1 Corinthians Week 1

Introduction:

The organizing theme of 1 Corinthians is how to live as a Christian in an increasingly secular world. But the letter is not an essay on the subject written for all Christians with a copy just happening to go to the church at Corinth Chafin, Kenneth L., and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1, 2 Corinthians. Thomas Nelson Inc, 1985, p. 21.

The City of Corinth

A wealthy seaport

It actually had two seaports

It controlled the east-west commerce

Its land bridge provided them the advantage to control north-south travel and business

Considered to be the most important city in Greece

Population around 500,000

4th largest city in the Roman empire

It was filled with immorality

Comparable to America today

On the hill overlooking Corinth was the temple to the goddess Aphrodite. Its male and female prostitutes made sexual intercourse a part of the religion, and they participated in the night life of the city when they were not at the temple.

Purpose and Authorship

The letter was somewhere between 54-55 ad.

It was written by the Apostle Paul

Little known fact this is actually the 2nd letter to the church at Corinth. Also, there was believed to be 4 total letters written by Paul to the church of Corinth.

Letter was written in response to questions that the church wanted answered about Christian life and church life.

1 Corinthians 7:1 “1 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.””

He was

Topics:

Divorce (Ch 7)

Food offered to idols (Ch. 8)

Spiritual Gifts (Ch. 12-14)

Resurrection of the body (Ch 15)

The church in Corinth is the church that Paul planted.

Acts 18:1–7 “1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 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 Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.”

The church was started in his 2nd Missionary Journey

Paul also mentions Sosthenes in his greeting.

1 Corinthians 1:1 “1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,”

Most likely his scribe/secretary tasked with dictating the words of Paul

Sosthenes was probably the former leader of the Jewish synagogue in Corinth. When Paul is attacked while teaching in a synagogue at Corinth, what does Acts 18:17 “17 Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.”

Sosthenes later becomes a believer, so Paul mentions his name because he is well-known in Corinth

Paul uses the word called

Paul introduces himself as “Called to be an Apostle”

(apostolos, ah-pos’-to-los), which means one sent forth with a message. This identifies him as a messenger and representative of the Lord

The mention of his apostleship was an affirmation of the authority which God had given him, and it was particularly significant in view of the fact that there were those in Corinth who questioned his authority

In his letters to the Roman, Galatians, Colossians its the same introduction. These are the churches that question his authority

In his letters to the Philippians, Thessalonians, Philemon he identifies himself as Paul. These are churches where his authority was not questioned

Paul addresses the church in this way "To the church of God that is in Corinth”

1 Corinthians 1:2 “2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:”

To those who are Sanctified.

He was calling them to be a different kind of people

The root idea is that of separation. The Christian is to be different—separated—because he or she belongs to God. Paul goes on to stress the fact that his readers, the Corinthian church members, were “called to be saints” (v. 2), even as he was “called to be an apostle” (v. 1). He means that we are invited into the Christian life by God’s invitation and not by some human initiative. Chafin, Kenneth L., and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1, 2 Corinthians. Thomas Nelson Inc, 1985, pp. 23–24.

The Greek verb form for “sanctified” means to set apart for God; as a noun, the word describes a thing or a person that has been devoted to the possession or service of God Chafin, Kenneth L., and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1, 2 Corinthians. Thomas Nelson Inc, 1985, p. 23.

They were significant in the mission of the church

They were a small piece in a bigger puzzle

Paul wanted the small church in Corinth to know that they were not alone but were part of a bigger picture. The church around the world

The word called is significant to Paul

He recalls in

Application to our life

We are all called to be an apostle (messenger of the gospel)

We are called to be separate (set apart)

We are part of a bigger picture and are not alone in this mission.