Introduction

In The Great Evangelical Disaster, Francis Schaeffer identifies two biblical principles all Bible-believing Christians must practice, whether individually or collectively: purity and love (p. 70). On purity, Schaeffer notes, “Scripture commands that we must do more than just talk about the purity of the visible church; we must actually practice it, even when it is costly.” Regarding observable love he notes that in the flesh Christians are unable to practice both love and purity simultaneously. One will naturally be stressed over the other. To practice both requires continual focus on the work of Christ and reliance upon the Holy Spirit. “Without [love], a stress on purity becomes hard, proud, and legalistic; likewise, without [purity], a stress on love becomes sheer compromise. Spirituality begins to have real meaning in our lives as we begin to exhibit simultaneously the holiness of God and the love of God. . . . Without this simultaneous exhibition our marvelous God and Lord is not set forth. It is rather a caricature of him that is shown, and he is dishonored” (pp. 70-71).

What is the purpose of the church of Jesus Christ? Why does it exist? What are the distinguishing marks of the church? Someone in the book of Acts, upset over the impact Christian missionaries were having in his city, gathered a mob and hauled some of the believers before the local authorities exclaiming, “These men who have upset the world have come here also” (Acts 17:6). In another locale it was reported that the name of the Lord was so powerfully proclaimed that those who believed confessed their involvement in practicing magical arts and burned their magic books out of fear of the Lord (Acts 19:18-19). Does the church today have this kind of impact in the community?

In preparing this introduction I reviewed a popular evangelical theology handbook and was surprised to find no mention in the section on ecclesiology (i.e. doctrine of the church) of the ultimate purpose of the church in the plan of God. The purposes given were basically limited to teaching, prayer, and fellowship. These practices of the church are certainly important, as the leadership of the church should be equipping its membership to be salt and light to the world as witnesses of God and Christ. The church should, as well, be engaged in corporate worship of the one true God. But these activities are merely means to accomplish the goal – the goal is much higher. The purpose of the church is to testify to the world of the existence of the one true God; the infinite, personal, holy God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that through faith those who believe might be saved (Jn. 3:16). This testimony, however, is not limited merely to the existence of God, for many religions testify to the existence of a god or gods. The role of the church in the world is to witness to the distinctive characteristics of the one true God by simultaneously displaying His holiness (Eph. 5:27; I Th. 4:7; I Pet. 1:15-16) and His love (Jn. 13:34).

If the church were merely to be a once a week meeting for devotion, prayer, and worship, we would not need to study Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. But because the church exists for the goal of praising the glorious grace of God (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14) and because God in His blueprint from eternity past chose the church to be the means through which He would reveal His manifold wisdom to the spiritual principalities and powers, we must address the issues confronting the church today that undermine its ability to fully serve the role for which God called us. A great way to do that is to study

THE MARK OF THE CHURCH

THE CITY OF CORINTH

examples, both positive and negative, of churches from the pages of the NT to gain insight into their best practices, their shortcomings, and their errors; to understand the root causes and to leverage the corrective actions taken. Fortunately for us, I Corinthians is a great example of the many ways a church can go wrong and what God required for it to return to sound, biblical moorings. What makes the Corinthian church such a remarkable example is the fact that it failed to practice either of the biblical mandates for believers – purity and love. As a result, the church failed Christ in a third way – unity and testimony.

As we study I Corinthians, we will seek to learn all we can about the doctrines of the church, the depravity of man, the pervasiveness of sin, and the wonderful grace of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. This letter is all about how all these elements came together in a combustible way due to failure of this church to prioritize purity and love.

All churches have this in common: a mixture of self-centered human beings with a tendency to sin yet covered by the blood of Christ. In heaven we will enjoy the fellowship of believers in true unity, purity, and love. For now, our goal is to bring near to the world a picture of this eternal kingdom to come so that others may be impacted by it in a positive, God-glorifying way, and perhaps even be an instrument through which others are called into it. We must remember that the church belongs neither to the culture, nor to us, but to God. It is His household, the pillar and support of the truth (I Tim. 3:15). The church is the very body of Christ with Christ serving as its head (Eph. 1:23; 5:23). It is our reasonable service to God to “upset the world” for the cause of Christ. Here are the three distinctives for the church:

Distinctive #1 – Love: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:34-35 NASB).

Distinctive #2 – Purity: “Sanctify [the ones you gave me] in Thy truth; Thy word is truth” (Jn. 17:17 NASB).

Distinctive #3 – Unity: “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and Thou didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me” (Jn. 17:20-21 NASB).

Our first step in this study is to take a brief look at the city of Corinth. There can be no doubt that the primary reason the church struggled in Corinth is because the culture of Corinth was firmly planted in the church. It’s easy to see why. Corinth was a cosmopolitan city; a melting pot, if you will, of many different nationalities of people including Italians, Greeks, Jews, Syrians, Asians, and Egyptians, to name a few. It boasted the best the Greek world had to offer in the way of enterprise, opportunity, the arts, intellectual pursuits, as well as the best of philosophy, sports, and ingenuity. The

Corinthian believers had tremendous pride in their culture and in their history. They had been trained for generations to be second to no one in anything. They loved especially that their community was a playground to the Mediterranean world, a 24-hour party town that made them the envy, and scandal, of the neighboring city-states.

Corinth was located strategically on a narrow isthmus connecting central Greece and the Peloponnese some 45 miles to the southwest of Athens. Corinth enjoyed harbors to the Aegean Sea to its east and the Ionian Sea to its west. Ships would commonly dock in one harbor and the merchants would transport the cargo across the isthmus to the other harbor to avoid having to sail around the south end of the Peloponnesus. Because of this unique setting, Corinth was a center for commercial trading, land and sea, as well as a strategically vital station for the military. To the north of the city rose the majestic Acrocorinthus, a sheer rock wall of a mountain some 1800 feet high, which provided protection and an inexhaustible water supply for the city, not to mention a lofty throne for the temple of Aphrodite.

In Paul’s day, Corinth enjoyed tremendous prosperity due to its commercial and military advantages. It boasted a free population of 200,000 and nearly a half-million in slave population. There were man-made canals for the flow of drinking water from the Acrocorinthus. The city also used the water for refrigeration and public baths. In its center was the Agora, a trend-setting marketplace circled by colonnades and monuments with a multitude of open-air shops. Near the center of the Agora was the bema, the tribunal platform. The bema was covered with marble with waiting rooms on either side in which were marble floors and benches. Public addresses and civil hearings took place from the bema (Mare, pp. 177-178). It was to the bema that the Jews brought Paul for a hearing before the Roman proconsul Gallio (Acts 18:12-17). In addition, Corinth had two theaters, one of which could seat 18,000 people, and biannually the city hosted the Isthmian Games attracting participants from all over the Greek world for athletic competition.

Cultural life in Corinth centered around the worship of the goddess Aphrodite. Her statue was attired in the armor of the war-god Ares with his helmet for a footrest, and his shield for a mirror (Bruce, p. 249). The great thing about religion in Corinth was that religious worship was nothing more than a celebration of the human predisposition towards vice and immorality. You see, worship of Aphrodite involved unrestrained licentiousness. One thousand prostitutes served as priestesses as worship involved sexual perversion and drunkenness. Corinth was so rife with prostitution that the term Corinthian girl became internationally known as referring to a prostitute. In addition, the term to Corinthianize, came to mean “to live lewdly like a prostitute.” Now if sexual pleasure happened to not be your choice of worship, there were other gods and worship practices readily available. For example, the Isthmian Games were held in honor of Poseidon. So you could worship your god through your enthusiasm for sports. There was also the temple of Melicertes, the god of seafarers, located at the foot of the Acrocorinthus. You could worship him through sailing and fishing. Remember, in paganism worship of the gods was basically a means to worship one’s self. Corinth was indeed quite a city. There was money to be made - the lure of extravagant living. There were sports, gambling, prostitution, drinking, idolatry – all this with no accountability because the local religions supported it.   Dr. David Jeremiah sums up the city of Corinth in this manner (p. 12):

PAUL AND THE CORINTHIANS

The ideal of the Corinthian was the reckless development of the individual: the merchant who made his gain by every and all means, the man of pleasure surrendering himself to every lust, the athlete steeled to every bodily exercise and proud of his physical strength. These were the true Corinthian types. In a word, he was a man who recognized no superior and no law but his own desires.

Paul came into this center of cultural and religious hedonism, Corinth, in 51 A.D. on his second missionary journey (Acts 15:40-18:22). He would later acknowledge that he came to Corinth “in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling” (I Cor. 2:3). Paul had set out with Silas two years earlier desiring to visit the churches he had planted previously in Lycaonia and Pamphylia. During the early stages of the mission trip they picked up a young man by the name of Timothy. While traveling through this region they also delivered copies of the decree issued by the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15) that removed the burden of circumcision from the Gentiles. As they moved further north the Holy Spirit closed the door to them in Asia and Mysia. One night Paul had a vision in which a man of Macedonia appeared appealing to Paul to come to Macedonia. Paul and Silas complied.

In Macedonia, Paul and Silas found a ready audience for the Gospel as well as enemies. In Philippi, the authorities beat them and imprisoned them because Paul had a cast a spirit out of a slave girl. They were chased out of Thessalonica by a mob of angry Jews. This same mob followed them to Berea. Paul left Berea and went to Athens where he was troubled by the many idols and false gods present. His presentation of the Gospel of the Resurrection to the Epicureans and Stoics in the Areopagus, was greeted with intellectual sneers. Paul, alone apart from the memory of beatings and imprisonment and sardonic jeering, then walked into Corinth.

As was his habit, Paul reasoned with the Jews and God-fearing Greeks in the synagogue every Sabbath. He made the acquaintance of Aquila and his wife, Priscilla, Jews expelled from Rome by an edict of Claudius. Together they practiced their trade of tent making. Paul experienced some success early as the leader of the synagogue and his family believed. The Lord even appeared to Paul in a vision instructing him to not be afraid and to not be silent. He assured Paul He was present, that no man would attack him, and that He had many people in Corinth (Acts 18:9-10). Paul stayed in Corinth 18 months. On one occasion, the Jews did try to accuse Paul before Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, but Gallio refused to involve himself in the religious matters of the Jews. A riot against the Jews followed.

One has to wonder what Paul was thinking when he entered Corinth. He had been beaten, imprisoned, chased, and laughed at. Now he was entering the Greek city most notorious for its carnality and vice, for its wickedness and paganism. What would he say? Paul kept it simple. Rather than try to impress the Greek philosophers or reason with the people about the moral bankruptcy of their lives, he “determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Paul did not use words of wisdom, but instead he spoke in demonstration of the Spirit and power (I Cor. 2:1-5).

The author of the First Epistle to the Corinthians identifies himself as Paul the apostle (I Cor. 1:1; 16:21). Paul’s authorship remains virtually unchallenged being widely accepted by Christian and secular scholarship alike. His authorship is attested by church fathers as early as Clement of Rome (c. A.D. 95), Ignatius (c. A.D. 110), Polycarp (c. A.D. 135), and Tertullian (c. A.D. 200).

Paul wrote the letter from Ephesus toward the end of his three-year stay (I Cor. 16:5-9; cf. Acts 19:8, 10, 21-22; c. A.D. 55) after receiving a report from servants of Chloe that there were rivalries and divisions in the church at Corinth (I Cor. 1:11). His purpose in writing was to exhort them to all reach agreement, eliminate the divisions, and be one in the same mind and judgment (I Cor. 1:10).

In order to begin the process of healing the divisions in Corinth, Paul systematically identified the major issues causing problems in the church beginning with the fundamental problem – intellectual arrogance (I Cor. 1-6). The Greeks loved their philosophizing. They would typically declare exclusive loyalty to a favorite teacher and then argue the superiority of that teacher over all others. Such was the case in their church. The root cause was the pursuit of humanistic wisdom and not the wisdom of God. And for all the wisdom they claimed to possess, they could not figure out how to discern sin in the fellowship nor resolve disputes among brothers without having to take their disputes to the civil courts. This wisdom they possessed failed them when they tried to apply biblical principles to their daily lives (7-10). For example there were disputes over whether married couples should continue to enjoy their physical relationships. Some were teaching that celibacy was preferable to sexual intimacy linking celibacy to spiritual superiority. Others were arguing that believers should leave their unbelieving spouses and marry Christians. There were controversies over whether to eat the meat purchased from the Agora market knowing that it had been used in the pagan temples as part of the sacrificial system. Even worse, the arrogance and self-centeredness of the believers was causing confusion and competition in worship (11-14). There were abuses of the memorial meal. There was fighting over spiritual gifts with everyone seeking the most provocative, attention-getting gifts. Believers were not strengthening one another in worship. Worship service was just another opportunity to get into fights and complain about fellow believers until the next worship opportunity. Even the resurrection of Christ was controversial (15). The believers were mixing up their traditions with the Scriptures and coming up with a spiritual resurrection rather than physical. Their Gospel of the Resurrection was of the soul only as the Stoics taught. This was dangerous teaching because without the physical resurrection of Christ, the very Christian faith itself is made meaningless at best and idolatry at worst.

Paul begins his response to the Corinthians with a sound scolding of the Corinthian intellectual ideal demonstrating conclusively that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men. Paul hits the Corinthians square in the “inner man” calling upon them to use the mind of Christ and to be motivated by the sacrificial love for one another as demonstrated by Christ in giving Himself on the cross. Armed with godly wisdom and godly love, the controversies over do’s and don’t’s can be resolved and the body strengthened.

THE LETTER TO THE CHURCH AT CORINTH

THE RELEVANCE OF I CORINTHIANS FOR TODAY’S CHURCH

Just based upon the introduction we have briefly considered, do you think there is relevance from I Corinthians for the church in this place and in this day? The answer must be “yes” for the church of Jesus Christ in western culture, whether viewed “universally” or “locally,” is anything but united. There are a wide variety of “Christian” churches in the world today. Many are aligned into “denominations” because of shared beliefs and traditions different from congregations in other denominations. Some claim a unique hold on the truth while others claim that truth cannot be known. Some are aligned biblically in their organization and teachings; some are not. Some experience tremendous harmony in their fellowship, some do not. Ultimately, the issue at stake in I Corinthians is not denominationalism. The issue is unity in the local fellowship around the doctrinal truth of the Bible. One of the relevant teachings in this epistle for us, perhaps the greatest, is Paul’s insistence that the church must first return to the doctrinal truth of the Word of God before it would be able to live and love in a godly manner. True unity in the Christian church can only exist with doctrinal purity as its foundation. Every principle Paul gives to resolve the controversial matters is directly taken from the truths Christ taught and the precepts of biblical principles.

A second point of relevance from this epistle is Paul’s effort to purge the church of the world. The church must be in the world but the world cannot be in the church. Today the church is quickly tearing away page after page of biblical truth because it doesn’t fit in with cultural dogma. There is no discernment of sin in the church because people have come to think that to judge sin in the body is “unloving.” Just the opposite – to judge sin in the body in a biblical manner is to love others sacrificially and give them opportunity for healing and reconciliation. To not judge sin in the body is to be disobedient and unloving toward God and Christ. Moreover, to not judge sin in the body is to foster unresolved and mounting division in the body and to enable personally and eternally destructive behavior and beliefs. There are numerous, significant perversions and denials of biblical truth that many would never have believed the church would tolerate; issues such as adultery, homosexuality, divorce, denial of the authority of Scripture, denial of the Person of Christ, not to mention His resurrection. Churches that are man-centered must be tolerant of sin in order to honor man. It’s the pagan religion in all of us – to create a deity we can worship in order to ultimately worship ourselves. We want a God who makes sense to us. Sadly, Christ has become that all-purpose god. Through Him I can preserve who I am and continue to live. My uniqueness, my natural inclinations become enthroned in Christ. This, friends, is not Christianity. The epistle to the Corinthians demonstrates that genuine unity in the church must come at the cost of self not at the throne of self. The tolerance of sin is a means of self-preservation. We must die to self to live for Christ if we are to ever experience true unity in the body.

Another relevant example in I Corinthians is learning how to use biblical truth to answer the complexities of life in a secular culture. We often are told that the world and people have changed since the Bible was written. It’s no longer relevant because it does not answer the issues of 21st century American life. Wait a minute, what exactly did the Bible say about eating meat sacrificed to idols? Well, before Paul spoke on it, it said very little. Paul understood and taught the biblical principle of love for one’s neighbor, as the supreme law believers in Christ are to fulfill. He then applied the principle to the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols going underneath the surface of the controversy to expose the attitudes of selfishness and arrogance that were at work

in creating the controversy. Paul told them that idols are really nothing, but if by your eating meat sacrificed to idols you cause your brother to stumble – your brother for whom Christ died – you’ve got a problem. More than that, he discusses the human tendency towards idolatry and how we are prone to get real close to sin thinking we can stay pure. But before you know it, you fall. Because of Paul’s knowledge of Scripture and his recognition of its authority, he skillfully used principles from Scripture to answer the issues raised.

How about spiritual gifts? There is tremendous debate in the church today regarding spiritual gifts, particularly speaking in tongues. If people would simply read chapters 12-14 with an open mind and pliable heart, there would be no controversy. By the way, where in Scripture did Paul find the answer for speaking in tongues? Paul knew the purpose for the weekly fellowship of the church. It was for the building up of the body. It is not a time for individuals to wow their peers with their abilities. To use a gift from God for anything other than the strengthening of the body is to take His gift and make it into an idol for personal gain. In all that we do in worship, love for one another must be the supreme motivation.

Finally, the church today is mesmerized by the mystery of what the days preceding Christ’s return will be like. Books and movies bring in millions of dollars by fictionalizing end-times events. Some are accurate, some are exaggerated, and some are simply dangerous in their error. On the other hand, there are many who deny that there is such a thing as a return of Christ to receive His people and to judge the world. Paul discusses the return of Christ because the Corinthian church also failed to understand it and had blended humanistic philosophies into the biblical promise. Paul even helps us with the timing of the Lord’s return for believers – it is imminent.

Amidst all this relevant information, tremendous insight into our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is revealed. Paul also provides significant truth about the doctrine of salvation. Ultimately, though, this letter provides tremendous insight into this Divine institution inhabited by error-prone human beings known as the church.

As we bring the teaching portion of the introduction to a close, compare two churches: read Acts 2:42-47 and then 4:32-35. Compare this church in Jerusalem to the one in Corinth by reading I Corinthians 1:10-13, 5:1-2, 6:5-8, and 11:17-22. Why is there such a difference between these two churches? What can we do to strengthen our churches to be like the Acts 2 church? I am confident we will learn the answers in this study of I Corinthians.  We will clearly see the underlying causes of the problems and we will read from the pen of the apostle what changes must be made.

In closing, read these words from Francis Schaeffer concerning the destructive consequences of an unloving nature:

I have observed one thing among true Christians in their differences in many countries: What divides and severs true Christian groups and Christians – what leaves a bitterness that can last for twenty, thirty, or forty years – is not the issue of doctrine or belief which caused the differences in the first place. Invariably it is lack of love – and the bitter things that are said by true Christians in the midst of differences.

METHOD OF STUDY

These stick in the mind like glue. And after time passes and the differences between the Christians appear less than they did, there are still those bitter, bitter things we said in the midst of what we thought was a good and sufficient objective discussion. It is these things – these unloving attitudes and words – that cause the stench that the world can smell in the church of Jesus Christ among those who are really true Christians (p. 170).

It is my prayer that God will bless the students of this letter and use this study to strengthen our love, purity, and unity unto His glory.

This study will examine I Corinthians verse by verse taking into consideration insights from the original language including word meanings as well as significant points of grammar and syntax. This is done so the students will learn how even the slightest attention given to the language of the Bible enhances one’s ability to understand it. The English translation provided is intended to be as literal as possible from the Greek text. Words given in parenthesis ( ) are not found in the Greek but are helpful in either making the translation grammatically or idiomatically correct in English. Unless otherwise noted, all lexical definitions are derived from the standard Greek lexicon for NT Greek, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd edition.

The student should become familiar with key terms Paul uses in this letter. Note down and mark every occurrence of the following along with their synonyms: love, cross, church, (sexual) immorality, wisdom, foolishness, division, power, judge, idol, knowledge, gift, and gospel. Always make note of references to God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit so that you might learn vital truths concerning them.  Finally, watch for words such as therefore, thus, that, and for. These terms assist the reader in following the flow of Paul’s thought and argument. The terms point to applications, examples, conclusions, purposes, and explanations.

We will identify and discuss significant interpretive differences and difficulties within evangelical theology throughout the study. In some cases, we will be able to conclusively identify and defend the correct view. In other cases, we will not be able to determine dogmatically which view is correct, but we will still seek to defend the most likely view. We must never shy away from acknowledging and exploring Bible difficulties.

To help reinforce learning and application, each lesson will be followed by questions. I recommend that each student complete the chart “The Problems in Corinth,” found in the appendix (p. i), as we go through I Corinthians. Each student should also identify and mark key verses in their Bible and commit them to memory. For example:

For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1:18 NASB).

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised (2:14 NASB).

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (3:11 NASB).

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything (6:12 NASB).

Only, as the Lord assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk (7:17 NASB).

For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him (8:5-6 NASB).

And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it (9:23 NASB).

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it (10:13 NASB).

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ (12:12 NASB).

And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing (13:2 NASB).

Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature (14:20 NASB).

If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment (14:37 NASB).

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also (15:1-8 NASB).

Behold I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed (15:51 NASB).

Let all that you do be done in love (16:14 NASB).

LITERARY STRUCTURE

GREETINGS (1:1-9)

PART ONE: UNITY IN WISDOM (1:10-6:20)

   I. Wisdom and Foolishness (1:10-2:16)

A. The Higher Wisdom of God (1:10-2:5)

B. The Hidden Wisdom of God (2:6-2:16)

II. God’s Plan for Servant-Leaders in the Church (3:1-4:21)

A.   Servants of the Word of Christ (3:1-4:5)

B.   Spectacles to the World of Creation (4:6-21)

III. Controversy One: Failure to Discern (5:1-6:20)

A. The Impudence to Respect Gross Immorality in the Fellowship (5:1-13)

B. The Inability to Resolve Civil Disputes Between Brothers (6:1-11)

C. The Importance of Restricting One’s Liberty (6:12-20)

PART TWO: UNITY IN WALK (7:1-11:1)

I. Controversy Two: Whether to Remain Married or Be Single (7:1-40)

A. The Issues of Marital Relationships (7:1-16)

B. Parenthetical: Contentment in One’s Calling (7:17-24)

C. The Issues of Singleness (7:25-40)

II. Controversy Three: Eating Food Sacrificed to Idols (8:1-11:1)

A. Ethical Considerations (8:1-8:13)

B. Gospel Considerations (9:1-9:27)

C. Theological Considerations (10:1-22)

D. Personal Admonition (10:23-11:1)

PART THREE: UNITY IN WORSHIP (11:2-16:12)

I. Improprieties in Worship (11:2-11:34)

A. Improper Apparel For Prayer and Prophesy (11:2-16)

B. Improper Appetites During the Memorial Meal (11:17-34)

II. Spiritual Gifts (12:1-14:40)

A. Their Role: Harmony (12:1-31)

B. Their Rule: Love (13:1-13:13)

C. Their Result: Edification (14:1-40)

III. The Resurrection of the Dead (15:1-58)

A. The Case for the Resurrection From the Dead (15:1-34)

B. The Conception of the Resurrection Body (15:35-58)

IV. Unified Support of the Brethren (16:1-12)

A. Financial Support for the Saints (16:1-4)

B. Principled Support for the Christian Mission (16:5-12)

SALUTATIONS (16:13-24)