Like Saint Paul the Apostle’s epistle to the Romans, the first taste of his epistle to the Corinthians is very similar—very powerful!
I will minimize my sharing so that Paul’s words can speak directly to you.
Grace, that gift of God is so important in my life; especially as the years advance onward like the digital dollar meter at the gas station. It adds up fast and you can’t believe life has gone by, and is going by so fast!
Pride and things of the flesh, even the wisdom of the world is not what I seek now.
I seek the Spirit of God so that I may continue to learn by the Spirit. I don’t want to be one of those prideful fools that God makes a fool so that he may come to be wise.
I know that I am a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in me. Everything in the world is mine, and I am Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. Amen! Alleluia!
So we begin First Corinthians, first with the biblical introduction (using my family’s 1952 Holy Bible), then the text, with nearly all included, and with highlights of words, phrases and passages that hit home with me.
Introduction:
1 Corinthians Chapter 1:
Greeting:
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God at Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints with all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place—their Lord as well as ours. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gifts of God:
Dissensions at Corinth:
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing; and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be perfectly united in one mind and in one judgment. For I have been informed about you, my brethren, by those in the house of Chloe, that there are strifes among you.
Has Christ been divided up? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Salvation not by Wisdom of Words:
Their Case an Example:
1 Corinthians Chapter 2:
Paul’s Method of Preaching:
And I, brethren, when I come to you did not come with pretentious speech or wisdom, announcing unto you the witness to Christ. For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not in the persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might rest, not on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
True Wisdom.
1 Corinthians Chapter 3:
They Cannot Receive Full Doctrine:
The Office of God’s Ministers:
What then is Apollos? What indeed is Paul? They are servants of him whom you have believed—servants—according as God has given to each to serve. I have planted, Apollos watered, but God has given the growth. So then neither he who plants is anything, not he who waters, but God who gives the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, yet each will receive his own reward according to his labor. For we are God’s helpers, you are God’s tillage, God’s building.
Their Responsibility and Reward:
Pride not to be Taken in Man:
Day 148: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Seeking & Learning Through the Spirit of God.
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, Chapters 1-3.
Bible Notes:
Saint Paul in this letter to the Christians of Corinth denounces certain abuses, e.g., rivalries among themselves, incest, appealing to pagan courts, and fornication. He then answers questions they had proposed to him on marriage and celibacy, on eating the meats offered to idols, on abuses in the celebration of the Eucharist, on various gifts of the Holy Spirit, and on the future resurrection.
1 Corinthians Chapter 1: Greeting; The gifts of God; Dissensions at Corinth; Salvation not by wisdom of words; Their case an example.
???Why Saint Paul the Apostle for the Romans Epistle and only Saint Paul for First Corinthians?
‘e.g.’–for example; for the sake of example; such as; From the Latin word exemplī grātiā.
‘i.e.’—that is; From the Latin word id est.
Note: Okay got my writer questions out of the way; now onto the spiritual ones!
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God at Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints with all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place—their Lord as well as ours. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Saint—any of certain persons of exceptional holiness of life, formally recognized as such by the Christian Church, especially by canonization; a person of great holiness, virtue, or benevolence; a founder, sponsor, or patron, as of a movement or organization.
Apostle—any of the early followers of Jesus who carried the Christian message into the world; (sometimes initial capital letter) any of the original 12 disciples called by Jesus to preach the gospel: Simon Peter, the brothers James and John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot; the first or the best-known Christian missionary in any region or country.
Grace—elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action; a pleasing or attractive quality or endowment; favor or goodwill.
Peace—the normal, nonwarring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world; (often initial capital letter) an agreement or treaty between warring or antagonistic nations, groups, etc., to end hostilities and abstain from further fighting or antagonism; a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations; the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community; public order and security; cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension; freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquility; serenity; a state of tranquility or serenity; a state or condition conducive to, proceeding from, or characterized by tranquility; silence; stillness; (initial capital letter, italics) a comedy (421 b.c.) by Aristophanes.
I give thanks to my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, because in everything you have been enriched in him, in all utterance and in all knowledge; even as the witness to the Christ has been made so firm in you that you lack no grace, while awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also keep you secure unto the end, unimpeachable in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is trustworthy, by him you have been called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing; and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be perfectly united in one mind and in one judgment. For I have been informed about you, my brethren, by those in the house of Chloe, that there are strifes among you.
House of Chloe—There is little known about Chloe in the Bible. What we know from the verse is that Chloe was a Christian woman living in Corinth and that she was an acquaintance of the apostle Paul. Because Paul simply refers to her by her first name, Chloe, it is likely she was well known to the believers of that area, possibly a householder. (Google Search)
Strife—vigorous or bitter conflict, discord, or antagonism; a quarrel, struggle, or clash; competition or rivalry.
Has Christ been divided up? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made void. For the doctrine of the cross is foolishness to those who perish, but to those who are saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent I will reject.” Where is the “wise man?” Where is the scribe? Where is the disputant of this world? Has God not turned to foolishness the “wisdom” of this world? For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not come to know God by “wisdom,” it pleased God, by the foolishness of our preaching, to save those who believe. For the Jews ask for signs, and the Greeks look for “wisdom”; but we, for our part, preach a crucified Christ—to the Jews indeed a stumbling-block and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Disputant—a person who disputes; debater.
For consider your own call, brethren; that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But the foolish things of the world has God chosen to put to shame the “wise,” and the weak things of the world has God chosen to put to shame the strong, and the base things of the world and the despised has God choosen, and the things that are not, to bring to naught the things that are; lest any flesh should pride itself before him. From him you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us God-given wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption; so that, just as it is written, “Let him who takes pride, take pride in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians Chapter 2: Paul’s method of preaching; True wisdom.
And I, brethren, when I come to you did not come with pretentious speech or wisdom, announcing unto you the witness to Christ. For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not in the persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might rest, not on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
Wisdom, however, we speak among those who are mature, yet not a wisdom of this world nor of the rulers of this world, who are passing away. But we speak the wisdom of God, mysterious, hidden, which God foreordained before the world unto our glory, a wisdom which none of the rulers of this world had ever known; for had they known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him.” But to us God has revealed them through his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man save the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, the things of God no one knows but the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit that is from God, that we may know the things that have been given us by God. These things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in the learning of the Spirit, combining spiritual with spiritual. But the sensual man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God, for it is foolishness to him and he cannot understand, because it is examined spiritually. But the spiritual man judges all things, and he himself is judged by no man. For “who has known the mind of the Lord, that he might instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians Chapter 3: They cannot receive full doctrine; The office of God’s ministers; Their responsibility and reward; Pride not to be taken in man.
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men but only as carnal, as to little ones in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you were not ready for it. Nor are you now ready for it, for you are still carnal. For since there are jealousy and strife among you, are you not carnal, and walking as mere men? For whenever one says, “I am of Paul,” but another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?
Apollos—was an evangelist, apologist, church leader, and friend of the apostle Paul. Apollos was a Jew from Alexandria, Egypt, described as “eloquent,” “mighty in the Scriptures,” “fervent in the spirit” and “instructed in the way of the Lord” (Acts 18:24). In A.D. 54, he traveled to Ephesus, where he taught boldly in the synagogue. However, at that time, Apollos’ understanding of the gospel was incomplete, since he was “acquainted only with the baptism of John” (Acts 18:25). This probably means that Apollos preached repentance and faith in the Messiah—he maybe even believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah—but he did not know the full magnitude of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Aquila and Priscilla, friends of Paul, spent some time with Apollos and filled in the gaps in his understanding of Jesus Christ (Acts 18:26). Apollos, now armed with the complete message, immediately began a preaching ministry and was used of God as an effective apologist for the gospel (Acts 18:28).
Apollos traveled through Achaia and eventually found his way to Corinth (Acts 19:1), where he “watered” where Paul had “sown” (1 Corinthians 3:6). This is important to remember when studying the first Epistle to Corinth. Apollos, with his natural gifts, had attracted a following among the church in Corinth, but simple admiration was growing into divisiveness. Against Apollos’ wishes, there was a faction in Corinth that claimed him as their spiritual mentor, to the exclusion of Paul and Peter. Paul deals with this partisanship in 1 Corinthians 1:12-13. Christ is not divided, and neither should we be. We cannot love personality over truth. (Google Search)
What then is Apollos? What indeed is Paul? They are servants of him whom you have believed—servants—according as God has given to each to serve. I have planted, Apollos watered, but God has given the growth. So then neither he who plants is anything, not he who waters, but God who gives the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, yet each will receive his own reward according to his labor. For we are God’s helpers, you are God’s tillage, God’s building.
According to the grace of God, which has been given to me, as a wise builder, I laid the foundations, and another builds thereon. But let everyone take care how he builds thereon. For other foundation no one can lay, but that which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus. But if anyone builds upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—the work of each will be made manifest, for the day of the Lord will declare it, since the day is to be revealed in fire. The fire will assay the quality of everyone’s work: if his work abides which he has built thereon, he will receive reward; if his if his work burns he will lose his reward, but himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, him will God destroy; for holy is the temple of God, and this temple you are.
Let no one deceive himself. If any one of you thinks himself wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may come to be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “I will catch the wise in their craftiness.” And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are empty.” Therefore let no one take pride in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas; or the world, or life, or death; or things present, or things to come—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Cephas—Jesus gave Simon (Peter) the name of Cephas. What meaning did he attach to the word Cephas? “Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone” (John i, 42). (Google Search)
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