Untitled Sermon
Communion Covenant
LETTER PROFILE
• The letter was probably written about A.D. 54–56 from Ephesus during Paul’s third missionary journey.
• Paul wrote to the church in the city of Corinth, the capital city of the Roman province of Achaia. Paul had planted this church during his second missionary journey only a few years earlier.
• The original audience in Corinth contained members from all levels of society, but consisted mostly of people who were neither rich, wise, nor of noble birth.
• The original audience had sat under the ministry of Paul, Apollos, and Peter.
• Subsequent to the ministries of Paul, Apollos, and Peter, the Corinthian church had begun to place improper value on worldly wisdom, including probably Greek philosophy.
• The letter is occasional, written both in response to reports Paul received about conditions in the Corinthian church, and in response to a letter Paul received from the Corinthian church.
• Paul wrote the letter to correct the problems he saw in the Corinthian church, although he also included praise for certain things the church was doing well.
• Literary form: epistle
• Doctrinal themes:
• the nature of the church, and its implications,
• the nature of believers’ union with Christ, and its implications,
• God’s wisdom,
• proper worship,
• the Lord’s Supper,
• spiritual gifts, and
• resurrection of the dead.
• Practical themes:
• the importance of unity in the church,
• proper valuations and roles of church leaders,
• the importance of church discipline,
• lawsuits,
• prostitution,
• marriage and divorce in light of famines,
• Christian freedom and responsibility,
• interaction with the secular world,
• proper roles and honor in worship,
• love, and
• ministering to the physical needs of others.
INTRODUCTION
COMMENTARY
LETTER PROFILE
• The letter was probably written about A.D. 54–56 from Ephesus during Paul’s third missionary journey.
• Paul wrote to the church in the city of Corinth, the capital city of the Roman province of Achaia. Paul had planted this church during his second missionary journey only a few years earlier.
• The original audience in Corinth contained members from all levels of society, but consisted mostly of people who were neither rich, wise, nor of noble birth.
• The original audience had sat under the ministry of Paul, Apollos, and Peter.
• Subsequent to the ministries of Paul, Apollos, and Peter, the Corinthian church had begun to place improper value on worldly wisdom, including probably Greek philosophy.
• The letter is occasional, written both in response to reports Paul received about conditions in the Corinthian church, and in response to a letter Paul received from the Corinthian church.
• Paul wrote the letter to correct the problems he saw in the Corinthian church, although he also included praise for certain things the church was doing well.
• Literary form: epistle
• Doctrinal themes:
• the nature of the church, and its implications,
• the nature of believers’ union with Christ, and its implications,
• God’s wisdom,
• proper worship,
• the Lord’s Supper,
• spiritual gifts, and
• resurrection of the dead.
• Practical themes:
• the importance of unity in the church,
• proper valuations and roles of church leaders,
• the importance of church discipline,
• lawsuits,
• prostitution,
• marriage and divorce in light of famines,
• Christian freedom and responsibility,
• interaction with the secular world,
• proper roles and honor in worship,
• love, and
• ministering to the physical needs of others.
AUTHOR PROFILE
• The apostle Paul wrote this letter.
• He was not one of the original twelve apostles.
• He had formerly been named Saul (Acts 13:9).
• He had formerly been a zealous Pharisee (Phil. 3:5).
• He had formerly persecuted the church (Acts 8:3; Gal. 1:14, 23).
• He had been converted and appointed to his apostleship by direct encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3–19).
• He was one of the church’s earliest missionaries, and was especially commissioned to evangelize the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Gal. 2:9).
• He planted churches all over the Mediterranean world.
• He authored more New Testament books than any other writer: Romans; 1 and 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Ephesians; Philippians; Colossians; 1 and 2 Thessalonians; 1 and 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon.
The Lord’s Supper