* The map of Corinth is from the NIV Study Bible, 1984. Used by permission.
1. Who is the sender of this letter?
* 1 Corinthians 1:1 "Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,"
* "Paul" -Paul persecuted the church until Jesus called him to service for God. He traveled through Ephesus while returning to Jerusalem and Antioch on his second missionary trip. (Acts 18:18-21). Others had already preached the gospel there. (Acts 18:24-27, 19:1) During his third missionary trip Paul stayed there over two years (53-55 A.D.) using it as a missionary base for the rest of Asia minor. (Acts 19:10) Ephesus was the capital of the area. At the end of his third missionary journey Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and taken as prisoner to Rome (Acts 23:23-26:32). During the time Paul was in house arrest and wrote this letter. See the Introduction for the time frame and more background information.
* The name that Paul's parents gave him was Saul. Since he was from the tribe of Benjamin it can be assumed that he was named after the first king of Israel, Saul who was also a Benjamite. (1 Sam. 9:1-2) Paul's parents had high expectations for their son naming him such and Paul did all he could not to let his parents down as he himself testified, "though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless." (Phil. 3:4-6) However, after he meet Jesus he changed his name to Saul, which means little.
* Apostle Paul, through his letters and influence to Luke's Gospel contributed most to the New Testament.
* 1 Corinthians Chapter 1 Overview.
Paul wrote this letter in 55 or 56 AD while he was at Ephesus during his 3rd missionary journey. Paul is dealing with problems concerning the young congregation as a whole and also with personal problems.
The first issue makes it clear that Jesus is the head of the church. I belong to him. I follow him. He was crucified for me. I was baptized into his name. I should not turn another into a kind of living idol.
I did not know God. I could not have known God unless he reveals himself to me. (21) Even if I were to study and learn from the wisest and most published person I would not know God. The world through its wisdom cannot know God.
I am saved through the cross of Christ. The cross of Jesus is foolishness to mankind. The cross of Jesus is a weakness to mankind. Mankind is wrong in both. The cross of Christ is God's strength and God's wisdom.
Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Some have said I know a lot and am well studied. The more I study the more I see that I know little nor have much wisdom unless God reveals it to me. That what I don't know or understand I study a lot to learn a little more in hopes to understand that which I don't understand. Once I learn something it brings more questions and things that I do not understand. So more study, prayer, and thought is needed. Yes, I accept all I know has been revealed to me by God through his Spirit.
I am not strong physically even though I jog and go to the gym. I am not strong mentally nor emotionally though it may appear to be so from the outside. When trouble and problems come I try to face them with faith. Yet I worry and am concerned.
So for wisdom and strength, I go to God. I am weak. He is strong. I am not wise. He is all wisdom.
How does he identify himself?
* "called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus" -Called by Jesus while he was traveling to Damascus with signed orders to arrest anyone who confessed the name of Jesus as the Messiah. (Acts 9:4)
* Apostle means sent on a mission with full authority of representation; an ambassador. Jesus chose twelve to be his apostles during his earthly ministry. (Mark 3:13-19) When Judas betrayed Jesus another was chosen to take his place. (Acts 1:12-26) Then Jesus called Paul, the fourteenth apostle. (Acts 9:1-30) Silas and a few others were also apostles. Apostles are the only ones that display all the gifts of the Holy Spirit in order to support the mission that God has given them. Apostles were personally sent by Jesus, learning directly from Jesus.
* How we see ourselves is important. Do we see ourselves in the eyes of others, in our own eyes, or the eyes of Jesus? If we see ourselves in the eyes of Jesus he will help us understand ourselves more when we study the Bible and pray. After Jesus came to Paul and called him as an apostle, and after he changed his name (originally Saul), he saw himself in the eyes of Jesus. He later confessed, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:7-11)
* Paul wrote more about his past in his letter to the Galatians.
* "Christ Jesus" -Stated nine times in the first ten verses. "Christ" is Greek for the equivalent Hebrew "Messiah". "Jesus" is English for similar Latin and Greek words for the Hebrew "Yeshua" (some say "Joshua"), a shorter name for the much older "Yehoshua".
Why has he been appointed this?
* "by the will of God" -Everyone who every became and ever will put faith in Jesus does so by the will of God.
* Paul did not want it.
* The church did not expect it.
* His parents, neighbors, and friends would have been shocked.
* God, full of grace planned it from the creation of the world.
* So is the same for all of us.
Who was with him? (Acts 18:17)
* "and our brother Sosthenes" -Brother in Christ. The first believers saw themselves as family members.
* Acts 18:17 "Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever."
* "Sosthenes" -A ruler of a synagogue in Corinth (Acts 18:17). He apparently assumed the post after Crispus, the former chief ruler, became a Christian under Paul's preaching (18:8). When an attempt to prosecute Paul legally failed, the citizens of the city took revenge and beat Sosthenes. Tradition holds that Sosthenes later was converted and became one of Paul's helpers. Whether the two are one person cannot be determined from existing evidence. (Trent C. Butler, "Sosthenes," in Holman Bible Dictionary)
2. Which congregation is called out as the recipient and how did he hear the gospel? (2a, 2:1; Acts 18:1-5, 11)
* 1 Corinthians 1:2a "To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy"
* 1 Corinthians 2:1 "I When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God."
* Acts 18:1-5 "After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ."
* Acts 18:11 "So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God."
* "To the church of God in Corinth" -"Church" is better translated "congregation". Paul meet two Jews who were tent makers. Paul preached in the synague as he worked with them. Thus, Paul started the churher in Corinth.
* "Corinth" -Corinth (the inhabitants of which are called Corinthians) was an eminent city of Achaia, (that Achaia which is now called the Morea,) and was situated on an isthmus, or neck of land, between the Agean and Ionian Seas; so was very convenient for merchandise, and by merchandise came to great riches, which gave them great temptations to luxury, drunkenness, and whoredom. They were very infamous for the latter, and grown to that impudence, that they made the increase of harlots a part of their prayers to their idols, and made the bringing of harlots into the city a part of their vows. Lais was a harlot amongst them, very famous in civil history. And as pride usually attendeth wealth, so they also were a people very proud and puffed up. They were also anciently famous for pagan learning, and had amongst them Stoics and Epicureans, who laughed at the resurrection of the body, and looked upon incest, adultery, and fornication, as very venial things, if at all unlawful. (Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible, vol. 3 (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1853), 538.)
How are they identified?
* "to those sanctified in Christ Jesus" -Sanctified means set asside and made holy for a special purpose. Sanctification is the process of being made holy resulting in a changed life-style for the believer. The English word sanctification comes from the Latin santificatio, meaning the act/process of making holy, consecrated.
* "called to be holy" -Holy is pure. God called them to be pure. Not pure compared to the world. But pure because of Jesus.
* Our identity in Jesus is sanctified and holy.
What does this personally mean to you?
* Jesus makes me holy. I do not make myself holy.
* Jesus sanctifies me. I do not sanctify myself.
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Who is addressed? (2b)
* 1 Corinthians 1:2b "together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours"
* "together with all those everywher" -Paul saw others reading this besides the believers in Corinth.
* "who call on" -Meaning in prayer.
* "who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" -Everything that is addressed in this letter is for believers. Nothing is addressed in this letter is to someone who is not a believer.
* "their Lord and ours" -
What does God's grace and peace mean to you? (3)
* 1 Corinthians 1:3 "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
* "Grace and peace to you" -“Grace” adapts a standard Greek greeting, and “peace” a Jewish one. By pairing Jesus with the Father as the source of grace and peace in a wish-prayer (wish-prayers for the hearers were common in letter openings), Paul declares Jesus’ divinity. (Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 1 Co 1:3.)
* "from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
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3. What was Paul thankful for? (4-6)
* 1 Corinthians 1:4-6 "I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-- because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you."
* "I always thank God for you"
* "because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus"
* "For in him you have been enriched in every way"
* "in all your speaking and in all your knowledge"
Why was it important to know that the gospel spoken to them was confirmed?
* "our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you"
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What do we eagerly wait for?
* 1 Corinthians 1:7-9 "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. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."
* "you do not lack any spiritual gift"
* "as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed"
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How can one be made and then remain blameless before that day?
* "He will keep you strong to the end"
* "so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ"
* "God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."
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II. Agree With One Another (1:10-17)
* The title page engraving titled "Paul" is from a book "Delle prediche quadragesimali Sopra l'Epistole, & Euangeli correnti, per igiorni di Quaresima, eperle due primi giorni di Pasqua. Con la vita dell'autore."
It is by Musso, Cornelio (1511-1574), now in public domain.
The Apostle Paul sits and holds a sword in one hand and points to a book, likely the scriptures, with the other hand. Romans 10 and 1 Corinthians 2 are the attending scriptures.
Courtesy of the Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University: http://www.pitts.emory.edu.
4. What problem arose in the Corinthian congregation? (10)
* 1 Corinthians 1:10 "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."
* "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" -Strong words.
* "that all of you agree with one another"
* "so that there may be no divisions among you"
* "you may be perfectly united in mind and thought."
what are some ways divisions can occur in a congregation?
* The problems within the Corinthian congregation is a good place to find some causes of division.
* Something on the outside but within the congregation like style of music, worship service formate, look of the church, and children's ministry.
* A person within the congregation like lead pastor, an elder or group of elders, a decon or group of decaons, an assistant pastor, a member or group of attenies. This would also include the roles of men, women, children, and the elderly.
* Something outside of church like politics, goverment, laws, social issues, and how and when to interact with those who do not attend the congregation or believe and worship as we do.
* The written word of God, which translation to use, how to interpret it, who teaches it, how to teach, when to teach, and where to teach.
* Doctrinal issues including how to and when to discipline violation of the congregational rules.
What does it mean to be "united in mind and thought"?
* Come to an agreement and once it is made everyone should accept it or leave the congregation. Many congregations have split over disagreements since the very beginning of the church age.
* Continually arguing, even after a decision is made can completely desolve a congregation. Often the cults evantually disapate. However, some remain for many centuries.
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5. What was the source of quarrels at Corinth? (11-12)
* 1 Corinthians 1:11-12 "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."
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What answer to the questions in verse 13 could have avoided the quarrels?
* 1 Corinthians 1:13 "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?"
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6. What was Paul thankful for and why? (14-16)
* 1 Corinthians 1:14-16 'I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.)"
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To Paul, what was his first priority? (17, 15:1-8; Mark 16:15-16)
* 1 Corinthians 1:17 "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."
* 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."
* Mark 16:15-16 "He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
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What is yours?
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III. Boast in the Lord (1:18-2:5)
* The engraving titled "The Rope Walker" is from a book "Spiegel van het menselyk bedryf : vertoonende honderd verscheiden ambachten, konstig afgebeeld en met godlyke spreuken en stichtelyke verzen verryke / door Jan en Kasper Luiken"
It is by Luiken, Jan (1649-1712) and is now in public domain. The rope walker walks backwards while twisting the hemp that is wrapped around his waist; in the background left, several workmen make a cable. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649-1712) was responsible for drawing this emblem and for creating the motto and poem that follow. Jan Luiken and/or his son Casper Luiken (1672-1708) were responsible for its etching. The attendant scripture text is 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
Courtesy of the Digital Image Archive, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University: http://www.pitts.emory.edu.
The motto is "The walking is bad, But the work is right." The accompanying poem is:
The wrong walking of the pious man,
In the eye of him, who doesn't understand,
Serves nevertheless a good trade,
Which in a storm stands in good stead;
Then life's ship remains secure,
On its twisted cables.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
7. What are two ways that people see Jesus' crucifixion? (18-19)
* 1 Corinthians 1:18-19 "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.'"
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What two wisdoms are there and what is the outcome of each? (20-21)
* 1 Corinthians 1:20-21 "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."
* "the world through its wisdom did not know him"
* "God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe"
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How is God's way to know him, Christ crucified, a stumbling block to miracle and/or wisdom seekers? (22-23)
* 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 "Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,"
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What do both fail to accept? (24-25)
* 1 Corinthians 1:24-25 "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."
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8. Take a sincere look at what you were like before Christ called you considering verse 26.
* 1 Corinthians 1:26 "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."
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What are the three reasons that God chose such things according to verses 27-29?
* 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 "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"
* "to shame the wise"
* "to shame the strong"
* "to nullify the things that are"
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What is the final reason from our perspective? (29)
* 1 Corinthians 1:29 "so that no one may boast before him."
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9. What is the only way to be in christ Jesus? (30)
* 1 Corinthians 1:30 "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."
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Who then is Jesus to true believers?
* "who has become for us wisdom from God"
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What does it mean in more detail?
* "righteousness, holiness and redemption"
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Can you or anyone then say that they came to know God through their own power or wisdom? (31)
* 1 Corinthians 1:31 "Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
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10. What simple way can and should the gospel be preached? (2:1, 3-4a)
* 1 Corinthians 2:1 "I When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God."
* 1 Corinthians 2:3-4a "I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words"
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Who is the core of the gospel? (2)
* 1 Corinthians 2:2 "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."
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Who really makes it possible for anyone to hear the gospel and why? (4b-5)
* 1 Corinthians 2:4b-5 "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."
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Can you preach the gospel this way? (John 4:28-30, 39-42)
* John 4:28-30 "Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him."
* John 4:39-42 "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
