Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 Corinthians
Chapter 1: Christ Crucified, the Power of God
The Corinthian church was gifted and growing, but it was splitting into factions, each rallying around a favorite leader. Paul confronts the divisions head-on and lifts their eyes to the one thing that should unite them: the cross. To the world the message of a crucified Savior looks like foolishness and weakness, but to those being saved it is the very power and wisdom of God. And God deliberately chose the lowly and despised, so that no one could boast before Him. First Corinthians 1 is a call to trade human pride for the wisdom of the cross.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Corinthians chapter 1. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. First Corinthians addresses a troubled but beloved church, and it opens by confronting division with the wisdom of the cross. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Order in a Troubled Church
First Corinthians is Paul's response to reports and questions from a gifted but immature church, addressing division, immorality, lawsuits, worship, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection.
The Apostle Paul
Paul founded the Corinthian church on his second missionary journey and wrote this letter from Ephesus, around AD 55, to correct problems and answer their questions.
A Divided Congregation
Corinth was a wealthy, worldly port city, and its church had absorbed the surrounding culture of pride and rivalry. Chapter 1 confronts the factions splitting the body.
The Wisdom of the Cross
Human wisdom and pride divide; the cross unites. What the world calls foolish and weak is the power and wisdom of God, and it leaves no room for boasting.
That There Be No Divisions (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)
Paul pleads for unity and exposes the folly of rallying around human leaders.
That You All Speak the Same Thing
"Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."
Greek Study
Paul pleads that there be "no divisions among you" — the word is schismata, tears or splits, the same root as our "schism," picturing a garment ripped apart. The Corinthians had fractured into cliques — "I am of Paul... of Apollos... of Cephas" — turning God's servants into party badges. Paul's stunned questions expose the folly: "Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you?" The body of Christ cannot be torn into factions without tearing at Christ Himself.
Explanation
The Corinthians had split into groups, "I am of Paul," "I of Apollos," "I of Cephas," each exalting a favorite teacher. Paul answers with three piercing questions: "Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" (verse 13). The church belongs to Christ alone. No human leader was crucified for them; no one was baptized into a mere man's name. Their unity is in Christ, and to fracture over personalities is to forget whose they are.
Gospel Focus
Paul pleads for unity "by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Division in the church often springs from pride and the exalting of personalities over Christ. The cure is to remember that we were baptized into His name, not any man's, and that He alone was crucified for us. This does not mean uniformity of every opinion, but a deep unity of "the same mind" centered on Christ and His gospel. "There is one body and one Spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:4-5). When a church rallies around Jesus rather than around favorite leaders or factions, the divisions fall away. The name we were baptized into is the name that unites us.
The Message of the Cross (1 Corinthians 1:18)
Paul locates the true dividing line, not between leaders, but between those perishing and those being saved.
The Power of God
"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:"
Greek Study
"Foolishness," moria (μωρία). From the same root as our word "moron." To the world's wisdom, a crucified Savior is absurd, that salvation should come through a criminal's execution.
"Power," dunamis (δύναμις). The very power of God, effective to save. The same cross the world calls foolish is the means by which God actually rescues people. The dividing line is not intelligence but whether one is perishing or being saved.
Explanation
Paul states the great divide that runs through the human race: "the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." The same message meets two opposite responses. To the wisdom-loving world, a crucified Saviour is absurd; to those being saved, it is the very power that rescues them. The cross is God's dividing line, and how one hears it reveals which road one is on.
Gospel Focus
The cross divides the world in two. To those "perishing," a crucified Savior is foolishness; to those "being saved," it is "the power of God." The gospel does not depend on human wisdom to make it credible; it is the power of God whether or not the world approves. This frees us from trying to make the message palatable by stripping out its offense. Paul "determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). The cross looks weak, but it is where God's power to save is found. We do not preach a clever philosophy but a crucified and risen Lord, and in that message is the power that saves.
God Chose the Foolish and Weak (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)
Paul shows that God deliberately builds His church from the lowly, so that all boasting is excluded.
That No Flesh Should Glory
"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
Greek Study
God's method overturns human pride: "God hath chosen (eklegomai, hand-picked) the foolish things... to confound (kataischynō, put to shame) the wise; and... the weak things... to confound the things which are mighty." He deliberately passes over the impressive and picks the "base" and "despised," even "things which are not," to nullify the things that are — "that no flesh should glory in his presence."
Explanation
Paul explains why the Corinthian church was not stocked with the wise, mighty, and noble: God chose it that way on purpose. He selects "the foolish... the weak... the base things" precisely to shame the strong and to empty human boasting. If God saved by impressive people and clever wisdom, salvation could feed pride; by choosing the unlikely, He ensures "that no flesh should glory in his presence." Grace leaves no room for self-congratulation — our only glory is "in the Lord."
Gospel Focus
God's method is deliberately humbling. He builds His church largely from the foolish, weak, base, and despised of the world, not because He cannot use the mighty, but so "that no flesh should glory in His presence." If God chose only the impressive, salvation might look like a human achievement. Instead He chooses the unlikely, so that when they are transformed, the glory can only be His. This is wonderful news for every ordinary and overlooked person: God delights to use those the world discounts. And it is a rebuke to pride: whatever we have, we received (1 Corinthians 4:7), so our only boast is in the Lord. "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (verse 31). God gets all the glory, and that is exactly as it should be.
Chapter 1 in Review
1 Corinthians 1 confronts a divided church with the wisdom of the cross. The Corinthians had splintered into factions around favorite leaders, so Paul pleads for unity in the name of Jesus, reminding them that Christ alone was crucified for them and that they were baptized into His name, not any man's. He then lifts their eyes to the message of the cross, foolishness to the perishing, but the power of God to those being saved, and shows that God deliberately chose the foolish, weak, and despised things of the world so that no one could boast before Him.
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter cuts against every form of pride. Division in the church grows from exalting people over Christ; the cure is to remember whose we are and whose name we bear. The gospel is not made credible by human wisdom but is itself the power of God. And God builds His church from the lowly precisely so that all the glory goes to Him. The wisdom of the cross humbles human pride and unites God's people around the crucified and risen Lord.
- Church division springs from pride; unity is found in the name we were baptized into (Ephesians 4:4-5).
- The message of the cross is God's power to save, not a philosophy to be made palatable.
- God chooses the foolish, weak, and despised so that no flesh can boast before Him.
- Our only boast is in the Lord: "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
Questions for Reflection
- Do you tend to rally around personalities or preferences in a way that divides Christ's body?
- Are you ever tempted to soften "the message of the cross" to make it acceptable to the world?
- God chose the lowly so no one could boast. How does that both encourage you and humble you?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Greek terms are standard and can be checked in any lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The plea for unity against division: 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; Ephesians 4:1-6.
- The message of the cross, foolishness or power: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 2:2.
- God choosing the lowly so no flesh may boast: 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.
- Glorying only in the Lord: 1 Corinthians 1:31; Jeremiah 9:23-24.
- Whatever we have, we received: 1 Corinthians 4:7.