1 & 2 Corinthians

The Greek poet Homer mentioned Corinth in his Illiad as a city of wealth and immorality. Plato referred to a "prostitute" as a "Corinthian Girl." Paul had come to Corinth after preaching in Athens while on his second missionary journey. In Athens only a few listened to him. Even before that, in previous cities, many people had reacted violently to Paul’s preaching. He must have wondered if it was even worth it to try preaching in Corinth. But the Lord told Paul, “I have many people in this city” (Acts 18.10).

He spent one and a half years in Corinth, and God amazingly raised up a vibrant church. But the Corinthian church had a lot of temptations and problems. Paul wrote four letters to the Corinthians. The first and third have been lost. Our First and Second Corinthians are the second and fourth letters. Paul also made two more visits to Corinth. There were many difficulties with the Corinthians, but it all turned out good in the end. Most importantly, the difficulties in this church and the way they were handled have helped all Christians with their own problems. Here are some of the lessons that come from Paul’s ministry to the Corinthians:

Christ, the cross, the resurrection, and the forgiveness of sins is the central message of the Christian church.

Christians need to focus primarily on the Gospel and “the” faith, that is Christian doctrine, rather than the persons and personalities that are teaching this faith.

Holy marriage, one man and one woman for life, was abnormal for pagans, but it is the way of life for Christians.

Spiritual gifts are important blessings that God gives, but they serve the Gospel.

Love for the lost and for the poor and suffering are fruit of faith.

We learn about Paul’s background because he had to defend himself against false teachers.

Christians should expect suffering that comes from false teachers and persecutors of the faith. But God promises to lead us through all these things to His eternal glory.

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus near the end of his three-year ministry there. He wrote 2 Corinthians a year or so later after he left Ephesus heading toward Macedonia on his third missionary journey.

Simple Outline for 1 Corinthians 
1-4 Prideful Divisions, Unity in God’s Wisdom
5-6 Sexual Immorality Addressed
7-11 Marriage Issues & Food Sacrificed to Idols
11-14 Worship, The Lord’s Supper, Spiritual Gifts
15 The Resurrection
16 The Collection for Jerusalem

01) They were called and confirmed into the fellowship of Jesus. It’s wrong to create divisions in the church based on personalities. The message of the cross is our wisdom. The cross is our glory.

02) Faith is not based in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. The wisdom of this age is coming to nothing. God has revealed His mysteries through His Spirit. Natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit. We have the mind of Christ.

03) Divisions over personalities are carnal. Paul and his helpers worked, but God gave the growth. Christ is the foundation. What we build on top of that will be tested with fire. The wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. Don’t boast in men.

04) The apostles and pastors are servants and stewards of the mysteries of God. The Lord will bring all hidden things to light. Don’t think beyond what is written. We have received everything so we shouldn’t boast. Imitate me (Paul). Paul promised to come soon.

05) Paul calls them out for tolerating sexual immorality (a man with his father’s wife). He urges discipline (separation). They were not to keep company with an immoral person who claims to be a Christian.

06) Christians should settle their disputes themselves without going to judges or they should allow themselves to be cheated. He lists vices which separate us from God’s kingdom: sexual immorality, homosexual behavior, thievery, drunkenness, etc. The Corinthians used to do these things, but they were sanctified. Those joined to the Lord cannot be joined to a harlot. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.

07) The Corinthians asked about celibacy. Paul said marriage prevents sexual immorality. It is better to marry than to burn. Divorce is not God’s will, but some do abandon marriage. Let them go. Paul recommended that the Corinthians remain in the state they were in when called: circumcised or not, slave or free. The world is passing away so we should be more concerned about serving the Lord.

08) Idols are nothing, and there is nothing wrong with eating food sacrifice to idols. However, someone who is weaker in the faith may not understand this. In that case we should refrain from eating food sacrificed to idols until the weaker brother has a better understanding. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

09) Paul preached the Gospel for free. He worked to pay his own expenses. However this was his voluntary choice. Workers in God’s kingdom should be compensated. He became all things to all men in order he might save some.

10 The Israelites that came out of Egypt received spiritual blessings, but they disobeyed God and died in the wilderness. This was an example for us not to become idolators. God will help us with our temptations. Avoid idolatry. Receive the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. Do all to the glory of God that many might be saved.

11) Paul taught that the differences between men and women should not be blurred, rather emphasized since they teach us about the order of creation and salvation.

In Corinth, the Lord’s Supper was celebrated along with a regular meal. This meal also exposed their selfishness as some ate well and others were still hungry. Paul taught them to celebrate the Lord’s Supper not for the satisfaction of physical hunger but for spiritual. Eat at home for hunger. To cure the problem of selfishness and other sins, all who celebrate the Lord’s Supper should examine themselves and come to the Lord’s Supper with repentant hearts.

12) The Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit also gives different gifts, ministries, and activities to individuals for the benefit of all: Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith Healing, Miracles, Prophecy, Discerning Spirits, Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues. Like a physical body, so the body of the church has many different members that help each other according to their gifts and appointed kinds of service. Yet, there is a greater gift than all of these.

13) The greatest gift is love. Paul began to explain the proper use of spiritual gifts in chapter twelve. He concludes in chapter 14. Chapter thirteen is an interlude. 1 Cor 13.1-3 is in the first person and stresses the Need for Love. 1 Cor 13.4-10 Defines Love and Describes Jesus. 1 Cor 13.11-12 returns to the first person and finally stresses the Priority of Love.

14) Next to love, we should desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophesy (preaching). The gift of tongues is a personal blessing that edifies that individual. The gift of preaching edifies the church. Always seek to edify. Always seek understanding. If speaking in tongues in public, always have an interpreter. God is not the author of confusion but of peace. Women should not preach in church. All things should done decently and in order.

15) Paul defined the Gospel: Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures and rose again the third day. Denial of the resurrection leads to futility. In Adam all died, but in Christ believers are made alive. Jesus destroyed death, and all things are subject to Him.

There are many interpretations of the phrase: “what will they do who are baptized for the dead…?” I think the Corinthians may have been doing something that Paul didn’t condone (The NT does not teach baptism for the dead anywhere else.) Nevertheless, it would have been inconsistent for the Corinthians to deny the resurrection while having this practice. This practice may have been corrected in another letter.

Paul compares Jesus and Adam. Adam was from dust and went to dust. Jesus was from heaven and became heavenly. We now have the opportunity to experience the resurrection and being raised incorruptible.

16) The Corinthians asked for guidance about a collection for the saints in Jerusalem. They probably heard about this from the Macedonian churches. Paul calls on them to collect offerings (as they prosper) on the first day of the week to provide a gift to the believers in Jerusalem who were suffering. He asks that they choose someone to bring the gift to Jerusalem. Paul told them his plans to visit again, but for now he would stay in Ephesus. He said Timothy and Apollos might come. He urged them to stand fast and to listen to some pastors who were coming.

2 Corinthians

This is the last of the four letters he wrote (we are missing the first and third letters). The third letter was the tearful, severe letter mentioned in 2 Corinthians 2.3-4).

It seems as though some in Corinth were questioning Paul’s spiritual strength and apostleship because of his sufferings and weaknesses. Paul responded with a powerful argument that his sufferings were part of the cross of Christ and his perseverance was the power of the Holy Spirit.

Simple Outline for 2 Corinthians
1.  Paul Defends His Apostleship (1-7)
2. Paul Appeals for  Funds for Jerusalem (8-9:15)
3. Paul Continues to Defend His Apostleship (10-13)

01) As Paul begins the defense of his apostleship, he points out that the suffering he and his helpers experienced showed how God saves and can be trusted. Being delivered from trouble, he was also able to comfort the Corinthians in their troubles. Paul made several changes in his plans. He had planned to visit Macedonia and then Corinth (1 Cor 16.5). Then it was Corinth first then Macedonia (2 Cor 1.15). Finally he decided not to make another painful visit, so he went by way of Troas to Macedonia (2 Cor 1.23; 2.1). His opponents criticized his vacillating, but for Paul, it was all the will of God and ultimately for the good of the Corinthians.

02) When Paul found out from Timothy that the Corinthians were being influenced by false teachers and turning from his teaching, he made a visit which turned out to be very painful.

03) Paul did not care about the accreditation of men. To prove his apostleship, he simply points to the conversion of the Corinthians. This was accomplished through Paul and his assistants by the Holy Spirit. This ministry of the gospel is more glorious than the ministry of Moses (a ministry of the law). That glory faded, but the glory of the gospel does not fade. Here we see what Paul’s opponents were teaching:  The errors of the rabbis - that we can, by our obedience to the law, come into the favor and salvation of God.

04) Paul was speaking the gospel in truth. Those who rejected it were blinded by the god of this age. He explained that his sufferings showed the power of the gift of faith in Christ that he had. Just as Christ suffered and was glorified, so Paul and all who believe in Jesus will be gloried. He did not lose heart because he knew his suffering was temporary compared to the eternal glory in Christ.

05)  Paul affirms the truth of our future bodily resurrection, and that when we die we will be with the Lord. In view of this and the final judgment he urged reconciliation to God through the forgiveness and salvation of Christ. He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

06) Paul acknowledged the tribulations and distresses that he endured. Yet he also had the blessings of the Holy Spirit (patience, kindness, love, truth, righteousness, etc.) He urged the Corinthians not to have fellowship with the unbelieving teachers of the law as a way of salvation apart from Christ.

07) Paul affirmed that he corrupted no one but instead brought them to repentance. This repentance cleared them and gave them zeal.

08)  Apparently the gift for the saints in Jerusalem had not been completed, so Paul encouraged them to complete it (see 1 Corinthians 16). The churches in Macedonia, by the grace of God, even in affliction, gave liberally. Paul urged the Corinthians to do the same. It is advantageous for those who abound to share with those who lack so that they can do the same some day for you. To make sure the gift actually made it to Jerusalem, Paul entrusted it to Titus and an unnamed, but highly respected Christian.

09) Paul urged the Corinthians to go ahead and get their gift ready. God urges us to give cheerfully. He will also supply us so that we can give. The gift not only supplied the needs of those in Jerusalem, it also caused them to glorify God for the obedience of the Corinthians.

10) Paul explained that real boldness comes when we have the gentleness of Christ based on the confidence of the knowledge of God. Some thought Paul was bold in writing but weak in person. They will see, Paul said, that there is no difference. Paul doesn’t need to get into a “who’s better” contest with these people. He came preaching the Gospel according to the will of God, and that is what ultimately matters.

11) Paul shared his concern that the Corinthians were starting to accept “another Jesus.” These were false apostles who transformed themselves into ministers of righteousness as Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. They had represented themselves as “real Jews.” Paul argued that his Jewish heritage was impeccable and that he had suffered far more as a minister of Christ.

12) Paul told of his vision of heaven which he could not describe with words. But God also gave him a thorn in the flesh to keep him from boasting and instead relying on the power of Christ. He planned to visit them a third time and expend his soul for them. But he was concerned about what he might find.

13) Paul warned them to examine themselves to see if they are still in the faith. He urged them to be “of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” He closed with a Trinitarian benediction.