I Corinthians
Purpose
First Corinthians is Paul's pastoral letter to a gifted but deeply troubled young church in Corinth, a prosperous Greek city where the values of the surrounding culture — pride, sexual looseness, litigation, and a competitive pursuit of status and "wisdom" — had seeped into the congregation and distorted its life. Reports reach Paul of divisions over favorite teachers, of a case of gross immorality tolerated in the church, of lawsuits between believers, of disorder in worship, of confusion about marriage and food offered to idols, and above all of a prideful misuse of spiritual gifts that had shattered the community's love. Paul writes to correct each problem by re-centering the church on the cross, which empties human boasting, and on the body of Christ, whose many members are gifted by one Spirit for the common good. The towering thirteenth chapter on love and the great fifteenth chapter on the resurrection set the whole of Christian ethics and hope within the grace of God in Christ, calling a fractured community back to unity, holiness, and love.
Author
Paul the apostle
Time Period
Written c. 54-55 AD from Ephesus during the third missionary journey
Key Themes
- The cross and human wisdom
- Church unity
- Holiness and the body
- Spiritual gifts and love
- The resurrection
Outline
Introduction and divisions (ch. 1–4): the message of the cross, wisdom versus the world, and Paul and Apollos as servants of Christ. Moral disorders in the church (ch. 5–6): the incestuous man, lawsuits among believers, and the body for the Lord. Answers to questions on marriage and conduct (ch. 7–8): celibacy and marriage, circumstances of life, and food offered to idols. Rights, freedom, and order (ch. 9–11): Paul's apostolic rights, the warnings of Israel's history, head coverings, and the Lord's Supper. Spiritual gifts and love (ch. 12–14): many gifts one body, the way of love, and orderly worship and tongues. The resurrection (ch. 15): Christ raised, the dead in Christ raised, and the transformation of the body. Concluding plans and greetings (ch. 16): the collection, travel plans, and final exhortations.