Skip to main content

the cross emptied of its power?

1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.


I don't think that it is possible to negate Christ's work on the cross. The apostle means here that he does not want anything of his wisdom, knowledge, cleverness, power, gifts, or attractiveness to get in the way of his presentation of the gospel.

He wants people to see Christ's atonement not Paul's accomplishments.

What things in us can come in the way of people seeing the power of the cross??

Comments

Ken said…
This is a hard question!!

I have a list of negative things that might get in the way, but it is so hard to pick the positive things from my own perspective.

This is blowing my mind, right now.
Sandy said…
One thing for me is my knowledge. I want people to know how much I know (about whatever) with the result that I may be diverting them from thinking how much the Lord offers them.

Popular posts from this blog

Howard Hendricks on OT books chronology

When I was in seminary, Howard Hendricks (aka "Prof") gave us a little card with the books of the OT chronologically arranged. The scanned copy I have was a bit blurry and I wanted to make something like this available for our church class in OT theology ("Story of Redemption"). A few minor edits and here it is...

clement quotes hebrews

Clement of Rome wrote to the church in Corinth around AD 90.  This is perhaps the same Clement, companion of Paul, mentioned in Philippians 4:3.  Many hold him to be the first bishop / pope in Rome, aka St. Clement I.   Clement quotes from the letter to the Hebrews.  Origin suggested that Clement was in fact the writer (as transcriber or amanuensis) of Hebrews.  Perhaps this letter began as a "word of exhortation" given by Paul at the synagogue (Heb 13:22; cf Acts 13:15) which then became a circular letter for the churches.  Other possible authors of Hebrews include Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos.  The theology is Pauline, but the transcriber is obviously second-generation (Heb. 2:3-4). At any rate, this early church leader in Rome, is already quoting Hebrews in his letter in AD 90:    CHAPTER 36  ALL BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN TO US THROUGH CHRIST This is the way, beloved, in which we find our Savior, even Jesus Christ,  the High Priest of all our offerings, the defender and he

one-liners

Here are 25 of my favorite one-liners from comedian Steven Wright:   1)  I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize. 2)  Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back. 3)  Half the people you know are below average. 4)  82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot. 5)  A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. 6)  All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand. 7)  The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. 8)  OK, so what's the speed of dark? 9)  How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink? 10)  If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. 11)  Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. 12)  When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. 13)  Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now. 14)  I intend to live forever ... So far, so good. 15)  If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? 16)  Eagles may soar, but weasels don'