What does 1 Corinthians 1:18 say the preaching of the cross is to those who are perishing?
First Corinthians 1:18 says the preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, that is, to lost people. They regard it as connected to someone who lived and died 2,000 years ago and question its relevance today, while to those saved it is the power of God.
Les explains that I Corinthians 1:18 is one of those simple verses that says everything. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that perish—lost people—who ask why they should fool around with something connected to someone who lived and died 2,000 years ago, and what that has to do with us today. Les answers, “Everything.” But unto us who are saved, or made righteous, it is the power of God. He then ties this to verse 21, where it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, plus nothing. Salvation is by believing the Gospel plus nothing; otherwise it becomes legalism, a works religion. Good works never save anybody because they do not have the power of God, but are only something done in the energy of the flesh. Verse 24 again points to power.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
More Questions
What does the preaching of the cross mean to the unsaved world?
To those who are perishing—the unsaved world—the preaching of the cross is foolishness and means nothing.