For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel–not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:17- 18
Within these verses we see the heart of Paul’s ministry…to preach the gospel. In his presentation of the gospel, he did not use “words of human wisdom” or in other words with the cleverness of human argumentation. Instead he proclaimed the simple, yet profound “message of the cross.” To those who reject the message, or as Paul describes them, those who are perishing, the message is foolishness. The idea of God taking on human flesh, dying on a cross like a criminal, and then being raised on the third day all done in order to save us from our sins, to them it is moronic, unbelievable, and foolishness. But to us who are saved, we know that it is the message of the cross, the gospel, it is “the power of God for salvation” (Rom. 1:16). When I survey the wondrous cross, I realize that the simple message of the cross preached is the power of God for salvation.
Tags: Christ Jesus