Reference: Corinthians, First Epistle to The
Easton
was written from Ephesus (1Co 16:8) about the time of the Passover in the third year of the apostle's sojourn there (Ac 19:10; 20:31), and when he had formed the purpose to visit Macedonia, and then return to Corinth (probably A.D. 57).
The news which had reached him, however, from Corinth frustrated his plan. He had heard of the abuses and contentions that had arisen among them, first from Apollos (Ac 19:1), and then from a letter they had written him on the subject, and also from some of the "household of Chloe," and from Stephanas and his two friends who had visited him (1Co 1:11; 16:17). Paul thereupon wrote this letter, for the purpose of checking the factious spirit and correcting the erroneous opinions that had sprung up among them, and remedying the many abuses and disorderly practices that prevailed. Titus and a brother whose name is not given were probably the bearers of the letter (2Co 2:13; 8:6,16-18).
The epistle may be divided into four parts:
(1.) The apostle deals with the subject of the lamentable divisions and party strifes that had arisen among them (1-4).
(2.) He next treats of certain cases of immorality that had become notorious among them. They had apparently set at nought the very first principles of morality (5; 6).
(3.) In the third part he discusses various questions of doctrine and of Christian ethics in reply to certain communications they had made to him. He especially rectifies certain flagrant abuses regarding the celebration of the Lord's supper (7-14).
(4.) The concluding part (15; 16) contains an elaborate defense of the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which had been called in question by some among them, followed by some general instructions, intimations, and greetings.
This epistle "shows the powerful self-control of the apostle in spite of his physical weakness, his distressed circumstances, his incessant troubles, and his emotional nature. It was written, he tells us, in bitter anguish, 'out of much affliction and pressure of heart...and with streaming eyes' (2Co 2:4); yet he restrained the expression of his feelings, and wrote with a dignity and holy calm which he thought most calculated to win back his erring children. It gives a vivid picture of the early church...It entirely dissipates the dream that the apostolic church was in an exceptional condition of holiness of life or purity of doctrine." The apostle in this epistle unfolds and applies great principles fitted to guide the church of all ages in dealing with the same and kindred evils in whatever form they may appear.
This is one of the epistles the authenticity of which has never been called in question by critics of any school, so many and so conclusive are the evidences of its Pauline origin.
The subscription to this epistle states erroneously in the Authorized Version that it was written at Philippi. This error arose from a mistranslation of 1Co 16:5, "For I do pass through Macedonia," which was interpreted as meaning, "I am passing through Macedonia." In 1Co 16:8 he declares his intention of remaining some time longer in Ephesus. After that, his purpose is to "pass through Macedonia."
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It was when Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came down to Ephesus. There he found some disciples,
This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
So be on the alert, remember how for three whole years I never ceased night and day to watch over each one of you with tears.
For Chloe's people inform me that you are quarrelling.
I mean to visit you after my tour in Macedonia, for I am going to make a tour through Macedonia.
I am staying on for the present at Ephesus till Pentecost,
I am staying on for the present at Ephesus till Pentecost,
I am glad that Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus have arrived, for they have made up for your absence.
For I wrote you in sore distress and misery of heart, with many a tear ??not to pain you but to convince you of my love, my special love for you.
my spirit could not rest, because I did not find Titus my brother there; so I said goodbye and went off to Macedonia.
This has led me to ask Titus to complete the arrangements for the same gracious contribution among yourselves, as it was he who started it.
Thanks be to God who has inspired Titus with an interest in you equal to my own; he has indeed responded to my request, but he is off to you by his own choice, so keen is his interest in you. read more. Along with him I am sending that brother whose services to the gospel are praised by all the churches;
Hastings
CORINTHIANS, FIRST EPISTLE TO THE
1. Occasion of the Epistle.
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And everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand.
for he taught them like an authority, not like their own scribes.
I tell you truly, no one has arisen among the sons of women who is greater than John the Baptist, and yet the least in the Realm of heaven is greater than he is.
He said to them, "True, but this truth is not practicable for everyone, it is only for those who have the gift.
They chose presbyters for them in every church, and with prayer and fasting entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
abstain from food that has been offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the flesh of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual vice. Keep clear of all this and you will prosper. Goodbye."
Among the listeners there was a woman called Lydia, a dealer in purple who belonged to the town of Thyatira. She reverenced God, and the Lord opened her heart to attend to what Paul said.
By the time Silas and Timotheus came south from Macedonia, Paul was engrossed in this preaching of the word, arguing to the Jews that the messiah was Jesus.
But Crispus the president of the synagogue believed in the Lord, as did all his household, and many of the Corinthians listened, believed, and were baptized.
Then all [the Greeks] caught hold of Sosthenes the president of the synagogue and beat him in front of the tribunal; but Gallio took no notice.
There came to Ephesus a Jew called Apollos, who was a native of Alexandria, a man of culture, strong in his knowledge of the scriptures.
where he spent three months. Just as he was on the point of sailing for Syria, the Jews laid a plot against him. He therefore resolved to return through Macedonia.
where he spent three months. Just as he was on the point of sailing for Syria, the Jews laid a plot against him. He therefore resolved to return through Macedonia.
while we sailed from Philippi, after the days of unleavened bread, and joined them five days later at Troas. There we spent seven days.
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the presbyters of the church.
and had four unmarried daughters who prophesied). We stayed with him.
Now what are we to infer from this? That we are to 'remain on in sin, so that there may be all the more grace'?
In virtue of my office, I tell everyone of your number who is self-important, that he is not to think more of himself than he ought to think; he must take a sane view of himself, corresponding to the degree of faith which God has assigned to each.
Timotheus my fellow-worker salutes you; so do my fellow countrymen Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater.
For Chloe's people inform me that you are quarrelling. By 'quarrelling' I mean that each of you has his party-cry, "I belong to Paul," "And I to Apollos," "And I to Cephas," "And I to Christ."
By 'quarrelling' I mean that each of you has his party-cry, "I belong to Paul," "And I to Apollos," "And I to Cephas," "And I to Christ." Has Christ been parcelled out? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Was it in Paul's name that you were baptized?
Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel. And to preach it with no fine rhetoric, lest the cross of Christ should lose its power!
Sage, scribe, critic of this world, where are they all? Has not God stultified the wisdom of the world?
Sage, scribe, critic of this world, where are they all? Has not God stultified the wisdom of the world?
but our message is Christ the crucified ??a stumbling-block to the Jews, 'sheer folly' to the Gentiles,
but our message is Christ the crucified ??a stumbling-block to the Jews, 'sheer folly' to the Gentiles,
Why, look at your own ranks, my brothers; not many wise men (that is, judged by human standards), not many leading men, not many of good birth, have been called!
Thus when I came to you, my brothers, I did not come to proclaim to you God's secret purpose with any elaborate words or wisdom.
We do discuss 'wisdom' with those who are mature; only it is not the wisdom of this world or of the dethroned Powers who rule this world,
And this is what we discuss, using language taught by no human wisdom but by the Spirit. We interpret what is spiritual in spiritual language.
and you belong to Christ, and Christ to God.
Now I have applied what has been said above to myself and Apollos, to teach you ... that you are not to be puffed up with rivalry over one teacher as against another.
when defamed, we try to conciliate. To this hour we are treated as the scum of the earth, the very refuse of the world!
I have consigned that individual to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, in order that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord Jesus.
In my letter I wrote that you were not to associate with the immoral. I did not mean you were literally to avoid contact with the immoral in this world, with the lustful and the thievish, or with idolaters; in that case you would have to leave the world altogether.
Outsiders it is no business of mine to judge. No, you must judge those who are inside the church, for yourselves;
When any of you has a grievance against his neighbour, do you dare to go to law in a sinful pagan court, instead of laying the case before the saints? Do you not know the saints are to manage the world? If the world is to come under your jurisdiction, are you incompetent to adjudicate upon trifles?
Do you not know the saints are to manage the world? If the world is to come under your jurisdiction, are you incompetent to adjudicate upon trifles? Do you not know we are to manage angels, let alone mundane issues? read more. And yet, when you have mundane issues to settle, you refer them to the judgment of men who from the point of view of the church are of no account! I say this to put you to shame. Has it come to this, that there is not a single wise man among you who could decide a dispute between members of the brotherhood, instead of one brother going to law with another ??and before unbelievers too! Even to have law-suits with one another is in itself evidence of defeat. Why not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why not rather let yourselves be defrauded? But instead of that you inflict wrong and practise frauds ??and that upon members of the brotherhood!
Some of you were once like that; but you washed yourselves clean, you were consecrated, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 'All things are lawful for me'? Yes, but not all are good for me. 'All things are lawful for me'? Yes, but I am not going to let anything master me.
'All things are lawful for me'? Yes, but not all are good for me. 'All things are lawful for me'? Yes, but I am not going to let anything master me. 'Food is meant for the stomach, and the stomach for food'? Yes, and God will do away with the one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; read more. and the God who raised the Lord will also raise us by his power. Do you not know your bodies are members of Christ? Am I to take Christ's members and devote them to a harlot? Never!
Do you not know your bodies are members of Christ? Am I to take Christ's members and devote them to a harlot? Never! Do you not know that he who joins himself to a harlot is one with her in body (for the pair, it is said, shall become one flesh), read more. while he who joins himself to the Lord is one with him in spirit. Shun immorality! Any other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his body. Do you not know your body is the temple of the holy Spirit within you ??the Spirit you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought for a price; then glorify God with your body.
Now about the questions in your letter. It is an excellent thing for a man to have no intercourse with a woman;
For married people these are my instructions (and they are the Lord's, not mine). A wife is not to separate from her husband ??11 if she has separated, she must either remain single or be reconciled to him ??and a husband must not put away his wife.
I have no orders from the Lord for unmarried women, but I will give you the opinion of one whom you can trust, after all the Lord's mercy to him.
However, she is happier if she remains as she is; that is my opinion ??and I suppose I have the Spirit of God as well as other people!
With regard to food that has been offered to idols. Here, of course, 'we all possess knowledge'! Knowledge puffs up, love builds up.
Suppose anyone sees you, a person of enlightened mind, reclining at meat inside an idol's temple; will that really 'fortify his weak conscience'? Will it not embolden him to violate his scruples of conscience by eating food that has been offered to idols? He is ruined, this weak man, ruined by your 'enlightened mind,' this brother for whose sake Christ died! read more. By sinning against the brotherhood in this way and wounding their weaker consciences, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore if food is any hindrance to my brother's welfare, sooner than injure him I will never eat flesh as long as I live, never!
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the work I have accomplished in the Lord?
Have we no right to travel with a Christian wife, like the rest of the apostles, like the brothers of the Lord, like Cephas himself?
Does a soldier provide his own supplies? Does a man plant a vineyard without eating its produce? Does a shepherd get no drink from the milk of the flock?
If others share this right over you, why not we all the more? We did not avail ourselves of it, you say? No, we do not mind any privations if we can only avoid putting any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
so the Lord's instructions were that those who proclaim the gospel are to get their living by the gospel?
And my reward? This, that I can preach the gospel free of charge, that I can refrain from insisting on all my rights as a preacher of the gospel.
Do you not know that in a race, though all run, only one man gains the prize? Run so as to win the prize.
For I would have you know this, my brothers, that while our fathers all lived under the cloud, all crossed through the sea,
and all drank the same supernatural drink (drinking from the supernatural Rock which accompanied them ??and that Rock was Christ),
No temptation has waylaid you that is beyond man's power; trust God, he will never let you be tempted beyond what you can stand, but when temptation comes, he will provide the way out of it, so that you can bear up under it. Shun idolatry, then, my beloved.
Copy me, as I copy Christ.
Copy me, as I copy Christ. I commend you for always bearing me in mind and for maintaining the traditions I passed on to you.
while any woman who prays or prophesies without a veil on her head dishonours her head; she is no better than a shaven woman.
Therefore, in view of the angels, woman must wear a symbol of subjection on her head.
But this makes it impossible for you to eat the 'Lord's' supper when you hold your gatherings.
I passed on to you what I received from the Lord himself, namely, that on the night he was betrayed the Lord Jesus took a loaf,
You know when you were pagans, how your impulses led you to dumb idols;
That is to say, God has set people within the church to be first of all apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, and speakers in 'tongues' of various kinds.
women must keep quiet at gatherings of the church. They are not allowed to speak; they must take a subordinate place, as the Law enjoins. If they want any information, let them ask their husbands at home; it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.
but let everything be done decorously and in order.
that he was buried, that he rose on the third day as the scriptures had said,
Now if we preach that Christ rose from the dead, how can certain individuals among you assert that 'there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead'?
With regard to the collection for the saints, you must carry out the same arrangements as I made for the churches of Galatia.
The chances are, I shall spend some time with you, possibly even pass the winter with you, so that you may speed me forward on any journey that lies before me.
Relying on this I meant to visit you first, to let you have a double delight;
I call God to witness against my soul, it was to spare you that I refrained from revisiting Corinth.
Besides, their minds were dulled, for to this very day, when the Old Testament is read aloud, the same veil hangs. Veiled from them the fact that the glory fades in Christ!
So my letter was written to you, not on account of the offender nor for the sake of the injured party, but in order to let you realize before God how seriously you do care for me.
But I will tell you what I think about it; it is to your interest to go on with this enterprise, for you started it last year, you were the first not merely to do anything but to want to do anything.
I know how willing you are, I am proud of it, I have boasted of you to the Macedonians: "Achaia," I tell them, "was all ready last year." And your zeal has been a stimulus to the majority of them.
Look at this obvious fact. So-and-so is perfectly sure he 'belongs to Christ'? Well then, let him understand, on second thoughts, that I 'belong to Christ' as much as he does.
This will be my third visit to you: every case is to be decided on the evidence of two or of three witnesses.
for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ also (though he is the saviour of the Body) is the head of the church;
for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ also (though he is the saviour of the Body) is the head of the church;
PAUL and Timotheus, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, as well as to the bishops and deacons:
Paul, by God's will an apostle of Christ Jesus, and brother Timotheus,
(We did want to reach you ??I did, I Paul, more than once ??but Satan stopped us.)
I allow no woman to teach or dictate to men, she must keep quiet.
they have failed in the Truth by arguing that the resurrection has taken place already, and they are undermining some people's faith.
Smith
Corinth'ians, First Epistle to the,
was written by the apostle St. Paul toward the close of his nearly three-years stay at Ephesus,
which, we learn from
probably terminated with the Pentecost of A.D. 57 or 58. The bearers were probably (according to the common subscription) Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus. It appears to have been called forth by the information the apostles had received of dissension in the Corinthian church, which may be thus explained: --The Corinthian church was planted by the apostle himself,
in his second missionary journey.
seq. He abode in the city a year and a half.
A short time after the apostle had left the city the eloquent Jew of Alexandria, Apollos, went to Corinth,
and gained many followers, dividing the church into two parties, the followers of Paul and the followers of Apollos. Later on Judaizing teachers from Jerusalem preached the gospel in a spirit of direct antagonism to St. Paul personally. To this third party we may perhaps add a fourth, that, under the name of "the followers of Christ,"
sought at first to separate themselves from the factious adherence to particular teachers, but eventually were driven by antagonism into positions equally sectarian and inimical to the unity of the church. At this momentous period, before parties had become consolidated and that distinctly withdrawn from communion with one another, the apostle writes; and in the outset of the epistle, 1Cor 1-4:21, we have this noble and impassioned protest against this fourfold rending of the robe of Christ.
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After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
So he settled there for a year and six months, teaching them the word of God.
It was when Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came down to Ephesus. There he found some disciples,
This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
So be on the alert, remember how for three whole years I never ceased night and day to watch over each one of you with tears.
Now we have received the Spirit ??not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that comes from God, that we may understand what God bestows upon us.
I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but it was God who made the seed grow.
I am staying on for the present at Ephesus till Pentecost,