Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom^(A) as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.^{[a] 2} For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.^{(B) 3} I came to you^(C) in weakness^(D) with great fear and trembling.^{(E) 4} My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,^(F) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,^{(G) 5} so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.^(H)

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

⁶ We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,^(I) but not the wisdom of this age^(J) or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.^{(K) 7} No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery^(L) that has been hidden^(M) and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age^(N) understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.^{(O) 9} However, as it is written:

¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed^(Q) to us by his Spirit.^(R)

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts^(S) except their own spirit^(T) within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² What we have received is not the spirit^(U) of the world,^(V) but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom^(W) but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.^{[c] 14} The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God^(X) but considers them foolishness,^(Y) and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. ¹⁵ The person with the Spirit^(Z) makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, ¹⁶ for,

But we have the mind of Christ.^(AB)

The Church and Its Leaders

3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit^(AC) but as people who are still worldly^(AD)—mere infants^(AE) in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food,^(AF) for you were not yet ready for it.^(AG) Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling^(AH) among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,”^(AI) are you not mere human beings?

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos?^(AJ) And what is Paul? Only servants,^(AK) through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed,^(AL) Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.^{(AM) 9} For we are co-workers in God’s service;^(AN) you are God’s field,^(AO) God’s building.^(AP)

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me,^(AQ) I laid a foundation^(AR) as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.^{(AS) 12} If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is,^(AT) because the Day^(AU) will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.^{(AV) 14} If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.^{(AW) 15} If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.^(AX)

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple^(AY) and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?^{(AZ) 17} If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

¹⁸ Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise^(BA) by the standards of this age,^(BB) you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness^(BC) in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”^[e];^{(BD) 20} and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”^{[f](BE) 21} So then, no more boasting about human leaders!^(BF) All things are yours,^{(BG) 22} whether Paul or Apollos^(BH) or Cephas^[g](BI) or the world or life or death or the present or the future^(BJ)—all are yours, ²³ and you are of Christ,^(BK) and Christ is of God.