“Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made of no effect.”
It is amazing to me that the most powerful event in history, the death and resurrection of the Son of God sent as the Word to Earth, can be made of no effect by those attempting to preach it.
The language here is interesting. Notice Paul does not say “to a lesser or diminished effect” … but “no effect.” None. Zero.
And how can we do this? Through preaching the gospel with “wisdom of words.”
Biblically speaking, there were three main ways that Christianity, the Gospel, was proven true. In no particular order: the righteous behavior of those who followed Christ, the love between the brethren, and supernatural manifestations.
Unfortunately, it is rare to find believers or churches who believe all three are possible and valid for today. But these are all evidence in the power of God through the cross. Because without the power of God, these things couldn’t exist.
As for the first I listed, righteous behavior, by far the most modernly unpopular, Paul talked about “weapons of righteousness in the right and left hand”, the “breastplate of righteousness”. Peter talked about living a righteous life so that when they bring you before judges and religious leaders to persecute you, they will have “nothing evil to say of you.” The Church in Antioch had such a testimony that it was the non-believers of the city that called them “little Jesus”, Christian.
Paul was very concerned about his testimony as he preached the Gospel. Often he pointed out not only his behavior but the behavior of all with him as people blameless and acting with all humility and grace.
The power of the cross not only forgives us of sin but breaks the power of sin over us. Those aren’t two different works, but the same. In fact, if forgiveness was all we needed, that was available through the Old Covenant and the Law and those religious sacrifices and duties. The new work done on the cross was the complete victory over sin.
Read the Apostle John’s first letter without explaining parts of it away, and you’ll see what I mean.
For the second, the love of the brethren, we not only get Jesus’ inclusion to “love your neighbor as yourself” in the greatest commandment to love God, but we also get a brand new commandment to “love one another as I have loved you.” The New Covenant standard is not to love “as you love yourself” only (that too), but to now “love as Christ has loved you.”
The verses with love in them are astounding: “love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the Law”, “love never fails”, “let all that you do be done with love”, “above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfection”, and many, many more.
For the third, supernatural manifestations, we see again and again that the Lord validated ministry and preaching by miraculous signs and wonders. Through both the ministry of Jesus and Paul and Peter and the early Church, miracles were common enough and used for all sorts of purposes: to encourage, to convict, to break the power of evil spirits.
And we’re not talking about just healing or deliverance, either. As Paul is encouraging the church at Corinth to seek the gift of prophecy over tongues, that they can each prophesy one by one and in order, he gives an example of a non-believer who comes into the meeting and hears all prophesy: “he is convinced by all, he is judged by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.”
Notice the man did not hear a great sermon or teaching or argument, he witnessed a people doing something corporately supernatural, each speaking the “oracles of God” one by one and in order.
Peter tells us that when we speak, speak as the “oracles of God.” This means speak by the Spirit as if God was speaking. Revelation calls prophecy the “testimony of Jesus,” which causes me to question whether we can even preach the good news of Jesus Christ, the Gospel, without operating to some degree within the prophetic.
Allow me to transition here to exactly what Paul says he used to preach the Gospel: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.“
This is how we make the cross of no effect. We place the power of salvation on human means of persuasion instead of the Spirit of God and the simple message of the cross. The degree to which we use such human methods places faith not in God but in “the wisdom of men.” And then we wonder why we don’t have the power or the faith to do what is right and love the Body and see God work in supernatural ways.
The power of the cross doesn’t need my philosophical defense, my historic proof, or my flashy display. It simply stands alone as proof and only the Spirit can validate the message. You do not discuss or debate the cross. You declare it.
A man convinced by an argument will follow weakly until he hears a better argument. Then he will follow the new argument weakly. But a man convicted and changed by the Spirit of God Himself is overwhelmed to live in the extreme. Paul knew this better than anyone. He couldn’t win the argument with Stephen … and went right on persecuting Christians; it took a supernatural encounter with the Spirit of God to actually change him.
We make excuses as to why we can’t live “holy as I am holy”, barely see or know the Body of Christ enough to even call them friends, and come up with great theological arguments as to why we don’t see the miraculous much anymore. But we replace it all with philosophical discussions and political causes and historical proofs and flashy entertainment. And then we wonder how so many Christians can be so unsatisfied and why the world just doesn’t break down our doors to hear truth.
I’m telling you that if the world saw a people who lived righteous, lived life of sacrificial love with other believers as family and their primary relationships, performed miracles and spoke only with the power of the Spirit, they would either flock to Christ through us unashamed or try to kill us. Those are both biblical reactions to truth.
There are some who live such a life, or at least make an all out attempt to do so. But it is difficult. That is why it is called the narrow way. Not because it is difficult to understand but because it is difficult to follow.
Peace.
Great post. I haven’t read it, but some of what your talking about reminds me of the little blurb I read about Francis Chan’s “Forgotten God.” From the site:
God put His Spirit in us so we could be known for our power. Sadly, most believers
and churches are known for talent and intellect rather than supernatural power.
What’s worse is that we’re okay with it. In Forgotten God, breakthrough author Francis Chan returns us to the Holy Spirit as the Bible describes Him and invites us to understand, embrace and follow the Holy Spirit’s direction in our lives.
Good post man! Eric, I’m reading forgotten God, and you are right, some of what Britt is saying goes along with it’s message. One particular thing he says is that if we were to say that being a Believer gives us supernatural basketball playing ability, wouldn’t we expect to see Christians performing better on the court? And, since the Holy Spirit has given us other super natural abilities, why don’t we expect to see those in Christians as well?