Don't think your way out of heaven

1 Cor 1:22-25: “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

For the world, it is hard for to understand the Grace of God. If they cannot see then they say they cannot believe. Others say that if I can’t figure it out in my mind and work it into my philosophy then it is not a message for me. The Jews were seeking miraculous signs, and the Greeks were seeking salvation through their intellect to prove that Jesus is the Christ. The Jews wanted to only believe through what they could see, and the Greeks would only believe what they could logically explain. However, Paul says that for many the Love of God, which was God providing a way for us to have salvation through Jesus Christ, is just not comprehendible.

Paul tells the church at Corinth that many believe that this message of hope is foolish in the sight of this world. People were saying in that day, “If I don’t see it, I don’t believe it”. Another popular thought was that if it was not logical in their philosophy, then it could not be something that they could embrace. Paul said that the wisdom of God is foolish to this world. This world does not accept the gift of God because they cannot get their feeble thoughts around the subject of God’s love. Either they think that there is no God, or that if God does exist, He has no business in their life. The idea that there is no God is addressed in the
scriptures, “The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." Psalm 14:1 Paul says however, that we preach Christ crucified. This was a stumbling block then and still is today. That was the wisdom of God to provide a way to escape judgment and to have a relationship with our creator. That is through the shed blood of Jesus. Don’t think your way out of heaven, and the love of God.

Digging Deeper – Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Tomorrows Readings:
Old Testament: psalm 116-118 New Testament I Cor. 2