"The Word Of The Cross"

by HYLAND, D. T. | Category: Key Truths From Corinthians | Apr 1983

Paul first visited the city of Corinth in the course of his second missionary journey, probably in the autumn of A D 50. The apostle realized that the geographical situation of the city, astride the isthmus of Corinth, gave it a strategic value for the spread of the gospel. A message preached there could be carried quickly in all directions. Corinth was an ancient Greek city that had been rebuilt as a Roman colony in 46 B.C. At the time of Paul's visit the population was composed of Greeks, Roman colonists and Jews. Corinth was a prosperous trading centre, but had a reputation for vice. The inhabitants of the city, and the merchants and travellers passing through, needed the Saviour Paul proclaimed. It was revealed to Paul that it was the Lord's will for him to remain in Corinth for a substantial period during which he would be immune from physical harm. God assured Paul, "I have much people in this city" (Acts 18:10). Paul remained eighteen months preaching the gospel and teaching the converts.

Paul was a "Hebrew of Hebrews" and fully aware of the obsession with miracles of those who were of the same ethnic origin as himself. Being steeped in the history of his own nation, he knew that all too often "Jews ask for signs" (1 Cor. 1:22). Despite their preoccupation with miracles, Paul loved his kinsmen. His consuming passion was that they may be saved" (Rom. 10:1).

Paul was also aware of the cultural bias of the Corinthian Greeks and indeed of Greeks generally towards the pursuit of worldly wisdom. They valued intellect and oratory. Paul had been educated in the school of Gamaliel; he may have been trained too in the systems of human philosophy. He knew a great deal about the wisdom of the world of his time. He was skilled in argument and debate, but his approach to the evangelization of Corinth was one of total dependence on God. He later wrote, "I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling" (1 Cor. 2:3). Paul's presentation of the gospel to the Corinthians was straightforward; his earnest desire being to make the message plain. His speech and preaching "were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Cor. 2:4). While he was with the Corinthians, Paul resolved to know nothing "save Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). Paul concentrated on the vital truths of the identity of Jesus as the Christ, the promised Messiah, Man's hope for salvation lay in Messiah's vicarious and sacrificial death. The main elements of Paul's message could be tersely summed up in the phrase "Christ crucified" (1 Cor. 1:23).

Similarly, when Paul was writing to the converts in the churches of Galatia, he reminded them that during his visit, the essence of his message was Jesus Christ "openly set forth crucified" (Gal. 3:1). Some scholars say that the Greek word prographe translated "openly set forth", could be rendered "placarded publicly", as a notice of civic interest might be. Messages on massive hoardings cannot be missed. There could be no mistaking the main elements of Paul's message which were clearly indicated. Paul delivered his message with as much clarity, fervour and urgency as any town crier.

The crucified Christ was primary in Paul's preaching. He preached not only that Christ was once crucified, but that He continues in His character as the crucified One. Christ's crosswork, the basis of the atonement, is completed; the benefits of His sacrifice are for ever fresh and available. The crucifixion of Christ is a matter of permanent significance, not simply a historical event in the past. It is Paul's firm conviction of the abiding efficacy of the crucifixion that leads him to say that he will not "glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14). The continuing validity of the cross work of Christ, destroys the teaching of the Judaizers, who propagated the heresy that the cross needed to be supplemented by law keeping for salvation. The death of Christ is the only basis upon which God will forgive the believing sinner. It is not possible to supplement the crosswork of Christ or to detract from it. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth" (Rom. 8:33).

The crucifixion of Christ with its resultant benefits was the focal point of Paul's dynamic preaching. Men and women were challenged by a message which cut across their preconceived notions. The gospel takes no account of racial distinctions and makes no concessions to intellectual achievements. The gospel lays it "to the charge both of Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), that they are all under sin" (Rom. 3:9). Human depravity and the awful nature of sin are clearly revealed at the cross. But the nature of God is also revealed there. This is the supreme demonstration that "God is love" (1 John 4:8).

How was the message of the gospel received when preached by Paul and his helpers in Corinth and its environs? What kind of a reaction did it provoke? Humanly speaking, it would appear that nothing could be more ludicrous than proclaiming to sophisticated Greeks that God's wisdom and also His way of salvation for men and women lay in a despised and crucified Man. "The word of the cross" appeared foolish to the Greek mode of thought in which there was a strong element of rationalism. There is nothing "logical" about the plan of salvation which originated in the mind of Deity and in which the human mind had no part. God's salvation reveals His grace.

To Jewish hearers the idea that God's promised deliverance lay in a crucified Messiah exposed to shame on His cross seemed outrageous. A crucified Messiah! Surely a contradiction in terms! Israel's Messiah put to death by a Roman method of execution-what possible benefit could be derived from that? Such was their response because their Jewish minds fastened on those passages in the writings of the prophets which spoke of Messiah's regal dignity and glory. They paid attention to the prophecies which described the glories of Messiah's millennial kingdom. The Jews often wrongly interpreted these prophecies as promises of a "political messiah" who would immediately rid them of the hated Roman yoke and all Gentile dominion.

But there was another strain in the writings of Israel's psalmists and prophets which Jewish minds tended to overlook because of the veil of unbelief which lay on their hearts. These prophecies portrayed graphically and poignantly the sufferings of Messiah in detail. Not only would He be "despised, and rejected of men" but also "smitten of God, and afflicted" (Isa. 53:3,4). These sufferings would result in Messiah pouring out His soul unto death. The sufferings of Messiah on the cross must precede the glorification which is a result of those sufferings.

To the human mind it might seem improbable that the Jews or Greeks of Corinth would accept the gospel. But many did, because there is no limit to the power of God, and "the gospel ... is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom. 1:16). The message was proclaimed regardless of the prejudices of the hearers, and the Spirit of God worked in the hearts of both Jews and Greeks. The natural man does not believe in the serious consequences of sin, but it is the Spirit's work to convict of sin. Those who heard the call of God in the gospel and responded to the "word of the cross" discovered the cross to be a revelation of "the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:24). The order of the words seems to be significant; before men can marvel at divine wisdom they must first experience the power of God in dealing with their sins.

Those who accepted the gospel were from various walks of life and had different racial backgrounds, but "in one Spirit" they were "all baptized into one body" (1 Cor. 12:13). As members of the Church which is Christ's Body their racial origin and social class became of no significance. But the "word of the cross" which bridges many divides, created another. The cross divides human society into "those who are perishing" and those "who are being saved" (1 Cor. 1:18 NIV). The process is still going on. It should be the prayer and exercise of those "who are being saved" to take the gospel to those "who are perishing" so that the perishing may discover that Christ Jesus "was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30).

HYLAND, D. T. | Apr 1983
Key Truths From Corinthians