Worship and the exercise of spiritual gifts must respect and honor God and fellow believers. The reality of the future bodily resurrection of believers is integral to the Gospel. Author: This letter claims Paul as its author, and the Pauline authorship of the Corinthian correspondence has not been seriously questioned. Even radical scholars acknowledge that the epistle is fundamental to our understanding of Paul's ministry and message.
Since Paul stayed in Ephesus for well over two years Acts , 10 , we may date the writing of 1 Corinthians about the year A. Original Audience: Although the book of Acts says nothing about this correspondence, Acts gives us some important information about the founding of the Church in Corinth during Paul's second missionary journey c. First, Paul arrived in Corinth after his visit to Athens Acts , an experience that had reminded him of the foolishness of worldly wisdom. Second Corinthians suggests that this incident with the Athenian philosophers made Paul more determined than ever to preach the simple message of the cross, however offensive it might be to some.
Second, with the support of the influential Christian couple Aquila and Priscilla 1 Cor. Third, the Christian congregation in Corinth, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, flourished dramatically Acts Finally, Paul's ministry in Corinth lasted more than 18 months Acts , Paul had reason to expect a degree of spiritual maturity from the Corinthian Christians.
He cautions them to condemn sexual immorality within the church. Membership in the community of the faithful, he teaches, means that the church faithful must adjudicate moral matters amongst themselves, chastising and expelling sinners.
I say: it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. Paul advocates freedom of conscience within the bounds of faith. He does not mandate circumcision, although many early Christians, who were practically all Jewish, assumed that circumcision was a prerequisite for conversion to Christianity. Paul declares it permissible to eat food dedicated to false gods, provided that one does not compromise the conscience of another Christian by doing so.
In a break from his instruction, Paul spends Chapter 9 discussing his own case. He sees himself as a man who has sacrificed everything to preach the Gospel, forgoing material comfort and becoming all things to all people. Returning to his moral instruction, Paul invokes the example of the ancient Israelites, who were punished for their immorality and faithlessness, and exhorts the Corinthians to avoid idolatrous worship and sexual immorality.
He explains to them that while it is not forbidden to eat certain foods, it is best to avoid offending people and to respect the consciences of others. Paul then speaks on public worship.
In his bold call to purity within the Corinthian church, Paul made it clear that he was willing to risk the good opinion of some in order to help cleanse the sin that tainted the church.
Corinth was a large, international metropolis, filled with people from different backgrounds. Idol worship to gods such as Aphrodite was particularly prominent in the city, though Corinth contained numerous temptations far beyond her temples. In this sense, Corinth was very much like a modern urban area, containing unending opportunities to engage in sinful behavior without any apparent consequences. Such a community clearly had a negative influence on the Corinthian church.
Instead, he directed us to live out our commitment to Christ ever more faithfully in the midst of nonbelievers. Paul expected that we Christians would shine our light into the dark places of their world by worshiping in a unified community that was accountable to one another.
Paul exhorted the Corinthian believers to be united because of devotion to Christ 1 Corinthians Many in the church were essentially approving of an immoral relationship 1 Corinthians Paul commanded them to expel the wicked man from the church 1 Corinthians The Corinthian believers were taking each other to court 1 Corinthians Paul taught the Corinthians that it would be better to be taken advantage of than to damage their Christian testimony 1 Corinthians Paul organized the book of 1 Corinthians by answering questions the Corinthian believers had asked him and by responding to improper conduct and erroneous beliefs they had accepted.
Connections: In chapter 10 of the Book of 1 Corinthians, Paul uses the story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness to illustrate to the Corinthian believers the folly of the misuse of freedom and the danger of overconfidence. Paul has just warned the Corinthians about their lack of self-discipline 1 Corinthians
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