Introduction – Christ Crucified

Paul is writing to a church that he founded in Corinth. He preached the gospel there, a church was formed, and he stayed for 18 months to help establish it (see Acts 18). But a little while later he received reports about the church. Things were going badly wrong. Divisions were arising from people who proudly regarded themselves as more spiritual than others, even Paul. So now this mature apostle must address an immature church. He is stern but loving in his approach to them. He addresses them as a father, trying to show them that the very gospel he preached to them challenges their attitudes and actions. The gospel, for Paul, centres on the crucified and risen Christ and he applies this truth to the various issues that are creating such havoc in the church at Corinth. The cross teaches us to humbly put others before ourselves. It teaches us to follow the way of love. Paul shows how this applies to the various issues.

Divisions Over Leaders

Some of the believers in Corinth were creating factions as different people aligned themselves with their preferred leader. Paul argues that this shows their immaturity. They are still thinking with the ‘wisdom’ of this world and not spiritual wisdom, measuring value in worldly terms. The gospel that centres around a crucified Christ reveals that we are not focused on the seemingly greatest or the best. God chooses and uses the things that this world considers as nothing. They are to learn from all the different leaders as God uses them for different purposes and not put any of them on a pedestal. They are to make sure they build the church on the only true foundation there is – Jesus Christ.  

Sexual Integrity and Marriage

Paul also addresses the issue of sexual immorality in the church and speaks to them sternly about dealing with it. He is seeking to protect the holy distinctiveness of the church so they must not just ignore this. As the Church, we are called to be different from this world. For the same reason, they should not be taking each other to court. In this context, he also addresses specific questions about marriage, urging them to stay together with an unbelieving spouse if possible. He presents a positive view of singleness. The most important thing is that nothing distracts us from serving God and the gospel.

Differences of Opinion

Another source of trouble in the church has been them strongly disagreeing over secondary matters. In this case, it was about food offered to idols. Some of the Corinthian Christians felt their faith gave them the freedom to eat such food with good conscience. Others don’t. But Paul says that asserting our freedom and rights is not as important as loving others. If what we do causes someone else to stumble, then we should limit our freedom in such an instance. We should do the most loving thing. Paul nevertheless warns them of the dangers of idolatry. He uses the Old Testament story of the exodus to remind them what happens when we put idols before God.

Gathering for Worship

Paul then turns to several areas to do with the Corinthian church’s public gatherings for worship. Firstly, he addresses the seemingly strange one about women covering their heads when praying. He also discusses prophesying and the whole issue of women in the public gatherings. Once again, consideration for others is what matters. The gospel frees women in revolutionary ways, transforming their conventional social roles. But, again, they need to be careful. They must exercise this freedom in a loving way. They should maintain gender distinctions and not challenge social roles so much that they create unnecessary barriers to the gospel. Paul also strongly addresses the way that the Lord’s supper, the very way in which they remember Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, is becoming unruly and unjust as certain people try to put themselves first. Finally, he addressed the use and abuse of the gifts of the Spirit. The famous chapter that comes between the two chapters on spiritual gifts highlights Paul’s main concern. He wants them to all follow the way of love. If we are using spiritual gifts to show off or make ourselves seem more spiritual than others, then we are missing the whole point. The gifts are given for the building up of the body and should be used in love. The vivid imagery of the different parts making up the whole body shows that everyone has something to offer. Nobody is unimportant. In the church of Christ, everyone has value.

Heresy about Resurrection

Paul’s whole emphasis is on love, not our favourite leader, our strong opinion, our marital status, or our spiritual gifts. He is trying to discourage them from insisting on getting their way. He wants them to do things in love, encouraging them to build each other up. This emphasis on love means he is often undogmatic on debatable issues. But when it comes to very heart of the gospel, he is clear, firm and explicit. Love rejoices in the truth. Truth matters. So when he hears some people in the church denying the reality of the resurrection, he does not hold back. He is resolute. He strongly affirms the bodily resurrection of believers based on the resurrection of Christ. If the dead are not raised, he argues, then it means Jesus was not raised and our faith is then useless! So towards the end of this letter, he teaches in detail about the coming resurrection at the return of Christ

Paul ends the letter by encouraging them to keep collecting for an offering he is taking up for the church in Jerusalem and with encouragement for them to welcome other leaders. We see an apostle who is very relational in his ministry and who has a passionate and pastoral heart for the churches, for their purity, unity and maturity.

You can see a helpful summary and overview of this letter at the Bible Project.