1 Corinthians 2:5

1Co 2:5. Σοφίᾳ, in the wisdom) and power.—δυνάμει, in the power) and wisdom.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_2:5. Aim of the divine leading, the organ of which the apostle knew himself to be, in what is set forth in 1Co_2:4 : in order that your faith (in Christ) may be based, have its causal ground (comp Bernhardy, p. 210), not on mans wisdom, but on Gods power (which has brought conviction to you through my speech and preaching). That ἵνα introduces not his own (Hofmann), but the divine purpose, is clear from ἐν ἀποδείξει κ.τ.λ[346], in which Paul has stated how God had wrought through him. Comp ἽΝΑ in 1Co_1:31.

[346] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co 2:5 . The Apostle’s purpose in discarding the orator’s and the sophist’s arts was this: “that your faith might not rest in wisdom of men, but in (the) power of God”. The κἀγὼ ἦλθον of 1Co 2:1 dominates the paragraph; P. lives over again the experience of his early days in Cor [323] ; this purpose then filled his breast: so Hf [324] , Gd [325] , with the older interpreters; most moderns read into the ἵνα the Divine purpose suggested by 1Co 1:27-31 . Paul was God’s mouthpiece in declaring the Gospel; he therefore sought the very end of God Himself, viz. , that God alone should be glorified in the faith of his hearers (1Co 1:31 ; cf. 1Co 1:15 ). Had he persuaded the Cor [326] by clever reasonings and grounded Christianity upon their Greek philosophy, his work would have perished with the wisdom of the age (see 6, also 1Co 1:19 , 1Co 3:19 f.).

[323] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[324] J. C. K. von Hofmann’s Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht , ii. 2 (2te Auflage, 1874).

[325] F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. Ép. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).

[326] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

The disowned σοφία ἀνθρώπων is the σοφ . τ . κόσμου of 1Co 1:10 (see note) in its moral character, a σοφ . σαρκική (2Co 1:12 ) “wisdom of men” as opposed to that of God, ἀνθρωπίνη , 1Co 2:13 . Yet not God’s wisdom , but primarily His power (see notes on 1Co 1:18 ; 1Co 1:24 ; 1Co 1:30 ) supplied the ground on which P. planted his hearers’ faith. All through, he opposes the practical to the speculative, the reality of God’s work to the speciousness of men’s talk. The last ἵνα clause of this long passage corresponds to the first, ἵνα μὴ κενωθῇ ὁ σταῦρος τ . Χριστοῦ (1Co 1:17 ). ἐν should be construed with ᾖ ( consistat in , Bz [327] ) rather than πίστις , pointing not to the object of faith but to its substratum: for this predicative ἐν “should be (a faith) in,” etc. cf. 1Co 4:20 , Eph 5:18 , Act 4:12 .

[327] Beza’s Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).

SUMMARY. Thus the Apostle’s first ministry at Cor [328] , in respect of his bearing (1Co 2:1 ), theme (2), temper (3), method (4), governing aim (5), illustrated and accorded with the Gospel, as that is a message from God through which His power works to the confounding of human wisdom by the seeming impotence of a crucified Messiah (1Co 1:17-311Co 1:17-311Co 1:17-31 ).

[328] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_2:5

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

That, i.e. in order that. The design of the apostle in acting as stated in the preceding verse, was that the faith of his hearers might not rest upon human reason, but on the testimony of God. It might have been easy for him to argue the Corinthians into a conviction of the truth of the Gospel, by appealing to its superiority to heathenism and to the evidence of its divine origin afforded by prophecy and miracles. He might have exhibited the folly of idolatry, and the absurdity of pagan rites and ceremonies, and convinced them of the historical truth of Christianity. The conviction thus produced would be rational and important; but it would not be saving faith. Faith founded on such evidence is merely speculative. The true foundation of faith, or rather, the foundation of true faith, is the power of God. This is explained by what he had before called the demonstration of the Spirit. That exercise of divine power, therefore, to which he refers as the ground of faith, is the powerful operation of the Spirit, bearing witness with and by the truth in our hearts. A faith which is founded on the authority of the church, or upon arguments addressed to the understanding, or even on the moral power of the truth as it affects the natural conscience, such as Felix had, is unstable and inoperative. But a faith founded on the demonstration of the Spirit is abiding, infallible, and works by love and purifies the heart.

In these verses, therefore, we are taught,

1. That the proper method to convert men in any community, Christian or Pagan, is to preach or set forth the truth concerning the person and work of Christ. Whatever other means are used must be subordinate and auxiliary, designed to remove obstacles, and to gain access for the truth to the mind, just as the ground is cleared of weeds and brambles in order to prepare it for the precious seed.

2. The proper state of mind in which to preach the gospel is the opposite of self-confidence or carelessness. The gospel should be preached with a sense of weakness and with great anxiety and solicitude.

3. The success of the gospel does not depend on the skill of the preacher, but on the demonstration of the Spirit.

4. The foundation of saving faith is not reason, i.e. not arguments addressed to the understanding, but the power of God as exerted with and by the truth upon the heart.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he telleth the Corinthians, that he did it for their great profit, because they might thereby know manifestly, that the Gospel was from heaven. Therefore he privately rebuketh them, because that in seeking vain ostentation, they willingly deprived themselves of the greatest help of their faith.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

stand in . . . wisdom of men--rest on it, owe its origin and continuance to it.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. That your faith should not stand] That the illumination of your souls and your conversion to God might appear to have nothing human in it: your belief, therefore, of the truths which have been proposed to you is founded, not in human wisdom, but in Divine power: human wisdom was not employed; and human power, if it had been employed, could not have produced the change.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men. To be is used here as meaning to consist His meaning, then, is, that the Corinthians derived this advantage from his having preached Christ among them without dependence on human wisdom, and relying solely on the Spirit’s influence, that their faith was founded not on men but on God. If the Apostle’s preaching had rested exclusively on the power of eloquence, it might have been overthrown by superior eloquence, and besides, no one would pronounce that to be solid truth which rests on mere elegance of speech. It may indeed be helped by it, but it ought not to rest upon it On the other hand, that must have been most powerful which could stand of itself without any foreign aid. Hence it forms a choice commendation of Paul’s preaching, that heavenly influence shone forth in it so clearly, that it surmounted so many hindrances, while deriving no assistance from the world. It follows, therefore, that they must not allow themselves to be moved away from his doctrine, which they acknowledge to rest on the authority of God. Paul, however, speaks here of the faith of the Corinthians in such a way as to bring forward this, as a general statement. Let it then be known by us that it is the property of faith to rest upon God alone, without depending on men; for it requires to have so much certainty to go upon, that it will not fail, even when assailed by all the machinations of hell, but will perseveringly endure and sustain every assault. This cannot be accomplished unless we are fully persuaded that God has spoken to us, and that what we have believed is no mere contrivance of men. While faith ought properly to be founded on the word of God alone, there is at the same time no impropriety in adding this second prop, — that believers recognize the word which they hear as having come forth from God, from the effect of its influence.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

That your faith should not stand,.... "Or be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God". The Spirit of God directed him, and he under his influence chose, and by his assistance pursued this way of preaching, with this view, and for this reason, that faith in Christ, and in the doctrines of his Gospel, which comes by hearing, might not be attributed to the force of human eloquence and oratory; or stand upon so sandy a foundation, as that which might, if that was the case, be puffed away by a superior flow and force of words; but that it might be ascribed, as it ought to be, to almighty power, stand in it, be supported by it, and at last be finished and fulfilled with it.

That your faith should not stand,.... "Or be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God". The Spirit of God directed him, and he under his influence chose, and by his assistance pursued this way of preaching, with this view, and for this reason, that faith in Christ, and in the doctrines of his Gospel, which comes by hearing, might not be attributed to the force of human eloquence and oratory; or stand upon so sandy a foundation, as that which might, if that was the case, be puffed away by a superior flow and force of words; but that it might be ascribed, as it ought to be, to almighty power, stand in it, be supported by it, and at last be finished and fulfilled with it.

1 Corinthians 2:6

co1 2:6

co1 2:6

co1 2:6Howbeit we speak wisdom,.... Though the wise philosophers among the Gentiles accounted the Gospel foolishness; and though the apostle, by an ironical concession, had called the ministry of it the foolishness of preaching, and the foolishness of God, and had thought best, for wise reasons, to deliver it in a plain and simple manner, without the embellishments of human wisdom; yet he vindicates it from the charge of folly: it was not folly, but wisdom, which he and his fellow ministers preached, and that of the highest kind, as appears from what follows. Though it was not esteemed so by all men, yet

among, or with

them that are perfect; adult, at age, opposed to babes and children; such who have their understandings enlightened by the spirit of wisdom and revelation; who have their senses exercised to discern between divine and human wisdom; and who are perfect in a comparative sense, having more spiritual knowledge and understanding than others; for none, in the present state of things, are absolutely perfect in knowledge; they that know most, know but in part: now to such the Gospel and the doctrines of it appear to be the highest wisdom; for the apostle's sense is not that he and other Gospel ministers preached the more sublime doctrines of it to a select set of persons that had more judgment and a better understanding of things than others: if this could be thought to be the apostle's meaning, he might be supposed to allude to a custom among the Jews, not to deliver the sublime things of the law, but to persons so and so qualified.

"Says R. Ame (r), they do not deliver the secrets of the law, but to him who has the five things or characters in Isa 3:3''

So they did not suffer the first chapter of Genesis and the visions of Ezekiel to be read until thirty years of age (s); and from them the Pythagoreans took their notion of not declaring their mysteries but to "perfect ones", the word here used (t); but the apostle's sense is, that to such that were perfect, and even to everyone that had the least degree of spiritual knowledge, the Gospel was wisdom. Some refer this clause not to persons, but things; and so the Arabic version reads it, "we speak wisdom concerning things that are perfect"; as the things of the Gospel are, such as a plenteous redemption, perfect righteousness, full pardon, plenary satisfaction, and complete salvation and happiness:

yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: meaning not the idolatry, superstition, curious and magic arts introduced by demons, which principalities and powers, with all their works, are spoiled and destroyed by Christ; but either the political wisdom and crafty schemes of the civil governors of the world, against Christ and his Gospel, who were by this time most, if not all of them, dead; or the vain philosophy of the wise and learned among the Gentiles, who every day were less and less in vogue, through the quick and powerful spread of the Gospel; or rather the highest pitch of wisdom and knowledge in divine things, which the doctors and Rabbins among the Jews attained to in the age before the Messiah's coming; called "this world" in distinction from the times of the Messiah, which in Jewish language was, "the world to come", as Dr. Lightfoot observes; who with all their wisdom were confounded and brought to nought by the superior wisdom of the Gospel.

(r) T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 13. 1. (s) Hieron. prefat. in Ezekiel & ad Paulin. Tom. III. fol. 3. 2. (t) Hierocles in Pythag. Carmin. p. 302.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Ver. 5. That your faith, &c.] A human testimony can breed but a human faith. Aaron’s bells were of pure gold; our whole preaching must be Scripture-proof, or it will burn, and none be the better for it. Ut drachmam auri sine imagine principis, sic verba hortantis sine authoritate Dei contemnunt homines, saith Lipsius.

In the power of God] In the gospel that lodgeth a certainty in the soul.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That your faith - That is, that your belief of the divine origin of the Christian religion.

Should not stand - Greek, “should not be;” that is, should not rest upon this; or be sustained by this. God intended to furnish you a firm and solid demonstration that the religion which you embraced was from Him; and this could not be if its preaching had been attended with the graces of eloquence, or the abstractions of refined metaphysical reasoning. It would then appear to rest upon human wisdom.

In the power of God - In the evidence of divine power accompanying the preaching of the gospel. The power of God would attend the exhibition of truth everywhere; and would be a demonstration that would be irresistible that the religion was not originated by man, but was from heaven. That power was seen in changing the heart; in overcoming the strong propensities of our nature to sin; in subduing the soul; and making the sinner a new creature in Christ Jesus. Every Christian has thus, in his own experience, furnished demonstration that the religion which he loves is from God, and not from man. man could not subdue these sins; and man could not so entirely transform the soul. And although the unlearned Christian may not be able to investigate all the evidences of religion; although he cannot meet all the objections of cunning and subtle infidels, although he may be greatly perplexed and embarrassed by them, yet he may have the fullest proof that he loves God, that he is different from what he once was; and that all this has been accomplished by the religion of the cross.

The blind man that was made to see by the Saviour John 10, might have been wholly unable to tell how his eyes were opened, and unable to meet all the cavils of those who might doubt it, or all the subtle and cunning objections of physiologists, but of one thing he certainly could not doubt, that “whereas he was blind, he then saw;” Joh 10:25. A man may have no doubt that the sun shines, that the wind blows, that the tides rise, that the blood flows in his veins, that the flowers bloom, and that this could not be except it was from God, while he may have no power to explain these facts; and no power to meet the objections and cavils of those who might choose to embarrass him. So people may know that their hearts are changed; and it is on this ground that no small part of the Christian world, as in everything else, depend for the most satisfactory evidence of their religion. On this ground humble and unlearned Christians have been often willing to go to the stake as martyrs - just as a humble and unlearned patriot is willing to die for his country. He loves it; and he is willing to die for it. A Christian loves his God and Saviour; and is willing to die for his sake.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

That your faith, &c. Had we employed the subtleties, the reasonings, and eloquence of men, some might perhaps be induced to believe that you had been seduced by artifice. But none can reasonably say so; your faith is founded on the force and evidence of truth, and upon the virtue and power of the Holy Ghost, who has bestowed upon you both the light of knowledge, and the fire of love. (Theod.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Faith properly signifieth our assent to a thing that is told us, and because it is told us. If the revelation be from man, it is no more than a human faith. If it be from God, and we believe the thing because God hath revealed it to us, this is a Divine faith. So as indeed it is impossible that a Divine faith should rest in the wisdom of men. If we could make gospel propositions evident to the outward senses, or evident to such principles of reason as are connatural to us, or upon such conclusions as we make upon such principles, yet no assent of this nature could be faith, which is an assent given to a Divine revelation purely because of such revelation. An assent other ways given may be sensible demonstration, or rational demonstration, or knowledge, or opinion; but Divine faith it cannot be, that must be bottomed in the power of God. Nor ought any thing more to be the care of the ministers of the gospel than this, as to call men to believe, so to endeavour that their faith may

not stand in the wisdom of men: nothing but a human faith can do so. This will show every conscientious minister the vanity of not proving what he saith from holy writ: all other preaching is but either dictating, as if men were to believe what the preacher saith upon his authority; or philosophizing, acting the part of a philosoplter or orator at Athens, not the part of a minister of the gospel.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. Wisdom of men—The philosophy of the Grecian schools.

Power—The powerful influence of the Spirit of God.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the power of God. So in 2Co_4:7 he says that the treasure they carried was "in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That your faith might not be built on the wisdom or power of man, but on the wisdom and power of God.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

5. “In order that your faith may not be in the wisdom of men, but in the dynamite of God.” Popular evangelism, with its superficial artistic methods, is prominent amid the withering curses which blight the fallen churches at the present day, gathering in vast multitudes of unconverted people to hang a dead weight on the ecclesiastical wheel, not only stopping the machinery, but reversing the power and running it down to Hell. This arises from the fact that they are converted to the evangelist, and not to God. So when the preacher goes away their religion is gone, and their “last state worse than the first,” “because their faith stood not in the power of God,” but in the wisdom of the magnetic speaker who conducted the so- called revival. There is no danger of these unhappy results if, like Paul, we will give up all human machinery and machination, eloquence, claptrap and manipulation, look the people squarely in the face, take Mt. Sinai for our pulpit, ask God Almighty to furnish thunder-bolts and earthquakes, and be courageous to hurl and heave them fearlessly at men and devils, sparing sin neither in pulpit nor pew, among the churchly bon-tons nor social upper- tens, thus fighting sin and devils like a dog in a yellow-jacket’s nest fighting for his life. In that case, you will render yourself so odious to fallen humanity, repellent to carnality, abominable to pseudo-Christianity, and antagonistical to the devil and all his coadjutors, that you may rest assured that nobody is going to put faith in you. If anybody, in that case, is converted under your ministry, it will be God that does it, for they will all feel like hanging you instead of becoming your disciple. Remember, the true gospel is irreconcilably obnoxious and intolerably repellent to carnality in all its forms and phases, slaying human pride, even though it be church pride (which is of the devil), without distinction or mercy. Hence a popular gospel is always diabolical.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

that your faith should not stand in [should not be based upon] the wisdom of men, but in the power of God .

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. That your faith should not stand. Their faith was not produced by the triumphs of oratory or philosophy, but by the gospel preached in the power of the Spirit. Hence it was wrought through the means supplied of God.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

5.] ᾖ ἐν, may be grounded on,—owe its origin and stability to. “The Spirit is the original Creator of Faith, which cannot be begotten of human caprice, though man has the capability of hindering its production: and it depends for its continuance on the same mighty Spirit, who is almost without intermission begetting it anew.” Olshausen.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. ἵνα. This expresses, either the purpose of God, in so ordering the Apostle’s preaching (Theodoret), or that of the Apostle himself. The latter suits the ἔκρινα of v. 2; but the former best matches the thought of v. 4, and may be preferred (Meyer, Ellicott). The verse is co-ordinate with 1:31, but rises to a higher plane, for πίστις is more intimately Christian than the καύχησις of the O.T. quotation.

μὴ ᾖ ἐν σοφίᾳ ἀνθρώπων. The preposition marks the medium or sphere in which faith has its root: cf. ἐν τούτῳ πιστεύομεν (Joh 16:30). We often express the same idea by ‘depend on’ rather than by ‘rooted in’; ‘that your faith may not depend upon wisdom of men, but upon power of God.’ What depends upon a clever argument is at the mercy of a cleverer argument. Faith, which is at its root personal trust, springs from the vital contact of human personality with divine. Its affirmations are no mere abstract statements, but comprise the experience of personal deliverance; οἶδα γὰρ ὧ πεπίστευκα (2Ti 1:12). Here the negative statement is emphasized.

(II.) 2:6-3:4. The True Wisdom

2:6-13. The True Wisdom Described

To mature Christians we Apostles preach the Divine Wisdom, which God has revealed to us by His Spirit.

6 Not that as preachers of the Gospel we ignore wisdom. when we are among those whose faith is ripe, we impart it. But it is not a wisdom that is possessed by this age; no, nor yet by the leaders of this age, whose influence is destined soon to decline. 7 On the contrary, what we impart is the Wisdom of God, a mystery hitherto kept secret, which God ordained from before all time for our eternal salvation. 8 of this wisdom no one of the leaders of this age has ever acquired knowledge, for if any had done so, they would never have crucified the Lord whose essential attribute is glory. 9 But, so far from any of them knowing this wisdom, what stands written in Scripture is exactly true about them, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man,—whatsoever things God prepared for them that love Him. 10 But to us, who are preachers of His Gospel, God has unveiled these mysteries through the operation of His Spirit; for His Spirit can explore all things, even the deep mysteries of the Divine Nature and Will. 11 We can understand this a little from our own experience. What human being knows the inmost thoughts of a man, except the man’s own spirit within him? Just so no one has attained to knowledge of the inmost thoughts of God, except God’s own Spirit. 12 Yet what we received was not the spirit which animates and guides the non-Christian world, but its opposite, the Spirit which proceeds from God, given to us that we may appreciate the benefits lavished upon us by God. 13 And what He has revealed to us we teach, not in choice words taught by the rhetoric of the schools, but in words taught by the Spirit, matching spiritual truth with spiritual language.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vv. 5. ῞Ινα, in order that, indicates the apostle’s object in the course he has followed. He was not ignorant that a faith, founded on logical arguments, could be shaken by other arguments of the same nature. To be solid, it must be the work of the power of God, and in order to be that, proceed from a conviction of sin and a personal appropriation of salvation, which the Spirit of God alone can produce in the human soul. The preacher’s task in this work lies, not in wishing to act in the place and stead of the Spirit with the resources of his own eloquence and genius, but in opening up the way for Him by simple testimony rendered to Christ.

By these last words, we are brought back to the point of departure of the whole passage, 1Co 1:18: the gospel is not a wisdom, but a power; not a philosophy, but a salvation. If the Corinthians were divided into parties, it was because they had failed to know this truth. By making the gospel a system, they had changed the Church into a school, and its ministers into teachers and rhetoricians. Hence it is that St. Paul begins by re-establishing in the mind of the Corinthians the true notion of the gospel. But some of his expressions might lead us to suppose that wisdom was banished from the domain of the gospel. Now this was not what the apostle had meant; and it is this possible misunderstanding which he sets aside in the following passage, where he shows that if the gospel is not essentially wisdom, it nevertheless contains a wisdom, and that the true wisdom, superior to all that the human understanding could have discovered.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.