Garry continued looking at 1 Cor 2:1-5 in the Bible study tonight, this time looking at God’s power. Paul went to Corinth from Athens (see Acts 17:16-18:1), having used rhetoric and persuasive arguments to preach the gospel in Athens. However, it seems that when in Corinth, he felt that this method was no longer as useful, since he came in weakness and trembling and with much fear and no longer relied on eloquence or superior (worldly) wisdom, but instead resolved to know nothing except Christ crucified. It is not wrong to debate with people or to use reason (in fact, in 1 Cor 9:19-23, Paul spoke of using different methods to reach different people), but the fact remains that people are not always going to be persuaded by reason (see Ex 7:8-13). God’s power confirms His word, for it is easy to speak words (eg of forgiveness) but harder to demonstrate power (see Matt 9:1-8); nonetheless, we need to see God’s power at work through His Spirit.
We show the power of God by the way we live and the way we love, our lives being a testimony to God’s power. We must not seek the gifts of the Spirit more than we seek God, but we should not be afraid of God’s power, for it is His validation of the preaching of the gospel. Those in Athens listened to Paul until he spoke of the resurrection from the dead and then this became, as Paul has expounded in 1 Corinthians 1, a stumbling-block, for the way God works is beyond our understanding. God’s power and our vulnerability are not mutually exclusive, either. We need to understand that without God, we can do nothing; we need His power and grace if we are to see lives transformed as Paul did.