Chapter 1 Corinthians

I need to take a page from Paul because I sometimes have a tendency to be people pleaser and not a God pleaser. Paul’s mindset was all about building the kingdom of God. Paul was not moved by people’s emotions and threats that were made towards his life. Having a made-up mind really helps one to be focused on his task. Paul was task driven and motivated to build, exhort, and correct churches to ensure people’s souls were in the right standing with God.

The Corinthians had a way of self-praise and boasting over their superior actions. They would speak in tongues and prophecy in public “not to benefit others who are in attendance but, in Paul’s view, simply to elevate themselves in the eyes of others” (Bart Ehrman, A Brief Introduction to the New Testament, p. 228). In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul lists the variety of gifts that various members of the church possess, saying that the Spirit has assigned each gift to each individual. Paul wants the Corinthians to understand that God has given the individuals in the community distinctive roles and gifts that, when used appropriately, better the church as a whole. To emphasize the importance of unity in the church, Paul writes, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Cor 12:12). Paul shows how each member of the church has imperative value, just as each part of the body is essential for it to work properly. The Corinthians’ problem of boasting would fade away as soon as they acknowledge that there is value in the diversity of the members of the church. God placed each person in the role that He intends for them to fill and everyone must recognize His placement. Greater than all other gifts is the gift of love. Love is crucial because it builds up the community and strengthens every believer, regardless of their differences. Paul stresses that the most excellent gift is love, writing “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor

Sometime after his initial visit to Corinth, probably while he was ministering in Ephesus, Paul wrote a letter to the church, a letter to which he alludes in 1 Cor. 5:9, “I wrote to you in my epistle not to have any company with fornicators.” As D. Guthrie points out (p. 426), the gist of the contents of that previous letter may be inferred from 1 Cor. 5:9-13.

Paul wrote in his first letter to the church in Corinth: 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 (ESV)

Paul audience could follow his thoughts on building because of the many building that was built in their cities (Green, 2013, p.544, p.552) After Paul preaching the gospel in Athens, he continues to Corinth, the provincial capital of Achaia. The Jews in Acts who ended up in Corinth were known by their Latin names and some Greek families in city took Roman names. Paul was very familiar with the landscape of his audience. Paul was humble, but was uplifting God’s grace. Paul is careful not to think too highly of himself, but it was due to God’s grace he’s a wise builder. He told them he planted the seed when he preached and Apollo helped watered and God gives the growth. Paul stated the foundation is the

Paul begins his letter with honesty and speaks of his genuine dealings with the church of Corinth. He goes on to

Traditionally, 1 Corinthians is attributed to Paul, as are many of the New Testament letters. Paul was writing to a church in Corinth, a church and town that would have been primarily Gentile. This means the congregation would likely have been familiar with, and influenced by, pagan practices. Paul had since left Corinth and it seems that other Christian leaders had visited after Paul’s departure. Paul writes to correct and address issues that have arisen in the church. It seems the Corinthians have written Paul with a list of questions, but this has been lost. Some of the issues seem to have arisen from poor reports of the church reaching Paul. It is important to read this letter in the context of a church asking for direction regarding specific issues. This letter allows us to eavesdrop on Paul’s side of the conversation, but we not not privy to the other side of the conversation.

Corinthians thirteen, perhaps one of Paul’s most memorable passages that is quoted often, explores the characteristic of love (181). The characteristics associated with love are not a natural human reaction, since we can easily be jealous, prideful and/or boastful… This is one of the reasons as to why love is a virtue. Love is to be learned like a melody on an instrument or a new language (182). Love anticipates; we can anticipate our future in the present through loving those around us (182).

In the Book of Romans Paul wrote many letters answering questions about the human world, mankind’s relations with God, the natural world and most importantly the plan of salvation. Paul wrote these letters to tell the truth, to tell that no matter what race or religion, we are all sinner and the only way to truly become righteous is though faith in Jesus Christ. In Rome at that time you had two extremes of people, the heathens, and those who thought they were holier than thou (Jews). In todays society we still have those two extremes but we also have a middle ground, those who are straddling the fence. Paul just wanted the entire human race to know that we are guilty before God for both past and

Paul's first letter to the Corinthians speaks of his emphasis on how the proper Christian conduct in the lives of the church at Corinth. In this very practical and straight-forward letter Paul took the responsibility as the founding father, the pastor, and as someone who cares about the Corinthians, to address some of the critical issues that have some direct impacts that will affect the health of the church itself. Out of many ideas that Paul addressed in his writing, the idea of "Church discipline" is one of the important principles that stands out for me in this letter. As a leader, Paul modeled some of the significant examples that highlighted the idea of Church discipline in the letter:

The previous section of the letter is the introduction and Paul’s note of thanks for the Corinthian believers. There is a distinct note of commendation and love in the first section before Paul begins to condemn and exhort the Corinthians for their poor behavior. Much of this behavior is linked to their boasting about their wisdom, or the wisdom of those whom they choose to follow. Therefore, much of Paul’s teaching is in relation to true wisdom, as opposed to worldly wisdom. Paul continues to address the issue of factions in the church by further concentrating on the issue of wisdom, before he begins approaching other issues from the report in chapters 5 and 6. Following this, Paul begins to address the questions posed by the

His love for them and his desire to see the church as a whole restored took precedence over his own personal feelings. He knew that if he came to oversee the resolution of the problem, it might intensify the situation. If he didn’t address the situation and it remained unresolved, there could and would be greater sorrow in the future. Paul knew that writing a letter to the Corinthian Church might bring them pain, but this would be for their good rather than their harm.

Specifically, Paul tells the Corinthians that the one Spirit has given different gifts to the various members of the body. After focusing on the interdependence of the members of the body, Paul then abruptly transitions to discuss a more excellent way in chapter 13, which has given many scholars rise to refer to this chapter as a digression or interpolation. However, chapter 13 is instead a necessary link in the flow Paul’s argument from chapter 12 to 14. After discussing spiritual gifts in chapter 12, Paul, in essence, challenges the Corinthians in chapter 13 by asking them: Is love demonstrated in the exercise of your gifts? Rather than being a hymn in praise of love, chapter 13 is Paul’s subtle call to the Corinthians to pursue love and thereby address the real problem in their church.

As with most other Pauline attributed documents, 1 Corinthians is believed to be a single document that addresses salient topics and rationalizes Paul’s view of faithfulness to Christ with Corinth citizens. The newly founded church of Corinth was in correspondence with Paul requesting his answers to questions they posed on topics ranging from marriage to the resurrection of the dead; the latter being one of the most highlighted in 1 Corinthians. Paul’s assurance of resurrection illustrates a concern for Corinth as he admonishes their disbelief in resurrection of the dead with a series of explanations as to why such doubt would render the faith of Christ “in vain”. Given the context of the time, Paul’s correspondence with Corinth clearly

The letters Paul writes to the Church in Corinth are prompted by desire to save save their souls, because their actions are defying their claim to being God's children. He's clearly disappointed that they many members have continued practicing sinful behaviors - including, perhaps the most prevalent- sexual sin. Paul cautioned the church that continuing in these sins does not demonstrate that one has become a new creature in Christ Jesus, and that unrepentant, habitual sin will keep them out of heaven (1 Corinthians 6 vs 9-11). He questions how they can judge the church, as unrepentant sinners.