Introduction to 1 Corinthians

 

“And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” (Acts 9:5-6) 

These verses describe the pivotal moment in the life of Paul of Tarsus. It was this meeting with Christ outside Damascus which changed his direction. Here it was that he changed from a persecutor to a preacher; from being one of Christianity's biggest enemies to being one of its most famous adherents.

Paul had a major impact on the spread of the gospel in the first century, but it is interesting to remember that after his conversion, he went through a period of comparative obscurity. He spent time in Damascus, Arabia, and Tarsus, totaling roughly 16 years, and about all that time we know next to nothing. At the end of that time, Barnabas recruited him to help in the church at Antioch. It was from there that he set off on his FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY.

On this journey, Paul, accompanied by Barnabas and (initially) John Mark, traveled through southern Galatia, preaching and founding churches. Almost as soon as he was done with this journey, false teachers infiltrated his new churches, leading to the book of Galatians.

Shortly after this, Paul embarked on his SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, this time accompanied by Silas (and later on picking up Timothy and Luke). He visited the churches he had founded during his first missionary journey and then was led by God to travel to Macedonia (northern Greece). 

His first major stop in Macedonia was Philippi, where he founded a church, but he left the city after being beaten and imprisoned. From there, he traveled to Thessalonica, where he stayed for a period of time and also founded a church. (Both of these churches would later receive letters from Paul.)

Paul was also forced to leave Thessalonica because of persecution, and so he traveled to Berea, where he had also had a fruitful ministry until, once again, he was forced to leave. “But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people. And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.” (Acts 17:13-14)

So, Paul left Berea—the idea seems to be that his escape was hasty and perhaps secretive. This may be why he left Silas and Timothy behind—he could travel faster without them. Paul went to Athens; initially, the plan was for Silas and Timothy to join him there. So far as we can tell, there was a change in plans, and Silas remained in Berea. Timothy did come to Athens, but Paul, who was deeply concerned for the church in Thessalonica, chose to remain alone and send Timothy to help the church there.

Paul did a little preaching in Athens and saw some converts, but it seems that he did not feel led to start a full-scale ministry there. After his brief stay, he moved on: “After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.” (Acts 18:1-2)

Corinth was a very wealthy city. It sat on a natural crossroads--and trade from all over the Mediterranean came through it. For this reason, it was a hybrid city, filled with people from all over the world—including Romans, Greeks, Jews, and Phoenicians. 

But it was particularly known for being a city of loose morals and self-indulgence. A Greek writer says that any time a Corinthians was written into a play, he was always shown drunk. The name of the city was used as a verb: “to Corinthianize” meant to act in an immoral, self-indulgent way. There was a proverb: what happens in Corinth, stays in Corinth. (OK, I made that last one up, but it does give the general idea.)

One of the city's most striking features was a giant temple that towered over it. It was dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and it had a thousand priestesses who were also prostitutes.

That was the kind of city that Corinth was when Paul arrived there around AD 50. As we read, while in the city he stayed with a Jewish couple named Aquilla and Priscilla. We don't know if they were Christians at this time or if they converted after their time with Paul. Anyway, Paul lived with them and began his ministry by preaching in the synagogue.

After a period of time, Silas and Timothy rejoined him—Timothy specifically bringing him good news about the church in Thessalonica. It seems that this gave Paul encouragement and led to him becoming even more definite in his preaching, leading to opposition from the Jews. “And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.” (Acts 18:6-7)

So, Paul continued his ministry, using a private house for his church. He saw a successful ministry, both among the Jews and Gentiles. “And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.” (Acts 18:8)

Paul would minister in Corinth for 18 months. He also may have used Corinth as a base to ministry to other nearby towns—we know there was a church in Cenchrea (8 miles away) so it may have been founded by Paul during the time he was in Corinth.

At the end of this time, Paul sailed east to Turkey, bringing Aquilla and Priscilla with him. He very briefly stopped in Ephesus; he only seems to have preached there one Sabbath, but Aquilla and Priscilla stayed behind, and probably continued his ministry. From Ephesus, Paul returned to Antioch. 

That was the end of Paul's second missionary journey, but it was not the end of his interaction with the church in Corinth. “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators.” (1 Corinthians 5:9) We saw that Paul wrote a letter to them, specifically warning them about the danger of being involved or associated with sinful people. We have no other record of this letter and cannot say when or where it was written.

However, that was not the last letter Paul wrote to them.

After Paul completed his second missionary journey, he once again left Antioch; this time seemingly accompanied by Timothy and a man named Erastus. He traveled through Galatia and then up to Ephesus, where he would stay for the next 2 ½ years, working with the church there and using that as a basis for his ministry to the rest of Turkey.

While he was in Ephesus, he received news that not all was well in Corinth. A family in the church visited Paul in Ephesus and told him of some problems within the church. But the church itself also sent a letter to Paul, asking him questions about issues plaguing the church.

And so, to deal with these issues, Paul wrote the letter we know as 1 Corinthians. We can guess that this was near the end of Paul's stay in Ephesus. We know that in the latter part of this time: “So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.” (Acts 19:22) This seems to be the period when 1 Corinthians was written since 1 Corinthians 16:10 refers to Timothy's proposed visit to Corinth.

Anyway, regardless of the exact timing, Paul wrote this letter specifically to address the problems he had learned of regarding the church. Unlike Romans or Ephesians, which are built around doctrinal ideas, 1 Corinthians is basically a laundry list of problems and solutions.

However, though 1 Corinthians is something of a miscellany driven by the various problems in the church at Corinth, there is an overarching theme. However, to get that, we actually have to look at a passage in 2 Corinthians.

(2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1) Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

John Chrysostom was a Christian preacher and leader in the fourth century. Even though, by that point, the government was officially friendly to Christianity, John's commitment to the truth often got him into trouble. He suffered repeated moments of persecution throughout his ministry. During a period when he was in exile because of such persecution, he wrote a letter to a friend who was also suffering persecution. And this is what he wrote: "Learn to think and live like a Christian, and you will not only not be harmed by any of these events, but will reap the greatest benefits."

And while the context is different, I think Paul is saying something very similar to the Corinthians. The Corinthians were entangled with the things and the people of the world, and therefore, Paul commands them to be separate—not living and acting as the people of the world, but as the children of God. In other words, he is telling them to learn to think and live like Christians. 

This is 2 Corinthians, but I think it also applies to 1 Corinthians. Paul was writing to a church, to people who were Christians. And yet, in so many ways, they were not living up to the standard of Christ. They were Christians, but (in many respects) they were not thinking or living like Christians but like the world. 

As I said before, 1 Corinthians breaks down into a number of bullet points involving specific issues the church was facing. But this is the overarching theme. Paul wanted the Corinthians to be separate from the world—not literally or physically—but by changing the way they lived; by changing their ideas and beliefs and practices. And while many of their problems may have been ignorance—these were comparatively new Christians most of whom came from paganism—there was also an underlying spiritual problem. 

Notice what Paul said in our text. At the heart of Christianity is this reality: “ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God.” That is what makes the Christian different from the world. And when the Christian is not living up to what he should be, sometimes it is because they are not allowing God to live and walk in them, not fully.

This, then, is the key theme of 1 Corinthians. Through all the individual bits and pieces of the letter, the underlying idea is that the church must learn to think and live like Christians, which means allowing Christ to live in and through us.