RESOLVE TO KNOW JESUS CHRIST

Passage: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Key verse: 2

NIV

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)

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Footnotes
  1. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s mystery
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

2 And I, when I came to you, brothers,[a] (A)did not come proclaiming to you (B)the testimony[b] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except (C)Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And (D)I was with you (E)in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of (F)the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men[c] but (G)in the power of God.

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Footnotes
  1. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Or brothers and sisters
  2. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts mystery (or secret)
  3. 1 Corinthians 2:5 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

Throughout the year and a half that Paul was in Corinth (Ac 18:1-18), he proclaimed to them the testimony about God. He did not resort to human powers of persuasion by speech or wisdom but depended only on Jesus Christ and him crucified. He came to them with great fear and trembling, perhaps because of the fierce persecution he faced. But God encouraged him to stay in Corinth because God had many people in that city. God promised he would protect Paul, and so Paul taught them the word of God (Ac 18:9-11).

In his ministry to the Corinthians, Paul resolved to know nothing except Jesus Christ and his crucifixion. He believed the gospel. He taught the gospel. He lived the gospel. The more he ministered to them, the more he wanted to know Jesus. He depended on the Spirit’s power to work in the hearts and minds of his listeners. Their faith in Jesus was not the result of a person’s tactics or wisdom but God’s power at work in their lives.

We can thank God for the ministry of church leaders, pastors, and Bible teachers. But first and foremost, we must resolve to know Jesus Christ and depend on God’s Spirit in ministry.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I resolve to know you. Help me depend on the Spirit’s power, not myself, when ministering to others.

One Word: Resolve to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified.