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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
May 27
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Today's Pathway:
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In today's passage Paul discusses preaching. The first thing Paul mentions is that he was sent by Christ. He did not wake up one morning and decide that he wanted to travel the globe. He was called by God to do so. If God has called us to do something we must do it, and do it the way that He tells us to! Next, Paul speaks of the priority of preaching. As we saw yesterday, baptism is important, but it has nothing to do with salvation, and therefore can not be the number one priority in a minister's mission. Preaching must be. The most important message is the Gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Paul was primarily an evangelist. A pastor has the responsibility to teach those believers in his church, so every message will not be, and should not be, strictly a salvation message. But as an evangelist and church planter Paul's primary focus in his preaching ministry was to get people saved.
Paul then discusses the methodology of his preaching. He says that he did not use the "wisdom of words". He was not a master of rhetoric. In verse 22 he states that "the Greek seek after wisdom". The Greeks, and the Gentiles at large, were interested in philosophy. They were impressed by philosophical ideas and profound eloquence. Donald Carson explains:
"A first-century orator or public speaker was expected to produce carefully crafted speeches which drew attention to his skillful use of rhetorical conventions. Oratory was called ‘magic’ because it was seen to bewitch the hearers. The content of the speech was immaterial, only the performance mattered. They spoke to gain the adulation of their audiences." This was not what Paul's preaching was about. What was important was the content, not the delivery. In fact, Paul feared that oratorical skill and philosophical wisdom might, in fact, detract from the message. This is why he writes "lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."
Spiros Zodhiates wrote,
'Wisdom of words', which can be equated with philosophy, deals with abstract ideas, whereas the cross of Christ is a historical event and as such it can neither be doubted nor neglected. It is neither theory nor thought; it is a fact and should be presented as such."
Preachers are not called to "reason" people into salvation, although the doctrine of salvation is certainly reasonable. They are to simply proclaim the Truth of the Gospel. The Scriptures do not need our help. The Word of God on Its own can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
William Arnold helped to explain why human philosophy would ruin the message of the cross:
"The Cross, by its very nature, is an offense to men. It says man is nothing; he is depraved, a sinner by imputation, nature and acts, and he is in need of a Savior because he cannot save himself. The Cross says man is absolutely, totally, helplessly, and hopelessly lost. The moment preachers put the Cross in high sounding phrases, in man’s wisdom, in philosophical terms, this appeals to man’s mind and feeds his pride. The gospel then evaporates into a system, a principle, or a theory."
Paul put it this way in verse 18:
"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness."
Men want to believe that they have great knowledge and abilities and thus can somehow save themselves. That God would come to earth as a man, be crucified, and rise from the dead in order to provide an atonement for man’s forgiveness of sin and his entrance into Heaven is an idea far too simple, foolish, and humbling for the natural man to accept. Yet that IS the message of the Gospel. For preachers, or Christians in general, to try to improve on the Biblical message through their words or their reasoning not only cheapens the Gospel, but it neutralizes it (made of none effect).
Paul wrote,
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
The Scriptures are what the unsaved world needs to hear.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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