1 Corinthians 1:23Plain English VersionBut we are not like those people. We tell people about Jesus Christ, and we tell them that he died for them on the cross. The Jewish people can’t understand that. It isn’t what they want, so they don’t believe it. And the other people that are not Jews, they reckon it is stupid, so they don’t believe it. See the chapter |
We tell everybody the message that Jesus died on a cross to save them. Some people hear that message and think it is stupid. Those people’s spirits are finishing up, and they are lost. But other people hear that message and think it is good. You are like that mob, and so are we. We know that message is from God. It tells us that he is using his power to save us.
You see, God is properly wise. He knows that most people in this world want to be smart and think up their own ideas about God. But he blocks them, so they will never get to know him that way. Instead, God is happy to save everybody that believes his message. And we tell you that message, even though other people think we are stupid.
They see that we work for Jesus Christ, and lots of people think we are fools. But you mob reckon you are different from us. You reckon you are really smart because you know Jesus Christ. Yes, everyone thinks we are weak, but you reckon you are strong. You reckon everyone has to respect you, but you don’t care if they respect us or not.
Listen, my Christian friends, some people reckon that I still tell people to have a young man operation, but that’s not right. I teach people that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save them. And those Jews that don’t like Jesus, they are always giving me a lot of trouble. That shows you that I don’t tell anyone to have a young man operation. If I did tell them to do that, then that Jewish mob wouldn’t get angry and give me trouble.
I’m not important. All of God’s people are more important than me. But God was good to me, and he gave me this special job. He sent me to tell the people that are not Jews about the really great things that Jesus Christ can give them. These things are so great that nobody can understand them properly.
God says this about Jesus too, in his book, “He will be like a stone that people trip over, so that they fall down and hurt themselves.” You see, people that don’t trust in Jesus, they go wrong and stop following God. It’s like they fall down and hurt themselves. They go wrong because they don’t listen to God’s word, and they don’t do what it says. You know, God planned all that trouble for them a long time ago.