The Preaching Of Which Cross?

(Our or His)

By Curt Wildy

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18

And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:23

And whosoever doth not bear his cross,
and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:27

The Error

Some in our day maintain that the preaching of the cross which is deemed foolishness by those who perish is not the cross whereon our Lord was crucified, but rather the daily cross that the Christian must bear as per Luke 9:23 and 14:27. They argue that many people were crucified in times past (citing as an example, the crucifixion of 6,000 surviving members of Spartacus’ rebel army along the Appian Way), therefore Christ’s historic death on the cross in and of itself would not be deemed foolishness to anyone; it is the bearing of our own daily cross as we follow Christ and die daily, they say, that is the cross at issue.

Whereas I would agree that no one, except for the most hardened of atheists and heathens, would deem the historic act of the crucifixion of Christ to be foolishness, I would utterly disagree with their view that if the passage is not merely talking about our Lord’s physical crucifixion, it must be talking about the cross that Christians must bear as they suffer persecution for Christ’s sake. 

The Truth

The cross that is foolishness to the wicked is the representative cross, i.e., not the mere physical act of crucifixion alone, but all that it encompasses, all that took place in and around that time. The cross is not just limited to the physical suffering and humiliation endured by our God and Saviour at the hands of wicked men. The cross includes the fact that our Lord (1) took upon Himself our sin, (2) suffered under the effects of it, (3) endured the Father’s divine wrath so as to fully pay for it, (4) fulfilled all of the Old Testament law and prophecy concerning it, and then (5) declared it is finished — evidencing that He made full atonement and propitiation for His people. As I aim to show, it is this cross, this all-encompassing cross, that is foolishness to the unregenerate.  It is foolishness to them because it declares that all of salvation hinges upon this one atoning act. It is foolishness to them because it means that Christ, His shed blood, and His imputed righteousness, is the only way to heaven. This cross eliminates all creature input, all creature acts, and all creature glory. This cross takes salvation utterly out of the hands of men and places it entirely in the hands of God. This cross reveals that anything put forth in the place of, or in addition to Christ’s finished work will not only not save you, but it will damn you. The cross of Christ declares the all-sufficiency of our Lord and the complete impotence of man.

It is therefore abject foolishness to the unsaved to think that salvation is not rooted in the works of men but in the exclusive work of the God-Man Mediator who was made flesh, dwelled amongst wicked men in His perfection, died at their hands on the cross, endured the equivalent of eternal damnation for all of the sins of His people, paid the debt in full, completed the work required, and was raised again on the third day evidencing that there was nothing left to be done. The unbelieving scoff at these truths to their own destruction; but they scoff nonetheless.  The hell-bound reject that preaching of the cross that adamantly and discriminately declares that:

• …now, once in the end of the world hath [the Lord Jesus Christ] appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Hebrews 9:26b).

• By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once [for all]… For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:10, 14)

• For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

• For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous (Romans 5:19).

The Context

In recent posts, I have spent quite a bit of time pointing out and defining verb tenses; I do this because many who are confused on these matters are confused due to a misunderstanding of the tenses. By relying on inaccurate interpretations of the perfect and present tense in particular, they have erred in their understanding of key doctrines and have departed from the historic, orthodox predestinarian view. Although I believe the above speaks for itself, I want to endeavor to prove why our daily cross cannot be in view in 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Firstly, to correctly understand 1 Corinthians 1:18 we should start with verse 10.

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.2  11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them [which are of the house] of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified [Aorist, Passive, Indicative] for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; 15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. 16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

The cross of Christ in verses 17 and 18 is directly related to what we read in verse 13 when the apostle asks “was Paul crucified for you?” That word crucified is in the aorist, passive, indicative tense. In most cases, the aorist indicative indicates a past action. It is sometimes used in like manner to the perfect tense wherein it pertains to a completed past act with results that continue forth. Either way, Paul is discussing crucifixion in the past — not in the present (i.e. not in a continuous or contemporaneous sense as our daily cross would be). His point is that it was Christ who was crucified for you, once — in the past, and not Paul, Peter, Apollos, or any modern day pastor (no matter how faithful he may be). Our allegiance is to Christ and His unified body; we are not to give into schisms and divisions based upon respect of persons. Nonetheless, the point for our discussion is that if the crucifixion discussed in verse 13 is past tense (or even like unto the perfect tense), then the cross in verse 17 and 18 has to be past or perfect tense as well — it simply cannot be referring to our continuous cross-bearing as Christians.

Secondly, to correctly understand 1 Corinthians 1:18 we must keep it in the clear continued context of:

1 Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified (Perfect, Passive, Participle), unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness…

As the bold text indicates, verse 23 uses crucified as a perfect participle; thus, the passage can be rightly translated as “But we preach Christ having been crucified.” This is precisely how Jay P. Green Sr.’s Interlinear Bible translates it and the having been form is in harmony with what numerous Greek grammars teach. Clearly, verse 18 must be speaking of the crucifixion of Christ as it is in verse 10 (by inference) and in verse 23 (directly); it cannot be speaking of us bearing our daily cross as Christians.

The Glory

Those who mistakenly interpret 1 Corinthians 1:18 also misinterpret:

Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Again, they argue that the cross we glory in is our daily cross and state that as we die daily, Christ resurrects in us daily. This stance takes the focus off of Christ’s finished work and places it on what Christ does in us (which often leads to the focus being placed entirely on us). Although I do not want to minimize what Christ does in us, it cannot be allowed to eclipse what He has already done for us, ultimately, from the cross. Christ’s work on the cross is our GREATEST FOCUS and we should never be steered away from it. Our eye must be single on Him and His accomplishment and not on what we do in His name and through His strength. The proof of this can be seen in:

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

When Galatians 6:14 speaks of glorying in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, this has to be the same glorying as glorying in the Lord spoken of in 1 Corinthians 1:31. We glory in the Lord because through His one offering we are crucified unto the world and the world is crucified unto us (perfect indicative tense: meaning already crucified but with the effects/benefits continuing on). The Lord, through that one offering, has already been made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

Summary

To glory in the Lord, and to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, is one and the same glorying. It is to glory not in our struggles, witnessings, persecutions, crucifyings, daily dyings, sufferings for Christs’ sake, etc.; but to glory in what Christ has already done for the saving, perfecting, and sanctifying of His people. Although we are immensely thankful for what Christ does for us now as our God, High Priest, Mediator, Shepherd, Provider, King, Husband, Friend, and as the source of all that is good and perfect that the Father gives us; we must never be distracted from that which gives glory to God in the highest. We must never be distracted from that one, completed act that declares God to be both Just and Justifier; both a Just God and a Saviour.  It is through the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Christ that “mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed” (Psalm 85:10). Nothing that we do, or that God does in us, should ever be allowed to over-shadow the great redemptive work of Christ.

The fact is, the cross we must bear is His cross. We were crucified with Him (Galatians 2:20) if we are His. The cross we are to lift up and honour, the cross we are to promote amongst men is the cross of Christ crucified, on our behalf, and in our stead. There is no true suffering for Christ’s sake if we are not suffering in light of a steadfast stand for the glory of Christ at Calvary. Our glorying is but dung if we are not glorying in His finished work on the cross.

To Christ be the glory (and may our Heavenly Father cause us to glory all the more in Him).