Paul has been emphatic that the gospel stands opposed to worldly thinking or “wisdom” (1:18-25). The cross, which demands a humble confession of our own helplessness, is at odds with and offensive to the Greek understanding of wisdom and power. As evidence of this, Paul pointed out that the church was predominantly made up of Corinth’s poor and unlearned (1:26-31), a...
Keep ReadingThough Paul has already addressed sexual immorality in chapter 5, his main emphasis there was not so much on the sin itself but how the church should respond to the man sleeping with his stepmother. In this section, Paul addresses sexual immorality more broadly, urging the church to flee from it and to glorify God with their bodies....
Keep ReadingFirst Corinthians is Paul’s response both to reports he had heard about the church and to questions the church itself had sent him. Having addressed the report of divisions (1:10-4:21), he now turns to address reports of immorality within the church (5:1-6:20)....
Keep ReadingThis week's passage: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 Discussion guide...
Keep ReadingINTRODUCTION Division within the church is the first issue Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians, and it's an issue that dominates the letter's first four chapters. Having mentioned the divisions in 1:10-17, Paul went on to argue that worldly wisdom lay at the root of them, and that such wisdom is at odds with godly wisdom (1:18-2:6). He then went on to show that only the Holy ...
Keep ReadingINTRODUCTION Having established that the divisions within the Corinthian church were the result of worldly wisdom and that such "wisdom" is incompatible with godly wisdom, Paul now brings this first major section of the letter to a close by reminding his readers how they are to view him as an apostle and as their "father". MAIN POINT Christians should not boast about wh...
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