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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During the stay of Apollos in Corinth, Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came to Ephesus, where he found a few disciples.
This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of the province of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the Lord's Message.
Therefore be on the alert; and remember that, night and day, for three years, I never ceased admonishing every one, even with tears.
For I have been distinctly informed, my brethren, about you by Chloe's people, that there are dissensions among you.
I shall come to you after passing through Macedonia; for my plan will be to pass through Macedonia;
I shall remain in Ephesus, however, until the time of the Harvest Festival,
I shall remain in Ephesus, however, until the time of the Harvest Festival,
It is a joy to me that Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus have now arrived, because what was wanting so far as you are concerned they have supplied.
For with many tears I write to you, and in deep suffering and depression of spirit, not in order to grieve you, but in the hope of showing you how brimful my heart is with love for you.
yet, obtaining no relief for my spirit because I did not find our brother Titus, I bade them farewell and went on into Macedonia.
This led us to urge Titus that, as he had previously been the one who commenced the work, so he should now go and complete among you this act of beneficence also.
But thanks be to God that He inspires the heart of Titus with the same deep interest in you; for Titus welcomed our request, and, being thoroughly in earnest, comes to you of his own free will. read more. And we send with him the brother whose praises for his earnestness in proclaiming the Good News are heard throughout all the Churches.
Hastings
CORINTHIANS, FIRST EPISTLE TO THE
1. Occasion of the Epistle.
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And every one who hears these my teachings and does not act upon them will be found to resemble a fool who builds his house upon sand.
for He had been teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their Scribes taught.
"I solemnly tell you that among all of woman born no greater has ever been raised up than John the Baptist; yet one who is of lower rank in the Kingdom of the Heavens is greater than he.
"It is not every man," He replied, "who can receive this teaching, but only those on whom the grace has been bestowed.
And in every Church, after prayer and fasting, they selected Elders by show of hands, and commended them to the Lord on whom their faith rested.
You must abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication. Keep yourselves clear of these things, and it will be well with you. Farewell."
Among our hearers was one named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods. She belonged to the city of Thyateira, and was a worshipper of the true God. The Lord opened her heart, so that she gave attention to what Paul was saying.
Now at the time when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was preaching fervently and was solemnly telling the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
And Crispus, the Warden of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household; and from time to time many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and received baptism.
Then the people all set upon Sosthenes, the Warden of the synagogue, and beat him severely in front of the court. Gallio did not concern himself in the least about this.
Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a native of Alexandria, a man of great learning and well versed in the Scriptures.
The Jews having planned to waylay him whenever he might be on the point of taking ship for Syria, he decided to travel back by way of Macedonia.
The Jews having planned to waylay him whenever he might be on the point of taking ship for Syria, he decided to travel back by way of Macedonia.
But we ourselves sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined them in the Troad, where we remained for a week.
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the Elders of the Church to come to him.
Now Philip had four unmarried daughters who were prophetesses;
To what conclusion, then, shall we come? Are we to persist in sinning in order that the grace extended to us may be the greater?
For through the authority graciously given to me I warn every individual among you not to value himself unduly, but to cultivate sobriety of judgement in accordance with the amount of faith which God has allotted to each one.
Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you greetings, and so do my countrymen Lucius, Jason and Sosipater.
For I have been distinctly informed, my brethren, about you by Chloe's people, that there are dissensions among you. What I mean is that each of you is a partisan. One man says "I belong to Paul;" another "I belong to Apollos;" a third "I belong to Peter;" a fourth "I belong to Christ."
What I mean is that each of you is a partisan. One man says "I belong to Paul;" another "I belong to Apollos;" a third "I belong to Peter;" a fourth "I belong to Christ." Is the Christ in fragments? Is it Paul who was crucified on your behalf? Or were you baptized to be Paul's adherents?
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the Good News; and not in merely wise words--lest the Cross of Christ should be deprived of its power.
Where is your wise man? Where your expounder of the Law? Where your investigator of the questions of this present age? Has not God shown the world's wisdom to be utter foolishness?
Where is your wise man? Where your expounder of the Law? Where your investigator of the questions of this present age? Has not God shown the world's wisdom to be utter foolishness?
while we proclaim a Christ who has been crucified--to the Jews a stumbling-block, to Gentiles foolishness,
while we proclaim a Christ who has been crucified--to the Jews a stumbling-block, to Gentiles foolishness,
For consider, brethren, God's call to you. Not many who are wise with merely human wisdom, not many of position and influence, not many of noble birth have been called.
And as for myself, brethren, when I came to you, it was not with surpassing power of eloquence or earthly wisdom that I came, announcing to you that which God had commanded me to bear witness to.
Yet when we are among mature believers we do speak words of wisdom; a wisdom not belonging, however, to the present age nor to the leaders of the present age who are soon to pass away.
Of these we speak--not in language which man's wisdom teaches us, but in that which the Spirit teaches--adapting, as we do, spiritual words to spiritual truths.
and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
In writing this much, brethren, with special reference to Apollos and myself, I have done so for your sakes, in order to teach you by our example what those words mean, which say, "Nothing beyond what is written!" --so that you may cease to take sides in boastful rivalry, for one teacher against another.
when slandered, we try to conciliate. We have come to be regarded as the mere dirt and filth of the world--the refuse of the universe, even to this hour.
I have handed over such a man to Satan for the destruction of his body, that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord Jesus.
I wrote to you in that letter that you were not to associate with fornicators; not that in this world you are to keep wholly aloof from such as they, any more than from people who are avaricious and greedy of gain, or from worshippers of idols. For that would mean that you would be compelled to go out of the world altogether.
For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Is it not for you to judge those who are within the Church
If one of you has a grievance against an opponent, does he dare to go to law before irreligious men and not before God's people? Do you not know that God's people will sit in judgement upon the world? And if you are the court before which the world is to be judged, are you unfit to deal with these petty matters?
Do you not know that God's people will sit in judgement upon the world? And if you are the court before which the world is to be judged, are you unfit to deal with these petty matters? Do you not know that we are to sit in judgement upon angels--to say nothing of things belonging to this life? read more. If therefore you have things belonging to this life which need to be decided, is it men who are absolutely nothing in the Church--is it *they* whom you make your judges? I say this to put you to shame. Has it come to this, that there does not exist among you a single wise man competent to decide between a man and his brother, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers? To say no more, then, it is altogether a defect in you that you have law-suits with one another. Why not rather endure injustice? Why not rather submit to being defrauded? On the contrary you yourselves inflict injustice and fraud, and upon brethren too.
And all this describes what some of you were. But now you have had every stain washed off: now you have been set apart as holy: now you have been pronounced free from guilt; in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God. Everything is allowable to me, but not everything is profitable. Everything is allowable to me, but to nothing will I become a slave.
Everything is allowable to me, but not everything is profitable. Everything is allowable to me, but to nothing will I become a slave. Food of all kinds is meant for the stomach, and the stomach is meant for food, and God will cause both of them to perish. Yet the body does not exist for the purpose of fornication, but for the Master's service, and the Master exists for the body; read more. and as God by His power raised the Master to life, so He will also raise us up. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them the members of a prostitute? No, indeed.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them the members of a prostitute? No, indeed. Or do you not know that a man who has to do with a prostitute is one with her in body? For God says, "The two shall become one." read more. But he who is in union with the Master is one with Him in spirit. Flee from fornication. Any other sin that a human being commits lies outside the body; but he who commits fornication sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your bodies are a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is within you--the Spirit whom you have from God? And you are not your own, for you have been redeemed at infinite cost. Therefore glorify God in your bodies.
I now deal with the subjects mentioned in your letter. It is well for a man to abstain altogether from marriage.
But to those already married my instructions are--yet not mine, but the Lord's--that a wife is not to leave her husband;
Concerning unmarried women I have no command to give you from the Lord; but I offer you my opinion, which is that of a man who, through the Lord's mercy, is deserving of your confidence.
But in my judgement, her state is a more enviable one if she remains as she is; and I also think that I have the Spirit of God.
Now as to things which have been sacrificed to idols. This is a subject which we already understand--because we all have knowledge of it. Knowledge, however, tends to make people conceited; it is love that builds us up.
For if any one were to see you, who know the real truth of this matter, reclining at table in an idol's temple, would not his conscience (supposing him to be a weak believer) Why, your knowledge becomes the ruin of the weak believer--your brother, for whom Christ died! read more. Moreover when you thus sin against the brethren and wound their weak consciences, you are, in reality, sinning against Christ. Therefore if what I eat causes my brother to fall, never again to the end of my days will I touch any kind of animal food, for fear I should cause my brother to fall.
Am I not free? Am I not an Apostle? Can it be denied that I have seen Jesus, our Lord? Are not you yourselves my work in the Lord?
Have we not a right to take with us on our journeys a Christian sister as our wife, as the rest of the Apostles do--and the Lord's brothers and Peter?
What soldier ever serves at his own cost? Who plants a vineyard and yet does not eat any of the grapes? Or who tends a herd of cattle and yet does not taste their milk?
If other teachers possess that right over you, do not we possess it much more? Yet we have not availed ourselves of the right, but we patiently endure all things rather than hinder in the least degree the progress of the Good News of the Christ.
In the same way the Lord also directed those who proclaim the Good News to maintain themselves by the Good News.
What are my wages then? The very fact that the Good News which I preach will cost my hearers nothing, so that I cannot be charged with abuse of my privileges as a Christian preacher.
Do you not know that in the foot-race the runners all run, but that only one gets the prize? You must run like him, in order to win with certainty.
For I would have you remember, brethren, how our forefathers were all of them sheltered by the cloud, and all got safely through the Red Sea.
and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they long drank the water that flowed from the spiritual rock that went with them--and that rock was the Christ.
No temptation has you in its power but such as is common to human nature; and God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. But, when the temptation comes, He will also provide the way of escape; so that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my dear friends, avoid all connection with the worship of idols.
Be imitators of me, in so far as I in turn am an imitator of Christ.
Be imitators of me, in so far as I in turn am an imitator of Christ. Now I commend you for remembering me in everything, and because you hold fast truths and practices precisely as I have taught them to you.
but a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her Head, for it is exactly the same as if she had her hair cut short.
That is why a woman ought to have on her head a symbol of subjection, because of the angels.
When, however, you meet in one place, there is no eating the Supper of the Lord;
For it was from the Lord that I received the facts which, in turn, I handed on to you; how that the Lord Jesus, on the night He was to be betrayed, took some bread,
You know that when you were heathens you went astray after dumb idols, wherever you happened to be led.
And by God's appointment there are in the Church--first Apostles, secondly Prophets, thirdly teachers. Then come miraculous powers, and then ability to cure diseases or render loving service, or powers of organization, or varieties of the gift of 'tongues.'
Let married women be silent in the Churches, for they are not permitted to speak. They must be content with a subordinate place, as the Law also says; and if they wish to ask questions, they should ask their own husbands at home. For it is disgraceful for a married woman to speak at a Church assembly.
only let everything be done in a becoming and orderly manner.
that He was buried; that He rose to life again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
But if Christ is preached as having risen from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead?
As to the collection for God's people, what I have directed the Churches of Galatia to do, you must do also.
and I shall make some stay with you perhaps, or even spend the winter with you, in order that you may help me forward, whichever way I travel.
It was because I entertained this confidence that I intended to visit you before going elsewhere--so that you might receive a twofold proof of God's favour--
But as for me, as my soul shall answer for it, I appeal to God as my witness, that it was to spare you pain that I gave up my visit to Corinth.
Nay, their minds were made dull; for to this very day during the reading of the book of the ancient Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted, because it is only in Christ that it is to be abolished.
Therefore, though I wrote to you, it was not to punish the offender, nor to secure justice for him who had suffered the wrong, but it was chiefly in order that your earnest feeling on our behalf might become manifest to yourselves in the sight of God.
But in this matter I give you an opinion; for my doing this helps forward your own intentions, seeing that not only have you begun operations, but a year ago you already had the desire to do so.
For I know your earnest willingness, on account of which I habitually boast of you to the Macedonians, pointing out to them that for a whole year you in Greece have been ready; and the greater number of them have been spurred on by your ardour.
Is it outward appearances you look to? If any man is confident as regards himself that he specially belongs to Christ, let him consider again and reflect that just as he belongs to Christ, so also do we.
This intended visit of mine is my third visit to you. "On the evidence of two or three witnesses every charge shall be sustained."
because a husband is the Head of his wife as Christ also is the Head of the Church, being indeed the Saviour of this His Body.
because a husband is the Head of his wife as Christ also is the Head of the Church, being indeed the Saviour of this His Body.
Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus: To all God's people in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the ministers of the Church and their assistants.
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God--and Timothy our brother:
On this account we wanted to come to you--at least I Paul wanted again and again to do so--but Satan hindered us.
Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.
I do not permit a woman to teach, nor have authority over a man, but she must remain silent.
In the matter of the truth they have gone astray, saying that the Resurrection is already past, and so they are overthrowing the faith of some.
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 he left Athens and came to Corinth.
So Paul remained in Corinth for a year and six months, teaching among them the Message of God.
During the stay of Apollos in Corinth, Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came to Ephesus, where he found a few disciples.
This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of the province of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the Lord's Message.
Therefore be on the alert; and remember that, night and day, for three years, I never ceased admonishing every one, even with tears.
But we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which comes forth from God, that we may know the blessings that have been so freely given to us by God.
I planted and Apollos watered; but it was God who was, all the time, giving the increase.
I shall remain in Ephesus, however, until the time of the Harvest Festival,