The Church at Corinth: Struggling to be IN but not OF the world

An Introduction to the Letter

Our study today is the first in our expositional study of the book of 1 Corinthians. As a matter of study, it is important to always look back at the letter itself and gain and understanding of the scope of the book, its purposes, it audience, etc. To accomplish this task, we are going to pull main ideas about the introduction of 1 Corinthians from the the story in Acts 18 when Paul arrived at Corinth to minister the gospel.

In Acts 18, Paul is on his second missionary journey, and after spending time in Ephesus, he arrives in the gateway to the region of Achaia through Corinth.

Corinth

Geography

History

Culture

Studying each NT letter requires us to understand the environment to which the audience lived in so that we might discern what issues the writer is addressing. Paul very much writes his letter to a community of people to which he understood the times in which they lived. To understand the book of 1 and 2 Corinthians, we need to understand Corinth as a city with it unique geography, history, and culture.

Geography:

Corinth was a Greek city located on an isthmus that connected Peloponnese, which is southern Greece, from the mainland. Corinth location was centrally located on this isthmus between two main ports (pictured) Lechaion (le-kai-on) and Cenchreae (sin-kree-a). These ports were popular for sailors to utilize because sailing around the penisula in Greece proved a deadly journey. To avoid the risk, sailors would offload their cargo at one port and then load others ships at the other. The other option was rolling smaller ships across the 4 mile isthmus in order to provide the safe journey. All of these sailors had to travel through Corinth so you can imagine the impact of such a city had on those traveling through it, gathering supplies, etc.

Nero started the project of digging a canal across the Isthmus but abandoned it. Vespian resumed the project but its completion did not come until the 19th Century was the project completed (see pic).

History

As a popular Greek hub of commerce and tourism, this city became a favorite of the great Alexander the Great. After his death, this Greek city continued to grow in prominence in the Greek Empire until it was sacked by the Romans in 146 BC. Julius Caesar rebuilt this great city and it became a prized treasure of the Roman Empire. The official name of Corinth by the Romans translated into English reads, “the Corinthian colony is Julian’s praise)(Kistemaker 4) which served to honor the Roman Emperor

Culture

Because of its roots of Greek and Roman influence, Corinth has been called by many American scholars as the Las Vegas of the Ancient World. It was given this name because of the immorality that plagued the city. With a transient populace that traveled through this great city, differing cultures left their mark on the people. Sailors in particular came to reside for a time in Corinth enjoying the pleasures the city offered. Greeks can to coin the phrase “corinthianize” when speaking of something being immoral and licentious. This licentiousness was fueled by the temple that was built to Aphrodite which was known for such immoral behavior synretized into their worship of the gods.

With the populace having Roman and Greek roots, as there were heavy influence of polytheism with Roman and Greek pantheons of gods. Archeology has discovered that there were places of worship not only to the Greek and Roman gods, but also to some of the Egyptian ones as well.

Therefore, when we consider then an audience to which Paul encountered when he arrived on the scene in Corinth, he primarily ministered the gospel to Gentiles, although as always his first attempts were with the Jews.

Acts 18:4–6 ESV

4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

Gospel Advancement and God’s Sovereignty

Let’s stop here for a moment. We see once again how the Jews responded to Paul’s attempt to lead them to Christ. They rejected the gospel that he shared, therefore confirming the ordained plan of God for Paul to take the gospel to the Gentiles. It is no coincidence that Paul went to synagogues to reason with the Jews and yet with the rejection of Paul’s message, he took the message to the Gentiles. Just as God’s sovereign hand guided the spread of the gospel as a whole throughout the world by using the tool of persecution, he also used the rejection of the gospel by the Jews as a way to take gospel to the nations. This means that the church in Corinth had a variety of differing cultures that had been united as one in Christ.

Paul states in 1 Cor 12:13

1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV

13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

2. Companions

Aquila and Priscilla

Crispus

As we consider the church Paul established in Corinth, let’s look at some of his companions mentioned in Acts 18 who aided in his effort

Aquila and Priscilla(v2)

In v 2 we see Paul interact with two people, most likely husband and wife who were refugees from Rome because of an edict of Emperor Claudius. History tells us then that Aquila and Priscilla were Jews because Emperor Claudius evicted Jews from the city of Rome due to rioting.

Aquila and Priscilla meet Paul and join forces with him in a tentmaking trade in Corinth. Paul later takes this couple with him as he returns to Ephesus, leaving them there to settle. Paul mentions the house church which met in their Ephesian home in 1 Cor 16:19.

Paul also states in 1 Cor 16:8-9

1 Corinthians 16:8–9 ESV

8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Therefore, we can deduce that Aquila and Priscilla set up a house church in Ephesus, where Paul ministered after leaving Corinth, possibly even implying that Aquila could have been one of the Ephesian elders there. Based on 1 Corinthians 16:8-9, Paul wrote this letter while in Ephesus sometime after leaving Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla.

Gospel Advancement and Man’s responsibility

I am moved personally by verses 3-4 in Acts about Paul’s ministry in Corinth as he worked a trade as a tent maker.

Acts 18:3–4 ESV

3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

What Paul proves here is the minister of the gospel both working vocationally outside the church while still ministering to those for the sake of gospel advancement. This is my bivocational go to passage for Paul chose not to be a burden to the young church in Corinth while ministering the gospel there.

We will look at this passage later in 1 Cor 9, but lets skim it for the brief time:

1 Corinthians 9:9–13 ESV

9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings?

Paul is making his case that ministers of the gospel should be supported by the church but that his ministry never demanded that right of them. V 12 states, that “we have not made use of that right” which means the right to be paid by you for his gospel ministry. He uses the OT law which makes use of the farming picture of an ox eating as it threshes grain or the priests who eat the food sacrificed at the temple altar.

But what really should challenge all of us in these passages, because not all of us are called to be ministers of the gospel in a church setting, is that all of us have no excuse to work with our hands and minister the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our duty as believers and Paul, who should have been paid, refused to be paid and instead worked “day and night so as not to be any burden to you.” (2 Thess. 3:8)

I know our lives require us to labor and toil to earn a living in order to support our families but as we consider the life of the apostle Paul, there is a principle to learn here. No matter our vocation or employment, gospel advancement is a responsibility of every believer. Regardless if you are a cop, a clerk, or a church minister, the gospel of Jesus Christ should be your primary toil and labor of life.

Crispus (v8)

When you are faithful to minister the gospel as believers, the Lord will do amazing works through you. In our passage in Acts 18, we are also introduced to Crispus, who we are told is the leader of the synagogue in Corinth, which shows a Jewish presence there. Look at what the Lord did after the rejection by the Jews, he saved some Jews by their belief in Christ.

Acts 18:7–8 ESV

7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

Crispus, a ruler of the synangoge, without doubt an influential leader of Corinthian Jews, followed Paul away from the synagogue to his new teaching locale next door and believed along with his household in the gospel. Talk about a career change over night.

Paul mentions baptizing Crispus in 1 Cor 1:14 therefore giving further evidence of Crispus’ public profession of faith in Christ regardless of his previous influence in the synagogue that rejected Paul and his message. What a transformation the gospel of Jesus Christ brings when faithfully delivered by God’s messengers who are courageous to go and make disciples.

3. Correction in the church

In Acts 18:9-11

Acts 18:9–11 ESV

9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Paul was visited by the Lord Jesus in a vision and encouraged not to be afraid to continue on in the city of Corinth preaching the gospel. He was reminded that courage to advance the gospel would be supplemented by power from the Lord. The Lord would be with Paul in this faithful gospel work.

That courage did not stop at evangelizing the lost, but it continued as Paul addressed issues in this new church in Corinth. The components of the letter of 1 Corinthians deal with a variety of sins in the church at Corinth that Paul boldly does not allow to be swept under the rug. He values the Bride of Christ and he does not want to see the Lord Jesus dishonored with sin remaining in His body.

Therefore, Paul’s message to the church at Corinth is one of Correction. With the audience of his letter being mainly new Jew and Gentile believers, Paul patiently responds to news about the sin and he exhorts believers to flee sin and live for Christ.

Using the OT imagery of leaven or yeast that makes bread rise, Paul states a summary statement to the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 5:6–7 (ESV)

6 ...Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Paul admonishes these believers that sin exists among them that must be purged. It cannot be left alone for in doing so it affects the entire body of Christ. In the different areas of sin that Paul will address, he uses commanding verbs to them like FLEE, PURGE, CLEANSE to exhort them to remove the sin among them. Sometimes that meant the people themselves and other times that was the sin in their hearts.

In the process of removal of sin and repentance, Paul also reminds them as he reminds us that we are a “new lump” implying that Christ our Passover Lamb being sacrificed allows a person and a church to be renewed. They had allowed sin to dwell among them but because of the work of Christ, they can be renewed in holiness.

This is why I entitled this study, the Church at Corinth: Struggling to be in the world but not of the world. Being of the world is falling prey to the enticement of lusts of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Being merely just in the world, as Jesus prayed to the Father, meant that the people would not succumb the to influences of a sinful world, but instead they would stand above them, striving for holiness. Jesus left the church in the world to be in order that we might cary on the disciple-making, gospel advancing, kingdom building work of Christ. Like Israel, the church is to stand alone among the nations as holy ambassadors, pointing all people to the Lord Jesus as King.

He said to the Father in,

John 17:15–19 ESV

15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Paul is playing his part in the sanctification of the church of Corinth by writing the letters of 1 and 2 Corinthians so that sin could be dealt with through the words of Christ. For an outline to his letter we can see Paul addresses these important matters:

Chs. 1-4: Unity in the Church

Ch. 5: Purity in the Church

Ch. 6: Reconciliation in the Church

Ch. 7: Marriage in the Church

Chs. 8-11: Conduct in the Church

Chs. 12-14: Order in the Church

Ch. 15: The Church’s Resurrection Hope

Ch. 16: Collection in the Church and Closing Matters

Therefore Paul’s prayer for the impact of his letter is my prayer as we embark on this study together. I pray that as a church we would be a church in the world but not of the world. I pray that sin would be purged from our midst, both individually and corporately. I pray that we would rest in Christ’s finished work on the cross, be sanctified by His Spirit in holiness, and that holiness would reflect a strong and blinding light to our neighborhoods and the nations of the glory of Christ in us.