An Overview Of The Book Of 1 Corinthians
The City Of Corinth:
Corinth’s existence goes back to very ancient times. The Greek poet Homer spoke of it in 1200 B.C. as “wealthy Corinth.” The Roman general Mummius completely destroyed the city in 146 B.C. to crush the Greek desires for an independent Greece. Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. dispatched a colony of Roman veterans and freemen to rebuild the city. A new Corinth arose from its ruins under Caesar Augustus, who rebuilt the city extensively in 27 B.C.
By A.D. 50 Corinth was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire. Its population has been estimated at around 250,000. Athens surpassed Corinth with its cultural attractions of fabulous architecture and sculpture. Corinth, on the other hand, surpassed Athens as the leading city of Greece and the capital of the Roman province of Achaia in southern Greece.
Corinth was a bustling metropolis. It was wealthy and prosperous. Its importance and wealth were due to its strategic location on the narrow isthmus that connected the southern peninsula of Greece to its mainland and separated the Aegean Sea to the east from the Adriatic Sea to the west. Trade between Asia Minor (Turkey today) in the East and Rome and Italy in the West was funneled back and forth through Corinth on the narrow isthmus. Rather than risk the dangers of sailing through the storms and rough seas around the southern coast of the lower peninsula of Greece, the ships brought their cargoes from east to west to one of two strategic seaports on the eastern coast of Greece. The ships either sailed to the port city of Thessalonica in the northern province of Macedonia or to Corinth in the southern province of Achaia. Corinth had two harbors, Cenchrea on the eastern shore of the isthmus on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea and Lechaeum on the western shore of the isthmus on the Gulf of Corinth of the Adriatic Sea. From the port of Cenchrea the smaller vessels with their cargoes still loaded were rolled overland across the three and a half mile wide isthmus to the port of Lechaeum, where they were relaunched to continue their voyage across the Adriatic Sea to Italy and Rome. The larger ships had their cargoes unloaded at Cenchrea and transported overland across the isthmus to Lechaeum, where the cargoes were reloaded onto waiting ships to carry them to Italy.
Being such an important commercial center of great wealth, plus the capital city of Achaia, people of many different nationalities and cultures crowded the streets of Corinth. Many sailors on shore leave also visited the city. These factors contributed to the excessive sexual immorality that characterized Corinth, as did the temple of Aphrodite (or Venus), one of the twelve heathen temples in Corinth. Aphrodite was the pagan goddess of love. It has been said that more than one thousand temple prostitutes offered their sexual services as part of the worship of Aphrodite. By A.D. 50 the sexual immorality of Corinth was so infamous that the term “to corinthianize” was coined to denote people’s living in sexual immorality and having intercourse with prostitutes as the Corinthians characteristically did. Greek plays commonly portrayed a citizen of Corinth as either a drunk or a prostitute. It is interesting to note that the heathen idolatry and gross sexual immorality that Paul described in Romans 1:18-27 he wrote while in Corinth, which was known for its twelve heathen temples and sexual immorality.
The Church Of God In Corinth:
The metropolis of Corinth was a city bound in the devil’s darkness of worldly wealth and commerce, paganism and heathen religions, sexual immorality and drunkenness, and the love of human philosophy and wisdom. From a strictly human point of view one might think that God would have written off Corinth as a lost cause, the devil’s domain, and let its inhabitants go to their deserved eternal destruction. But the one true God of heaven and earth is the Lord of love, who so loved the world that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ to redeem the sinners of mankind. He had Jesus die to save the sinners of Corinth no less than to save the sinners of the rest of the world. The Lord of love had no intention of writing off all the people of the sin-sick city of Corinth. He had every intention of reaching out with his grace in Jesus Christ to save many of Corinth’s inhabitants. Thus he sent his apostle Paul to Corinth and there assured him, “I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:10).
Paul began his mission work in Corinth during his second missionary journey. Paul’s second missionary journey had taken him through Syria, Cilicia, and Galatia to strengthen the churches there. He then passed through Asia Minor, crossed the Aegean Sea to Macedonia, the northern Roman province of Greece, and established the congregations in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. After a short visit in Athens where he also established a congregation, he traveled to Corinth.
According to Acts 18 upon his arrival in Corinth he met a Jewish man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla, who were tentmakers. They asked Paul, who was a tentmaker like themselves, to stay and work with them. Paul worked as a tentmaker during the week and on the Sabbath days he reasoned with the Jews in the synagogue. From the Old Testament Scriptures he tried to persuade the Jews and Greek converts to Judaism that the promised Messiah was Jesus Christ. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia and rejoined Paul in Corinth, he began to devote himself exclusively to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews in the synagogue. When they hardened their hearts to the gospel of Jesus Christ and opposed Paul, he turned to the Gentiles in Corinth.
Paul had succeeded in gaining some converts from the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, was one such convert, as well as his household. Another was Titius Justus, who lived next door to the synagogue. With these new converts Paul started the church of God in Corinth. He set up his mission headquarters in the house of Titius Justus. There he proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and “many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:8). In this manner the church in Corinth was established. Paul remained in Corinth for more than one and a half years, longer than he had worked in any one city previous to that time.
Being next door to Paul’s mission headquarters, the Jews of the synagogue who had hardened their hearts against the gospel quickly became envious of Paul’s success. To silence Paul, they took him to the court of Gallio, the Roman proconsul of Achaia, whose headquarters was there in the capital city of Corinth. Gallio threw the Jews’ case out of his court. He considered Christianity to be a Jewish sect, which, as such, was entitled to the same legal status under Roman law that Judaism enjoyed. He refused to become entangled in what he thought was a Jewish quibbling with Paul over their religious differences of opinion. He ejected the Jews from his court. Sosthenes, another Jewish convert who formerly had been the ruler of the synagogue was then beaten in front of the court, but Gallio showed no concern and would not intervene.
Paul was then able to remain in Corinth for some time to finish his work there. He brought his ministry to an end when he concluded his second missionary journey to return to Antioch, Syria, his home base for his missionary work in the East.
The time of Paul’s ministry in Corinth can readily be determined. He appeared in the court of Gallio, the Roman proconsul of Achaia in Corinth. Secular records state that Gallio was a brother-in-law of Seneca, and that he was the proconsul of Achaia in A.D. 51 and 52. This sets the time of Paul’s ministry in Corinth as A.D. 51 to 52.
Writer Of The Letter Of First Corinthians:
“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,” 1 Corinthians 1:1
Paul is undoubtedly the author of First Corinthians.
Paul included Sosthenes in his greeting. Sosthenes was most likely the Sosthenes who had formerly been the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth, became one of the prominent leaders in the newly founded church, and was therefore beaten by the Jews in front of the court of Gallio (see Acts 18:17). Sosthenes was in Ephesus with Paul when Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians. Since Sosthenes was a recognized leader in the church in Corinth, it was altogether fitting and proper for Paul to include him in the greeting.
Paul may have had another reason for including Sosthenes’ name in the greeting. In this letter Paul had to deal with numerous, serious problems that had arisen within the Corinthian congregation. The inclusion of Sosthenes’ name in the greeting would indicate to the Corinthians that their respected leader Sosthenes stood in full agreement with what Paul wrote to them. Sosthenes was giving his support to Paul’s manner of handling the problems within the church, which was sadly divided and where Paul’s pastoral ministry was being questioned and attacked.
Recipients Of The First Letter To The Corinthians:
“To the church of God in Corinth,” 1 Corinthians 1:2
Corinth was a prosperous commercial center and the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. Thus its inhabitants included the wealthy and the noble aristocrats. A large segment of Corinth’s population, however, was slaves and poor people. The membership of the church in Corinth appears for the most part not to have been from the upper classes of the rich and nobility but from the lower classes of the slaves and the poor. This seems to have been the case, for Paul stated that among the members of the church there were not many who were considered wise, influential, or of noble birth. Rather, they were the weak, the lowly, and the despised (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-28). The congregation did have at least one member of some prominence in Corinth, Erastus, the city’s director of public works (see Romans 16:23).
Place Where The First Letter To The Corinthians Was Written:
Ephesus was where Paul wrote this letter. This is made clear by Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 16:8, “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost.”
Date When The First Letter To The Corinthians Was Written:
Paul wrote this letter while in Ephesus. He ministered there for more than two years and for what was the majority of his third missionary journey. His third missionary journey has been dated as A.D. 53 to 57. Paul likely wrote this letter in late A.D. 55.
Occasion For The Writing Of The First Letter To The Corinthians:
Paul kept in touch with the church in Corinth while in Ephesus on his third missionary journey. There he had heard of the problems arising in the congregation during his absence from it. He appears to have left Ephesus to travel across the Aegean Sea to revisit the Corinthian congregation, for in 2 Corinthians 12:14, 21 and 13:1 Paul wrote that he was planning a third visit to the congregation. This indicates Paul must have gone back to Corinth a second time during his third missionary journey after his first stay in Corinth on his second missionary journey.
Paul’s second visit to the Corinthian congregation failed to resolve the problems that had arisen within it. Paul must have then written a letter to the church to address those problems, especially the troubling issue of sexual immorality. 1 Corinthians 5:9 states Paul had written such a letter prior to his writing the letter we now know as First Corinthians. According to the Spirit’s wisdom that previous letter was lost and was not preserved for the church’s further use.
That lost letter did not resolve the problems within the Corinthian congregation either. At some point in time Paul received a report from the household of Chloe that the congregation was divided into factions over who was their pastor and minister of preference (see 1 Corinthians 1:11, 12; 4:6).
The congregation responded to Paul’s now lost letter with a letter of its own. The letter was most likely carried and delivered to Paul by three leaders of the church, Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (see 1 Corinthians 16:17, 18). If not from others in the congregation like Sosthenes, or Erastus (see Acts 19:22), who had come to Paul in Ephesus, then certainly from those three church leaders, Paul received the report that an instance of sexual immorality even more gross than that of the pagans had surfaced within the congregation. A young man was having sexual relations with his father’s wife. The members of the church were proud of this and boasted about it (see 1 Corinthians 5:1-6). Paul had also learned that the members of the congregation were taking one another to the civil courts of the heathen to settle their disputes, rather than having respected leaders of the church settle them.
The letter Paul received from the congregation contained a variety of questions on which the members sought his advice and counsel. They asked about marriage (see 1 Corinthians 7:1), about the young women getting married (see 1 Corinthians 7:25), about the eating of meat from animals the pagans had sacrificed to their idols in their heathen temples (see 1 Corinthians 8:1), about the women in the congregation covering their heads in the worship services, which was a custom unique to Corinthian society that indicated their submission to the men (see 1 Corinthians 11:2), and about spiritual gifts (see 1 Corinthians 12:1).
Last, but certainly not least, Paul had learned that some men in the congregation were denying there was a physical resurrection of the body from the dead (see 1 Corinthians 15:12).
Paul’s second visit to Corinth had not resolved the problems within the congregation. His now lost letter had failed to resolve those issues and had only provoked a challenge to his ministry, as well as raise more questions. The reports he had received indicated the problems were increasing and intensifying. The congregation was fragmenting and lapsing back into paganism. Thus Paul was prompted to write what we now know as his First Letter to the Corinthians. It was a letter that addressed the problems head on while still conveying an evangelical spirit of love.
Purpose Of The First Letter To The Corinthians:
Paul’s purpose was to address and resolve the problems within the congregation and to answer the questions the congregation had asked in its letter, in order to unify the members in the Christian faith and life and in a sanctified doctrine and practice.
Theme Of The First Letter To The Corinthians:
Paul’s appeal for unity in the Christian faith and life and in a sanctified doctrine and practice, (see 1 Corinthians 1:10)
Corinth’s existence goes back to very ancient times. The Greek poet Homer spoke of it in 1200 B.C. as “wealthy Corinth.” The Roman general Mummius completely destroyed the city in 146 B.C. to crush the Greek desires for an independent Greece. Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. dispatched a colony of Roman veterans and freemen to rebuild the city. A new Corinth arose from its ruins under Caesar Augustus, who rebuilt the city extensively in 27 B.C.
By A.D. 50 Corinth was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire. Its population has been estimated at around 250,000. Athens surpassed Corinth with its cultural attractions of fabulous architecture and sculpture. Corinth, on the other hand, surpassed Athens as the leading city of Greece and the capital of the Roman province of Achaia in southern Greece.
Corinth was a bustling metropolis. It was wealthy and prosperous. Its importance and wealth were due to its strategic location on the narrow isthmus that connected the southern peninsula of Greece to its mainland and separated the Aegean Sea to the east from the Adriatic Sea to the west. Trade between Asia Minor (Turkey today) in the East and Rome and Italy in the West was funneled back and forth through Corinth on the narrow isthmus. Rather than risk the dangers of sailing through the storms and rough seas around the southern coast of the lower peninsula of Greece, the ships brought their cargoes from east to west to one of two strategic seaports on the eastern coast of Greece. The ships either sailed to the port city of Thessalonica in the northern province of Macedonia or to Corinth in the southern province of Achaia. Corinth had two harbors, Cenchrea on the eastern shore of the isthmus on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea and Lechaeum on the western shore of the isthmus on the Gulf of Corinth of the Adriatic Sea. From the port of Cenchrea the smaller vessels with their cargoes still loaded were rolled overland across the three and a half mile wide isthmus to the port of Lechaeum, where they were relaunched to continue their voyage across the Adriatic Sea to Italy and Rome. The larger ships had their cargoes unloaded at Cenchrea and transported overland across the isthmus to Lechaeum, where the cargoes were reloaded onto waiting ships to carry them to Italy.
Being such an important commercial center of great wealth, plus the capital city of Achaia, people of many different nationalities and cultures crowded the streets of Corinth. Many sailors on shore leave also visited the city. These factors contributed to the excessive sexual immorality that characterized Corinth, as did the temple of Aphrodite (or Venus), one of the twelve heathen temples in Corinth. Aphrodite was the pagan goddess of love. It has been said that more than one thousand temple prostitutes offered their sexual services as part of the worship of Aphrodite. By A.D. 50 the sexual immorality of Corinth was so infamous that the term “to corinthianize” was coined to denote people’s living in sexual immorality and having intercourse with prostitutes as the Corinthians characteristically did. Greek plays commonly portrayed a citizen of Corinth as either a drunk or a prostitute. It is interesting to note that the heathen idolatry and gross sexual immorality that Paul described in Romans 1:18-27 he wrote while in Corinth, which was known for its twelve heathen temples and sexual immorality.
The Church Of God In Corinth:
The metropolis of Corinth was a city bound in the devil’s darkness of worldly wealth and commerce, paganism and heathen religions, sexual immorality and drunkenness, and the love of human philosophy and wisdom. From a strictly human point of view one might think that God would have written off Corinth as a lost cause, the devil’s domain, and let its inhabitants go to their deserved eternal destruction. But the one true God of heaven and earth is the Lord of love, who so loved the world that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ to redeem the sinners of mankind. He had Jesus die to save the sinners of Corinth no less than to save the sinners of the rest of the world. The Lord of love had no intention of writing off all the people of the sin-sick city of Corinth. He had every intention of reaching out with his grace in Jesus Christ to save many of Corinth’s inhabitants. Thus he sent his apostle Paul to Corinth and there assured him, “I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:10).
Paul began his mission work in Corinth during his second missionary journey. Paul’s second missionary journey had taken him through Syria, Cilicia, and Galatia to strengthen the churches there. He then passed through Asia Minor, crossed the Aegean Sea to Macedonia, the northern Roman province of Greece, and established the congregations in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. After a short visit in Athens where he also established a congregation, he traveled to Corinth.
According to Acts 18 upon his arrival in Corinth he met a Jewish man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla, who were tentmakers. They asked Paul, who was a tentmaker like themselves, to stay and work with them. Paul worked as a tentmaker during the week and on the Sabbath days he reasoned with the Jews in the synagogue. From the Old Testament Scriptures he tried to persuade the Jews and Greek converts to Judaism that the promised Messiah was Jesus Christ. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia and rejoined Paul in Corinth, he began to devote himself exclusively to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews in the synagogue. When they hardened their hearts to the gospel of Jesus Christ and opposed Paul, he turned to the Gentiles in Corinth.
Paul had succeeded in gaining some converts from the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, was one such convert, as well as his household. Another was Titius Justus, who lived next door to the synagogue. With these new converts Paul started the church of God in Corinth. He set up his mission headquarters in the house of Titius Justus. There he proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and “many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:8). In this manner the church in Corinth was established. Paul remained in Corinth for more than one and a half years, longer than he had worked in any one city previous to that time.
Being next door to Paul’s mission headquarters, the Jews of the synagogue who had hardened their hearts against the gospel quickly became envious of Paul’s success. To silence Paul, they took him to the court of Gallio, the Roman proconsul of Achaia, whose headquarters was there in the capital city of Corinth. Gallio threw the Jews’ case out of his court. He considered Christianity to be a Jewish sect, which, as such, was entitled to the same legal status under Roman law that Judaism enjoyed. He refused to become entangled in what he thought was a Jewish quibbling with Paul over their religious differences of opinion. He ejected the Jews from his court. Sosthenes, another Jewish convert who formerly had been the ruler of the synagogue was then beaten in front of the court, but Gallio showed no concern and would not intervene.
Paul was then able to remain in Corinth for some time to finish his work there. He brought his ministry to an end when he concluded his second missionary journey to return to Antioch, Syria, his home base for his missionary work in the East.
The time of Paul’s ministry in Corinth can readily be determined. He appeared in the court of Gallio, the Roman proconsul of Achaia in Corinth. Secular records state that Gallio was a brother-in-law of Seneca, and that he was the proconsul of Achaia in A.D. 51 and 52. This sets the time of Paul’s ministry in Corinth as A.D. 51 to 52.
Writer Of The Letter Of First Corinthians:
“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,” 1 Corinthians 1:1
Paul is undoubtedly the author of First Corinthians.
Paul included Sosthenes in his greeting. Sosthenes was most likely the Sosthenes who had formerly been the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth, became one of the prominent leaders in the newly founded church, and was therefore beaten by the Jews in front of the court of Gallio (see Acts 18:17). Sosthenes was in Ephesus with Paul when Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians. Since Sosthenes was a recognized leader in the church in Corinth, it was altogether fitting and proper for Paul to include him in the greeting.
Paul may have had another reason for including Sosthenes’ name in the greeting. In this letter Paul had to deal with numerous, serious problems that had arisen within the Corinthian congregation. The inclusion of Sosthenes’ name in the greeting would indicate to the Corinthians that their respected leader Sosthenes stood in full agreement with what Paul wrote to them. Sosthenes was giving his support to Paul’s manner of handling the problems within the church, which was sadly divided and where Paul’s pastoral ministry was being questioned and attacked.
Recipients Of The First Letter To The Corinthians:
“To the church of God in Corinth,” 1 Corinthians 1:2
Corinth was a prosperous commercial center and the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. Thus its inhabitants included the wealthy and the noble aristocrats. A large segment of Corinth’s population, however, was slaves and poor people. The membership of the church in Corinth appears for the most part not to have been from the upper classes of the rich and nobility but from the lower classes of the slaves and the poor. This seems to have been the case, for Paul stated that among the members of the church there were not many who were considered wise, influential, or of noble birth. Rather, they were the weak, the lowly, and the despised (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-28). The congregation did have at least one member of some prominence in Corinth, Erastus, the city’s director of public works (see Romans 16:23).
Place Where The First Letter To The Corinthians Was Written:
Ephesus was where Paul wrote this letter. This is made clear by Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 16:8, “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost.”
Date When The First Letter To The Corinthians Was Written:
Paul wrote this letter while in Ephesus. He ministered there for more than two years and for what was the majority of his third missionary journey. His third missionary journey has been dated as A.D. 53 to 57. Paul likely wrote this letter in late A.D. 55.
Occasion For The Writing Of The First Letter To The Corinthians:
Paul kept in touch with the church in Corinth while in Ephesus on his third missionary journey. There he had heard of the problems arising in the congregation during his absence from it. He appears to have left Ephesus to travel across the Aegean Sea to revisit the Corinthian congregation, for in 2 Corinthians 12:14, 21 and 13:1 Paul wrote that he was planning a third visit to the congregation. This indicates Paul must have gone back to Corinth a second time during his third missionary journey after his first stay in Corinth on his second missionary journey.
Paul’s second visit to the Corinthian congregation failed to resolve the problems that had arisen within it. Paul must have then written a letter to the church to address those problems, especially the troubling issue of sexual immorality. 1 Corinthians 5:9 states Paul had written such a letter prior to his writing the letter we now know as First Corinthians. According to the Spirit’s wisdom that previous letter was lost and was not preserved for the church’s further use.
That lost letter did not resolve the problems within the Corinthian congregation either. At some point in time Paul received a report from the household of Chloe that the congregation was divided into factions over who was their pastor and minister of preference (see 1 Corinthians 1:11, 12; 4:6).
The congregation responded to Paul’s now lost letter with a letter of its own. The letter was most likely carried and delivered to Paul by three leaders of the church, Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (see 1 Corinthians 16:17, 18). If not from others in the congregation like Sosthenes, or Erastus (see Acts 19:22), who had come to Paul in Ephesus, then certainly from those three church leaders, Paul received the report that an instance of sexual immorality even more gross than that of the pagans had surfaced within the congregation. A young man was having sexual relations with his father’s wife. The members of the church were proud of this and boasted about it (see 1 Corinthians 5:1-6). Paul had also learned that the members of the congregation were taking one another to the civil courts of the heathen to settle their disputes, rather than having respected leaders of the church settle them.
The letter Paul received from the congregation contained a variety of questions on which the members sought his advice and counsel. They asked about marriage (see 1 Corinthians 7:1), about the young women getting married (see 1 Corinthians 7:25), about the eating of meat from animals the pagans had sacrificed to their idols in their heathen temples (see 1 Corinthians 8:1), about the women in the congregation covering their heads in the worship services, which was a custom unique to Corinthian society that indicated their submission to the men (see 1 Corinthians 11:2), and about spiritual gifts (see 1 Corinthians 12:1).
Last, but certainly not least, Paul had learned that some men in the congregation were denying there was a physical resurrection of the body from the dead (see 1 Corinthians 15:12).
Paul’s second visit to Corinth had not resolved the problems within the congregation. His now lost letter had failed to resolve those issues and had only provoked a challenge to his ministry, as well as raise more questions. The reports he had received indicated the problems were increasing and intensifying. The congregation was fragmenting and lapsing back into paganism. Thus Paul was prompted to write what we now know as his First Letter to the Corinthians. It was a letter that addressed the problems head on while still conveying an evangelical spirit of love.
Purpose Of The First Letter To The Corinthians:
Paul’s purpose was to address and resolve the problems within the congregation and to answer the questions the congregation had asked in its letter, in order to unify the members in the Christian faith and life and in a sanctified doctrine and practice.
Theme Of The First Letter To The Corinthians:
Paul’s appeal for unity in the Christian faith and life and in a sanctified doctrine and practice, (see 1 Corinthians 1:10)
Headings throughout The Following Book of 1 Corinthians:
The headings are not merely section headings. The headings and subheadings make up an outline of the book. They are included in the body of the text so the reader can see them as he reads the book without having to page over to a separate outline.
The headings are not merely section headings. The headings and subheadings make up an outline of the book. They are included in the body of the text so the reader can see them as he reads the book without having to page over to a separate outline.
The Book Of 1 Corinthians
Part 1: Introduction 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
A. The Address and Greeting 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
1
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother;
2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all in every place who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
B. Paul Gives Thanks for the Corinthians’ Spiritual Blessings Founded on Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
¶ 4 I always give thanks to my God concerning you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus,
5 that in everything you were made rich in him, in all speech and in all knowledge,
6 even as the mystery of Christ was established in you,
7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, while you are eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
8 who will also establish you until the end as blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Part 2: Paul Addresses the Problems within the Corinthian Congregation 1 Corinthians 1:10-15:58
A. The Purpose and Theme of Paul’s Letter 1 Corinthians 1:10
¶ 10 Now I urge you, brothers, by reminding you of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there may be no divisions among you, but that you may go on being made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
B. Paul Addresses the Problem over the Christian Ministry 1 Corinthians 1:11-4:21
1. Paul Points Out the Corinthians Are Divided into Party Factions 1 Corinthians 1:11-16
¶ 11 You see, it was made clear to me by Chloe’s people concerning you, my brothers, that there are quarrels among you.
12 Now I am saying this because each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul!” “I am of Apollos!” “I am of Cephas!” And “I am of Christ!”
13 Has Christ been divided?! Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or, you were not baptized in the name of Paul, were you?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 lest anyone say that you were baptized in my name.
16 Now I did also baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that I do not know if I baptized anyone else.
2. Paul Speaks about the Message of the Cross and Christ Crucified 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16
¶ 17 For Christ did not send me to be baptizing but to be preaching the gospel, not in words of wisdom, in order that the cross of Christ may not be emptied of its power.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written,
“I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE INTELLIGENT I WILL FRUSTRATE.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the legal scholar? Where is the learned debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.
22 And now when Jews ask for signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
23 we ourselves preach Christ crucified, to be sure a stumbling block to Jews but foolishness to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God;
25 for the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
¶ 26 For start looking at your calling, brothers, that there are not many wise by human standards, not many powerful, not many of noble birth;
27 on the contrary, God chose for himself the foolish things of the world in order that he may put the wise to shame, and God chose the weak things of the world in order that he may put the strong things to shame,
28 and God chose the lowly and the despised things of the world, the things that are not, in order that he may bring to nothing the things that are,
29 in order that no one may boast before God.
30 And it is because of him that you yourselves are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God, not only righteousness but also holiness and redemption,
31 in order that it may be even as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS BOAST IN THE LORD.”
2
1 And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with a persuasive oratory or a superiority of wisdom, proclaiming to you the mystery of God.
2 For I did not intend to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 And in weakness and in fear and with much trembling I came to you,
4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit and power,
5 in order that your faith may not stand on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.
¶ 6 Now we are speaking wisdom among those who have attained the goal by faith, and a wisdom not of this age nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing;
7 on the contrary, we are speaking God’s wisdom in a mystery, the mystery that has been concealed, which God predetermined before the ages of the world for our glory,
8 which mystery none of the rulers of this age have known, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written,
“EYE HAS NOT SEEN NOR EAR HAS HEARD
NEITHER HAS ENTERED THE MIND OF MAN,
THE THINGS THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
10 But to us God revealed them by means of the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11 For who of men knows the things of a certain man except the spirit of the man that is in him; in the same way also no one has known the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now as for us, we did not receive the spirit of the world but the Spirit – the One who is from God, in order that we may know the things freely given to us by God,
13 which things we also are speaking, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual truths with spiritual words.
14 But the man without the Spirit does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually distinguished;
15 But the spiritual man judges all things, and he himself is judged by no one.
16 For who has understood the mind of the Lord,
So that he will instruct him?
But as for us, we have the mind of Christ.
3. Paul Explains the Proper Spiritual Insight into the Christian Ministry 1 Corinthians 3:1-23
3
1 And yet, as for me, brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people characterized by the flesh, as infants in Christ.
2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to eat it. Yes, and you still are not able to eat it even now,
3 for you are still people characterized by the flesh. For in so far as there is jealousy and quarrels among you, are you not people characterized by the flesh and conducting yourselves like the rest of mankind?
4 You see, whenever someone says, “I am of Paul,” and another says, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere people?
5 So what is Apollos? And what is Paul? Ministers through whom you believed; yes, to each one as the Lord appointed his work.
6 As for me, I planted; Apollos, he watered; however, God was causing the growth;
7 So, then, neither the one who plants is anything nor the one who waters, but God who is causing the growth.
8 Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated field, God’s building.
¶ 10 According to the grace of God that was given to me as a wise architect I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each one be careful how he builds upon it.
11 For no one is able to lay another foundation beside the one that is already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if anyone builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw,
13 the work of each one will become evident, for the day of judgment will make it plain because it is revealed in fire, and the work of each one, of what sort it is, the fire itself will put it to the test.
14 If the work of anyone, what he has built upon the foundation remains, he will receive a reward;
15 if the work of anyone will be burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but in such a manner as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy this person; for the temple of God is holy; you yourselves are such holy ones.
¶ 18 Let no one deceive himself; if anyone thinks he is wise among you in this age, let him become a fool, in order that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God; for it is written,
“God is the one WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS;”
20 and again,
“THE LORD KNOWS THAT THE THOUGHTS OF THE WISE ARE USELESS.”
21 Therefore let no one boast in men; for all things are yours,
22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours,
23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
A. The Address and Greeting 1 Corinthians 1:1-3
1
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother;
2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all in every place who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
B. Paul Gives Thanks for the Corinthians’ Spiritual Blessings Founded on Jesus Christ 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
¶ 4 I always give thanks to my God concerning you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus,
5 that in everything you were made rich in him, in all speech and in all knowledge,
6 even as the mystery of Christ was established in you,
7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, while you are eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
8 who will also establish you until the end as blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Part 2: Paul Addresses the Problems within the Corinthian Congregation 1 Corinthians 1:10-15:58
A. The Purpose and Theme of Paul’s Letter 1 Corinthians 1:10
¶ 10 Now I urge you, brothers, by reminding you of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there may be no divisions among you, but that you may go on being made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
B. Paul Addresses the Problem over the Christian Ministry 1 Corinthians 1:11-4:21
1. Paul Points Out the Corinthians Are Divided into Party Factions 1 Corinthians 1:11-16
¶ 11 You see, it was made clear to me by Chloe’s people concerning you, my brothers, that there are quarrels among you.
12 Now I am saying this because each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul!” “I am of Apollos!” “I am of Cephas!” And “I am of Christ!”
13 Has Christ been divided?! Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or, you were not baptized in the name of Paul, were you?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 lest anyone say that you were baptized in my name.
16 Now I did also baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that I do not know if I baptized anyone else.
2. Paul Speaks about the Message of the Cross and Christ Crucified 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16
¶ 17 For Christ did not send me to be baptizing but to be preaching the gospel, not in words of wisdom, in order that the cross of Christ may not be emptied of its power.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written,
“I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE INTELLIGENT I WILL FRUSTRATE.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the legal scholar? Where is the learned debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.
22 And now when Jews ask for signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
23 we ourselves preach Christ crucified, to be sure a stumbling block to Jews but foolishness to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God;
25 for the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
¶ 26 For start looking at your calling, brothers, that there are not many wise by human standards, not many powerful, not many of noble birth;
27 on the contrary, God chose for himself the foolish things of the world in order that he may put the wise to shame, and God chose the weak things of the world in order that he may put the strong things to shame,
28 and God chose the lowly and the despised things of the world, the things that are not, in order that he may bring to nothing the things that are,
29 in order that no one may boast before God.
30 And it is because of him that you yourselves are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God, not only righteousness but also holiness and redemption,
31 in order that it may be even as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS BOAST IN THE LORD.”
2
1 And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with a persuasive oratory or a superiority of wisdom, proclaiming to you the mystery of God.
2 For I did not intend to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 And in weakness and in fear and with much trembling I came to you,
4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom but with a demonstration of the Spirit and power,
5 in order that your faith may not stand on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.
¶ 6 Now we are speaking wisdom among those who have attained the goal by faith, and a wisdom not of this age nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing;
7 on the contrary, we are speaking God’s wisdom in a mystery, the mystery that has been concealed, which God predetermined before the ages of the world for our glory,
8 which mystery none of the rulers of this age have known, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written,
“EYE HAS NOT SEEN NOR EAR HAS HEARD
NEITHER HAS ENTERED THE MIND OF MAN,
THE THINGS THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
10 But to us God revealed them by means of the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11 For who of men knows the things of a certain man except the spirit of the man that is in him; in the same way also no one has known the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now as for us, we did not receive the spirit of the world but the Spirit – the One who is from God, in order that we may know the things freely given to us by God,
13 which things we also are speaking, not in words taught by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual truths with spiritual words.
14 But the man without the Spirit does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually distinguished;
15 But the spiritual man judges all things, and he himself is judged by no one.
16 For who has understood the mind of the Lord,
So that he will instruct him?
But as for us, we have the mind of Christ.
3. Paul Explains the Proper Spiritual Insight into the Christian Ministry 1 Corinthians 3:1-23
3
1 And yet, as for me, brothers, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people characterized by the flesh, as infants in Christ.
2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to eat it. Yes, and you still are not able to eat it even now,
3 for you are still people characterized by the flesh. For in so far as there is jealousy and quarrels among you, are you not people characterized by the flesh and conducting yourselves like the rest of mankind?
4 You see, whenever someone says, “I am of Paul,” and another says, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere people?
5 So what is Apollos? And what is Paul? Ministers through whom you believed; yes, to each one as the Lord appointed his work.
6 As for me, I planted; Apollos, he watered; however, God was causing the growth;
7 So, then, neither the one who plants is anything nor the one who waters, but God who is causing the growth.
8 Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s cultivated field, God’s building.
¶ 10 According to the grace of God that was given to me as a wise architect I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each one be careful how he builds upon it.
11 For no one is able to lay another foundation beside the one that is already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if anyone builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw,
13 the work of each one will become evident, for the day of judgment will make it plain because it is revealed in fire, and the work of each one, of what sort it is, the fire itself will put it to the test.
14 If the work of anyone, what he has built upon the foundation remains, he will receive a reward;
15 if the work of anyone will be burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but in such a manner as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy this person; for the temple of God is holy; you yourselves are such holy ones.
¶ 18 Let no one deceive himself; if anyone thinks he is wise among you in this age, let him become a fool, in order that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God; for it is written,
“God is the one WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS;”
20 and again,
“THE LORD KNOWS THAT THE THOUGHTS OF THE WISE ARE USELESS.”
21 Therefore let no one boast in men; for all things are yours,
22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours,
23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
4. Paul Explains the Ministry of the Ministers of Christ 1 Corinthians 4:1-21
4
1 Let a person keep considering us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
2 In this case, furthermore, it is required of the stewards that one be found faithful.
3 Now it is of little importance to me that I be judiciously examined by you or by a human court; why, I do not even examine myself!
4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not pronounced righteous by this, but he who examines me is the Lord.
5 Therefore do not go on judging anything before the proper time, until whenever the Lord shall come, who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and will reveal the motives of people’s hearts; and at that time the due praise will come to each person from God.
¶ 6 Now these things, brothers, I have applied figuratively to myself and Apollos for your sake, in order that in us two you may learn not to go beyond what has been written, namely that you do not become puffed up, as you are doing when one person is in favor of the one minister over against the other minister.
7 For who differentiates between you and others? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you indeed received it, why do you boast as though you have not received it?
8 You are already filled to the full; you have already become rich; you have become kings without us; and how I wish that you had become kings, in order that we ourselves may become kings with you.
9 For, it seems to me, that God has displayed us, the apostles, as the least of all, as men sentenced to die, because we have been made a public show for the world, both for angels and for people.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you Corinthians are intelligent in Christ; we are weak, you are strong; you are distinguished, we are despised.
11 Until this present hour we are customarily both hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed and physically abused and homeless
12 and labor by working with our own hands; when we are verbally abused, we bless in return; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
13 when we are slandered, we speak kindly; until now we have become as the scum of the earth, the filth of all people.
¶ 14 I am writing these things not to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children;
15 For if you have countless guides in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I myself became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
16 Therefore I am encouraging you, always be imitators of me.
17 For this reason I sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord, who will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, just as I teach it everywhere in every church.
18 Some have become puffed up as though I am not coming to you;
19 but I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills it, and I will find out, not the word of those who have become puffed up but their power,
20 for the kingdom of God is not merely in word but in power.
21 What do you want? That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
C. Paul Addresses the Moral and Spiritual Problems within the Corinthian Congregation 1 Corinthians 5:1-6:20
1. Paul Addresses the Problem of Moral Incest 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
5
1 It is generally reported that there is a case of illicit sexual intercourse among you, and such a kind of illicit sexual intercourse that does not even occur among the pagans, namely that a certain man has his father’s wife!
2 And as for you, you yourselves have been proud of it! And you did not rather grieve over it, so that the man who committed this deed might be expelled from among you.
3 For while I am absent in body yet present in spirit, I have in this manner already passed judgment on this man who has committed this deed.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you and my spirit have assembled together in union with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 I have decided to hand such a man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, in order that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting about this matter is not morally good. Do you not know that a little yeast ferments through the whole batch of dough?
7 Clean out the old yeast, in order that you may be a new batch of dough, even as you are free from yeast. For indeed Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed;
8 therefore let us celebrate, not with the old yeast – indeed not with the yeast of evil intention and wickedness, but with the yeast-free bread of purity of motive and truthfulness.
¶ 9 I had written in my letter to you not to be associating with fornicators,
10 not at all meaning with the fornicators or with the covetous persons and swindlers or with the idolaters of this world, for otherwise you would have to go out of this world.
11 But now I wrote to you not to be associating with any brother if he is known to be a fornicator or covetous person or an idolater or a verbally abusive person or a drunkard or a swindler – not even to eat with such a person.
12 For what business is it of mine to be judging those outside of the church? As for you Corinthians, do you not judge those within the church?
13 God will judge those outside. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES!
2. Paul Addresses the Problem of the Corinthians Taking One Another to Court 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
6
1 Does any one of you, when he has a matter against another, dare to have a law suit before the unrighteous pagans, and not before the saints?
2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you incompetent of the most trivial kind of court?
3 Do you not know that we will judge angels, not to mention the matters of this life?
4 So if you have courts for the matters of this life, do you seat as judges those who are utterly despised in the church?
5 I say this to shame you. So is it possible that there is not any wise man among you who will be able to render a decision between his brothers?
6 But brother has a lawsuit with brother, and this before unbelievers?!
7 Already, then, it is wholly a defeat for you that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why not rather let yourselves be defrauded?
8 But as for you, you are doing wrong and defrauding, and this to brothers!
9 Or do you not know that unrighteous people will not inherit the kingdom of God? Stop being deceived! Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate men nor homosexuals
10 nor thieves nor covetous persons, nor drunkards, nor verbally abusive persons, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And that is what some of you were; but you let yourselves be washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
3. Paul Addresses the Problem of Illicit Sexual Intercourse 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
¶ 12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial. All things are lawful for me, but as for me, I will not be mastered by anything.
13 Foods for the stomach, and the stomach for foods; but God will do away with both this stomach and these foods. Yet the body is not for illicit sexual intercourse but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body;
14 and God raised both the Lord and he will raise us up by means of his power.
15 Do you not know that our bodies are members of Christ? Shall I take, then, the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? God forbid!
16 Or do you not know that the man who joins himself to the prostitute is one body with her? For he says, “THE TWO WILL BE ONE FLESH.”
17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him.
18 Always flee from illicit sexual intercourse; every sin that a man may do is outside of his body, but the man who takes part in illicit sexual intercourse sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that the body of each of you is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in each of you, whom you have from God, and you believers are not your own?
20 For you have been bought for a price; by all means, then, glorify God in your body.
4
1 Let a person keep considering us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
2 In this case, furthermore, it is required of the stewards that one be found faithful.
3 Now it is of little importance to me that I be judiciously examined by you or by a human court; why, I do not even examine myself!
4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not pronounced righteous by this, but he who examines me is the Lord.
5 Therefore do not go on judging anything before the proper time, until whenever the Lord shall come, who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and will reveal the motives of people’s hearts; and at that time the due praise will come to each person from God.
¶ 6 Now these things, brothers, I have applied figuratively to myself and Apollos for your sake, in order that in us two you may learn not to go beyond what has been written, namely that you do not become puffed up, as you are doing when one person is in favor of the one minister over against the other minister.
7 For who differentiates between you and others? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you indeed received it, why do you boast as though you have not received it?
8 You are already filled to the full; you have already become rich; you have become kings without us; and how I wish that you had become kings, in order that we ourselves may become kings with you.
9 For, it seems to me, that God has displayed us, the apostles, as the least of all, as men sentenced to die, because we have been made a public show for the world, both for angels and for people.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you Corinthians are intelligent in Christ; we are weak, you are strong; you are distinguished, we are despised.
11 Until this present hour we are customarily both hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed and physically abused and homeless
12 and labor by working with our own hands; when we are verbally abused, we bless in return; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
13 when we are slandered, we speak kindly; until now we have become as the scum of the earth, the filth of all people.
¶ 14 I am writing these things not to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children;
15 For if you have countless guides in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I myself became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
16 Therefore I am encouraging you, always be imitators of me.
17 For this reason I sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and trustworthy child in the Lord, who will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, just as I teach it everywhere in every church.
18 Some have become puffed up as though I am not coming to you;
19 but I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills it, and I will find out, not the word of those who have become puffed up but their power,
20 for the kingdom of God is not merely in word but in power.
21 What do you want? That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
C. Paul Addresses the Moral and Spiritual Problems within the Corinthian Congregation 1 Corinthians 5:1-6:20
1. Paul Addresses the Problem of Moral Incest 1 Corinthians 5:1-13
5
1 It is generally reported that there is a case of illicit sexual intercourse among you, and such a kind of illicit sexual intercourse that does not even occur among the pagans, namely that a certain man has his father’s wife!
2 And as for you, you yourselves have been proud of it! And you did not rather grieve over it, so that the man who committed this deed might be expelled from among you.
3 For while I am absent in body yet present in spirit, I have in this manner already passed judgment on this man who has committed this deed.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you and my spirit have assembled together in union with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 I have decided to hand such a man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, in order that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting about this matter is not morally good. Do you not know that a little yeast ferments through the whole batch of dough?
7 Clean out the old yeast, in order that you may be a new batch of dough, even as you are free from yeast. For indeed Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed;
8 therefore let us celebrate, not with the old yeast – indeed not with the yeast of evil intention and wickedness, but with the yeast-free bread of purity of motive and truthfulness.
¶ 9 I had written in my letter to you not to be associating with fornicators,
10 not at all meaning with the fornicators or with the covetous persons and swindlers or with the idolaters of this world, for otherwise you would have to go out of this world.
11 But now I wrote to you not to be associating with any brother if he is known to be a fornicator or covetous person or an idolater or a verbally abusive person or a drunkard or a swindler – not even to eat with such a person.
12 For what business is it of mine to be judging those outside of the church? As for you Corinthians, do you not judge those within the church?
13 God will judge those outside. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES!
2. Paul Addresses the Problem of the Corinthians Taking One Another to Court 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
6
1 Does any one of you, when he has a matter against another, dare to have a law suit before the unrighteous pagans, and not before the saints?
2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you incompetent of the most trivial kind of court?
3 Do you not know that we will judge angels, not to mention the matters of this life?
4 So if you have courts for the matters of this life, do you seat as judges those who are utterly despised in the church?
5 I say this to shame you. So is it possible that there is not any wise man among you who will be able to render a decision between his brothers?
6 But brother has a lawsuit with brother, and this before unbelievers?!
7 Already, then, it is wholly a defeat for you that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why not rather let yourselves be defrauded?
8 But as for you, you are doing wrong and defrauding, and this to brothers!
9 Or do you not know that unrighteous people will not inherit the kingdom of God? Stop being deceived! Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate men nor homosexuals
10 nor thieves nor covetous persons, nor drunkards, nor verbally abusive persons, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And that is what some of you were; but you let yourselves be washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
3. Paul Addresses the Problem of Illicit Sexual Intercourse 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
¶ 12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial. All things are lawful for me, but as for me, I will not be mastered by anything.
13 Foods for the stomach, and the stomach for foods; but God will do away with both this stomach and these foods. Yet the body is not for illicit sexual intercourse but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body;
14 and God raised both the Lord and he will raise us up by means of his power.
15 Do you not know that our bodies are members of Christ? Shall I take, then, the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? God forbid!
16 Or do you not know that the man who joins himself to the prostitute is one body with her? For he says, “THE TWO WILL BE ONE FLESH.”
17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him.
18 Always flee from illicit sexual intercourse; every sin that a man may do is outside of his body, but the man who takes part in illicit sexual intercourse sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that the body of each of you is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in each of you, whom you have from God, and you believers are not your own?
20 For you have been bought for a price; by all means, then, glorify God in your body.
D. Paul Addresses the Moral and Spiritual Issues about which the Corinthians Wrote 1 Corinthians 7:1-14:40
1. Paul Speaks about Marriage 1 Corinthians 7:1-24
7
1 Now concerning the things about which you wrote:
It is morally good for a man not to touch a woman;
2 but because of acts of illicit sexual intercourse let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
3 Let the husband keep fulfilling his duty to his wife, and in the same way let the wife keep fulfilling her duty to her husband.
4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but the husband does; and in the same way also the husband does not have authority over his own body but the wife does.
5 Do not deprive one another, unless by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again so that Satan may not begin to entice you to sin because of your lack of self-control.
6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.
7 Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am; but each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that manner.
¶ 8 Now I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is excellent for them if they remain as I am.
9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to repeatedly burn within themselves.
10 Now to those who have gotten married I give this command, not I but the Lord, that a wife not separate herself from her husband
11 – but if she indeed separates herself, let her remain unmarried or let her be reconciled to her husband – and that a man does not send his wife away.
12 Now to the rest I myself say, not the Lord, that if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and this woman agrees to live with him, let him not send her away;
13 and if any wife has an unbelieving husband, and this man agrees to live with her, let her not send her husband away.
14 For the unbelieving husband has been and remains sanctified in his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been and remains sanctified in the brother; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not bound in such cases; but God has called us in peace.
16 For how do you know, O Wife, if you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, O Husband, if you will save your wife?
¶ 17 Only as the Lord bestowed to each one, only as God has called each one, let each one live in such a manner; and this is what I command in all the churches.
18 Was some man called after he had been circumcised? Let him not conceal his circumcision! Has some man been called in an uncircumcised condition? Let him not be circumcised!
19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of God’s commandments.
20 Let each man remain in the station of life in which he was called.
21 Were you called when a slave? Stop being concerned about that! But if you are also able to become free, rather take advantage of the freedom.
22 For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman; likewise the one who was called as a free man is Christ’s slave.
23 You were bought for a price; keep from becoming slaves of men.
24 Brothers, let each man remain with the Lord in the station of life in which he was called.
2. Paul Addresses the Issue of Young Women Getting Married 1 Corinthians 7:25-40
¶ 25 Now concerning the virgins I do not have a command of the Lord, but I am giving an opinion as one who has been shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy.
26 Consequently, I think this to be excellent because of the present distress, namely, that it is morally good for a person to be in such a manner as this:
27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a divorce. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28 But if you indeed marry, you have not sinned; and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such persons will have tribulation in the flesh, and I am trying to spare you.
29 And I say this, brothers, the time of the world has been shortened; from now on let those who have wives be as though they have none,
30 and those who weep be as though they do not weep, and those who rejoice be as though they do not rejoice, and those who buy be as though they do not possess,
31 and those who make use of the world as those who do not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.
¶ 32 Now I want you to be free of concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33 but the married man is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,
34 and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but the married woman is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35 Now I say this for the benefit of your own selves, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote decency and undistracted devotion to the Lord.
¶ 36 Now if someone has the conviction that he is acting improperly with regard to his virgin daughter if she is of full age, and if it ought to be this way, let him do what he is resolved to do; he does not sin; let them marry.
37 But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no compulsion, and he has authority over his own will, and has reached this decision in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he will do what is right.
38 So then, both the father who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does what is right, and the father who does not give his virgin daughter in marriage will do better.
39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
40 But in my own judgment she is more blessed if she remains as she is, and I do believe I have the Spirit of God.
3 Paul Addresses the Issue of Eating Meat from Animals the Pagans Sacrificed to Idols 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1
3.a Paul Urges the Corinthians to Love the Weak and Not to Cause Them to Stumble 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
8
1 Now concerning the meat that has been sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up but love builds up.
2 If anyone thinks he has come to know and still knows something, he has not yet gotten to know as he ought to know;
3 but if someone loves God, this person has come to be known by him.
¶ 4 Consequently, concerning the eating of meat that has been sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing whatsoever in the world, and that there is no God except one.
5 For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords,
6 but for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we are for him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we are through him.
7 However, not everyone has this knowledge; but some Christian converts who are accustomed to the idol until now customarily eat meat as though it had been sacrificed to an idol, and because their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
8 But food will not bring us close to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, nor are we better if we do eat.
9 But see to it that this right of yours to eat does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.
10 For if someone sees you, who has knowledge, reclining at the table to eat in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be encouraged to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?
11 To be sure, the one who is weak perishes because of your knowledge, the brother for whose sake Christ died.
12 Moreover, in this manner by sinning against the brothers and wounding their weak conscience you sin against Christ.
13 For this very reason if food causes my brother to fall into sin, I will absolutely not eat meat ever again, in order that I may not cause my brother to fall into sin.
3.b Paul Urges the Corinthians to Make Sacrifices to Further the Gospel 1 Corinthians 9:1-27
9
¶ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my work in the Lord?
2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet at least I am to you. For you, you are the seal that confirms my apostleship in the Lord.
3 This is my defense to those who examine me:
4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink?
5 Do we not have the right to take a believing wife along, like the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
6 Or do only Barnabas and I not have the right to refrain from working?
7 Who ever serves as a soldier by providing his own rations? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends sheep and does not drink some of the milk of the flock?
8 I am not saying these things in accordance with a human principle, am I? Or does the law not say these things?
9 For in the law of Moses it is written, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE IT IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is he?
10 Or does he say this wholly for our sakes? Yes, for our sakes it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher ought to thresh in hope of having a share of the harvest.
11 If we on our part sowed spiritual things to you, is it a problem if we ourselves reap material things from you?
12 If others enjoy this right over you, should we not enjoy it even more?
¶ But we did not make use of this right; on the contrary, we endure all things in order that we may not give any hindrance to the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that those who conduct the sacred services eat the food from the temple? And that those who regularly attend to the sacrificial altar are assigned a portion of the sacrificial altar?
14 In the same way also the Lord directed those who are proclaiming the gospel to live by the gospel.
15 But I myself have not made use of any of these things. Now I did not write these things in order that it may become so in my case, for it would be better for me rather to die than someone should make my reason for boasting empty.
16 For if I preach the gospel, it is not a reason for boasting for me; for a necessity lies upon me; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if I do this unwillingly, I still have an office of administrator entrusted to me.
18 So what is my reward? That when I preach the gospel, I present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
¶ 19 For although I am free from all people, I made myself a slave to all people, in order that I may gain the greater number of people;
20 indeed to the Jews I became like a Jew, in order that I may gain Jews; to those under law I became like a man under law, although I myself am not under law, in order that I may gain those under law;
21 to those without law I became like a man without law, although I am not without the law of God but in the law of Christ, in order that I may gain those without law;
22 to the weak I became weak, in order that I may gain the weak; I have become all things to all people, in order that by all means I might save some.
23 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, in order that I may be a fellow participant in it.
¶ 24 Do you not know that those who run in the arena all run, but only one receives the prize? In the same way always run to win the prize.
25 And everyone who engages in an athletic contest exercises self-control in all things; they do so to receive a perishable crown, but we do so to receive an imperishable crown.
26 Consequently, I myself do not run like one who has no goal to reach, I do not box like one beating the air;
27 on the contrary, I beat my body black and blue and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself may not be disqualified.
1. Paul Speaks about Marriage 1 Corinthians 7:1-24
7
1 Now concerning the things about which you wrote:
It is morally good for a man not to touch a woman;
2 but because of acts of illicit sexual intercourse let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
3 Let the husband keep fulfilling his duty to his wife, and in the same way let the wife keep fulfilling her duty to her husband.
4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but the husband does; and in the same way also the husband does not have authority over his own body but the wife does.
5 Do not deprive one another, unless by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again so that Satan may not begin to entice you to sin because of your lack of self-control.
6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.
7 Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am; but each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that manner.
¶ 8 Now I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is excellent for them if they remain as I am.
9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to repeatedly burn within themselves.
10 Now to those who have gotten married I give this command, not I but the Lord, that a wife not separate herself from her husband
11 – but if she indeed separates herself, let her remain unmarried or let her be reconciled to her husband – and that a man does not send his wife away.
12 Now to the rest I myself say, not the Lord, that if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and this woman agrees to live with him, let him not send her away;
13 and if any wife has an unbelieving husband, and this man agrees to live with her, let her not send her husband away.
14 For the unbelieving husband has been and remains sanctified in his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been and remains sanctified in the brother; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not bound in such cases; but God has called us in peace.
16 For how do you know, O Wife, if you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, O Husband, if you will save your wife?
¶ 17 Only as the Lord bestowed to each one, only as God has called each one, let each one live in such a manner; and this is what I command in all the churches.
18 Was some man called after he had been circumcised? Let him not conceal his circumcision! Has some man been called in an uncircumcised condition? Let him not be circumcised!
19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of God’s commandments.
20 Let each man remain in the station of life in which he was called.
21 Were you called when a slave? Stop being concerned about that! But if you are also able to become free, rather take advantage of the freedom.
22 For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman; likewise the one who was called as a free man is Christ’s slave.
23 You were bought for a price; keep from becoming slaves of men.
24 Brothers, let each man remain with the Lord in the station of life in which he was called.
2. Paul Addresses the Issue of Young Women Getting Married 1 Corinthians 7:25-40
¶ 25 Now concerning the virgins I do not have a command of the Lord, but I am giving an opinion as one who has been shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy.
26 Consequently, I think this to be excellent because of the present distress, namely, that it is morally good for a person to be in such a manner as this:
27 Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a divorce. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28 But if you indeed marry, you have not sinned; and if the virgin marries, she has not sinned. But such persons will have tribulation in the flesh, and I am trying to spare you.
29 And I say this, brothers, the time of the world has been shortened; from now on let those who have wives be as though they have none,
30 and those who weep be as though they do not weep, and those who rejoice be as though they do not rejoice, and those who buy be as though they do not possess,
31 and those who make use of the world as those who do not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.
¶ 32 Now I want you to be free of concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33 but the married man is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,
34 and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but the married woman is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35 Now I say this for the benefit of your own selves, not to put a restraint on you, but to promote decency and undistracted devotion to the Lord.
¶ 36 Now if someone has the conviction that he is acting improperly with regard to his virgin daughter if she is of full age, and if it ought to be this way, let him do what he is resolved to do; he does not sin; let them marry.
37 But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no compulsion, and he has authority over his own will, and has reached this decision in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he will do what is right.
38 So then, both the father who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does what is right, and the father who does not give his virgin daughter in marriage will do better.
39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
40 But in my own judgment she is more blessed if she remains as she is, and I do believe I have the Spirit of God.
3 Paul Addresses the Issue of Eating Meat from Animals the Pagans Sacrificed to Idols 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1
3.a Paul Urges the Corinthians to Love the Weak and Not to Cause Them to Stumble 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
8
1 Now concerning the meat that has been sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up but love builds up.
2 If anyone thinks he has come to know and still knows something, he has not yet gotten to know as he ought to know;
3 but if someone loves God, this person has come to be known by him.
¶ 4 Consequently, concerning the eating of meat that has been sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing whatsoever in the world, and that there is no God except one.
5 For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords,
6 but for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we are for him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and we are through him.
7 However, not everyone has this knowledge; but some Christian converts who are accustomed to the idol until now customarily eat meat as though it had been sacrificed to an idol, and because their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
8 But food will not bring us close to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, nor are we better if we do eat.
9 But see to it that this right of yours to eat does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.
10 For if someone sees you, who has knowledge, reclining at the table to eat in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be encouraged to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?
11 To be sure, the one who is weak perishes because of your knowledge, the brother for whose sake Christ died.
12 Moreover, in this manner by sinning against the brothers and wounding their weak conscience you sin against Christ.
13 For this very reason if food causes my brother to fall into sin, I will absolutely not eat meat ever again, in order that I may not cause my brother to fall into sin.
3.b Paul Urges the Corinthians to Make Sacrifices to Further the Gospel 1 Corinthians 9:1-27
9
¶ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my work in the Lord?
2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet at least I am to you. For you, you are the seal that confirms my apostleship in the Lord.
3 This is my defense to those who examine me:
4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink?
5 Do we not have the right to take a believing wife along, like the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?
6 Or do only Barnabas and I not have the right to refrain from working?
7 Who ever serves as a soldier by providing his own rations? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends sheep and does not drink some of the milk of the flock?
8 I am not saying these things in accordance with a human principle, am I? Or does the law not say these things?
9 For in the law of Moses it is written, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE IT IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is he?
10 Or does he say this wholly for our sakes? Yes, for our sakes it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher ought to thresh in hope of having a share of the harvest.
11 If we on our part sowed spiritual things to you, is it a problem if we ourselves reap material things from you?
12 If others enjoy this right over you, should we not enjoy it even more?
¶ But we did not make use of this right; on the contrary, we endure all things in order that we may not give any hindrance to the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that those who conduct the sacred services eat the food from the temple? And that those who regularly attend to the sacrificial altar are assigned a portion of the sacrificial altar?
14 In the same way also the Lord directed those who are proclaiming the gospel to live by the gospel.
15 But I myself have not made use of any of these things. Now I did not write these things in order that it may become so in my case, for it would be better for me rather to die than someone should make my reason for boasting empty.
16 For if I preach the gospel, it is not a reason for boasting for me; for a necessity lies upon me; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if I do this unwillingly, I still have an office of administrator entrusted to me.
18 So what is my reward? That when I preach the gospel, I present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
¶ 19 For although I am free from all people, I made myself a slave to all people, in order that I may gain the greater number of people;
20 indeed to the Jews I became like a Jew, in order that I may gain Jews; to those under law I became like a man under law, although I myself am not under law, in order that I may gain those under law;
21 to those without law I became like a man without law, although I am not without the law of God but in the law of Christ, in order that I may gain those without law;
22 to the weak I became weak, in order that I may gain the weak; I have become all things to all people, in order that by all means I might save some.
23 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, in order that I may be a fellow participant in it.
¶ 24 Do you not know that those who run in the arena all run, but only one receives the prize? In the same way always run to win the prize.
25 And everyone who engages in an athletic contest exercises self-control in all things; they do so to receive a perishable crown, but we do so to receive an imperishable crown.
26 Consequently, I myself do not run like one who has no goal to reach, I do not box like one beating the air;
27 on the contrary, I beat my body black and blue and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself may not be disqualified.
3.c Paul Warns the Corinthians about Becoming Disqualified and Idolatry 1 Corinthians 10:1-11:1
10
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our forefathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea,
2 and all were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3 and all ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they were drinking out of a spiritual rock accompanying them; and the rock was Christ.
5 But God was not well pleased with the majority of them, for their bodies were strewn over the ground in the wilderness.
6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so we would not be persons who lust after evil things, even as those people lusted after evil things.
7 And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND TO DRINK, AND ROSE UP TO PLAY.”
8 And let us not take part in illicit sexual intercourse, as some of them engaged in, and twenty-three thousand fell dead in one day.
9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them put him to the test, and were destroyed by the serpents.
10 And do not grumble, just as some of them grumbled, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11 Now these things happened to them as a warning, and were recorded for our instruction, to whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 For this reason let the person who thinks he stands be careful that he does not fall.
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind; but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will make together with the temptation the way out also so you will be able to bear up under it.
¶ 14 Therefore, my beloved, continue to flee from idolatry.
15 I am speaking as to sensible people; you yourselves judge what I mean.
16 The cup of blessing that we customarily bless, is it not a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread that we customarily break, is it not a sharing of the body of Christ?
17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
18 Look at the earthly Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers of the altar?
19 What, then, do I mean? That meat that has been sacrificed to an idol is anything? Or, that an idol is anything?
20 No, but the things that the pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers of demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot participate in the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22 Or, are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he is, are we?
¶ 23 All things are permissible, but all things are not beneficial. All things are permissible, but all things do not build up.
24 Let no one seek his own interest, but the interest of the other person.
25 Continue to eat everything that is sold in the butcher shop without questioning anything for the sake of the conscience,
26 For “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN IT.”
27 If one of the unbelievers invites you believers and you desire to go, eat everything that is set before you without questioning anything for the sake of the conscience.
28 But if someone says to you, “This is meat that was sacrificed to an idol,” do not eat it for the sake of that person who made this known and for the conscience –
29 now I do not mean your own conscience but the conscience of the other person. For why is my freedom judged by another person’s conscience?
30 For if I myself partake of the meat with thankfulness, why am I slandered for what I myself give thanks?
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God!
32 Avoid giving offense, whether to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
33 just as I myself also please all people in every way, not seeking my own benefit but the benefit of the many that they may be saved.
11
1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
4. Paul Addresses the Issue of Women Covering Their Heads while Praying 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
¶ 2 Now I praise you because you are remembering me in all things and you are holding fast the teachings just as I handed them down to you.
3 Now I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
4 Every man who has his head covered while praying or prophesying dishonors his head;
5 every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying dishonors her head; for it is one and the same thing as her head being shaven.
6 For if a woman does not cover her head with a veil, let her have her hair cut short; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut short or her head shaved, let her cover her head with a veil.
7 For a man, to be sure, ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
8 For man is not derived from woman, but woman is out of man;
9 for indeed man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman was created for the sake of the man.
10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head on account of the angels.
11 In any case, in the Lord neither woman is apart from man nor is man apart from woman;
12 for just as the woman is out of the man, in the same way also the man is by means of the woman; and all things are from God.
13 Judge in your own selves; is it fitting for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
14 Does not even nature teach you this that on the one hand if a man lets his hair grow long, it is a dishonor to him,
15 but on the other hand if a woman lets her hair grow long it is to her honor? For the hair has been given to her in place of a covering.
16 But if someone is inclined to be contentious about this, we ourselves have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
5. Paul Addresses the Issue of the Lord’s Supper 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
¶ 17 In passing this along I do not praise that you come together not for the better but for the worse.
18 For in the first place I am told that when you come together as a church gathering, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
19 For there must indeed be divisions among you, in order that those who are proven may become evident among you.
20 Therefore when you come together at the same place it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper,
21 for at the time of eating each one customarily eats his own supper beforehand, and one remains hungry, and the other gets drunk.
22 What! Do you not have houses for eating and drinking? Or are you despising the church of God, and humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you!
¶ 23 For, I, I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body which is for you; keep doing this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood; keep doing this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death, until he comes.
¶ 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of a sin against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a person examine himself, and in this manner let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup;
29 for the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks condemnation to himself if he does not recognize the body of the Lord.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick and a considerable number are dead.
31 But if we would judge ourselves correctly, we would not be judged;
32 and when we are being judged by the Lord, we are being chastised, lest we be condemned together with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, customarily wait for one another.
34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. Now the rest of the issues I shall set in order when I come.
10
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our forefathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea,
2 and all were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3 and all ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they were drinking out of a spiritual rock accompanying them; and the rock was Christ.
5 But God was not well pleased with the majority of them, for their bodies were strewn over the ground in the wilderness.
6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so we would not be persons who lust after evil things, even as those people lusted after evil things.
7 And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND TO DRINK, AND ROSE UP TO PLAY.”
8 And let us not take part in illicit sexual intercourse, as some of them engaged in, and twenty-three thousand fell dead in one day.
9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them put him to the test, and were destroyed by the serpents.
10 And do not grumble, just as some of them grumbled, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11 Now these things happened to them as a warning, and were recorded for our instruction, to whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 For this reason let the person who thinks he stands be careful that he does not fall.
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind; but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will make together with the temptation the way out also so you will be able to bear up under it.
¶ 14 Therefore, my beloved, continue to flee from idolatry.
15 I am speaking as to sensible people; you yourselves judge what I mean.
16 The cup of blessing that we customarily bless, is it not a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread that we customarily break, is it not a sharing of the body of Christ?
17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
18 Look at the earthly Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers of the altar?
19 What, then, do I mean? That meat that has been sacrificed to an idol is anything? Or, that an idol is anything?
20 No, but the things that the pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become sharers of demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot participate in the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22 Or, are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he is, are we?
¶ 23 All things are permissible, but all things are not beneficial. All things are permissible, but all things do not build up.
24 Let no one seek his own interest, but the interest of the other person.
25 Continue to eat everything that is sold in the butcher shop without questioning anything for the sake of the conscience,
26 For “THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN IT.”
27 If one of the unbelievers invites you believers and you desire to go, eat everything that is set before you without questioning anything for the sake of the conscience.
28 But if someone says to you, “This is meat that was sacrificed to an idol,” do not eat it for the sake of that person who made this known and for the conscience –
29 now I do not mean your own conscience but the conscience of the other person. For why is my freedom judged by another person’s conscience?
30 For if I myself partake of the meat with thankfulness, why am I slandered for what I myself give thanks?
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God!
32 Avoid giving offense, whether to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
33 just as I myself also please all people in every way, not seeking my own benefit but the benefit of the many that they may be saved.
11
1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
4. Paul Addresses the Issue of Women Covering Their Heads while Praying 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
¶ 2 Now I praise you because you are remembering me in all things and you are holding fast the teachings just as I handed them down to you.
3 Now I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
4 Every man who has his head covered while praying or prophesying dishonors his head;
5 every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying dishonors her head; for it is one and the same thing as her head being shaven.
6 For if a woman does not cover her head with a veil, let her have her hair cut short; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut short or her head shaved, let her cover her head with a veil.
7 For a man, to be sure, ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
8 For man is not derived from woman, but woman is out of man;
9 for indeed man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman was created for the sake of the man.
10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head on account of the angels.
11 In any case, in the Lord neither woman is apart from man nor is man apart from woman;
12 for just as the woman is out of the man, in the same way also the man is by means of the woman; and all things are from God.
13 Judge in your own selves; is it fitting for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
14 Does not even nature teach you this that on the one hand if a man lets his hair grow long, it is a dishonor to him,
15 but on the other hand if a woman lets her hair grow long it is to her honor? For the hair has been given to her in place of a covering.
16 But if someone is inclined to be contentious about this, we ourselves have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
5. Paul Addresses the Issue of the Lord’s Supper 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
¶ 17 In passing this along I do not praise that you come together not for the better but for the worse.
18 For in the first place I am told that when you come together as a church gathering, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
19 For there must indeed be divisions among you, in order that those who are proven may become evident among you.
20 Therefore when you come together at the same place it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper,
21 for at the time of eating each one customarily eats his own supper beforehand, and one remains hungry, and the other gets drunk.
22 What! Do you not have houses for eating and drinking? Or are you despising the church of God, and humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you!
¶ 23 For, I, I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body which is for you; keep doing this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new testament in my blood; keep doing this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death, until he comes.
¶ 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of a sin against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a person examine himself, and in this manner let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup;
29 for the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks condemnation to himself if he does not recognize the body of the Lord.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick and a considerable number are dead.
31 But if we would judge ourselves correctly, we would not be judged;
32 and when we are being judged by the Lord, we are being chastised, lest we be condemned together with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, customarily wait for one another.
34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. Now the rest of the issues I shall set in order when I come.
6. Paul Addresses the Issue of Spiritual Gifts 1 Corinthians 12:1-14:40
6.a Paul Explains Faith in Jesus is a Gift of the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 12:1-3
12
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
2 Know that when you were pagans, you were being led astray to the dumb idols, when you used to be led astray.
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by means of the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed!” And no one is able to say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by means of the Holy Spirit.
6.b Paul Explains the Holy Spirit Gives a Variety of Spiritual Gifts 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
¶ 4 Now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5 and there are different kinds of ministries, and yet the same Lord;
6 and there are different kinds of works done, but the same God who works all in all.
7 Now to each one is given the disclosure of the Spirit for that which profits the church of believers.
8 For to one the teaching of wisdom is given by means of the Spirit, to another the teaching of knowledge by virtue of the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the one Spirit,
10 and to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues;
11 the one and the same Spirit works all these gifts, distributing to each person individually just as he intends.
6.c Paul Explains Christians have Different Gifts and Functions 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
¶ 12 For even as the body is one and it has many members, and all the members of the body, although they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we all also were baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether slaves or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink.
14 For the body also is not one member but many members.
15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it would not for this reason not be a part of the body;
16 and if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it would not for this reason not be a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But, as a matter of fact, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
19 Now if they all were one member, where would the body be?
20 But now, to be sure, there are many members, but only one body.
21 Now the eye cannot tell the hand, “I have no need of you,” or again, the head cannot tell the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be inferior are much more necessary,
23 and the members of the body that we think are more dishonorable, on these we place greater honor, and our private parts are given greater modesty,
24 and our presentable members have no need for it. But God has blended the members of the body, and has given greater honor to the member lacking honor,
25 in order that there may be no division in the body, but that the members have the same concern for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
¶ 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually you are members of it.
28 And God appointed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracle workers, then those who have gifts of healings, those who render helpful services,those gifted for administration, those who speak in different kinds of tongues.
29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not miracle workers, are they?
30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak in tongues, do they? All do not interpret tongues, do they?
31 But always eagerly desire the greater gifts.
6.d Paul Explains Love Is the Greatest Gift 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13
¶ And I will point out to you a still far better way.
13
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but I do not have love, I have become a brass gong ringing out or a clashing cymbal.
2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and know all the mysteries and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains from one place to another, but I do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I hand over my body to be burned, and I do not have love, I benefit nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, does not boast, is not conceited.
5 Love does not behave disgracefully, does not seek things for itself, does not become angry, does not take into account the wrong done.
6 It does not rejoice in wickedness, but rejoices with the truth.
7 It covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
¶ 8 Love never fails. But if there are prophecies, they will pass away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
10 but whenever perfection may come, the imperfect will pass away.
11 When I used to be a young child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I set aside the childish things.
12 For now we see by means of a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know thoroughly just as I also have been known thoroughly.
13 But now remain faith, hope, love – these three; but the greatest of these is love.
6.e Paul Teaches the Corinthians to Use Their Spiritual Gifts Properly in Their Worship Services 1 Corinthians 14:1-40
14
1 Keep striving for love, and always eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit, but preferably that you prophesy.
2 You see, the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God, for no one understands, and in his spirit he speaks mysteries;
3 but the one who prophesies speaks to people for their edification and encouragement and comfort.
4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself; but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but preferably that you prophesy; and the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets the tongues, in order that the church may be built up.
¶ 6 And now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I benefit you, unless I speak to you either by means of a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?
7 All the same, although lifeless instruments produce a sound, whether a flute or a harp, if it did not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or the harp?
8 And, you see, if a trumpet produces an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?
9 In the same way also if you by means of the tongue do not produce an easily recognizable speech, how will what is being said be understood? For you will be speaking into the air!
10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none without meaning;
11 so if I do not understand the meaning of the language, I shall be a barbarian to the one who is speaking and the one who is speaking will be a barbarian to me.
12 In the same way also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, keep striving to abound in gifts for the purpose of building up the church.
13 Therefore let the one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret the tongue.
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
15 What does it come down to, then? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
16 Otherwise, if you are giving thanks in your spirit, how will the one who occupies the place of the unskilled in the gift of tongues say the “Amen” to your prayer of thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
17 For you, to be sure, on your part are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.
18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you;
19 but in the church I want to speak five words with my mind in order to also instruct others rather than countless words in a tongue.
¶ 20 Brothers, keep from being children in your understanding, but continue to be infants in wickedness, and always be adults in your understanding.
21 It is written in the law that
“BY MEN OF A FOREIGN TONGUE
AND BY LIPS OF STRANGERS
I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE,
AND NOT EVEN THEN WILL THEY LISTEN to me,”
says the Lord.
22 So then, tongues are for a sign, not for those who believe but for the unbelievers, and prophecy is for a sign, not for the unbelievers but for those who believe.
23 Therefore if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and those unskilled in the gift of tongues or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or one unskilled in the gift of tongues comes in, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all,
25 the secrets of his heart are made known, and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring, “Truly God is among you!”
¶ 26 What does it come down to, then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a psalm, each one has a teaching, each one has a revelation, each one has a tongue, each one has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let it be done by two or at the most three, and one after the other, and let one man interpret.
28 But if there is no interpreter, let the tongue speaker remain silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment;
30 but if a revelation is revealed to another who is seated, let the first prophet be silent.
31 For you all can prophesy one at a time, in order that all may learn and all may be encouraged,
32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets;
33 for God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
¶ As in all the churches of the saints,
34 let the women be silent in the churches, for they are not allowed to speak; on the contrary, let them be in subjection, just as the law says.
35 And if they wish to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.
36 Or was it from you that the word of God went out, or did it come to you only?
¶ 37 If someone thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him know for certain the things which I am writing to you are the Lord’s command;
38 and if someone does not acknowledge this, he himself is not acknowledged.
39 So then, my brothers, always eagerly desire prophesying, and yet do not forbid the speaking in tongues.
40 Let all things be done decently and in accordance with good order.
6.a Paul Explains Faith in Jesus is a Gift of the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 12:1-3
12
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
2 Know that when you were pagans, you were being led astray to the dumb idols, when you used to be led astray.
3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by means of the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed!” And no one is able to say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by means of the Holy Spirit.
6.b Paul Explains the Holy Spirit Gives a Variety of Spiritual Gifts 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
¶ 4 Now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5 and there are different kinds of ministries, and yet the same Lord;
6 and there are different kinds of works done, but the same God who works all in all.
7 Now to each one is given the disclosure of the Spirit for that which profits the church of believers.
8 For to one the teaching of wisdom is given by means of the Spirit, to another the teaching of knowledge by virtue of the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the one Spirit,
10 and to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues;
11 the one and the same Spirit works all these gifts, distributing to each person individually just as he intends.
6.c Paul Explains Christians have Different Gifts and Functions 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
¶ 12 For even as the body is one and it has many members, and all the members of the body, although they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we all also were baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether slaves or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink.
14 For the body also is not one member but many members.
15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it would not for this reason not be a part of the body;
16 and if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it would not for this reason not be a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
18 But, as a matter of fact, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
19 Now if they all were one member, where would the body be?
20 But now, to be sure, there are many members, but only one body.
21 Now the eye cannot tell the hand, “I have no need of you,” or again, the head cannot tell the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be inferior are much more necessary,
23 and the members of the body that we think are more dishonorable, on these we place greater honor, and our private parts are given greater modesty,
24 and our presentable members have no need for it. But God has blended the members of the body, and has given greater honor to the member lacking honor,
25 in order that there may be no division in the body, but that the members have the same concern for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
¶ 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually you are members of it.
28 And God appointed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracle workers, then those who have gifts of healings, those who render helpful services,those gifted for administration, those who speak in different kinds of tongues.
29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not miracle workers, are they?
30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak in tongues, do they? All do not interpret tongues, do they?
31 But always eagerly desire the greater gifts.
6.d Paul Explains Love Is the Greatest Gift 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13
¶ And I will point out to you a still far better way.
13
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but I do not have love, I have become a brass gong ringing out or a clashing cymbal.
2 And if I have the gift of prophecy and know all the mysteries and all the knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains from one place to another, but I do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I hand over my body to be burned, and I do not have love, I benefit nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, does not boast, is not conceited.
5 Love does not behave disgracefully, does not seek things for itself, does not become angry, does not take into account the wrong done.
6 It does not rejoice in wickedness, but rejoices with the truth.
7 It covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
¶ 8 Love never fails. But if there are prophecies, they will pass away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
10 but whenever perfection may come, the imperfect will pass away.
11 When I used to be a young child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I set aside the childish things.
12 For now we see by means of a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know thoroughly just as I also have been known thoroughly.
13 But now remain faith, hope, love – these three; but the greatest of these is love.
6.e Paul Teaches the Corinthians to Use Their Spiritual Gifts Properly in Their Worship Services 1 Corinthians 14:1-40
14
1 Keep striving for love, and always eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit, but preferably that you prophesy.
2 You see, the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God, for no one understands, and in his spirit he speaks mysteries;
3 but the one who prophesies speaks to people for their edification and encouragement and comfort.
4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself; but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but preferably that you prophesy; and the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets the tongues, in order that the church may be built up.
¶ 6 And now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I benefit you, unless I speak to you either by means of a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?
7 All the same, although lifeless instruments produce a sound, whether a flute or a harp, if it did not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or the harp?
8 And, you see, if a trumpet produces an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?
9 In the same way also if you by means of the tongue do not produce an easily recognizable speech, how will what is being said be understood? For you will be speaking into the air!
10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none without meaning;
11 so if I do not understand the meaning of the language, I shall be a barbarian to the one who is speaking and the one who is speaking will be a barbarian to me.
12 In the same way also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, keep striving to abound in gifts for the purpose of building up the church.
13 Therefore let the one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret the tongue.
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
15 What does it come down to, then? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.
16 Otherwise, if you are giving thanks in your spirit, how will the one who occupies the place of the unskilled in the gift of tongues say the “Amen” to your prayer of thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
17 For you, to be sure, on your part are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.
18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you;
19 but in the church I want to speak five words with my mind in order to also instruct others rather than countless words in a tongue.
¶ 20 Brothers, keep from being children in your understanding, but continue to be infants in wickedness, and always be adults in your understanding.
21 It is written in the law that
“BY MEN OF A FOREIGN TONGUE
AND BY LIPS OF STRANGERS
I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE,
AND NOT EVEN THEN WILL THEY LISTEN to me,”
says the Lord.
22 So then, tongues are for a sign, not for those who believe but for the unbelievers, and prophecy is for a sign, not for the unbelievers but for those who believe.
23 Therefore if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and those unskilled in the gift of tongues or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or one unskilled in the gift of tongues comes in, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all,
25 the secrets of his heart are made known, and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring, “Truly God is among you!”
¶ 26 What does it come down to, then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a psalm, each one has a teaching, each one has a revelation, each one has a tongue, each one has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let it be done by two or at the most three, and one after the other, and let one man interpret.
28 But if there is no interpreter, let the tongue speaker remain silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment;
30 but if a revelation is revealed to another who is seated, let the first prophet be silent.
31 For you all can prophesy one at a time, in order that all may learn and all may be encouraged,
32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets;
33 for God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
¶ As in all the churches of the saints,
34 let the women be silent in the churches, for they are not allowed to speak; on the contrary, let them be in subjection, just as the law says.
35 And if they wish to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.
36 Or was it from you that the word of God went out, or did it come to you only?
¶ 37 If someone thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him know for certain the things which I am writing to you are the Lord’s command;
38 and if someone does not acknowledge this, he himself is not acknowledged.
39 So then, my brothers, always eagerly desire prophesying, and yet do not forbid the speaking in tongues.
40 Let all things be done decently and in accordance with good order.
E. Paul Addresses the Corinthians’ Doctrinal Problem with the Resurrection of the Dead 1 Corinthians 15:1-58
1. Paul Upholds the Resurrection of Christ 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
15
1 Now I want to make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand,
2 by means of which you are also saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I handed down to you of foremost importance, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4 and that he was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve;
6 thereafter he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, of whom the majority remains up to the present time, but some have fallen asleep;
7 thereafter he appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
8 and last of all as though to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
9 For I, I am the least of the apostles, who is not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God;
10 but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not to no avail; on the contrary, I labored even more than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God with me.
11 So whether it was I, or they, in this manner we preach and in this manner you believed.
2. Paul Upholds the Resurrection of the Dead 1 Corinthians 15:12-34
¶ 12 Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how is it possible that some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is without any basis, your faith is also without any basis.
15 Moreover we are found to also be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if indeed the dead are not raised;
16 you see, if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised;
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins.
18 Consequently also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If only for this life we have hoped in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people.
¶ 20 But as a matter of fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came by means of a man, the resurrection of the dead also came by means of a man;
22 for just as they all go on dying in connection with Adam, in the same also they all will be made alive in connection with Christ.
23 But each one in his own order; Christ the first-fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming;
24 then the end comes, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must rule until he has put all the enemies under his feet.
26 Death is the last enemy abolished.
27 For HE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when he said that all things have been put in subjection, it is clear that this means all things except for him who put all things in subjection to him.
28 Now when all things have been subjected to him, at that time the Son himself will also subject himself to him who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.
¶ 29 Otherwise what will they do who are baptized over the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why in fact are they baptized over them?
30 And as for us, why are we in danger every hour?
31 Truly, brothers, I assure you by the boasting in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord – I die everyday!
32 If after the manner of man I fought wild beasts in Ephesus, what benefit is it to me? If the dead are not raised,
“LET US EAT AND DRINK,
FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.”
33 Stop being deceived! Bad company corrupts good morals.
34 Sober up as you ought to! And stop sinning! For some have an ignorance of God. I say this to shame you.
3. Paul Upholds the Resurrection of the Body 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
¶ 35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of a body will they come?”
36 You fool! What you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies;
37 and what you sow, you do not sow the body it will become but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other kind of seed;
38 and God gives it a body just as he desired, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
39 Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one flesh of humans, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another flesh of fish.
40 And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly is one and the splendor of the earthly is another.
41 There is one splendor of the sun, and another splendor of the moon, and another splendor of the stars; to be sure star differs from star in splendor.
¶ 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in decay, it is raised never to decay;
43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
45 In this manner also it is written, “THE first MAN Adam BECAME A LIVING SOUL;” the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 Nevertheless, the spiritual is not first but the natural, thereafter the spiritual.
47 The first man was out of the earth – earthy, the second man is out of heaven.
48 As was the earthy man, such are those who are earthy also, and as is the heavenly man, such are those who are heavenly also;
49 and just as we have borne the likeness of the earthy man, so shall we also bear the likeness of the heavenly man.
¶ 50 Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood are not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor does what decays inherit what never decays.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we all will be changed,
52 in a moment, in a blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised as ones who never decay, and we will be changed.
53 For this body that decays must put on what never decays and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 Then when this body that decays has put on what never decays and this mortal has put on immortality, at that time the saying that has been written will come to pass,
“DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.
55 WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY?
WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?”
56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57 but thanks be to God who gives us the victory by means of our Lord Jesus Christ!
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, always be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Part 3: The Conclusion 1 Corinthians 16:1-24
A. Paul Urges the Collection for the Saints 1 Corinthians 16:1-4
16
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, you, on your part, do as I directed the churches of Galatia to do.
2 On the first day of the week let each one of you keep setting aside whatever he may gain and save it, in order that no collections need to be made when I come.
3 Then when I arrive, I will send whomever you may approve with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem;
4 and if it may be worthwhile for me to also go, they will travel with me.
B. Paul Speaks about His Travel Plans 1 Corinthians 16:5-9
¶ 5 I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia.
6 Now if possible I will remain with you or even spend the winter, in order that you may help me on my journey wherever I may go.
7 For I do not want to see you now only in passing, for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits it.
8 But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost;
9 for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.
C. Paul Informs the Corinthians about Timothy and Apollos 1 Corinthians 16:10-12
¶ 10 Now if Timothy comes, see to it that he may be with you without a cause to be afraid, for he is carrying out the work of the Lord as I am also.
11 Therefore let no one despise him. But help him on his journey in peace, in order that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
¶ 12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I urged him strongly to come to you with the brothers; and it was not at all his will to come now, but he will come when he has the opportunity.
D. Paul’s Final Encouragement, Acknowledgment, Greetings, and Benediction 1 Corinthians 16:13-24
¶ 13 Always be on the alert, keep standing firm in the faith, continue to be courageous like a man, always be strong!
14 Let all your actions be done in love.
15 You know the household of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia and they devoted themselves for service to the saints. Now I urge you, brothers,
16 that as for you, you also keep subjecting yourselves to such men and to all who are working together and laboring.
17 And I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, that these men have supplied what was lacking on your part,
18 for they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men!
¶ 19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Pricilla enthusiastically greet you in the Lord together with the church at their house.
20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed! Come, O Lord!
23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
24 My love is with all of you in Christ Jesus.
1. Paul Upholds the Resurrection of Christ 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
15
1 Now I want to make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand,
2 by means of which you are also saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I handed down to you of foremost importance, what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4 and that he was buried, and that he has been raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve;
6 thereafter he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, of whom the majority remains up to the present time, but some have fallen asleep;
7 thereafter he appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
8 and last of all as though to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
9 For I, I am the least of the apostles, who is not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God;
10 but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not to no avail; on the contrary, I labored even more than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God with me.
11 So whether it was I, or they, in this manner we preach and in this manner you believed.
2. Paul Upholds the Resurrection of the Dead 1 Corinthians 15:12-34
¶ 12 Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how is it possible that some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is without any basis, your faith is also without any basis.
15 Moreover we are found to also be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if indeed the dead are not raised;
16 you see, if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised;
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins.
18 Consequently also, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If only for this life we have hoped in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people.
¶ 20 But as a matter of fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came by means of a man, the resurrection of the dead also came by means of a man;
22 for just as they all go on dying in connection with Adam, in the same also they all will be made alive in connection with Christ.
23 But each one in his own order; Christ the first-fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming;
24 then the end comes, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must rule until he has put all the enemies under his feet.
26 Death is the last enemy abolished.
27 For HE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when he said that all things have been put in subjection, it is clear that this means all things except for him who put all things in subjection to him.
28 Now when all things have been subjected to him, at that time the Son himself will also subject himself to him who subjected all things to him, in order that God may be all in all.
¶ 29 Otherwise what will they do who are baptized over the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why in fact are they baptized over them?
30 And as for us, why are we in danger every hour?
31 Truly, brothers, I assure you by the boasting in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord – I die everyday!
32 If after the manner of man I fought wild beasts in Ephesus, what benefit is it to me? If the dead are not raised,
“LET US EAT AND DRINK,
FOR TOMORROW WE DIE.”
33 Stop being deceived! Bad company corrupts good morals.
34 Sober up as you ought to! And stop sinning! For some have an ignorance of God. I say this to shame you.
3. Paul Upholds the Resurrection of the Body 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
¶ 35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of a body will they come?”
36 You fool! What you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies;
37 and what you sow, you do not sow the body it will become but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other kind of seed;
38 and God gives it a body just as he desired, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.
39 Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one flesh of humans, and another flesh of animals, and another flesh of birds, and another flesh of fish.
40 And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly is one and the splendor of the earthly is another.
41 There is one splendor of the sun, and another splendor of the moon, and another splendor of the stars; to be sure star differs from star in splendor.
¶ 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in decay, it is raised never to decay;
43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
45 In this manner also it is written, “THE first MAN Adam BECAME A LIVING SOUL;” the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 Nevertheless, the spiritual is not first but the natural, thereafter the spiritual.
47 The first man was out of the earth – earthy, the second man is out of heaven.
48 As was the earthy man, such are those who are earthy also, and as is the heavenly man, such are those who are heavenly also;
49 and just as we have borne the likeness of the earthy man, so shall we also bear the likeness of the heavenly man.
¶ 50 Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood are not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor does what decays inherit what never decays.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we all will be changed,
52 in a moment, in a blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised as ones who never decay, and we will be changed.
53 For this body that decays must put on what never decays and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 Then when this body that decays has put on what never decays and this mortal has put on immortality, at that time the saying that has been written will come to pass,
“DEATH HAS BEEN SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.
55 WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR VICTORY?
WHERE, O DEATH, IS YOUR STING?”
56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57 but thanks be to God who gives us the victory by means of our Lord Jesus Christ!
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, always be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Part 3: The Conclusion 1 Corinthians 16:1-24
A. Paul Urges the Collection for the Saints 1 Corinthians 16:1-4
16
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, you, on your part, do as I directed the churches of Galatia to do.
2 On the first day of the week let each one of you keep setting aside whatever he may gain and save it, in order that no collections need to be made when I come.
3 Then when I arrive, I will send whomever you may approve with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem;
4 and if it may be worthwhile for me to also go, they will travel with me.
B. Paul Speaks about His Travel Plans 1 Corinthians 16:5-9
¶ 5 I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia.
6 Now if possible I will remain with you or even spend the winter, in order that you may help me on my journey wherever I may go.
7 For I do not want to see you now only in passing, for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits it.
8 But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost;
9 for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.
C. Paul Informs the Corinthians about Timothy and Apollos 1 Corinthians 16:10-12
¶ 10 Now if Timothy comes, see to it that he may be with you without a cause to be afraid, for he is carrying out the work of the Lord as I am also.
11 Therefore let no one despise him. But help him on his journey in peace, in order that he may come to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
¶ 12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I urged him strongly to come to you with the brothers; and it was not at all his will to come now, but he will come when he has the opportunity.
D. Paul’s Final Encouragement, Acknowledgment, Greetings, and Benediction 1 Corinthians 16:13-24
¶ 13 Always be on the alert, keep standing firm in the faith, continue to be courageous like a man, always be strong!
14 Let all your actions be done in love.
15 You know the household of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia and they devoted themselves for service to the saints. Now I urge you, brothers,
16 that as for you, you also keep subjecting yourselves to such men and to all who are working together and laboring.
17 And I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, that these men have supplied what was lacking on your part,
18 for they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such men!
¶ 19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Pricilla enthusiastically greet you in the Lord together with the church at their house.
20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed! Come, O Lord!
23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
24 My love is with all of you in Christ Jesus.
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