How does God save people according to 1 Corinthians 1:21?
According to 1 Corinthians 1:21, God saves people through the foolishness of preaching. The world by wisdom did not know God, but it pleased God to save them that believe. Salvation is by believing the Gospel plus nothing; it is not by works or legalism.
Les explains that in 1 Corinthians 1:21, after the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. He emphasizes that salvation is by believing the Gospel plus nothing. Otherwise it becomes legalism, a works religion. He contrasts this with good works, which never save anybody because they lack the power of God and are done in the energy of the flesh. He also references the Athenian philosophers who knew nothing of the Creator God.
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.