Bible Verses
according to excellence of speech or of wisdom, announcing to
you the mystery of God. 2 For I did not determine to know
anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One
crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and
in much trembling; 4 And my speech and my proclamation were
not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power, 5 In order that your faith would not
stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 6 But we
do speak wisdom among those who are full-grown, yet a wisdom
not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are being
brought to nought; 7 But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery,
the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before
the ages for our glory, 8 Which none of the rulers of this
age have known; for if they had known, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory;
Words of Ministry
In verses 1-5, Paul says that he did not come with excellence
of wisdom and that his speech was not in persuasive words of
wisdom. But in verse 6 he says that he speaks wisdom among
those who are full-grown. When Paul wrote this Epistle, he
certainly realized that the believers at Corinth were far from
full-grown. Why, then, does he say that he speaks wisdom among
those who are full-grown? His purpose in doing this was to
belittle the Corinthians. Here Paul seems to be saying, "You 
Corinthians think you have attained something great, but actually you are still babes. We do speak wisdom, but we speak
wisdom among those who are full-grown. Furthermore, the wisdom
we speak is not a wisdom of this age, neither of the rulers of
this age. The common people do not have this wisdom, and those
in the ruling class do not have it either. In fact, the rulers
of this age are being brought to nothing."
In verse 7 Paul continues, "But we speak God's wisdom in a
mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God
predestined before the ages for our glory." God's wisdom is
Christ (1:24), who is the hidden mystery (Col. 1:26-27),
predestined, predesignated, and foreordained before the ages,
