WOOs 1 Corinthians 13

Recap of 1 Corinthians thus far:

Who was Corinth:

Corinth was significant in the ancient Roman world because of its geography, its wealth, and its regional influence. In the Bible, Corinth is significant because of its connection with the apostle Paul’s missionary work. Corinth was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia and was situated on the Isthmus of Corinth, and about 40 miles west of Athens in Greece. It was a large city that controlled two harbors: Cenchreae on the eastern side of the isthmus, and Lechaeumon on the western side. Providing a natural refuge for the city was the Acrocorinthus, a large monolithic rock rising about 1,800 feet above the surrounding plain. Corinth had a large population of both Jewish and Gentile residents.

Paul spent about eighteen months in Corinth during his second missionary journey (Acts 18). Both Jews and Gentiles believed Paul’s message about Jesus, and these new believers became the Corinthian church. The New Testament epistles of 1 and 2 Corinthians are letters Paul later wrote to these believers. Notably, Corinth is also the place where Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, fellow tentmakers who became ministry coworkers (Acts 18:2, 18–19, 24–28).

https://www.gotquestions.org/Corinth-in-the-Bible.html

Outline of Corinth thus far:

See Word document

Chapter 13:

Corinth was home to many people with diverse backgrounds, a characteristic reflected in the Corinthian church that contributed to some division and confusion. Previously legalistic Jews needed to hear about the freedom of the New Covenant in Christ; previously pagan Gentiles needed to be reminded that the gospel is not a license to sin. Both groups needed to learn to love the other and live at peace. Paul famously explains what true love is in 1 Corinthians 13. In our fractious world, this message of self-sacrificial love based in the person and work of Jesus Christ is equally important.

What kind of love is Paul speaking of? Who is the love for?

the quality of warm regard for and interest in another, esteem, affection, regard, love (without limitation to very intimate relationships (Greek English Lexicon)

8:1 - Food offered to idols - Paul told the Corinthians that they possesed the correct knowledge to know better than to take of food offered to idols, and that tht knowledge puffs up, but love Builds up

Chap 13 is a call to love, a summon to agape love

God’s love completely transcends all human ideas or expressions of love. ‘It is a love for the utterly unworthy, a love which proceeds from a God who is love. It is a love lavished on others without a thought of whether they are worthy to receive it or not

All of our actions are to be rooted in love; without it our efforts are nothing,

Outline of love:

(1–3): Paul spells out why Christian community life without love is nothing, worse than nothing, the absence of love;

Vs.1 Without love we offend others (noisy gong)

Vs. 2 Without love we are nothing

Vs. 3 Without love we gain nothing

(4–7): He then describes what Christian love is, what love is not and what love does

Vs. 4, what love is

Vs. 5, what love is not

Vs. 3 what love does

(8–13): Finally, he paints vividly the lasting and eternal quality of love , outliving both knowledge and spiritual gifts—the two great priorities for the Christians at Corinth. They valued the spiritual gifts highly

Prophecies tongues, and knowledge don't divulge full knowledge, so we only know in part, prophesy in part.

How do you define prophesy? A divine, prophetic message, either of proper behavior to a standard, or of future events.

How do you define tongues? Refers to the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues, especially speaking in a language that one has not learned in order to present the gospel to those who speak the language. 

The spiritual gifts don't have eternal value cause they would eventually cease. They are valuable in the church, but they're temporary, of no eternal value

Why do you think Paul start talking about when he was a child in this passage, in the middle of communicating the priority of love?

Paul supported his view with two analogies. First, the child analogy paralled with our experience of maturation, meaning that as a child he talked, thought, and reasoned like a child. But when he became a man, he got rid of childish ways.

The gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge can be compared to childish things. Just as it is unimaginable that a mature adult would resort to childlike immaturity, so it is unimaginable that these gifts will endure beyond their usefulness into eternity.

Richard L. Pratt Jr, I & II Corinthians, vol. 7, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 234.

When it's all said and done, all that matters is love

Hymn " When It's All been Said and Done." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2rjfabh49A

What do you think Paul was saying concerning the mirror?

David Prior, The Message of 1 Corinthians: Life in the Local Church, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 227.

Our spiritual gifts are to be used in love