1 Corinthians #46

1 Corinthians finds Paul confronting a talented but deeply troubled church — divided by factions, tolerating gross immorality, suing each other in pagan courts, and confused about spiritual gifts, marriage, and even the resurrection.

Read 1 Corinthians in the King James Version →

Author and Date

Paul is named as the author (1 Corinthians 1:1; 16:21), with Sosthenes as co-sender, and Pauline authorship is accepted by nearly all scholars. The letter was written from Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:8), and most scholars date it to c. AD 53-55. Paul refers to an earlier letter to the Corinthians that has not survived (1 Corinthians 5:9).

Background and Audience

Corinth was a prosperous, cosmopolitan port city in Greece, and Paul had founded the church there on his second missionary journey (Acts 18). After he left, he received reports from members of Chloe’s household and a letter from the church itself (1 Corinthians 1:11; 7:1). The letter answers those reports and questions one at a time.

Outline

• Chapters 1-4: Divisions in the church, the message of the cross, and the role of apostles as servants
• Chapters 5-6: Sexual immorality within the church and lawsuits between believers
• Chapter 7: Marriage, singleness, and divorce
• Chapters 8-10: Food offered to idols, Christian liberty, and warnings from Israel’s history
• Chapters 11-14: Conduct in worship, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, and the priority of love
• Chapter 15: The resurrection of Christ and of believers
• Chapter 16: The collection for Jerusalem, travel plans, and greetings

Key Themes

Paul’s recurring concern is that the gospel of the crucified Christ should shape the whole life of a church. Themes include unity against factionalism, holiness in a permissive culture, freedom limited by concern for others, order and love in worship, the diversity of gifts within one body, and the certainty of bodily resurrection as the foundation of Christian hope.

Key Verses

• 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 — The message of the cross seems foolish to the world yet is God’s power and wisdom
• 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 — Paul’s account of the Lord’s Supper, handed on from the Lord
• 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 — The church is one body with many members
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 — A description of what love is and does, in a chapter that ranks love above every spiritual gift
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 — An early summary of the gospel: Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearances
• 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 — Christ’s resurrection as the firstfruits, with Adam and Christ contrasted

How It Fits the Bible

1 Corinthians is the first of two surviving letters to this church and offers the New Testament’s fullest treatment of church life and the resurrection. It links back to Adam in Genesis and continues in 2 Corinthians, where Paul addresses the aftermath of this letter. Its account of the resurrection grounds the hope announced in Romans.