See the Big Picture. Dig In. Live It Out: A 5-Day Reading Plan in 1 CorinthiansSýnishorn

The Big Picture 

Paul first established that the message God uses—the cross—is foolishness to men (1 Cor. 1:18); then he reminded them that the method God uses—preaching—is also foolishness. Now he gets personal, perhaps even a little insulting. He points out that the material God chooses is equally unimpressive. God does everything for his own glory, and he is most glorified when only he can claim the glory and the credit for salvation. If God’s own glory is his ultimate goal and motive, so should it be the goal of the believer.

Digging In

In 1 Corinthians 1:26, Paul’s bluntness shatters any grand notions the Corinthians may have had about themselves. If they presumed that they were doing God a favor by agreeing to be his people, Paul prescribed a bitter dose of reality. “Consider your calling,” he urges them. When Jesus called them, he called them out of something. Paul’s reminder keeps us in awe of God’s grace. God reached down to save us because we could never reach up to him, much less save ourselves. Only when we let go of our own righteousness could we accept his. The message of the cross teaches that self-righteousness will keep us from heaven as much as sin. 

Considering that God needs nothing in us, that there is no foreseen merit that makes us attractive to him, we might wonder why he would ever forgive us and call us to himself. Paul answers that God has a program of self-glorification. His ultimate purpose is to display his glory throughout his creation. He does that most beautifully when he saves worthless sinners. The human heart rebels at both of these truths. We feel offended when Paul reminds us of our own estate, and we feel outraged at the notion of God glorifying himself. We have always been taught that it is rude to brag on oneself, to list one’s own wonderful attributes, but that is because humans live in the realm of comparison and degrees of attributes. God, however, is superlative in all things. He has no equal and is perfect in all his ways. His self-glorification is not only permissible, but necessary! His glory is his sacred purpose in all he does from creation to the cross to consummation. 

People who seem worthless to the world become God’s means of glorifying himself. God’s most beautiful buildings are crafted from defective materials. The trophies of grace that shine most brightly for him are those with no claim to their own glory. 

Paul instructs the Corinthians that it is because of God that we are in Christ Jesus (1:30), implying two important truths. The first regards the disposition of God. God the Father is the initiator of salvation. Any notion of the Godhead as a wrathful Father appeased by a pleading Son, as though God saves only reluctantly, is wrongheaded if not blasphemous. Though there is no division in the Trinity, Paul portrays our salvation as originating in the mind of the Father and accomplished through the obedience of the Son. Because of him—God the Father—we are in Christ Jesus. 

The second implication of this grand declaration regards the position of believers. We are not merely accepted by God, we are accepted in Christ. On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus prayed, “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation” (John 17:24). Elsewhere Paul wrote that God—again, note the subject—has made us “accepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1:6 NKJV, italics added). God’s provision of his own Son as the means of salvation is the only way sin could be forgiven. 

Since the human mind could never invent or grasp God’s way of redemption, Jesus is God’s wisdom incarnate. That which the world deems as foolish is the only way to be reconciled to God. Paul clearly defines this wisdom from God: righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). In this way, God demonstrates his wisdom. 

These three words each describe an aspect and a tense of salvation. Righteousness is required to be able to stand before God. Since our righteousness is as filthy rags, God supplied righteousness by imputing to us the righteousness of Christ. His righteousness accomplished our justification. Sanctification is the practical aspect of salvation. It refers to holiness, which is the natural state of the Christian life as the believer emulates the character of Christ. Jesus provided our righteousness, but he also modeled perfect holiness for us. This growth in holiness and likeness to his character is our sanctification. Redemption is the description of our ultimate salvation, not only from sin’s penalty, but also from its very presence and power. Salvation will only be complete when Jesus puts all enemies under his feet. Redemption is our assurance of that victory. 

Together these three concepts teach the three tenses of our salvation. Trusting Christ, we were justified and saved from sin’s penalty. Growing in holiness, we are being saved from sin’s power. When Jesus returns and completes our redemption, we will be saved from sin’s very presence.

Living It Out

Like the Corinthians, we were of lowly estate when Christ called us, though our initial encounter with Christ may seem very different on the surface. Some people shed many tears when they come to faith, while others may experience a very intellectual consideration of the claims of Christ. Some were saved in a Christian home, while others were in a horribly sinful lifestyle. Some were down and out when they came to faith, while others were affluent and self-absorbed. The only thing that all believers’ experiences have in common is that, accompanying their acceptance of Christ, they felt an overwhelming sense of their own worthlessness, sinfulness, and inadequacy. In fact, salvation is impossible without it. No one reaches for a life preserver if they believe they can swim fine on their own. No one can be saved until they first acknowledge they are lost. 

Overwhelmed with the richness of God’s provision, Paul rebukes the Corinthians even as he leads them in worship. They had been boasting in men—even in Paul—but how foolish that seems when the apostle explains the mighty acts of God in saving his people. God alone has saved by revealing the wisdom of his plan—our righteousness, holiness, and redemption—in Jesus Christ, his Son. If anyone feels inclined to boast, they can only boast in the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord, and of the Lord alone.