But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
Truth to Learn
God purposely choose weak and foolish sinners to be His.
Behind the Words
The words “has chosen” are from the Greek verb eklegō. This word is made up of ek, meaning “out” or “out of” and legō, meaning “to select” or “to choose.” Thus, eklegō means “to choose out” or “to select out.” It is expressed in the aorist tense, indicating action that was completed at a point in time in the past. It is also expressed in the middle voice, indicating something that the subject (God) has done to or for Himself.
“Put to shame” is translated from the verb kataischunō, which is made up of kata, meaning “down” (used here as an intensifier) and aischunō meaning “to put to shame.” Kataischunō literally means “to shame down, to disgrace, or completely put to shame.”
Asthenēs is the Greek word translated “weak things.” It is composed of the privative a, meaning “without” and sthenos, which refers to “physical strength.”
Ischuros it the word translated “things which are mighty.” It literally means “strong, mighty, or powerful things.”
Meaning Explained
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul has put together an exquisite rhetorical argument against those who put their faith in the world system. It started back in verse eighteen where he said, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” He then went on to show how foolish the supposed “wisdom” of the world is compared to God’s wisdom and how weak the “strength” of the world is compared to God’s strength. He further declared that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” In yesterday’s verse, he pointed his finger directly at the Corinthians (and at us) declaring that very few of us who have been called into His family are worldly wise, powerful, or of noble birth.
Now, in this verse and the two that follow, Paul spotlights the true wisdom in God’s plan. Here he says that God intentionally chose people for Himself who are foolish in the eyes of the world and people who are weak in the eyes of the world. Notice that God had purpose in His choosing. For those who don’t accept the doctrine of election, preferring to believe that God’s choice was based on who would eventually believe the gospel, such thinking contradicts what Paul is teaching here. If God's choice was based upon who would believe the good news, then there would have been a more random cross section of humanity chosen. Instead, God purposely focused His selection primarily on those of us who are weak and foolish.
Why would He do such a thing? Paul says that His purpose has always been to demonstrate to the wise and powerful that they are the real fools. One day they will stand before the wise and powerful Judge and their shame will be overwhelming.
Application
These truths should once again drive us to our knees in thankfulness that He chose us weak, foolish, undeserving sinners to be His children. And God gets all the glory!
Copyright © 2013 Will Krause. All rights reserved