Verse 31
This loose quotation from Jeremiah 9:24 summarizes Paul’s point. Instead of emphasizing the Lord’s servants and what they have done, we should focus on what the Lord Himself has done in providing wisdom and power in Christ.
God’s purpose was not to make a superficial splash but to transform lives, something the Corinthians could see in their own experience.
"The issue of election is particularly strong in 1 Corinthians. Paul opens the letter by affirming not only his call (’called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God’) but also that of the Corinthians (’called to be saints,’ 1 Corinthians 1:2). This conviction reappears in the final verse of the thanksgiving, functioning there as part of the ultimate ground for Paul’s confidence (1 Corinthians 1:9): ’God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.’ When the issue surfaces again a few verses later with renewed rhetorical emphasis (1 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 1:26-30), it becomes clear that the concept of election or call no longer merely undergirds Paul’s argument; it has instead become the focus of this argument. The Corinthians, it seems, have not grasped what election means." [Note: Jouette M. Bassler, "Paul’s Theology: Whence and Whither?" in Pauline Theology. Vol. II: 1 & 2 Corinthians, p. 15.]
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