First Corinthians 1:24 says that Christ himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and that this is true for those whom God has called, whether they come from a Jewish or a Greek background. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, a busy port city in Greece, to correct divisions and a habit of measuring the gospel by human standards of cleverness and status.
But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:24 (WEB)
What 1 Corinthians 1:24 Means
The verse begins with “to those who are called,” which points to people whom God has drawn to faith. Paul is not describing a private feeling but a response to God’s initiative in the gospel. The word “both Jews and Greeks” signals that this calling reaches across the deepest cultural divide of the first century, so no group gets to claim the gospel as its own property.
The heart of the verse is the claim that Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Paul is saying that when you look at Jesus, you are looking at the very strength and insight of God at work. The verse does not promise that every hardship will disappear or that every question will be answered. It tells you where God’s power and wisdom have been revealed most fully, namely in the crucified and risen Christ.
The Context of 1 Corinthians 1:24
Paul wrote this letter to a congregation that was proud of its spiritual gifts and its teachers, and some members had split into camps around favorite leaders. The problem was not only doctrinal but social: a church drawn from merchants, slaves, and the educated elite was tempted to judge the message of the cross by the standards of the surrounding culture. Paul answers by reminding them that the gospel itself looked like foolishness to the world.
The verses just before this one describe Jews asking for signs and Greeks seeking wisdom, while Paul preaches “Christ crucified.” Verse 24 is the turning point of the passage: what offends one group and baffles another is, for those God has called, the very place where God’s power and wisdom appear. Read this way, the verse is not a stand-alone slogan about Jesus being impressive. It is Paul’s answer to a church arguing about who is impressive.
Key Phrases in 1 Corinthians 1:24
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
(WEB)
This verse sets up the contrast that verse 24 resolves: the message of the cross looks like foolishness to those who are perishing but is the power of God to those being saved. Reading the two together shows that Paul’s language of power and wisdom belongs to the whole argument of the letter.
Colossians 2:3
In whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.
(WEB)
Paul later describes Christ as the place where all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. This echoes 1 Corinthians 1:24 and shows that the apostle’s view of Christ as God’s wisdom remained central to his teaching across his letters.
A Short Prayer From 1 Corinthians 1:24
Lord, you have shown your power and your wisdom most fully in Jesus Christ, though the world often looks elsewhere for strength and insight. Thank you for calling me into your grace, not because I earned a place among the wise, but because you chose to reveal yourself to ordinary people like me. Help me to trust your wisdom when it looks foolish to others and to rest in your power when my own strength runs out. Keep me humble, keep me faithful, and keep my eyes fixed on Christ crucified and risen. Amen.
