1 Corinthians 1:26

For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

'Behold your calling' -look at the type of people who have accepted the gospel call.

'"How many wise, powerful or noble ones are among you?" he wants to know.' (McGuiggan p. 35)

'wise after the flesh' -'as men reckon wisdom' (TCNT); 'few of you are men of wisdom, by any human standard' (NEB)

'mighty' -'nor many of the ruling class' (Phi); 'not many in positions of power.' (Beck)

'noble' -'from the noblest families' (Phi). 'Noble, high birth, the three claims to aristocracy (culture, power, birth) (Robertson p. 80)

'are called' -since all are called by the gospel (Mark 16:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:15), the meaning is, 'accept the gospel call'.

'I agree with Earl Jabay that, in the main or almost exclusively, the problem with man is not that he feels too weak to do any better. The problem is that man thinks he is. god..And not only is he his own adoring servant he has "become like God". He's. marvel,. titan, an unstoppable genius, an all-powerful manipulator of the universe...Man, as you hear man tell it, is able to wipe out all signs of want and wickedness. Man has been telling us since the Enlightenment that it is simply. matter of education and breeding and we'll have. world utopia. Poor deluded mankind. By the time he's potty-trained or wipes the dirt off his knee where he was playing down with marbles, it's time for him to hobble on. stick or drool out senile mutterings. Poor man! One of the lessons God has been continuously teaching him since the garden of Eden is that he is neither powerful nor wise. Nor is he noble!' [Note:. McGuiggan p. 35]