Bible Study 2 Corinthians Message 1-2 Corinthians 1:1-7

Introduction

The question you could quickly ask tonight is “why a second book?” What were the issues that called for a second letter from Paul. Simply put, some of the things from the first letter didn’t take.

Let’s analyze the background somewhat differently than we did for the first letter. In letter one, I emphasized Corinth’s strategic location. Corinth was a city of commerce due to East West travel crossing through the Mediterranean and crossing the small isthmus to transfer goods from ship to ship. It cut much distance of having to travel around the southern tip of Greece. crossing the isthmus in world trade and trade north south from Northern Greece to the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The trade traffic made Corinth a melting pot metropolitan city. There was intermarrying among different backgrounds. The city was progressive intelligent, and yes the city had its promiscuity and sexual sin because of the goddess of Aphrodite. She was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and fertility and one of the city’s most prominent deities. Acrocorinth, the hill that housed the temple of this particular goddess housed hundreds of temple prostitutes. They performed ritual sexuality and sacred prostitution. This brought about the reputation of immorality.

This reality is why P{aul challenged them to live holy lives and disciplined lives in contrast to the city’s prevailing values.

Timothy Savage, a theological commentator said these statements about Corinth.

2 Corinthians Christ Confronts Culture in Corinth

Savage observes that in Paul’s day Greco-Roman society stressed (1) a rugged individualism that valued self-sufficiency; (2) wealth as the key to status within society; (3) a self-display of one’s accomplishments and possessions in order to win praise from others; (4) a competition for honor that viewed boasting as its natural corollary; and (5) a pride in one’s neighborhood as a reflection of one’s social location. These values combined to create a populace for which self-appreciation became the goal and self-gratification the reward.

2 Corinthians Christ Confronts Culture in Corinth

In addition, since one-third of urban populations in Paul’s day was indigent or slaves, and only one percent belonged to the aristocracy by birth, the large “middle class” could move up within the social scale primarily through acquiring wealth. Hence, the drive for upward social mobility by advancing economically became the obsession of the middle class. It could even be said that it worshiped wealth. For with wealth came the other significant markers of social advancement, such as reputation, occupation, neighborhood, education, religious status, political involvement, and athletic achievement. In short, the culture was openly materialistic in its quest for praise and esteem. Unfortunately, in reading such a description we are not sure whether we are hearing about life in Corinth in the first century, or about life in the Western world today, even within most middle class, evangelical churches!

2 Corinthians 1:1–7 NKJV

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you will partake of the consolation.