Tuesday, July 9th, 2024

Introduction to 1 Corinthians
Teaching: Corinth was a Greek city on a narrow strip of land connecting northern Greece with the southern Peloponnesus, making it an important land bridge and crossroads of commerce for the ancient world. Corinth could rightly be compared to modern day New York City, as its wealth, sophistication, and intermixing of cultures made it a unique place for the Gospel to take root. Paul planted the church in Corinth and it was the first major church he planted in the Greek world. In the years following his departure, he heard news of the Corinthian church intermixing their culture and preferences into their doctrines and worship.
The letter of 1 Corinthians is actually Paul’s second letter to them, which he references in 1 Cor 5:9. The true first letter has been lost. We also know that the impetus for this letter to the Corinthian church was that they sent Paul a letter with questions for him to settle for them (1 Cor. 7:1). Paul was compelled to write this letter to the Corinthian church to address these issues and answer their questions. This second letter is what we call 1 Corinthians.
Takeaway: Paul’s words as an apostle were all the fledgling church had to guide them, and the church itself was a challenge to lead as it was an amalgamation of Greek pagan worshippers with no understanding of the Old Testament. These were Christians, who believed the Gospel, but had little to no understanding of how to live as a follower of Christ. Thus, 1 Corinthians is a powerful letter of theological application – it teaches theology and how it is lived as a Christian both individually and corporately as a church body. Thus, 1 Corinthians is a letter that illustrates the importance of theological understanding for the purpose of right living. When we as Christians lose the theological grounding for Christian living, we are apt to welcome divisive, counter-productive, and even nefarious influences into our worship of Christ. Today, we are not so different as a Church than the 1st century Corinthians. We face similar issues and similar divisions. Praise the Lord for providing us with His answers to our questions through Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
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