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What does 1 Corinthians 1 mean?

Chapter Commentary:

Paul is writing from Ephesus to the church in Corinth, a place he knows well. He spent over a year and half there, leading people to Christ and helping to establish the church. He is writing to them now to correct some wrong attitudes and behaviors among them that he has heard about, in addition to answering some questions he has received from them.

Before addressing his first area of concern for them, Paul begins his letter by thanking God for all He has done for the Christians in Corinth. Paul makes it clear he is convinced the faith of the Corinthians is genuine. It was confirmed by the gifts they have received from God, which include gifts of speech and knowledge. Whatever problems they have, it is not because God has not given them all they need. Paul assures them that because they are in Christ, they will stand blameless before God on the day of the Lord and Christ will sustain them until that day. They have been sanctified and their faithful God has called them into the fellowship of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:1–9).

Next Paul begins to address one of many concerns he has about the Corinthians. He has received a report from someone who knows them, indicating they are divided into factions based on what well-known teacher they are loyal to. Some say they follow Paul, while others say they follow a teacher called Apollos or the apostle Peter. Others even say that they follow Christ, as if it were a separate category altogether. Paul urges them be unified instead of divided, to find a way to agree with each other and stop defining their faith by the teacher they prefer, including him. Christ is not divided. They were not baptized in Paul's name. He did baptize some of them, but they were baptized in the name of Jesus. All their focus should be on Christ, not one human leader or another (1 Corinthians 1:10–17).

Paul transitions by declaring that Christ did not send him to preach the gospel with eloquent and wise-sounding words. To try to persuade people to believe in Christ in that way would risk emptying the cross of Christ of its power. The cross doesn't need clever packaging. It must be understood and believed for what it is. In fact, Paul shows that many people have rejected faith in Christ because of the cross. The idea of a crucified Messiah or deity is foolishness to those who are dying in their sin. For those who believe and are being saved, though, the cross is rightly understood to be the very power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18–21).

For the Jewish people, the teaching that the long-awaited Messiah had come only to be killed as a common criminal on a Roman cross was highly offensive. They looked for miraculous signs, for the Messiah to lead Israel into a glorious new age of freedom and dominance. For the Greeks who valued above all the pursuit of wisdom by human reason and logic, the cross was also foolish. What kind of a god would serve sinful humans by sacrificing His own Son to pay for their sin? Such a god would be weak and certainly not the one, true God above all other gods (1 Corinthians 1:22–25).

Paul shows that God was pleased to save those who believed the "weak and foolish" gospel of Christ crucified. In fact, God intentionally chose those who were weak and foolish in the world's eyes to believe the "weak and foolish" gospel of Jesus. In this way, God will shame the supposed wisdom and strength of all those high-status people who have rejected faith in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:26–31).

First Corinthians 1:1–3 follows Paul's normal pattern in the greeting for this letter to the Corinthians. He identifies himself and Sosthenes, who is with him in Ephesus. His recipient is God's church in Corinth. He describes his readers as those who are sanctified—set apart for a special purpose—in Christ Jesus. They are called to be saints with all Christians everywhere. Paul offers them grace and peace from God the Father and from Christ.

First Corinthians 1:4–9 is about God's grace to the Corinthians. Before beginning to address problems in the church, Paul first declares his thanks to God for the people. Specifically, he is thankful for God's grace and the good gifts God has given to them. Those gifts confirm that the Corinthians are truly in Christ. This means Christ will sustain them all the way to the end. Because they are in Christ who has paid for their sin with His blood, they will stand blameless before God on the day of the Lord.

First Corinthians 1:10–17 is about Christian unity. After giving thanks to God for the Corinthians and their sure place with Him in eternity, Paul addresses the way they have divided themselves into factions based on which Christian teacher they follow. Paul urges them to stop and be unified in and around Christ. After all, Christ is not divided. They were not baptized in the name of Paul, though he baptized a few of them. Christ did not send Paul to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Paul will not risk emptying the cross of its power by preaching with eloquent words.

First Corinthians 1:18–31 describes the foolishness of the gospel in the world's eyes. Both Jews and Greeks rejected the idea of Christ crucified. Any god who would die on a Roman cross, especially as a sacrifice for human sinfulness, would be seen by worldly eyes as a weak and foolish deity. God, though, will shame the wise and strong by giving the ability to believe in the cross of Christ mostly to the weak and foolish of the world, in human terms. In the end, nobody will boast before him of their own strength and wisdom.

Chapter Summary:

Paul's letter to the Christians in Corinth begins with thanks for the great and powerful gifts God has given to them by His grace and through their faith in Christ. They will stand blameless before God in the end. Right now, though, they must stop dividing themselves according to which Christian teacher they follow and become unified in and around Christ. The gospel message of Christ's death on the cross is weak and foolish to the world, but God has given faith in Christ to those who believe it and find God's power and wisdom.

Chapter Context:

First Corinthians 1 begins Paul's letter to the Christians in Corinth, a big, bustling city on a major trade route. Paul knows them well, having spent a year and a half leading people to Christ and establishing the church there. He writes from Ephesus to correct some of their wrong attitudes and behaviors and to answer some of their questions. First, though, he thanks God for His grace to the Corinthians, knowing they will stand blameless before Him on the day of the Lord. Still, they must stop being divided and unite in and around Christ.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.

Accessed 5/7/2024 9:01:10 AM