Overview: 1 Corinthians

Paul's first letter to the Corinthians was addressed to a Christian community that Paul knew well. Corinth was one of the largest port cities in the ancient world and had many temples dedicated to Roman and Greek gods. It was an important economic center, so Paul came here strategically as a missionary. He spent a year and a half there meeting people and talking about Jesus. A large number of people became followers of Jesus and formed a Christian community. You can read about this in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 18. After a while, Paul went further and established churches in other cities.

During this time he began to receive news that things were not going well in the Corinthian church. He was hurt by all kinds of problems and that's why he wrote this letter. The letter is divided into five main parts, along with a final greeting. And these five parts correspond to five main problems that Paul addresses. In this way, the article reads like a collection of short essays on different topics, but these central ideas tie all the pieces together. This is what he does in each section: he describes the problem, but then he answers that problem with a part of the gospel story, which is the good news about Jesus.

And he shows that they are not really living what they say they believe. Therefore, this letter is about learning to think about every area of ​​life through the lens of the gospel. Let's dive in and see how he does it. In chapters 1 to 4 the problem is that there is division in the church. Several other teachers had come to the city since Paul left: a man named Apollos, then Peter. And the people had chosen their favorite teachers and then gathered sympathizers around a leader. Then they began to speak badly and disrespect the people, who favored another leader or teacher.

Pablo's response to this problem is somewhat sarcastic and biting. He says, "You're kidding!" Church is not a popularity contest. The church is a community of people who are focused on Jesus. Their leaders and teachers are simply servants of Jesus. So even if you prefer one leader over another, these things aren't worth dividing over, and you certainly shouldn't speak ill of each other. The center of the church is Jesus and the good news of who he is and what he has done. In chapters 5-7, Paul addresses several issues related to sex. There were some people in the church who slept with each other: one man slept with his stepmother and others still worshiped in the temples of the Greek gods and slept with the prostitutes who worked there.

Not only that, but there were people in the church who said everything was perfectly fine. They said, "Hey, we're free in Christ! God's grace is inexhaustible, right? That's okay." And Paul said, "No, it's not right." And with the gospel in hand, he shows them how wrong this kind of thinking is. He says, "Remember, first, that Jesus died for your sins, including the remnants of broken relationships caused by inappropriate sexual behavior. So if you're a Christian, sexual integrity is one of the primary ways we respond. to the love and grace of Jesus." Paul also reminds them that just as Jesus was physically raised from the dead, so our bodies will be resurrected.

This means that if Jesus is redeeming your body now and in the future, then what you do with your body matters. It's very important! And it's not up to you to do what you want with it. Paul is making it very clear. Being a follower of Jesus does not mean compromising sexual integrity. Chapters 8 to 10 are about foods, but not just food preferences, such as: "Do you like certain foods or don't you?" The issue on which the Corinthians were divided was over meat, which came from animals sacrificed in the temples of the Greek and Roman gods. And there was a division between Jewish and Gentile Christians over how to respond to this question.

Once again, Paul reminds him of some basic ideas of the gospel. He says our loyalty is first and foremost to Jesus as Lord, not to other gods. So if you're in a situation where there's meat dedicated to another god and there are people around who might be looking at you and come to the conclusion, "Oh, look! Christians worship Jesus, and they can worship other gods." Paul says if that's the case, don't eat the meat. Your loyalty is to Jesus and you should love those people more than yourself and not lead them. But Paul immediately qualifies this and says, "Listen, as Christians we believe that God is the Creator of all things, including the sacrificial animal.

As for the temple idols, we believe they are just a piece of wood and stone. So, if there are no people around to misinterpret your actions, and you are hungry, you are free, as a new man in Christ, to follow your conscience in these controversial matters. It is okay to eat in one situation but not in another. deny and care for the well-being of others, is what Jesus did when he died and therefore Paul says this is what Christians should do for others. In chapters 11 to 14, Paul continues to address. the problems in their weekly worship meetings.

People had very powerful spiritual experiences in the meeting, so they began to pray out loud in unknown languages. There were other people who perhaps began to share a lesson or a word from God and then someone else would get up and interrupt them because they wanted to talk. Everything was very messy and distracted people, especially the guests, from hearing the gospel. So in these chapters, Paul helps them think first about the purpose of these meetings: to help them see what behavior is appropriate. He says that the gathering is where the Spirit of God should be working through everyone and it should happen in a united way.

That is why he develops a metaphor of the church as a human body. It's a body, but it has all these different parts, and each part plays a unique and important role. Thus, he goes on to mention a multitude of things that the Spirit does through various people, all for the edification of the church (this is a key phrase in these chapters). And Paul concludes that the highest value of gathering must be a gospel-centered concept: the love of God. Love is also the key word in these chapters. Love will prompt each person in the meeting to use their role to serve and seek the well-being of others.

So Paul applies this whole principle to the problem of the Corinthians. Some people think that the purpose of the meeting is to have intense spiritual experiences or to have the opportunity to express their opinion. And Paul says, "Listen, I'm a big fan of powerful prayer experiences, but if they distract other people or scare them, I have to stop because I love myself more than those people." The gathering around Jesus should be regular, so that everyone can learn, sing, worship and hear God speak to them. The final problem Paul addresses is the question of the resurrection and the future hope of Jesus' followers.

There were some people in the church who said that the idea of ​​the resurrection is ridiculous and has no weight in being a Christian. And Paul overreacts to this. He begins by saying that the resurrection is a necessary part of the gospel. We believe this thanks to the hundreds of eyewitnesses who saw Jesus alive in a physical body after the Romans publicly executed him. "If Jesus was not raised from the dead," Paul says, "his death was meaningless, we are all still lost in our sin and selfishness, we just have to stop being Christians." Paul then shows in detail how the resurrection was Jesus' victory over death and evil, how it is a source of life and power for us now in the present, and a promise of future hope for the entire world.

It is thanks to the resurrection that we have reason to unite around Jesus. It is the reason we are motivated by sexual integrity. It is the source of the power to love other people more than ourselves and, ultimately, it is our hope for victory over death. So, Paul concludes, we believe that Jesus rose from the dead, which means that the gospel is not just moral advice or a prescription for self-righteousness. It is an announcement about Jesus, revealing a completely new reality. And that's what the first letter to the Corinthians is about: seeing every aspect of life through the lens of the gospel.