The Church at Corinth
NEW SERIES: THE TROUBLED TRIUMPHANT CHURCH
Sermon 1 – “The Church at Corinth”
1 Cor. 1:1-3
Series Introduction
This morning we begin a new series from the Book of 1st Corinthians. Since my first visit to Cragfont, the Lord has been leading me to preach and teach on Christian Body Life. Some of you have heard me mention that in conversation…..and you may not have known what I meant by it probably because I wasn’t completely sure. As I have prayed over what the Lord was directing me to preach over the next few months – I prayed about the ground of the church – it’s theological foundation and the its structure…..the members of the Body….the offices of the Body…..the rights and responsibilities of the Body ……in other words…how God defines the Body of Christ.
But as I have prayed and sought the heart and mind of God in this….I’ve come to the conclusion that where the Lord wants us right now is looking at, not so much the structure of the church (that will come), but the praxis. So what is praxis? It’s the practice or Action of the church. It’s the practical application of the Body…..in other words, it’s living out being the church!
prax•is \ˈprak-səs\ n
pl prax•es \-ˌsēz\ [ML, fr. Gk, doing, action, fr. prassein to do, practice — practical
1 : action, practice: as
a : exercise or practice of an art, science, or skill
b : customary practice or conduct
2 : practical application of a theory
Yes, there’s theology and doctrine…..but it’s more about behavior than about knowledge…..it’s more practical than theological….it’s about living the gospel…..it’s about living holy!!......it’s about REAL FAITH in the REAL WORLD!
Why 1st Corinthians
After much prayer and study, I do not believe there is a better book in Scripture to study for the praxis of our faith than the Letters to the Church at Corinth. I want to just summarize some of the questions or problems that arose in the Church at Corinth and you can be the judge as to whether they exist as issues in our churches today!
1.) One of the over-arching themes of 1st Corinthians is how the church is to relate to the world? The word for church in the GK is eklesia___________ - which means “a gathering or assembly” // // specifically a community of shared beliefs. The word comes from a combination of two GK words……ek (out of ) and Kaleo_____ (to call)….so this gathering or the church consists of the “called-out” ones.
So, by definition, the church is to be called out from the world….from the culture around it and assemble together to worship. But, how does that work? Are we to be like the Amish and forsake all others who do not claim the name of Jesus? What is the praxis to be called out of the world? In other words, how do we practice or walk-out being the church within our culture?
2.) What happens when sin enters the church……or another way of saying that is - what happens when the world is in the church? After all, we are all sinners saved by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ – even the Apostle Paul fell in this same category! How do we, the church, deal with sin in the Body? Are we to deal with it, or is it simply to be expected and ignored?
3.) How must the church respond to division within? Is division and disagreement ok within the church? Must the church Body be in 100% agreement in all things?
4.) What is the praxis of living as Disciples of Jesus Christ? How is the church (and Christians) to view Marriage, Divorce, and Celibacy. Just as important, what are our rights and responsibilities as Christians to each other within the church community – especially toward those younger in the Lord or less spiritually mature? What are our rights and responsibilities in the world? What is the praxis for living outside of the church….especially in viewing our lives as a testimony to the transforming power of the gospel?
5.) What about being a worshipping church? What is the role of women in church worship? How is the Lord’s Supper worship? How are the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be displayed in corporate worship….in our private worship? What about tongues….signs and wonders……the gift of prophecy?
6.) What happens when the truth of Jesus’ Resurrection is altered or denied? Are Christians “really saved” if they deny the bodily resurrection of Christ? What about the bodily resurrection of all Believers? Is believing in ghosts….in reincarnation….in nirvana….do these things touch on the truth of the resurrection? Can one believe in annihilation of the wicked (as opposed to eternal punishment in hell)? Is the material body – as separate from our spirits –really important? Are any of these beliefs consistent with orthodox Christianity? We’re not talking Baptist doctrine, but orthodoxy – the established historical beliefs of Christianity dating back to the early church.
These were all questions, or problems that existed in the Corinthian church and to which the Holy Spirit directed the Apostle Paul to answer. Strangely, the same problems or, at the least, very similar problems still plague churches today! And so we prayerfully turn our attention to the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Troubled Church in Corinth – and ask that God grant us the vision, understanding and right praxis of His truth!
Background of Corinth
The city of Corinth today is a small town with little significance other than its rich history. But in Paul’s day, it was a thriving, prosperous and strategically important Greek / Roman metropolis. Greece is divided into northern and southern parts and these are connected by a narrow isthmus only 4 miles wide; In the middle of this isthmus is the city of Corinth. During the 1st century, most shipping traffic came through Corinth…..the captains choosing to carry their ships overland on rollers and skids rather than to test the dangerous and lengthy trip (250 miles) around the peninsula.
Corinth had been at the heart of a Grecian rebellion against Roman rule and was completely razed in 146 B.C. but re-established by Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. It was a city that took off……populated initially by freedmen from Rome and later, because of its strategic location, propensity to draw the seafaring men, and a growing expertise in producing (smelting) bronze – Corinth became the 3rd largest city in the Roman Empire!
Corinth, like Ephesus, was also home to a key religious site. Like most Greek cities, Corinth had an acropolis – a very high hill – the Acrocorinth – a nearly 2000ft. granite mound atop of which stood the Temple of Aphrodite, the Gk goddess of love. This temple housed as many as 1000 “sacred” prostitutes (male and female) and the primary teaching of this cult was to glorify sex in every way. Even in the pagan world, Corinth was known as Sin City…the Las Vegas of the 1st Century! Gross immorality and debauchery – drunkenness, orgies, and other moral depravity became so closely linked to Corinth that when someone “acted in a morally depraved way especially involving sex” they were said to be Corinthinizing (korinthazio – to commit fornication).
It is into such a city that Paul travels during his 2nd Missionary journey and we read of it from Luke in Acts 18. Paul had already planted churches in Galatia, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens (only 45 mi. fr. Corinth). Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth, Jews who had been driven from Rome. He stayed with them in Corinth and began preaching in the synagogue…..quickly seeing its leader Crispus come to Christ! Both Silas and Timothy join in the Apostle’s work….and Paul spends some 18 months in Corinth as God begins to build his church.
Paul leaves Corinth around the Spring of A.D. 52 and a second leader, an eloquent Jewish convert from Alexandria, Apollos arrives to begin pastoring the Corinthian Church. Problems begin almost immediately after Paul’s departure. Apollos departs and cliques from within the church….some favoring Paul…others Apollos…..others to Peter….and some simply identifying themselves as belonging to Christ.
(Lost Letter) While in Ephesus, Paul hears of the many problems in Corinth…..of particular concern is that there is immorality in the church. In other words, the church is struggling with being “called out” from the culture around them! They could not understand the principle of which John commands in 1 John 2:15: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
Paul writes a letter to the Corinthian Church in which he warns them, “not to associate with immoral people” (1 Cor. 5.9)…..and this letter was misunderstood. This letter was lost in antiquity and not part of the Canon of Scripture.
The Corinthians replied to this letter with questions….and further news of problems arrives by way of visitors to Paul during his nearly 3 year stay in Ephesus (Acts 19-20) and so, he begins what we have as 1 Corinthians – his letter addressing the many problems of the church there!
Read Text – 1 Cor. 1:1-3
In Verse 1 – Paul lays the ground work for writing a letter – not based upon his opinions…but with the apostolic authority granted to him by his calling as an Apostle “by the will of God.”
But I want us to concentrate on v. 2 – for I find it amazing on the surface, knowing what we know of the extreme problems in the church at Corinth, that Paul calls them SAINTS! We need to see 2 points here:
1. Paul wants them to recognize their position in Christ…and
2. Paul wants them to see their role in the church Triumphant!
First – Paul writes to those “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints….” ////// so how can Paul call this collection of people SAINTS?? The answer is simple – Paul calls them saints – and says they are “sanctified” or “holy ones” in Christ Jesus because it is the truth!
Every True Believer …..every person who has been born again….is holy and a saint before the Lord God! Our position in Christ after being saved is NEVER in jeopardy – we are completely holy by God’s judgment and before Him! We are holy because we are sanctified (holy) in Christ. It is not based on who we are…but on who Christ is and what He has done. In Heb 10:10 it says, 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
and in v. 14: 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
You see, there is a difference between our position in Christ and our practice or walking out our faith! Recognizing that the Corinthian church was far from practicing holiness, Paul begins by encouraging them to recognize that they are, in fact, holy…sanctified and called saints positionally. We are too! Praise God that our actions never jeopardize our salvation……but understanding who we are in Christ and who we belong to should be one of the greatest deterrents to sin in our lives! Paul is calling the Corinthians - and CBC - to live who you are!
Second, Paul writes, " called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:" v.2b. The Corinthians need to be reminded that, not only are they called to be saints….to be holy and belong to God, but that they belong to the whole Body of Christ…the church universal and Triumphant made up of every saint who calls upon the name of the Lord! Although writing to the local church in Corinth…..Paul is also writing to every saint in every local church everywhere for all time….even to the saints here this morning at CBC! We are all called and made holy in Christ and have this in common……united in the bonds of Jesus Christ.
Paul is preparing the ground to be plowed…..before addressing the many problems in the church….before answering the questions they have raised about marriage and worship and gifts……before any of these things - - Paul reminds them and US….that we have fellowship one with another because….as he writes just a few verses later –
1 Cor. 1:9
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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