1 Corinthians 3:19

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. WITH GOD - in the judgment of God. IT IS WRITTEN - in Job 5:13. This formula of quoting SCRIPTURE establishes the canonicity of Job. HE TAKETH THE WISE IN THEIR OWN CRAFTINESS - proving the "foolishness" of the world's wisdom, since God makes it the very snare to catch those who think themselves so wise. Literally, He who taketh [ drassomenos (G1405)], graspeth with his hand, etc., the whole sentence not being quoted, but only the part which suited Paul's purpose....

19._For the wisdom of this world _This is an argument taken from things opposite. To maintain the one is to overturn the other. As, therefore, _the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God_, it follows that we cannot be wise in the sight of God, unless we are fools in the view of the world. We have already explained (1 Corinthians 1:20) what he means by _the wisdom of this world_; for natural perspicacity is a gift of God, and the liberal arts, and all the sciences by which wisdom is acquired, are gifts of God. They are confined, however, within their own limits; for into God’s heavenly kingdom they cannot penetrate. Hence they must occupy the place of handmaid, not of mistress: nay more, they must be looked upon as empty and worthless, until they have become entirely subject to the word and Spirit of God. If, on the other hand, they set themselves in opposition to Chri

18-23 To have a high opinion of our own wisdom, is but to flatter ourselves; and self-flattery is the next step to self-deceit. The wisdom that wordly men esteem, is foolishness with God. How justly does he despise, and how easily can he baffle and confound it! The thoughts of the wisest men in the world, have vanity, weakness, and folly in them. All this should teach us to be humble, and make us willing to be taught of God, so as not to be led away, by pretences to human wisdom and skill, from the simple truths revealed by Christ. Mankind are very apt to oppose the design of the mercies of God. Observe the spiritual riches of a true believer; "All are yours," even ministers and ordinances. Nay, the world itself is yours. Saints have as much of it as Infinite Wisdom sees fit for them, and they have it with the Divine blessing. Life is yours, that you may have a season and opportunity to...

Verse 19. _THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD_] Whether it be the pretended deep and occult wisdom of the rabbins, or the wire-drawn speculations of the Grecian philosophers, _is foolishness with God_; for as folly consists in spending time, strength, and pains to no purpose, so these may be fitly termed _fools_ who acquire no saving knowledge by their speculations. And is not this the case with the major part of all that is called _philosophy_, even in the present day? Has one soul been made wise unto salvation through it? Are our most eminent philosophers either pious or useful men? Who of them is meek, gentle, and humble! Who of them directs his researches so as to meliorate the moral condition of his fellow creatures? Pride, insolence, self-conceit, and complacency, with a general forgetfulness of God, contempt for his word, and despite for the poor, are their general characteristics. He tak...

FOR THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD - That which is esteemed to be wisdom by the people of this world on the subject of religion. It does not mean that true wisdom is foolishness with him. It does not mean that science, and prudence, and law - that the knowledge of his works - that astronomy, and medicine, and chemistry, are regarded by him as folly, and as unworthy the attention of people. God is the friend of truth on all subjects; and he requires us to become acquainted with his works, and commends those who search them, Psalms 92:4; Psalms 111:2. But the apostle refers here to that which was esteemed to be wisdom among the ancients, and in which they so much prided themselves, their vain, self-confident, and false opinions on the subject of religion; and especially those opinions whe

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1 _The carnal conceit of the spiritually immature._ 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1 I… COULD NOT SPEAK UNTO YOU AS UNTO SPIRITUAL. Though softened by the word brethren, there was a crushing irony of reproof in these words: "You thought yourselves quite above the need of my simple teaching. You were looking down on me from the whole height of your inferiority. The elementary character of my doctrine was after all the necessary consequence of your own incapacity for anything more profound." AS UNTO CARNAL. The true reading here is _sarkinois, _fleshen, not _sarkikois, _fleshly, or carnal; the later and severer word is perhaps first used in...

FOR THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD IS FOOLISHNESS WITH GOD,.... The wisdom of the Jewish, or Gentile world. It is had in no account with him; it is despised and neglected by him; he makes it foolish, destroys it, and brings it to nothing; he lays it aside as useless, to make men wise unto salvation, and by the foolishness of preaching saves them that believe; he passes by the wise and prudent, and hides the things of the Gospel from them; so, that, with all their learning and wisdom, they can neither apprehend nor comprehend the mysteries of grace, whilst he reveals them unto babes, and chooses the foolish things of this world to spread the knowledge of himself, his Son, his Gospel, and the truths of it, and whom he makes successful, to the confusion of the wise and learned. "FOR IT IS WRITTEN", כדכתיב, an usual form of citing Scriptures with the Jews; it is in Job 5:13 he taketh the wi

1. _And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ._ Their spiritual part had not grown strong, their old carnal nature still had the preponderance, as Paul was obliged to address that which was the bigger half of them. 1 Corinthians 3:2. _I have fed you with milk,_ That is a blessing. 1 Corinthians 3:2. _And not with meat:_ That is not a blessing. It is a great privilege to be fed even with the simple doctrines of grace, with the milk of the gospel; but it is a higher boon to have such a spiritual constitution as to be able to eat the strong meat of the Word....

CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The Carnal state of the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 3:1)._ 2. The Workmen and their Work. (1 Corinthians 3:10). 3. The Church the Temple of God. (1 Corinthians 3:16). 4. Warning against Deception and Glorying in Men. (1 Corinthians 3:18). Their condition is next uncovered. They did not depend on the Spirit of God and did not enjoy the hidden wisdom and walk in it. They were carnal, mere babes in Christ, in the sense that their growth, their spiritual development had been arrested. Carnal (fleshly) is not equivalent to “natural.” The belie

IT IS A FALSE WISDOM THAT PITS ONE LEADER AGAINST ANOTHER: ALL ARE YOURS. Paul warns against the self-deception which causes a man to overrate his own judgment. Better renounce his worldly wisdom, which God counts foolishness that he may become really wise. As Scripture says, God grips fast the wise in their cleverness (Job 5:13), and He knows the emptiness of their thoughts (Psalms 94:11, Paul substitutes the wise for men). So let none boast that he takes any man for his leader, pluming himself on his discernment. Indeed it is to rate one's own dignity too low. For all things belong to the Christian. Christians do not belong to one leader, but all leaders belong to them. The world, too, is theirs, this physical universe with all its throng of sentient beings, life and death, the present, the future. But they are Ch