so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

But I did baptize the household of Stephanas also; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made of no effect.

Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

For consider your calling, brothers and sisters, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

and the insignificant things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,

Paul’s Reliance upon the Spirit

And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come as someone superior in speaking ability or wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God.

For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of mankind, but on the power of God.

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;

the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

but just as it is written: “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the human heart, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.

We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Foundations for Living

And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but only as fleshly, as to infants in Christ.

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able,

for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people?

For when one person says, “I am with Paul,” and another, “I am with Apollos,” are you not ordinary people?

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

But to me it is an insignificant matter that I would be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself.

For I am not aware of anything against myself; however I am not vindicated by this, but the one who examines me is the Lord.