1 Corinthians 2:5

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. STAND IN THE WISDOM OF MEN - rest on, owe its origin and continuance to, it....

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, w...

1-5 Christ, in his person, and offices, and sufferings, is the sum and substance of the gospel, and ought to be the great subject of a gospel minister's preaching, but not so as to leave out other parts of God's revealed truth and will. Paul preached the whole counsel of God. Few know the fear and trembling of faithful ministers, from a deep sense of their own weakness They know how insufficient they are, and are fearful for themselves. When nothing but Christ crucified is plainly preached, the success must be entirely from Divine power accompanying the word, and thus men are brought to believe, to the salvation of their souls....

Verse 1 Corinthians 2:5. _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....

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 natu

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 2:1 _St. Paul's own method._ 1 CORINTHIANS 2:1 AND I; "I too;" I in accordance with God's method. WHEN I CAME TO YOU. The date of his first visit was in A.D. 52, and he had stayed a year and a half (Acts 18:11). He had since been (roughly speaking) "three years" (τριετίαν_, _Acts 20:31) at Ephesus. OF SPEECH OR OF WISDOM. I spoke to you neither oratorically nor philosophically. Hence the Apollos party, fond of the brilliant rhetoric of the young Alexandrian, spoke of Pau

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....

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The Apostle's Preaching. (1 Corinthians 2:1)._ 2. The Revelation of the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:6). 3. The Helplessness and Ignorance of the Natural Man. (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Apostle had been among them and declared unto them the testimony of God. This he had not done with excellency of speech or wisdom. He preached unto them the Person of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He, who is the wisdom of God, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), was his one theme; he determined not to know anything among them but the Person

1 CORINTHIANS 1:18 TO 1 CORINTHIANS 2:5. THE CROSS, FOLLY TO THE WORLD, IS THE POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. Paul now explains and justifies 1 Corinthians 1:17_ b_, which to Greek readers must have sounded strange, almost a defiant paradox. The story of the Cross is folly to those who are in the way of ruin, but it attests itself in our experience to us, who are in the way of salvation, as the power of God. And this is in harmony with Scripture. For God's wise purpose ordained that the world's wisdom should be unable to know Him. There is an effective contrast between Divine and human wisdom. The world seeks through its wisdom to know God, but God's wisdom checkmates the world's wisdom and thw

So, brothers, when I came to you, I did not come announcing God's secret to you with any outstanding gifts of rhetoric or wisdom, for it was my deliberate decision to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him upon his Cross. So I was with you in weakness and in diffidence and in much nervousness. My story and my proclamation were not made with persuasive words of wisdom; it was by the Spirit and by power that they were unanswerably demonstrated to be true, so that your faith should not depend on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Paul remembers back to the time when first he came to Corinth, and three things stand out. (i) He came speaking in simplicity. It is worth noting that Paul had come to Corinth from Athens. It was at Athens that, for the only time in his life, as far as we know, he had attempted to reduce Christianity to philosophic terms. There, on Mars' Hill...