1 Corinthians 1:18

ὁ λόγος γὰρ ὁ τοῦ σταυροῦ. The Apostle here gives the reason why he does not use what is reputed as wisdom in the external style and framework of his discourse. It would be of no use. His teaching is not intended to convince the intellect, but to change the heart. His message is the message of the Cross. Until men have grasped the inner power of this doctrine to transform the life, it does and must appear an absurdity to them. The meaning of the words is the discourse which relates to the Cross, the genitive being the genitive of the object. See note on 1 Corinthians 1:6.

τοῖς μὲν�. To the perishing is folly. It must have struck the cultivated Greek and Roman as the very quintessence of absurdity for anyone to go about the world maintaining that a man who had been put to death for sedition in the reign of Tiberius was the Supreme God Himself, in fleshly form. Cf. Acts 24:24. But such persons were perishing. They were on the road to destruction. Until they could acknowledge the mysterious law of redemption by the Blood of the Holiest, there was nothing to prevent them from increasing in sinfulness day by day, until their sins had brought that destruction to pass.

τοῖς δὲ σωζομένοις ἡμῖν. But to us who are in a state of salvation, or rather, perhaps, in process of salvation. The word σώζω signifies to rescue from any kind of present danger or evil. See Schleusner, Lex. s. v. In the LXX. it is used in several senses: (1) of saving from danger, Psalms 68 (69):1, 43 (44):3; 2 Chronicles 32:22, (2) of helping, 2 Chronicles 32:8, (3) of healing, Jeremiah 17:14, though this is not quite certain. For a similar use of the word and its derivatives in the N.T. see (1) Matthew 24:22; Matthew 27:42; Matthew 27:49, (3) Matthew 9:21; Matthew 14:36; Mark 6:56. (2) is not found. For instances of the use of this word in the Classics we may take Soph. Phil. 919 σῶσαι κακοῦ μὲν πρῶτα τοῦδε, Thuc. I. 74 ἔσωσε τὰ πράγματα. Cf. Xen. Hellen. VII. 5, also Arist. Nic. Eth. II. 2 σώζειν τὴν ὑγίειαν, and Dion. Hal. De Comp. Verb. 15. σώζειν δύναμιν, to preserve the force of syllables, and according to some editors σώζειν συμμετρίαν to preserve symmetry of sentences. Here the word refers to a power existing in the Cross capable of rescuing men from the dominion of their sins. Cf. Matthew 1:21. Its use differs both from the LXX. and classical Greek. See also note on ch. 1 Corinthians 7:14. ἡμῖν is by its position emphatic.

δύναμις θεοῦ ἐστίν. It is the (or a) power of God. The death of Christ on the Cross was the great motive power of human regeneration. From that full and complete surrender of His Life and Will, His whole Self, to the Will of the Father, mankind derived the strength which, if used, would enable them also to free themselves from the yoke of sin. The power of God means here the God-given faculty of overcoming sin. δύναμις (see Aristotle, Nic. Eth. I. 1, 1 Corinthians 1:1, &c.) signifies power in itself, the capacity or faculty for doing things, as opposed to ἐνέργεια, which signifies power in action. We can now see how the employment of ‘wisdom of words’ would make the Cross ‘of none effect.’ It is the eloquence not of words but of facts which St Paul wishes to use. And he points to the Cross as the one great Fact which has changed the relations of God and man. Anything which serves to exalt man’s opinion of himself apart from that great Fact, is only to rob it of its power to change the life. Cf. Romans 1:16; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Ephesians 3:16; Ephesians 3:20. Also ch. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5; Philippians 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:5. Thus the term ‘saving power’ is applied by St Paul to the Gospel, to the Cross, to the Resurrection, to the Holy Spirit, to Christ, and directly to God Himself. And rightly so, for from God, through Christ, in the Spirit, imparted to us by the Gospel, comes a power which is able to transform us, who are crucified with Christ, from the likeness of sinful flesh into the image of the living God. See also Colossians 1:29.