For after that in the wisdom of God
These words contain a reason proving the infatuation of men, with
respect to "the wisdom of God"; by which may be meant either
Christ, who is the wisdom of God, was in the world, and yet the
world of the Jews, and their chief Rabbins among them, with all
their wisdom, neither knew him, nor God his Father; or the
Gospel, which is also so called, and though this was come, both
into the Jewish and Gentile world, yet neither of them, by their
natural wisdom, knew the God of grace, so manifestly revealed in
it; or rather the works of creation, in which there is such a
visible display of the wisdom of God: yet "the world by wisdom
knew not God"; the author of them: the Gentiles knew him not in
any spiritual and saving manner, as in Christ, or the God of all
grace; yea, they knew him not as the God of nature to be the one,
only, true God; they knew him not so as to glorify him as God, or
to worship him in a right way and manner: wherefore,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them
that
believe;
it was his purpose and decree within himself; it was his
sovereign good will and pleasure; it was what he, without any
motion from, or merit in the creature, resolved of himself from
all eternity that he would "save", not the wise man, the Scribe,
the disputer of this world, the rationalist, the talker, nor the
worker, but "them that believe" in his Son; that look unto him,
venture on him, and commit the care and keeping of their souls to
him, however weak, mean, and despicable they may otherwise be; or
whether they believe with a weak, or a strong faith, so be it, it
is but true: the Ethiopic version reads, "that believe in this
foolish doctrine"; and this he determined to do, and did, "by the
foolishness of preaching"; or by that sort of preaching, which
both for the matter of it, Christ, that itself, and the manner of
it, the world reckons foolishness; and which are the things of
the Father's grace in election, of the Son's grace in redemption,
and the Spirit's in regeneration: so the wise men of the world,
with all their wisdom, are left ignorant of God, and perish in
their sins, whilst the Gospel they despise is the power of God
unto salvation to all that believe in Christ; this, through
efficacious grace, becomes the means of regenerating and
quickening men, showing them their need of salvation, and where
it is, and of working faith in them to look to Christ for it.