumbling block [that springs a snare or trap], and to the Gentiles it is absurd and utterly unphilosophical nonsense.
24 But to those who are called, whether Jew or Greek (Gentile), Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.
25 [This is] because the foolish thing [that has its source in] God is wiser than men, and the weak thing [that springs] from God is stronger than men.
26 For [simply] consider your own call, brethren; not many [of you were considered to be] wise according to human estimates and standards, not many influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth.
27 [No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame.
28 And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are,
29 So that no mortal man should [have pretense for glorying and] boast in the presence of God.
30 But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].
31 So then, as it is written, Let him who boasts and proudly rejoices and glories, boast and proudly rejoice and glory in the Lord. [Jer. 9:24.]
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
I Corinthians 1
1
Greeting
1Paul, #Rom. 1:1called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ #2 Cor. 1:1through the will of God, and #Acts 18:17Sosthenes our brother,
2To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who #(Acts 15:9)are sanctified in Christ Jesus, #Rom. 1:7; Eph. 4:1; 1 Thess. 2:12called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ #(1 Cor. 8:6)our Lord, #(Rom. 3:22)both theirs and ours:
3#Rom. 1:7Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Gifts at Corinth
4#Rom. 1:8I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5that you were enriched in everything by Him #(1 Cor. 12:8)in all utterance and all knowledge, 6even as #2 Thess. 1:10; 1 Tim. 2:6; 2 Tim. 1:8; Rev. 1:2the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7so that you come short in no gift, eagerly #Luke 17:30; Rom. 8:19, 23; Phil. 3:20; Titus 2:13; (2 Pet. 3:12)waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8#1 Thess. 3:13; 5:23who will also confirm you to the end, #Phil. 1:6; Col. 1:22; 2:7that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9#Deut. 7:9; Is. 49:7; 1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 1:18; 1 Thess. 5:24; 2 Thess. 3:3God is faithful, by whom you were called into #(John 15:4)the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sectarianism Is Sin
10Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, #2 Cor. 13:11; 1 Pet. 3:8that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12Now I say this, that #Matt. 3:8–10; 1 Cor. 3:4each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of #Acts 18:24; 1 Cor. 3:22Apollos,” or “I am of #John 1:42; 1 Cor. 3:22; 9:5; 15:5Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13#2 Cor. 11:4Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14I thank God that I baptized #John 4:2none of you except #Acts 18:8Crispus and #Rom. 16:23Gaius, 15lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16Yes, I also baptized the household of #1 Cor. 16:15, 17Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, #(1 Cor. 2:1, 4, 13)not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
18For the message of the cross is #1 Cor. 2:14foolishness to #2 Cor. 2:15those who are perishing, but to us #(1 Cor. 15:2)who are being saved it is the #Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:24power of God. 19For it is written:
#Is. 29:14“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
20#Is. 19:12; 33:18Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? #Job 12:17; Matt. 13:22; 1 Cor. 2:6, 8; 3:18, 19Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21For since, in the #Dan. 2:20; (Rom. 11:33)wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22For #Matt. 12:38; Mark 8:11; John 2:18; 4:48Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23but we preach Christ crucified, #Is. 8:14; Luke 2:34; John 6:60; Gal. 5:11; (1 Pet. 2:8)to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks #(1 Cor. 2:14)foolishness, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ #(Rom. 1:4)the power of God and #Col. 2:3the wisdom of God. 25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Glory Only in the Lord
26For you see your calling, brethren, #John 7:48that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27But #Ps. 8:2; Matt. 11:25God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and #Jer. 23:5; 33:16; (2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9)righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31that, as it is written, #Jer. 9:23, 24; 2 Cor. 10:17“He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.