Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

The Message of Christ’s Death

2 Dear brothers, when I came to you, I did not come as a proud man. I preached God’s truth, but not with fancy words or a show of great learning. ² I decided that while I was with you I would forget about everything except Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. ³ When I came to you, I was weak and shook with fear. ⁴ My teaching and my speaking were not with wise words that persuade people. But the proof of my teaching was the power that the Spirit gives. ⁵ I did this so that your faith would be in God’s power, not in the wisdom of a man.

God’s Wisdom

⁶ Yet I speak wisdom to those who are mature. But this wisdom is not from this world or of the rulers of this world. (These rulers are losing their power.) ⁷ But I speak God’s secret wisdom, which he has kept hidden. God planned this wisdom for our glory, before the world began. ⁸ None of the rulers of this world understood it. If they had, they would not have killed the Lord of glory on a cross. ⁹ But as it is written in the Scriptures:

¹⁰ But God has shown us these things through the Spirit.

The Spirit knows all things, even the deep secrets of God. ¹¹ It is like this: No one knows the thoughts that another person has. Only a person’s spirit that lives in him knows his thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows the thoughts of God. Only the Spirit of God knows God’s thoughts. ¹² We did not receive the spirit of the world, but we received the Spirit that is from God. We received this Spirit so that we can know all that God has given us. ¹³ When we speak, we do not use words taught to us by the wisdom that men have. We use words taught to us by the Spirit. We use spiritual words to explain spiritual things. ¹⁴ A person who is not spiritual does not accept the gifts that come from the Spirit of God. That person thinks they are foolish. He cannot understand the Spirit’s gifts, because they can only be judged spiritually. ¹⁵ But the spiritual person is able to judge all things. Yet no one can judge him. The Scripture says:

But we have the mind of Christ.

Following Men Is Wrong

3 Brothers, in the past I could not talk to you as I talk to spiritual people. I had to talk to you as I would to people of the world—babies in Christ. ² The teaching I gave you was like milk, not solid food. I did this because you were not ready for solid food. And even now you are not ready. ³ You are still not spiritual. You have jealousy and arguing among you. This shows that you are not spiritual. You are acting like people of the world. ⁴ One of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos.” When you say things like this, you are acting like worldly people.

⁵ Is Apollos important? No! Is Paul important? No! We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do. ⁶ I planted the seed of the teaching in you, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made the seed grow. ⁷ So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God is important, because he is the One who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose. And each will be rewarded for his own work. ⁹ We are workers together for God. And you are like a farm that belongs to God.

And you are a house that belongs to God. ¹⁰ Like an expert builder I built the foundation of that house. I used the gift that God gave me to do this. Others are building on that foundation. But everyone should be careful how he builds. ¹¹ The foundation has already been built. No one can build any other foundation. The foundation that has already been laid is Jesus Christ. ¹² Anyone can build on that foundation, using gold, silver, jewels, wood, grass, or straw. ¹³ But the work that each person does will be clearly seen, because the Day^[a] will make it plain. That Day will appear with fire, and the fire will test every man’s work. ¹⁴ If the building that a man puts on the foundation still stands, he will get his reward. ¹⁵ But if his building is burned up, he will suffer loss. The man will be saved, but it will be as if he escaped from a fire.

¹⁶ You should know that you yourselves are God’s temple. God’s Spirit lives in you. ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him, because God’s temple is holy. You yourselves are God’s temple.

¹⁸ Do not fool yourselves. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this world, he should become a fool. Then he can become truly wise, ¹⁹ because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. It is written in the Scriptures, “He catches wise men in their own clever traps.”^{[b] 20} It is also written in the Scriptures, “The Lord knows what people think. He knows they are just a puff of wind.”^{[c] 21} So you should not brag about men. All things are yours: ²² Paul, Apollos and Peter; the world, life, death, the present, and the future—all these things are yours. ²³ And you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.