Christ Is Undivided
Paul, acalled as an apostle of Jesus Christ by bthe will of God, and cSosthenes our dbrother,
2 To athe church of God which is at bCorinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, ccalled as saints, with all who in every place dcall on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3 aGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 aI thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in everything you were aenriched in Him, in all bword and ball knowledge, 6 even as athe witness about Christ was confirmed in you, 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, aeagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 awho will also confirm you to the end, beyond reproach in bthe day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 aGod is faithful, through whom you were bcalled into cfellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 Now aI exhort you, bbrothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no cdivisions among you, but that you be made complete in dthe same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that aeach one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of bApollos,” and “I of cCephas,” and “I of Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you abaptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I abaptized none of you except aCrispus and bGaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. 16 Now I did baptize also the ahousehold of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 aFor Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, bnot in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty.
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
18 For the word of the cross is afoolishness to bthose who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is cthe power of God. 19 For it is written,
“aI will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
20 aWhere is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of bthis age? Has not God cmade foolish the wisdom of dthe world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, athe world through its wisdom did not come to know God, bGod was well-pleased, through the cfoolishness of the message preached, to dsave those who believe. 22 For indeed aJews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, 23 but we preach aChrist crucified, bto Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles cfoolishness, 24 but to those who are athe called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ bthe power of God and cthe wisdom of God. 25 Because the afoolishness of God is wiser than men, and bthe weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your acalling, brothers, that there were bnot many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. 27 But aGod has chosen the foolish things of bthe world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of bthe world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of athe world and the despised God has chosen, bthe things that are not, so that He may cabolish the things that are, 29 so that ano flesh may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in aChrist Jesus, who became to us bwisdom from God, and crighteousness and dsanctification, and eredemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “aLet him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit
And when I came to you, brothers, I adid not come with superiority of word or of wisdom, proclaiming to you bthe witness of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except aJesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 And I was with you in aweakness and in bfear and in much trembling, 4 and my word and my preaching were anot in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of bthe Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in athe power of God.
6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are amature, a wisdom, however, not of bthis age nor of the rulers of bthis age, who are cbeing abolished. 7 But we speak God’s wisdom in a amystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God bpredestined before the cages to our glory, 8 awhich none of the rulers of bthis age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified cthe Lord of glory. 9 But just as it is written,
“aThings which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
And which have not entered the heart of man,
All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 aBut to us God revealed them bthrough the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the cdepths of God. 11 For who among men knows the depths of a man except the aspirit of the man which is in him? Even so the depths of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we ahave received, not the spirit of bthe world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the depths graciously given to us by God, 13 of which depths we also speak, anot in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual depths with spiritual words.
14 But a anatural man bdoes not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are cfoolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because dthey are spiritually examined. 15 But he who is aspiritual examines all things, yet he himself is examined by no one. 16 For awho has known the mind of the Lord, that he will direct Him? But bwe have the mind of Christ.
Jesus Christ, Our Foundation
And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to aspiritual men, but as to bfleshly men, as to cinfants in Christ. 2 I gave you amilk to drink, not solid food, for you bwere not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are still not able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is ajealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking blike mere men? 4 For when aone says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere bmen?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? aServants through whom you believed, even bas the Lord gave to each one. 6 aI planted, bApollos watered, but cGod was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will areceive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s afellow workers; you are God’s bfield, God’s cbuilding.
10 According to athe grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder bI laid a foundation, and canother is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay a afoundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 aeach man’s work will become evident, for bthe day will indicate it because it is revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will areceive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet aso as through fire.
16 aDo you not know that byou are a sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the sanctuary of God, God will destroy him, for the sanctuary of God is holy, and that is what you are.
18 aLet no man deceive himself. bIf any man among you thinks that he is wise in cthis age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For athe wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is bthe one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “aThe Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” 21 So then alet no one boast in men. For ball things belong to you, 22 awhether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or blife or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, 23 and ayou belong to Christ, and bChrist belongs to God.
Servants of Christ
Let a man consider us in this manner, as aservants of Christ and bstewards of cthe mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court. In fact, I do not even examine myself. 4 For I aam conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this bacquitted. But the one who examines me is the Lord. 5 Therefore ado not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait buntil the Lord comes who will both cbring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of hearts. And then each one’s dpraise will come to him from God.
6 Now these things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to go beyond awhat is written, so that no one of you will bbecome puffed up con behalf of one against the other. 7 For who regards you as superior? aWhat do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
8 You are aalready filled, you have already become rich, you have ruled without us—and how I wish that you had ruled indeed so that we also might rule with you. 9 For, I think that God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men acondemned to death, because we bhave become a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men. 10 We are afools for the sake of Christ, but byou are prudent in Christ! cWe are weak, but you are strong! You are glorious, but we are without honor! 11 To this present hour we ahunger and thirst, and are poorly clothed, and roughly treated, and homeless; 12 and we labor, aworking with our own hands; when we are breviled, we bless; when we are cpersecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we try to plead; we have abecome as the scum of the world, the grime of all things, even until now.
14 I do not write these things to ashame you, but to admonish you as my beloved bchildren. 15 For if you were to have countless atutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in bChrist Jesus I cbecame your father through the dgospel. 16 Therefore I exhort you, be aimitators of me. 17 For this reason I ahave sent to you bTimothy, who is my cbeloved and faithful child in the Lord, and who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, djust as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some have become apuffed up, as though I were not bcoming to you. 19 But I awill come to you soon, bif the Lord wills, and I shall know, not the words of those who are cpuffed up but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does anot consist in words but in power. 21 What do you desire? aShall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?