“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
King James Version (KJV)
1:18 To them that perish - By obstinately rejecting the only name whereby they can be saved. But to us who are saved - Now saved from our sins, and in the way to everlasting salvation, it is the great instrument of the power of God.
1Co 1:18 The preaching of the cross. The gospel of a Crucified Savior. Unto them that perish. Those who are unregenerate. Foolishness. The Greek philosopher and the Jewish scribe scoffed at the thought of a Savior who had been crucified. They held that his crucifixion proved that he was not divine. Unto us who are saved. There are two sections of mankind--the unsaved and the saved. To the first, the cross is folly; to the second, the gospel of the Crucified One comes as the "power of God". See Ro 1:16. To the unsaved, the cross is a pillar of cloud; to the saved, a pillar of light.