Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Tuesday, 29 October 2024 06:35

God’s Glory in the Gospel Design
by Sarah Wootten

I was part of a very awkward conversation a few years ago. I was on a business call working out a schedule for upcoming projects with a client. As the discussion wore on, it became apparent that the client was jealous. Why was he jealous? Because he felt like he was doing all the work on a project, yet the co-worker was receiving all the credit. He wanted me to do something about the predicament, but I quickly backed out of the conversation. Have you ever witnessed something like this? I wish that it was an isolated occurrence, but it’s not. I’ve seen similar conversations take place within sports teams, at fundraising events, about school projects, within ministries, and even within my own thoughts. No one wants to share credit that he thinks he deserves with others. Besides, it’s part of man’s sinful desire to boast in his works (Matthew 6:1-4).

Yet, the members of the church in Corinth were doing something very similar. As Joey mentioned before, the church was divided due to self-centeredness. They cared primarily about themselves. Somehow, they made divisions within the church surrounding the spiritual leaders that each person said they preferred to follow, and then they boasted in those leaders. When Paul wrote, “What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos’…” (1 Corinthians 1:12, ESV), you can almost imagine the church members being kids on a playground bragging about who is best friends with the most popular kid in school. We shake our heads in disbelief knowing how ridiculous that sounds. And yet I wonder, how often do we boast in our own salvation as if we deserve credit for it?

As we continue our study in 1 Corinthians, Paul makes clear to the church that there is no room to credit any man for eternal salvation. All boasting about salvation should be toward God alone. For example, when Paul heard that members of the Corinthian church were boasting in him, Paul quickly set them straight. He thanked God that he didn’t baptize many of them so that they couldn’t say that they were baptized in Paul’s name (1:15). There is no baptism in Paul. Christian baptism is a sign of being united to Christ in His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, of being in fellowship with Him, and of now walking in the newness of life with Him. There is no reason for Paul to be bragged about when someone is baptized. It’s a symbol of the work that God has done in bringing an individual into fellowship with His Son.

However, I get the impression that the boasting at Corinth was about more than just baptism. For the duration of 1 Corinthians 1, Paul teaches the entire church that God designed the gospel in such a way that when understood correctly, no one can receive any glory for it other than God Himself. Consider 1 Corinthians 1:18-21. God designed the gospel message to appear foolish in the eyes of the world so that there could be no boasting in man’s wisdom, but only in the wisdom of God. Or look at 1:26-29. God often called the weak, insignificant, and lowly to salvation, so that man can’t be praised.

We too often have wrong ideas about salvation. We think we were wise enough to understand the gospel, so now we believe and are saved. Or we think that God saves alongside our power to be a good person. Or we think that we were so awesome that God couldn’t help but save us. But in each of these scenarios, we boast in ourselves and aren’t giving God the full credit that He is due in salvation. So, Lord willing, over the course of five weeks, we will look at God’s design of the gospel and how all glory belongs to Him for it. As 1 Corinthians 1:31 says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord,” (ESV).