From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Sosthenes, who is also a follower.

I never stop thanking my God for treating you with undeserved grace by giving you Christ Jesus,

who helps you speak and understand so well.

God can be trusted, and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Taking Sides

My dear friends, as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you to get along with each other. Don't take sides. Always try to agree in what you think.

Several people from Chloe's family have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other.

They have said that some of you claim to follow me, while others claim to follow Apollos or Peter or Christ.

Not one of you can say that you were baptized in my name.

I did baptize the family of Stephanas, but I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.

Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using words that sound wise and would make the cross of Christ lose its power.

Christ Is God's Power and Wisdom

The message about the cross doesn't make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God's power at work.

As God says in the Scriptures, “I will destroy the wisdom of all who claim to be wise. I will confuse those who think they know so much.”

What happened to those wise people? What happened to those experts in the Scriptures? What happened to the ones who think they have all the answers? Didn't God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish?

God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him. Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach.

Jews ask for miracles, and Greeks want something that sounds wise.

Even when God is foolish, he is wiser than everyone else, and even when God is weak, he is stronger than everyone else.

But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.

You are God's children. He sent Christ Jesus to save us and to make us wise, acceptable, and holy.

So if you want to brag, do what the Scriptures say and brag about the Lord.

Telling about Christ and the Cross

Friends, when I came and told you the mystery that God had shared with us, I didn't use big words or try to sound wise.

In fact, while I was with you, I made up my mind to speak only about Jesus Christ, who had been nailed to a cross.

When I talked with you or preached, I didn't try to prove anything by sounding wise. I simply let God's Spirit show his power.

We do use wisdom when speaking to people who are mature in their faith. But it isn't the wisdom of this world or of its rulers, who will soon disappear.

We speak of God's hidden and mysterious wisdom that God decided to use for our glory long before the world began.

But it is just as the Scriptures say, “What God has planned for people who love him is more than eyes have seen or ears have heard. It has never even entered our minds!”