January 14 - 1 Corinthians

January 14 - 1 Corinthians

About 3 years after Paul had been in Corinth, while he was in Ephesus, he began hearing about problems they were having. While Acts doesn't record it, he made a quick trip to Corinth to try to fix things - this is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 2:1; 12:14; 13:2. That last verse (2 Cor. 13:2) shows that he left them with an ultimatum. He would not spare those who sinner earlier or any of the others.

1 Corinthians 5:9 mentions an earlier letter, one for which there is no record. 1 Corinthians was written towards the end of his stay in Ephesus (56-57 AD) and 2 Corinthians was written 6 months after that.

This poor church had many problems, the first of which is addressed in 1 Cor. 1:12. They were divided amongst themselves, following different leaders. 1 Cor. 5:1 tells us that there was sexual immorality happening and 1 Cor. 6:1 shows that there were lawsuits happening among the believers. They were abusing the Lord's Supper and arguing over spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12-14) and in 1 Corinthians 15:12 we read that some were even denying the resurrection.

The church was becoming arrogant and focused on worldly things, such as wealth and social status (1 Cor. 4:6-8). They believed that they were better than Paul himself.

The letter implies that they will see him soon and he addresses issues that should either be cleared up before he arrived or he will see to it that these are taken care of: purity (1 Cor. 5:1–7:40), idols and sacrifices (1 Cor. 8:1–11:1), traditions (1 Cor. 11:2–33), spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:1–14:40), the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1–58), and the offering for Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:1–4). (Tyndale Reference Library)

This letter is a prime example of an early church with massive problems. But, Paul knew that these problems could be dealt with and fixed. His heart reached out to these folks and he knew that they could be better than what they were.

Wisdom versus foolishness is one of the issues that he speaks to. There are over 30 references to those two words in this letter, 23 of them occur in the first three chapters. He also speaks often of the Kingdom of God, using it to bring into context their problems with pride (1 Cor. 4:20) and to teach them that their behavior could exclude them from the Kingdom (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

As you read 1 Corinthians, you will find that Paul answers many of the questions raised today about how to act within the church. He knew what he was teaching and God knew we would need those teachings even today.

1 Corinthians 1:1-31
1 Corinthians 2:1-16
1 Corinthians 3:1-23
1 Corinthians 4:1-21
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
1 Corinthians 6:1-20
1 Corinthians 7:1-40
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
1 Corinthians 9:1-27
1 Corinthians 10:1-33
1 Corinthians 11:1-34
1 Corinthians 12:1-31
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
1 Corinthians 14:1-40
1 Corinthians 15:1-58
1 Corinthians 16:1-24