I Corinthians 2:1-5: "Paul Preaches the Power of God"

Paul continues his letter to show himself as an example of all that he had just said in the previous section. "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God". Paul is showing that he did not try to debate or philosophizes are manipulate the believers at Corinth into believing in Christ, rather, he spoke the message of God, he preached the gospel. Paul understood that it would not be cleverness of speech that would change hearts, but the power of God that would change lives. MacArthur writes, "Paul assured the Corinthians that he had not come to them with a lot of human verbiage and opinion. He presented them with the testimony of God and nothing else. Some years later he assured them again: 'We have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God' (2 Cor. 4:2)". May this be an encouragement to us knowing that it is not our job to try to persuade or be crafty enough to trick them into salvation, but rather, it is our job to merely tell others about the "testimony of God" and let God do the work. We are not God, and shame on us to think we have to present a clever enough case to get someone to believe. It has all been given to us by God, our responsibility is to tell about it. Paul continues, "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified". Paul here is saying that he did not waste time trying to philosophize or string together a wonderful debate to try to capture his audience. He did not work on humorous or captivating stories, he determined in his heart to proclaim nothing but Jesus Christ to the lost, knowing in his heart that this was all they needed in order to be saved. MacArthur points out, "obviously the apostle was not saying that he preached or taught nothing but evangelistic messages, or that he expounded only those parts of Scripture that deal directly with Christ's atonement. He taught the full counsel of God, as his writings make clear (Acts 20:27)".

Paul will now show that his approach to ministering the gospel goes against earthly wisdom, but is the godly example of how we are to do it. Paul writes, "And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling". At first glance, this may not seem to characterize Paul very well after reading about him in Acts. However, Paul is continuing his paradox. It is the weakness of the gospel which he has just told us is the power of God. Paul came in his weakness, or his inability to save, to merely proclaim Christ which was the power of God. His reference to fear and trembling most likely to his utmost respect and understanding of the amazing task at hand. He knew about the horribly corrupt nature of Corinth. Paul had known about the rampant immorality and paganism throughout the city. For this reason, Paul knew he had a grave task at hand and would have to completely rely on God to provide the power. MacArthur writes, "[Paul] was fearful and trembling only in the sense of being deeply anxious that the gospel somehow find root even in this gospel's having lost its power. He was fearful only of its being rejected, and of the terrible consequences of that rejection". Let us approach each evangelistic opportunity with the same fear and trembling, relying on Christ.

Paul continues, "And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power". He again gives credit to where credit is due. Paul understood that the softening on a listeners heart would not come through his clever speech, but through the power of the Holy Spirit working in the life of the hearer. Clever words only take the power of the gospel away and leave it in the hands of the preacher. We are to rely completely on God's power of regeneration. For us to try to doctor the message, or sugar coat our words is to tell God that His power is not enough and we need to help out a little bit. Paul points out the very purpose of him approaching the gospel this way, "that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God". Paul has just come full circle from the original discussion. If we recall, at the beginning of this section Paul was addressing the dispute that many were boasting in who they followed or who had baptized him. He now is showing them that the very purpose of preaching the gospel to others by the power of the Spirit, rather than by clever speech, was so that those who heard the gospel and have been changed (the Corinthians), they would rest their trust in the power of God, rather than on the wisdom of men. Who do we have faith in? Who do we rely on to do the work?