My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.
When the good news of Jesus is preached, the Holy Spirit is at work making the message powerful. The
"demonstration of the Spirit's power" may refer to miracles that accompanied the preaching of the message of Jesus (
Hebrews 2:1-4). However, in the context of today's Scripture, Paul is primarily focusing on a greater
truth: The message of a crucified Savior doesn't appear to be wise and persuasive by human standards of wisdom (
1 Corinthians 1:18;
1 Corinthians 2:1-3), yet the Holy Spirit is active in the telling of the story of Jesus. The Spirit's work in the message of the cross gives it seemingly inexplicable power to reach into people's hearts and call them to Jesus. Nevertheless, for those of us who know the Holy Spirit's work, this power really is not inexplicable; it is a reminder of God's grace to give us not only the gift of Jesus but also the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us understand the gift of Jesus!
Words cannot express, dear Father, how precious your love is to me. I realize that everything that I am and have in Jesus is the result of your grace. I believe that my future is secure because of that grace and because of the blessed Holy Spirit who is in me and who helps convict, correct, and console me. I thank you for such grace, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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