1 Corinthians 1
Background surrounding church of Corinth
• Most frustrating and dysfunctional church of all
• Corinth was a prominent city in the Greek state/province (Roman) of
Achaia
• Located east of Italy, south of Macedonia, and west of the capital Greek
city of Athens
• Athens was the intellectual capital of the region, Corinth was rife with the
sensory (5 senses) and sensual (satisfying the 5 senses) life of Greece
• Commercial capital of the area, land traffic from Achaia to Macedonia and
points north pass through the city and most sea traffic from eastern
Mediterranean bound for Rome stopped in Corinth’s port
Background surrounding church of Corinth
• Corinth was built at the foot of a high hill, on the top of which stood a
citadel
• Corinth was rich and immoral, a city that lived without self control
• When people said, “you live like a Corinthian”, you knew what they meant
• Code language for indulging in wild and unrestrained life
• Center for sports, government, military, and business
• Rich and prosperous and always great and wealthy until it was destroyed
by the Romans in 146 BC and rebuilt by Julius Caesar a hundred years later
• Corinth had temples that honored various gods and goddesses (Venus was
the principal deity worshipped – goddess of love or licentious passion)
• At least 1000 beautiful females served as prostitutes to the temple of Venus
Background surrounding church of Corinth
• Corinth church fit the stereotype of their pagan peers
• Corinthian believers felt that in Christ they had full license to do
whatever they pleased
• In this letter, Paul expresses his concerns that they were living more
like citizens of this world than citizens of the kingdom of heaven
• Paul visited Corinth for the first time on his 2
nd
missionary trip,
somewhere between AD 49 and 52 and stayed in Corinth a year and
half – this is where Paul founded the church (Acts 18:1-17)
• Paul wouldn’t have stayed that long but the Lord told him that He had
people in the city (Acts 18:9-11)
Background surrounding church of Corinth
• Paul’s 3
rd
missionary journey, he was stationed in Ephesus and heard
disturbing news about what was going on in the church (1 Cor 1:11)
• 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians are considered “problem solving”
letters, meaning remedial (correcting) work needs to be done to bring
the church into alignment with the principles of unity, love, sound
doctrine, and respect for authority
• 1 Corinthians deals primarily with intra-church problems
• Every time Paul begins with “Now concerning…” (occurs 6 times 7:1,
25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1, 12), Paul offers specific guidance on the issue at
hand
Background surrounding church of Corinth
• Paul was a spiritual father to the immature believers at Corinth
• Paul set to tackle one area at a time
• Paul expressed not only his concerns, but his frustration as well
• Paul was going to visit the Corinth church after his stay in Ephesus
(4:21)
• Paul wrote 1 Corinthians while he was staying in Ephesus
• Paul met Aquila and his wife Priscilla (tentmakers by trade) in Corinth
(Acts 18)
Background surrounding church of Corinth
• 1 Corinthians deals with the areas of
• Divisions (3:1-9)
• Immorality (4; 6:12-20)
• Lawsuits among believers (6:1-11)
• Confusion about marriage (7)
• Eating food sacrificed to pagan idols (8)
• Abuses of the Lord’s Supper (10:14-22)
• Improper decorum in worship services (11; 14)
• Abuses of spiritual gifts (12)
• Confusion about the Resurrection (15)
• Lack of Discipline in finances (16:1-4)
• We know more about the church of Corinth more than any other church
mentioned in the Bible
Background surrounding church of Corinth
• 6 themes of 1 Corinthians:
• Wisdom – Paul compares the shortcomings of human wisdom in light of divine wisdom (1:18
– 2:16)
• Rewards – Paul mentions two seats, judgement seat of God and judgement seat of Christ
(Romans 14:10, 2 Cor 5:10) and rewards (3:1–15)
• Spiritual Gifts in the Church – 4 times discussed (Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4, and 1
Corinthians 12-14). Corinthians takes more instruction from Paul because of their abuse of
their gifts
• Resurrection – 15:1-58 talks about both Christ’s and our resurrections
• Christian Living – Paul addresses those believers who have a pagan background: immorality
(5:1-12; 6:12-20), settling disputes between believers (6:1-11), marriage (7:1-40), tension
between liberty and license (8:1-13; 10:23 – 11:1), and separating pagan feasts from the
Lord’s Supper (11:17-22)
• Love – Following 12 chapters of patient, apostolic teaching, correction, and problem solving,
Paul brings in a shaft of resplendent (attractive and impressive) light in the form of love
(12:31) and shows love in one of the most moving, transcendent treatises (a work that
structures a subject) on love in all of human literature
Background surrounding church of Corinth
• When a church has a contentious (controversial/argumentative),
undisciplined, out of balance, problem-filled issues, it starts with love,
agape love, just like Jesus reminded the church of Ephesus in
Revelation 2:1-5 about their first love
• Historically Paul wrote his letter to the Romans in Corinth in his
subsequent visit to Corinth roughly around 58 AD (6 years after
church was founded)
1 Corinthians 1:1-3 (ESV) Greeting
1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and
our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call
upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (ESV) Thanksgiving
4IgivethankstomyGodalwaysforyoubecauseofthegraceofGod
thatwasgivenyouinChristJesus,
5thatineverywayyouwereenrichedinhiminallspeechandall
knowledge—
6evenasthetestimonyaboutChristwasconfirmedamongyou—
7sothatyouarenotlackinginanygift,asyouwaitfortherevealingof
ourLordJesusChrist,
8whowillsustainyoutotheend,guiltlessinthedayofourLordJesus
Christ.
9Godisfaithful,bywhomyouwerecalledintothefellowshipofhis
Son,JesusChristourLord.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17 (ESV) Divisions in the
Church
10Iappealtoyou,brothers,bythenameofourLordJesus
Christ,thatallofyouagree,andthattherebenodivisionsamong
you,butthatyoubeunitedinthesamemindandthesame
judgment.
11ForithasbeenreportedtomebyChloe'speoplethatthere
isquarrelingamongyou,mybrothers.
12WhatImeanisthateachoneofyousays,“IfollowPaul,”or“I
followApollos,”or“IfollowCephas,”or“IfollowChrist.”
1 Corinthians 1:10-17 (ESV) Divisions in the
Church
13IsChristdivided?WasPaulcrucifiedforyou?Orwere
youbaptizedinthenameofPaul?
14IthankGodthatIbaptizednoneofyouexceptCrispus
andGaius,
15sothatnoonemaysaythatyouwerebaptizedinmyname.
16(IdidbaptizealsothehouseholdofStephanas.Beyondthat,I
donotknowwhetherIbaptizedanyoneelse.)
17ForChristdidnotsendmetobaptizebuttopreachthe
gospel,andnotwithwordsofeloquentwisdom,lestthecrossof
Christbeemptiedofitspower.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (ESV) Christ the
Wisdom and Power of God
• 18Forthewordofthecrossisfollytothosewhoareperishing,
buttouswhoarebeingsaveditisthepowerofGod.
• 19Foritiswritten,“Iwilldestroythewisdomofthewise,and
thediscernmentofthediscerningIwillthwart.”
• 20Whereistheonewhoiswise?Whereisthescribe?Where
isthedebaterofthisage?HasnotGodmadefoolishthe
wisdomoftheworld?
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (ESV) Christ the
Wisdom and Power of God
• 21Forsince,inthewisdomofGod,theworlddidnotknowGod
throughwisdom,itpleasedGodthroughthefollyofwhatwe
preachtosavethosewhobelieve.
• 22ForJewsdemandsignsandGreeksseekwisdom,
• 23butwepreachChristcrucified,astumblingblocktoJews
andfollytoGentiles,
• 24buttothosewhoarecalled,bothJewsandGreeks,
ChristthepowerofGodandthewisdomofGod.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (ESV) Christ the
Wisdom and Power of God
• Story of a church that started out strong had the words “we preach
Christ crucified!” inscribed on an archway leading to the churchyard
• Over time, two things happened: the church lost its passion for Jesus
and His gospel and the ivy began to grow on the archway
• Growth of the ivy showed the spiritual decline:
• “Crucified” was covered – “we preach Christ” – church focused on the
“wonders” of Jesus
• “Christ” was covered – “we preach” – church lost Jesus in its message,
preaching wisdom without Him
• “preach” was covered – “we” – church became a social gathering place all
about them and nothing about God
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (ESV) Christ the
Wisdom and Power of God
• 25ForthefoolishnessofGodiswiserthanmen,andthe
weaknessofGodisstrongerthanmen.
• 26Forconsideryourcalling,brothers:notmanyofyouwere
wiseaccordingtoworldlystandards,notmanywerepowerful,
notmanywereofnoblebirth.
• 27ButGodchosewhatisfoolishintheworldtoshamethe
wise;Godchosewhatisweakintheworldtoshamethe
strong;
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (ESV) Christ the
Wisdom and Power of God
• 28Godchosewhatislowanddespisedintheworld,
eventhingsthatarenot,tobringtonothingthingsthatare,
• 29sothatnohumanbeingmightboastinthepresenceofGod.
• 30AndbecauseofhimyouareinChristJesus,whobecameto
uswisdomfromGod,righteousnessandsanctification
andredemption,
• 31sothat,asitiswritten,“Lettheonewhoboasts,boastinthe
Lord.”