IT was not without reason the Apostle warned the Colossians to beware lest any man spoil them through philosophy and vain deceit. The vanity of the Greeks, in view of their high mental attainments, had evidently taken possession, or was in danger of taking possession, of the minds of some of the Colossian believers. The whole outlook of the Greeks, both for this world and the world to come, was coloured by the systems of thought wrought out by their great thinkers. Probably at no period in ancient times had there arisen a class of men endowed with such extraordinary mental powers, and the people looked upon their mental attainments with pride. But the whole outlook gained was in direct antagonism to the wisdom revealed in the cross of Christ. To the Greeks that cross was foolishness, though the Apostle saw in it the very wisdom of God. Surveying the boasted attainments of the Greek thinkers, and undoubtedly their thinking had attained to great heights, the Apostle sees in it a fatal defect, for over it all he writes this true and crushing criticism:—”The world by wisdom knew not God.” The Greek converts were in danger of being dominated by a wisdom that had such a fatal defect and it influenced their conduct to such an extent as to bring confusion and contention into some of the Greek churches. This was particularly the case at Corinth, where the Church was divided into four sections. Some said—”I am of Paul”; others—”I am of Apollos”; others again—”I am of Cephas,” while others said—”I am of Christ.” These divisions were indicative not of spirituality of mind, but manifestly evidenced the carnality of the motives that influenced the different sections in the choice which they had made. Now, though we are not told in so many words of the guiding principle in the motive that led to the selection, yet it is clear from the Apostle’s arguments in the opening chapters of the first epistle to the Corinthians that it was the wisdom of the world that governed them in their choice. We may surmise that the Paul section would lay stress on the learning and the remarkable reasoning powers of their favourite; while the Apollos section would stress the eloquence of their choice; and the Peter section might say Paul and Apollos may be good enough to listen to, but we like a man of action, and in Peter we have one who, by the very enthusiasm of his nature, always keeps things in a stir. Now, in such cases it does not require grace to make a choice, but in the choice of a minister is there not something more required than the above gifts—a something which grace, guided by the wisdom of God, asks for? But what of those who said:—”I am of Christ?” Did these not show a heavenliness of mind far beyond their fellows? No, for they, too, were as manifestly opposed to the wisdom of God as the others. God, in His infinite wisdom, had given Paul, Apollos, and Peter as His messengers to declare His salvation, “for all things are yours,” says the Apostle, “whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, etc.,” but they in their superior wisdom would have nothing to do with them. Thus they laid greater stress on their own wisdom than on the wisdom of God, and though in appearance its choice was more spiritual than the others, yet in the end we find it in direct antagonism to the wisdom of God. Now, in writing to the Corinthians and condemning them so strongly for their divisions, it is to be clearly understood the Apostle is not condemning those who may, through the instrumentality of some preacher, have received a blessing, and have therefore a strong attachment to him. This is not condemned, though, of course, it may be carried too far by some foolish people whose feelings are much stronger than their judgment, and who sometimes look for no good from any but their own favourite.
The Apostle proceeds to show to the Corinthians how opposed the principle that governed them in their selection was to the principle revealed in God’s selection of them. He asks them to look at their calling, and there it is clearly made known “that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.” In His choice God was not governed by gifts and positions that would appeal to the world; on the contrary, He made choice of the foolish things, and the weak things, and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, and things that are not, to confound the things that are mighty, and to bring to nought things that are, so that no flesh should glory in His presence (I. Cor. i. 27-29). He further shows that his own guiding motive in preaching the Gospel was very different from theirs. Alike in the nature of the message and the manner of its delivery and the feelings with which it was declared there was nothing which would make its appeal to the wisdom of this world. He came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring this message, whose burden was Jesus Christ crucified, and in delivering it he was in weakness and in much trembling (I. Cor. ii. 1-3). But though the message was not in accordance with the wisdom of the world, yet it was in full agreement with a higher wisdom—the wisdom of God in a mystery. It is at this stage the Apostle reaches the climax of his argument in the words:—“Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God (I. Cor. ii. 9, 10). The wisdom of this world has never explored the wonders of this realm, for it has not even entered it, and never can. Any knowledge of its wonders are not attainable by keener efforts on the part of the wisdom of this world, but are made known, and can only be made known to those who love God, by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, who searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. The two realms are set before us, that of the wisdom of the world, which the natural eye, the ear and the heart of man can enter into and explore, and the realm of the wisdom of God, which the natural eye and the ear and the heart of man have never entered. In this realm—the deep things of God—are hidden those treasures of heavenly wisdom which alike in their depth and their spirituality are unattainable by the natural powers of man. They can only be revealed by the Spirit of God. This throws light on what the Apostle afterwards says:—“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”