First Epistle To The Corinthians

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.

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:

     Paul wrote First Corinthians primarily because of a division in the local church caused by several different situations. Paul writes, “Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose” (First

The Gospel is another way to say the Good news regarding Christ and the way of salvation. This scripture explains the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. The gospel explains the teaching or revelation of Christ. A key passage concerning the good news of God is

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

Minister Hyunhee Kim led the weekly Sunday bible study by first recapping the most recent message about being made in God’s image.

Love is often a word mistreated by most people. Now days, the word love is thrown around so much, it has lost its meaning. People forget why we are living, breathing humans today. People forget about the sacrifices made for the sins we acted out. People forget about the love that God has for us. It is easy to misinterpret the meaning of God’s love. Human love and God’s love are two different things. The love from the Lord is invincible and no human can come close to that type of love. God created mankind because He loved humanity.

Biblical humility is humanity way of accessing God’s community of grace. True humility is an interdependent relationship of trusting God and others with yourself.

No emotion has such universal meaning as love. It is an integral part of the human condition. Love is the basis for by which all other emotions can be gauged. Friendship and even grief are steeped in love. Love is so central to our lives that it is fitting and proper that it should be the topic of so much discussion. Every culture and every writer has some commentary or evaluation of love. The New Testament has its share of love commentary. The entire basis of the Christian tradition is God's love for humanity. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son." (John 3:6) Jesus preached a great deal about love of neighbor, love of God and even love of enemies. (Matt 5:44) Shakespeare's Biblical knowledge is well known and he

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

It sounds like marrying a school teacher was a sin, and being a wife was nothing more than being a slave to her own family. I can’t believe Okele said this in 1970s! However, as Christian, he believed what is written in the Bible, he said what he thought was right.

He wrote to warn the Colossians of the danger of returning to their old beliefs and practices. He also refuted the false teaching that was threatening this congregation. The outstanding Christian doctrine with which this letter deals is Christology which means that Jesus Christ is the high truth and is our savior and nobody outside him can save them. His main purpose was to let the community of Colossae know that Jesus Christ has absolute authority. He invited the Community of Colossae to seek an encounter with Jesus Christ, and when they have the encounter, they will know Jesus Christ is supreme truth. Jesus has to be the center their life. Paul exhorted them to base their trust in the Word of God rather than in human traditions that do not accurately reflect biblical revelation. The matter of paramount importance to the church is its doctrine of Christ. Our Christian life and service will flow from our doctrine of Christ. Not only must Christ take a place in our lives, but our understanding must be exact in Jesus. We can avoid all the errors of which Paul warns us in this epistle by maintaining an adequate perspective of

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.

Jesus had no false humility wanting people to think Him better than He was, no concern that the others would rank Him lower than them because of what he was doing.

Chapter 1: Before addressing the problems present in Corinth, Paul thanks the people Why is he thankful for them? Chapter 2: Based on this chapter, what would one say spiritual maturity is? Chapter 3: The people of Corinthians had the Spirit, why couldn't they still be considered a spiritual people?