First Letter to the Corinthians
Paul has apparently sent a letter to the church in Corinth by the hands of Timothy, who recently would have passed through Corinth on his way to Macedonia. In a second letter, written perhaps A.D. 55-56, Paul mentions the previous Corinthian letter and ind1Cates that he has received a return letter from the Corinthians wh1Ch has been brought to Ephesus by a group including Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Acha1Cus. Although the content of Paul's first letter is unknown, the letter
wh1Ch Paul received from the Corinthians evidently posed specif1C questions regarding marriage and singleness, food sacrif1Ced to idols, spiritual gifts, arid certain special contributions wh1Ch the Corinthians were making- Paul answers these questions in his second letter (traditionally referred to as 1 Corinthians) and expresses concern about various divisions among the Corinthians wh1Ch have been reported to Paul by members of Chloe's family. Additionally, Paul addresses some of the part1Cular problems wh1Ch these Christians are facing in the pagan city of Corinth, including matters pertaining to sexual morality and modesty, and the issue of fellowship with pagans
SALUTATION. 1 Cor. 1:1-3
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
To the
church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and. called to be
holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ—their Lord and ours:
Grace
and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
THANKSGIVING
FOR GRACE. 1 Cor.
1:4-9
I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus, For in him you have been enr1Ched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Clod, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
WARNING
AGAINST DIVISIONS.
1 Cor. 1:10-17
I appeal to you, brothers," in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there
may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and
thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there
are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow
Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow
Cephas'"; still another, "I follow Christ."
Is
Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of
Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Caius,
so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, 1 also baptized
the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone
else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with
words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
GOD'S
WISDOM. 1 Cor.
1:18-25
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God, For it is written
"I
will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.
Where
is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age?
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world
through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of
what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and
Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to
Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness
of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than
man's strength.
EXAMPLE OF LOWLINESS. 1Cor. 1:26-31
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.""
PREACHING NOT ELOQUENT. 1Cor. 2:1-5
When I
came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I
proclaimed to you the testimony about God.11 For I resolved to know
nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to
you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching
were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the
Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's
power.
WISDOM FROM THE SPIRIT. 1Cor. 2:6-13
We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard, no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him" w—
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.1
WISDOM
FOR SPIRITUALLY MINDED. 1Cor. 2:14-16
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?"
But we
have the mind of Christ.
DIVISIONS PREVENT GROWTH. 1Cor. 3:1-4
Brothers,
I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I
gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you
are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and
quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow
Apollos," are you not mere men?
MINISTERS ARE SERVANTS. 1Cor. 3:5-9
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
CHRIST IS FOUNDATION. 1Cor. 3:10-15
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, wh1Ch is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
DIVISION DESTROYS TEMPLE. 1Cor. 3:16,17
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
LOYALTY TO CHRIST ALONE. 1Cor. 3:18-23
Do not
deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of
this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For
the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written:
"He catches the wise in their craftiness"2; and again,
"The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."0
So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or
Apollos or Cephas" or the world or life or death or the present or the
future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
MINISTERS
TO BE JUDGED.
1Cor.4:1-5
So then, men ought to regard us as servants
of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is
required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care
very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do
not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that rime each will receive his praise from God.
WARNING AGAINST PRIDE. 1Cor.4:6-8
Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Already
you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and
that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might
be kings with you!
EVEN APOSTLES ARE DEBASED. 1Cor. 4:9-13
For it
seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the
procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a
spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for
Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are
honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are
in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own
hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when
we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of
the earth, the refuse of the world.
PAUL
APPEALS AS FATHER.
1Cor. 4:14-21
I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, wh1Ch agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?