Is this your usual attitude? Well, that stance will never get you into heaven! The first rule in understanding God and salvation is, you can’t do it yourself. Before we can come to God we must understand our desperate need for Him and our total insufficiency to save ourselves.

Today’s text deals with the attitude among the Christians living in a Greek culture where wisdom and eloquence of speech was idolized. Paul warned the believers in Corinth to beware of placing confidence in the wrong things and taking pride in the flesh.

Read an excerpt from this Sunday’s text and allow the Holy Spirit to speak…

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18-24 (NLT)

Paul ends chapter one with a quote from Jeremiah that says it all!

This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken! Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NLT)

I’m thankful that I am saved by God’s grace and not my “I Q”!

 Pastor Mike