… ³since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you. ⁴For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

Today’s Christian community is rife with doctrinal variations and disagreements. Of course, not all can be right in all their theology. Despite their sinful motivation, the Corinthians had a good question: “Paul, what is the proof that Christ is speaking in you?” It is not hard to imagine at this juncture the spiritual showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Who is right? Is Paul really all about Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 1:23, 2:2), or were those just nice-sounding words he wrote, but without any power in the world? What about any preacher a Christian might hear today?

Paul preaches Christ, as he says, “who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.” He is not putting his own preaching to them as proof of God’s power. No matter what else he has to say, he is admittedly weak (1 Cor 2:3, 4:10 9:22). Let not anyone, though, mistake outward appearance of weakness using the world’s definition of weakness (which some of the Corinthians had adopted, namely, gifted oratory, persuasive personalities, etc.). God delights to use the weak things of the world to confound (1 Cor. 1:25–27), and that includes the apostle Paul. No, the power of God is best seen and is founded in the cross of Christ. Put simply, “He was crucified because of weakness (that is, the spiritual weakness caused by sin), yet He (Christ) lives because of the power of God.” As Paul wrote to the Romans, Christ “was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4).

Paul again admits to his weakness, as is true of Christians, “we are weak in Him.” In the world’s way of things, there are relative strengths depending on societal norms (relative to one’s social position, financial resources, or political influence). But Christ is the universal leveler, for when a person comes to Christ by faith in His death for them, he joins the group of human beings who now abandon the world’s sense of strength and weakness, and accept the penultimate position of spiritual weakness in Christ. But the ultimate position we occupy, along with all other believers, is that “we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.” In other words, we exchange the world’s sense of weakness and power for God’s definition of what is weakness and power. It is that kind of spiritual power that will be seen in Paul’s ministry to them when he sees them again, a real spiritual power that changes lives.

Lord, open my eyes to see afresh Your spiritual power working in my life.