“We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ;
we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.” 1
Corinthians 4:10
As believers in Jesus Christ we quickly understand that He
is our all and in all, we are nothing outside of Him. We see here that the
Apostle Paul is speaking about himself and all the others with Him. People want
to believe that they are someone wise, good, strong, and able, but this could
not be farther from the biblical truth. God said he chose the foolish, weak,
and unacceptable of the world for His own. But one might ask, was Saul of
Tarshus those thing before salvation, and the answer would be absolutely not.
Saul was a very intelligent as was Luke, Mark, and etc. etc. etc. as was also Nicodemus
who was a ruler of the Jews. God never said He did not choose great and smart
people, but all these great and smart people were ignorant of Jesus Christ and
His salvation. See salvation is like Jesus Christ, both are rejected by
mankind. People who do not trust Jesus Christ for their salvation are unsaved
and ignorant of God’s salvation. You can be like Saul of Tarshus, Nicodemus, or
have a collage education or even a PhD and it matters not scripturally. And on
the other hand, you can be a nobody with little or no education and have a
masters in biblical studies. See, it is not who or what you are in this world,
it is what God has made you scripturally. Paul was a man who truly understood
this, because as smart as he was as a Jew, he had to become a biblical fool to
understand Jesus Christ and God’s word. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:18 “Let
no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world,
let him become a fool, that he may be wise.” People attempt to use their human logic
and worldly education in a biblical work and they fail. If you do not become a
fool, you will never learn the bible. Paul wrote in our text that “…but ye are
wise in Christ…” and only is Christ. So, while some people may flash around
their worldly education, and brag about their worldly knowledge, they are
nothing but lost fools heading for the fires and flames of the eternal hell. It
is not until you are “in Christ Jesus” that you can be smart. Worldly intelligence
is of no value without faith in Jesus Christ. You can sit in the assemblies of
masses and megachurch status for decades listening to the men with PhD’s for
years, die and go to hell for you troubles. And on the other-hand, you can sit
under a Master of the scriptures and be saved and spend eternity with Jesus
Christ. Now, when I say, “master of the scriptures” I do not mean they are Theologians
but rather well learned of the scriptures. The next thing we realize is “…we
are weak, but ye are strong…” but only in Christ. As with our education in the scriptures
we also learn that we are unable to do anything about salvation. People who are
saved without the faith of Jesus Christ in their hearts are lost and heading
for the flames of hell. In this flesh we are weak, fleshly we may believe we
are strong, and that we can accomplish anything we set our minds too. However,
in Christ we realize how weak and foolish we were in the flesh. Paul wrote in 1
Corinthians 2:2 - 5 “For I determined not to know any thing among you,
save Jesus Christ, and him crucified…And I was with you in weakness, and in
fear, and in much trembling…And my speech and my preaching was not with
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power…That
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
Only in Christ, and by the power of God through the work of the Holy Spirit can
we ever accomplish anything spiritually. In Christ we realize that we are no
longer foolish, weak, but rather smart, strong and honorable but to the world
we are foolish, weak, and despised, as Paul put is in our text. As Christians
we must never forget who we are and what we are in Christ. However, we must
never forget who we are to the world, foolish and hated. Beloved, no matter
what others think of you, always remember who you are in Christ, and remember you
are a Christian because of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit. “For
the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20
