1 Corinthians 2 Review: Day 4
Be strong- κραταιόω (krat-ah-yo'-o) grow strong, become strong
What is your source of strength?
Where do you go, or who do you look to for power and perseverance amid trials, setbacks, and uncertainty? How do you overcome life’s multiple struggles without and within?
Today as we reflect upon Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2, we are confronted with a curious dilemma when considering his command to be strong in this letter’s final chapter. How does one so seemingly aware and preoccupied with his many weaknesses, simply order his Christian brethren to be strong?
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Paul, of course, was not being glib or dismissive about human weakness, nor was he encouraging his fellow believers to simply “hang in there” or build spiritual muscle through acts of self-will or determination.
No. As 1 Corinthians 2 shows, Paul’s own life would serve as a gentle but clear correction to a church that was already doing that to a fault. Instead, his example revealed that weakness was vital for building true strength in the Christian life, and that growth could only be gained by and through God himself.
Strength in weakness
Paul made this point clearly in verses 3-5 by telling the Corinthians that God had worked to seek, save, and grow the church despite his poor communication skills.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
This simple object lesson not only reinforced Paul’s earlier claim that “God chooses the weak to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27), but it also pointed back to God’s consistent use of the lowly to save his people and bring glory to himself.
God’s power was demonstrated through Paul’s simple gospel declaration, and it also strengthened him to persevere through persecution as the Corinthian church was being established. (Acts 18:1-16)
Here we can better understand that when Paul “decided to know nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2) it was as much of a testimony to his perseverance as it was about the message he delivered.
Paul was helpless apart from the sustaining and life-giving power that was his through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and he looked to him and him alone to carry him through each step of his mission.
Paul’s epistles are filled with references to his trials and struggles (2 Corinthians 4:7-11, 11:16-33, 2 Timothy 3:1-12), but his eyes remained fixed on the only one who could carry him through each one.
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:12-13
Nothing within Paul other than the Holy Spirit could enable him to complete the work he’d been given, and nothing would empower the work of the Corinthian church to complete theirs if they continued to place their hope in mere men and selfish ambition.
A supernatural source
Followers of Jesus should never forget or lose sight of the source of their new identity if they are to grow in genuine strength.
Paul uses the second half of 1 Corinthians 2 to remind believers they possessed a gift so precious it defied human perception and imagination. (vs. 9-10)
What was this gift exactly?
The answer would equip his brothers and sisters with the power they needed to endure present trials, and also fill them with the glorious expectation of a day yet to come.
Paul articulates this beautifully in the opening chapter of his letter to the Colossian church:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
Colossians 1:24-29
First-century believers were uniquely set apart from their pagan neighbors because their hope was not rooted in their ability to adhere to a set of religious rules and regulations to appease a distant and capricious god.
Instead, the one true God of the universe had chosen to not only reveal himself to them personally, but had come to dwell within them and equip them with strength and a hope they could never obtain by their own will, wisdom, or power.
Though separated by centuries, today’s Christians face the same temptations. Who do we seek out and where do we turn when trials come, and the culture pressures us to conform to human philosophies that run contrary to the Word of God?
Do we consistently look to ourselves and rely upon self-centered resources to sustain us against the one who came to kill and destroy, or do we look to the One who died and rose again that we might have life and have it more abundantly? (John 10:10)
Questions for Consideration
Read 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 and Isaiah 64:4.
What similarities and differences do you notice between the two passages?
Note in 1 Corinthians 2:9 that Paul writes about what “God has prepared for those who love him”, but in Isaiah 64:4, the prophet writes about a God who “acts for those who wait for him”. Is there a correlation between love for God and waiting on God?
Read Isaiah 40:28-31 and the first three words of 1 Corinthians 13:4
What does our willingness to wait upon God say about our love for him?
How often does the Bible speak about the importance of waiting upon the Lord?
What do your own thoughts and actions reveal about your own faith in God’s provision and timing? Do you routinely wait upon God, or do you place your faith in other things?