Study Desk

I always thank my God for you because of the grace that he has given you through Christ Jesus.

Now you have every gift from God while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come again.

God is faithful. He is the one who has chosen you to share life with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The teaching about the cross seems foolish to those who are lost. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

So what does this say about the philosopher, the law expert, or anyone in this world who is skilled in making clever arguments? God has made the wisdom of the world look foolish.

This is what God in his wisdom decided: Since the world did not find him through its own wisdom, he used the message that sounds foolish to save those who believe it.

But Christ is God's power and wisdom to the people God has chosen, both Jews and Greeks.

Even the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom. Even the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, God chose you to be his. Think about that! Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence, and not many of you came from important families.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

And God chose what the world thinks is not important—what the world hates and thinks is nothing. He chose these to destroy what the world thinks is important.

God did this so that no one can stand before him and boast about anything.

It is God who has made you part of Christ Jesus. And Christ has become for us wisdom from God. He is the reason we are right with God and pure enough to be in his presence. Christ is the one who set us free from sin.

Dear brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I told you the secret truth of God. But I did not use fancy words or great wisdom.

But we speak God's secret wisdom that has been hidden from everyone until now. God planned this wisdom for our glory. He planned it before the world began.

But as the Scriptures say, "No one has ever seen, no one has ever heard, no one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."

But God has shown us these things through the Spirit. The Spirit knows all things. The Spirit even knows the deep secrets of God.

It is like this: No one knows the thoughts that another person has. Only the person's spirit that lives inside knows those thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows God's thoughts except God's Spirit.

We received the Spirit that is from God, not the spirit of the world. We received God's Spirit so that we can know all that God has given us.

Is Apollos so important? Is Paul so important? We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do.