June 3, 2026 • 16 mins
Where do you find your significance?
We build our answers so carefully—out of résumés, reputations, academic credentials, and ministry accomplishments. But in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul lands like a stone in still water, completely flipping the world's value system upside down.
Before Paul addresses a single problem in this messy, fractured church, he does something radical: he reminds them of their identity. Because lasting transformation is never driven by shame or fear. It is driven by knowing who you are in Christ. Identity always precedes behavior.
In my latest blog post, we dive into 1 Corinthians 1:1–31 to explore the difference between a "try harder" spiritual life and a "trust deeper" faith.
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(00:06):
Grace and peace of our lovingLord Jesus Christ to all who
love the Lord with an undyinglove.
June 1st this week we have begunour meditation on the book of
Corinthians, the first uhCorinthians.
And just in case you forgotyou've forgotten, I'm following
the uh Scripture Union Korea'suh daily reading schedule.
(00:29):
Scripture Union Korea has awebsite and I will link it for
you on my homepage.
And um let's let's get to it.
Today I'm taking a look at uhchapter one of 1 Corinthians and
the entire chapter.
That is actually a lot.
I realize that that is actuallya three days worth, but um yeah,
(00:53):
sometimes I have to do that.
Um so let's see if we canfollow.
And if you want to read along,uh please go to jubileecoach.com
under lifeblogs.
That is jubileecoach.comunderlifeblogs.
Well, let's begin.
There's a question underneathevery human life that is where
(01:14):
do I find my significance?
We build our answers carefullyout of resumes and reputations,
out of the approval of peoplewhose opinions matter to us, out
of intellectual credentials,ministry accomplishments, and
social standing.
Corinth was a city that knewthis game really well.
(01:38):
It was a prosperous cosmopolitanport city where status was
everything and rhetoric wascurrency.
And so Paul's letter lands inthat world the way a stone lands
in still water.
The ripples go everywhere.
But here is what makes thisletter remarkable.
(02:00):
Paul does not begin with theproblems, he begins with the
gospel and that order.
Gospel first, correction second,and this is not accidental, it
is the whole method.
Um let's take a look at versesone through nine.
Before Paul says a singlecorrective word, he reminds the
(02:22):
Corinthians of who they alreadyare, their identity.
Verse two, to the Church of Godin Corinth, to those sanctified
in Christ Jesus and called to behis holy people, together with
all those everywhere who call onthe name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
He does not open with to theChurch of God in Corinth, you
(02:44):
people who are divided, filinglawsuits against each other,
tolerating gross immorality andturning the Lord's supper into a
dinner party.
No, he doesn't do that.
But first he speaks theiridentity over them.
They are sanctified, set apart,made holy, not because of what
(03:04):
they have produced, but becauseof who Jesus is and what he has
done.
This is the reformedunderstanding of grace in its
most pastoral form.
Justification is a declaration,not a process, and God
pronounces us righteous inChrist before we become
righteous in practice.
(03:26):
Paul is preaching the gospelover broken people before he
calls them to change, and thenhe grounds everything in this
verse nine.
God is faithful who has calledyou into fellowship with his
Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God is faithful.
The church at Corinth is a mess,but God's faithfulness does not
(03:50):
rise and fall with the church'sperformance or with yours.
This is the ground on whichgenuine change becomes possible.
Not try harder and maybe Godwill stick with you, but God is
faithful, and now let's talkabout how you're living.
(04:11):
As a Christian life coach, thisis the most important thing I
want you to hear before we goany further.
Transformation that lasts isnever driven by shame or fear.
It is driven by knowing who youare in Christ, and identity
precedes behavior.
(04:33):
The gospel is not just how youget into the kingdom, it is how
you grow as a Christian.
So when you think about theareas of your life where you
most want to change, what isdriving that desire?
Is it fear of consequences orthe pressure of other people's
(04:55):
expectations?
Or is it a deep, settledconfidence in who God says you
are?
Verses ten through seventeen.
This is a scandal of divisionssection.
Now the correction comes, andthen it is very direct.
Verse ten.
I appeal to you, brothers andsisters, in the name of our Lord
(05:16):
Jesus Christ, that all of youagree with one another in what
you say and that there be nodivisions among you, but that
you be perfectly united in mindand thought.
The Corinthians were splittinginto fan clubs.
I follow Paul, some say, Ifollow Apollos, some others, and
(05:37):
even I follow Asiphus, and Ifollow Christ.
Now, even the last group who saywho say I follow Christ, who
sounded the most spiritual, Isuppose, were using Christ's
name as a a party badge, a wayof feeling superior to the
others.
And Paul's response cuts rightthrough the root.
(06:01):
Verse thirteen, is Christdivided?
Was Paul crucified for you?
Were you baptized in the name ofPaul?
Now this is a gospel argument,not merely a plea for niceness.
Division in the church is notjust a relational problem, it is
a theological contradiction.
(06:23):
If Christ is one and if we areall united to him by the same
Spirit through the same cross,then our factions proclaim a lie
about who Jesus Christ is.
Tim Keller argued consistentlythat the gospel is the only
sufficient basis for genuine,durable unity because every
(06:46):
other basis for basis forcommunity, such as shared
culture, shared politics, sharedaesthetics, and shared
personality type will eventuallyfracture.
Only a unity grounded in whatChrist has done for us rather
than what we have in common witheach other can hold over time.
(07:08):
And this argument runsthroughout Keller's book, Center
Church, and his various sermonson 1 Corinthians at Redeemer
Presbyterian Church.
Now here is the coachingquestion hiding inside this
passage, and that is who or whatare you actually organized
around?
(07:28):
What are you organized around?
Now we can say we follow Christwhile functionally organizing
our sense of identity and oursense of superiority around the
tribe, ethnic groups, or leadereven a theological camp or a
ministry brand.
The Corinthians weren't doingsomething foreign to us, they
(07:51):
were doing something deeplyhuman.
Is there a person, a communityor a theological identity that
you're holding on to so tightlythat it is quietly competing
with Christ for your primaryloyalty?
What would it look like toloosen your grip on that, not to
(08:12):
abandon your convictions, but tohold them more humbly?
And lastly, let's take a look atverses 18 through 31, and I hope
you will have you'll take sometime to read the verses on your
own.
Um and let me just highlightverse 18.
For the message of the cross isfoolishness to those who are
(08:32):
perishing, but to us who arebeing saved, it is the power of
God.
The word translated,foolishness, is the Greek word
from which we get the Englishword moron.
So to the sophisticated Greekmind, the idea that the creator
of the universe would redeem theworld through public execution
(08:53):
was not merely unconvincing, itwas moronic, it was beneath
consideration.
And to the Jewish mind, acrucified Messiah was a a scan a
scandal, a stumbling block, umsomething you trip over and
fall.
And Paul does not soften this,he leans into it.
(09:15):
Verse 25, for the foolishness ofGod is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God isstronger than human strength.
This is one of the mostsubversive uh statements in all
of Scripture.
Paul is not saying God merelyseems foolish.
No.
He is saying that even if youplace God's weakest moment, such
(09:38):
as a man dying naked on a Romancross, right next to human
humanity's greatest wisdom andpower, the cross of Calvary
still wins every time,unconditionally.
Gerhard's Vos, the one who isoften considered a father of
reformed biblical theology,understood the cross as the
(10:03):
decisive turning point of allredemptive history.
The moment when the old age ofsin and death was broken at its
root and the new creationerupted into the world.
The cross is not a problem to beexplained away or a tragedy to
be redeemed by the resurrection.
(10:23):
It is the power and wisdom ofGod in their most concentrated
form.
Then Paul makes it intenselypersonal.
Verse 26.
Brothers and sisters, think ofwhat you were when you were
called.
Not many of you were wise byhuman standards, not many were
influential, not many were ofnoble birth.
(10:47):
God went looking for the peoplethe world had already passed
over.
Not because weakness isvirtuous, but because God is
determined that no human beingwill have grounds for boasting
before God.
Verse 29.
God chose the foolish to shamethe wise, God chose the weak to
(11:08):
shame the strong, and God chosethe lowly, the things that are
not, in verse 28, to nullify thethings that are.
And then comes the verse thatholds everything together, verse
30.
It is because of him that youare in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God,and that is our righteousness,
(11:30):
holiness, and redemption.
So read that slowly.
It is because of him that youare in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God.
That is our righteousness,holiness, and redemption.
Righteousness, our standingbefore God, secured, holiness,
(11:51):
our transformation into his likelikeness in process, redemption,
our rescue from bondage,accomplished.
So everything we need is foundnot in our striving, but in him
in Christ Jesus.
And that is not passivity.
It is the foundation from whichall genuine striving flows.
(12:13):
John Piper has described this asa difference between try harder
Christianity and trust deeperChristianity.
The first exhausts itself tryingharder, the second is
inexhaustible, for it is inChrist.
And therefore, the only fittingresponse is the one Paul lifts
(12:35):
from Jeremiah 9 24.
Let the one who boasts boast inthe Lord.
Well, that's it for today.
Um, so I hope you are going toread 1 Corinthians on your own
because I will be spending sometime in the next few weeks uh
coming to you from mymeditations from the 1
(12:59):
Corinthians based on theScripture Union Korea.
So once again, thank you somuch.
And to all who love the Lordwith an undying love, may the
Lord's grace and peace abound inyou today and forevermore.
Godspeed.
(13:56):
Peace to my soul, the Lord is onthy side patiently the cross of
grief for pain.
Leave to thy God.
Grace and peace of our lovingLord Jesus Christ to all who
love the Lord with an undyinglove.
June 1st this week we have begunour meditation on the book of
Corinthians, the first uhCorinthians.
And just in case you forgotyou've forgotten, I'm following
the uh Scripture Union Korea'suh daily reading schedule.
(00:29):
Scripture Union Korea has awebsite and I will link it for
you on my homepage.
And um let's let's get to it.
Today I'm taking a look at uhchapter one of 1 Corinthians and
the entire chapter.
That is actually a lot.
I realize that that is actuallya three days worth, but um yeah,
(00:53):
sometimes I have to do that.
Um so let's see if we canfollow.
And if you want to read along,uh please go to jubileecoach.com
under lifeblogs.
That is jubileecoach.comunderlifeblogs.
Well, let's begin.
There's a question underneathevery human life that is where
(01:14):
do I find my significance?
We build our answers carefullyout of resumes and reputations,
out of the approval of peoplewhose opinions matter to us, out
of intellectual credentials,ministry accomplishments, and
social standing.
Corinth was a city that knewthis game really well.
(01:38):
It was a prosperous cosmopolitanport city where status was
everything and rhetoric wascurrency.
And so Paul's letter lands inthat world the way a stone lands
in still water.
The ripples go everywhere.
But here is what makes thisletter remarkable.
(02:00):
Paul does not begin with theproblems, he begins with the
gospel and that order.
Gospel first, correction second,and this is not accidental, it
is the whole method.
Um let's take a look at versesone through nine.
Before Paul says a singlecorrective word, he reminds the
(02:22):
Corinthians of who they alreadyare, their identity.
Verse two, to the Church of Godin Corinth, to those sanctified
in Christ Jesus and called to behis holy people, together with
all those everywhere who call onthe name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
He does not open with to theChurch of God in Corinth, you
(02:44):
people who are divided, filinglawsuits against each other,
tolerating gross immorality andturning the Lord's supper into a
dinner party.
No, he doesn't do that.
But first he speaks theiridentity over them.
They are sanctified, set apart,made holy, not because of what
(03:04):
they have produced, but becauseof who Jesus is and what he has
done.
This is the reformedunderstanding of grace in its
most pastoral form.
Justification is a declaration,not a process, and God
pronounces us righteous inChrist before we become
righteous in practice.
(03:26):
Paul is preaching the gospelover broken people before he
calls them to change, and thenhe grounds everything in this
verse nine.
God is faithful who has calledyou into fellowship with his
Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God is faithful.
The church at Corinth is a mess,but God's faithfulness does not
(03:50):
rise and fall with the church'sperformance or with yours.
This is the ground on whichgenuine change becomes possible.
Not try harder and maybe Godwill stick with you, but God is
faithful, and now let's talkabout how you're living.
(04:11):
As a Christian life coach, thisis the most important thing I
want you to hear before we goany further.
Transformation that lasts isnever driven by shame or fear.
It is driven by knowing who youare in Christ, and identity
precedes behavior.
(04:33):
The gospel is not just how youget into the kingdom, it is how
you grow as a Christian.
So when you think about theareas of your life where you
most want to change, what isdriving that desire?
Is it fear of consequences orthe pressure of other people's
(04:55):
expectations?
Or is it a deep, settledconfidence in who God says you
are?
Verses ten through seventeen.
This is a scandal of divisionssection.
Now the correction comes, andthen it is very direct.
Verse ten.
I appeal to you, brothers andsisters, in the name of our Lord
(05:16):
Jesus Christ, that all of youagree with one another in what
you say and that there be nodivisions among you, but that
you be perfectly united in mindand thought.
The Corinthians were splittinginto fan clubs.
I follow Paul, some say, Ifollow Apollos, some others, and
(05:37):
even I follow Asiphus, and Ifollow Christ.
Now, even the last group who saywho say I follow Christ, who
sounded the most spiritual, Isuppose, were using Christ's
name as a a party badge, a wayof feeling superior to the
others.
And Paul's response cuts rightthrough the root.
(06:01):
Verse thirteen, is Christdivided?
Was Paul crucified for you?
Were you baptized in the name ofPaul?
Now this is a gospel argument,not merely a plea for niceness.
Division in the church is notjust a relational problem, it is
a theological contradiction.
(06:23):
If Christ is one and if we areall united to him by the same
Spirit through the same cross,then our factions proclaim a lie
about who Jesus Christ is.
Tim Keller argued consistentlythat the gospel is the only
sufficient basis for genuine,durable unity because every
(06:46):
other basis for basis forcommunity, such as shared
culture, shared politics, sharedaesthetics, and shared
personality type will eventuallyfracture.
Only a unity grounded in whatChrist has done for us rather
than what we have in common witheach other can hold over time.
(07:08):
And this argument runsthroughout Keller's book, Center
Church, and his various sermonson 1 Corinthians at Redeemer
Presbyterian Church.
Now here is the coachingquestion hiding inside this
passage, and that is who or whatare you actually organized
around?
(07:28):
What are you organized around?
Now we can say we follow Christwhile functionally organizing
our sense of identity and oursense of superiority around the
tribe, ethnic groups, or leadereven a theological camp or a
ministry brand.
The Corinthians weren't doingsomething foreign to us, they
(07:51):
were doing something deeplyhuman.
Is there a person, a communityor a theological identity that
you're holding on to so tightlythat it is quietly competing
with Christ for your primaryloyalty?
What would it look like toloosen your grip on that, not to
(08:12):
abandon your convictions, but tohold them more humbly?
And lastly, let's take a look atverses 18 through 31, and I hope
you will have you'll take sometime to read the verses on your
own.
Um and let me just highlightverse 18.
For the message of the cross isfoolishness to those who are
(08:32):
perishing, but to us who arebeing saved, it is the power of
God.
The word translated,foolishness, is the Greek word
from which we get the Englishword moron.
So to the sophisticated Greekmind, the idea that the creator
of the universe would redeem theworld through public execution
(08:53):
was not merely unconvincing, itwas moronic, it was beneath
consideration.
And to the Jewish mind, acrucified Messiah was a a scan a
scandal, a stumbling block, umsomething you trip over and
fall.
And Paul does not soften this,he leans into it.
(09:15):
Verse 25, for the foolishness ofGod is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God isstronger than human strength.
This is one of the mostsubversive uh statements in all
of Scripture.
Paul is not saying God merelyseems foolish.
No.
He is saying that even if youplace God's weakest moment, such
(09:38):
as a man dying naked on a Romancross, right next to human
humanity's greatest wisdom andpower, the cross of Calvary
still wins every time,unconditionally.
Gerhard's Vos, the one who isoften considered a father of
reformed biblical theology,understood the cross as the
(10:03):
decisive turning point of allredemptive history.
The moment when the old age ofsin and death was broken at its
root and the new creationerupted into the world.
The cross is not a problem to beexplained away or a tragedy to
be redeemed by the resurrection.
(10:23):
It is the power and wisdom ofGod in their most concentrated
form.
Then Paul makes it intenselypersonal.
Verse 26.
Brothers and sisters, think ofwhat you were when you were
called.
Not many of you were wise byhuman standards, not many were
influential, not many were ofnoble birth.
(10:47):
God went looking for the peoplethe world had already passed
over.
Not because weakness isvirtuous, but because God is
determined that no human beingwill have grounds for boasting
before God.
Verse 29.
God chose the foolish to shamethe wise, God chose the weak to
(11:08):
shame the strong, and God chosethe lowly, the things that are
not, in verse 28, to nullify thethings that are.
And then comes the verse thatholds everything together, verse
30.
It is because of him that youare in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God,and that is our righteousness,
(11:30):
holiness, and redemption.
So read that slowly.
It is because of him that youare in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God.
That is our righteousness,holiness, and redemption.
Righteousness, our standingbefore God, secured, holiness,
(11:51):
our transformation into his likelikeness in process, redemption,
our rescue from bondage,accomplished.
So everything we need is foundnot in our striving, but in him
in Christ Jesus.
And that is not passivity.
It is the foundation from whichall genuine striving flows.
(12:13):
John Piper has described this asa difference between try harder
Christianity and trust deeperChristianity.
The first exhausts itself tryingharder, the second is
inexhaustible, for it is inChrist.
And therefore, the only fittingresponse is the one Paul lifts
(12:35):
from Jeremiah 9 24.
Let the one who boasts boast inthe Lord.
Well, that's it for today.
Um, so I hope you are going toread 1 Corinthians on your own
because I will be spending sometime in the next few weeks uh
coming to you from mymeditations from the 1
(12:59):
Corinthians based on theScripture Union Korea.
So once again, thank you somuch.
And to all who love the Lordwith an undying love, may the
Lord's grace and peace abound inyou today and forevermore.
Godspeed.
(13:56):
Peace to my soul, the Lord is onthy side patiently the cross of
grief for pain.
Leave to thy God.
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