Waves of the Aegean Sea lap the north shore of the Saronic Gulf in southeastern Greece. From Athens on the east end of the gulf to Cenchreae on the west, the apostle Paul had a 65-mile journey by sea or coastal road, which brought him to the Isthmus of Corinth, that low-lying neck of land that joins Attica (northeast) to the Peloponnese (southwest). High hills and cliffs line the route. But from Cenchreae to Corinth the ground is low enough that ancient merchants could draw their ships overland to the Gulf of Corinth, making that city rich from traders moving east and west. Corinth was a cosmopolitan city that attracted Asians, North Africans, and Westerners to its crowded markets. Along with their trade goods, they supplied a wealth of ideas to the wisdom-hungry Greeks.
In 1 Corinthians Paul writes to a congregation he established during his second missionary journey while visiting and teaching at the local synagogue (Acts 18:1–11). Paul devoted a year and a half to planting the congregation at this key city before returning to the congregation at Antioch that sent him out on mission trips. It was several years later—after Paul’s third missionary journey—that he learned about serious divisions in the Corinthian congregation, which prompted his letters to them.
Purpose and Recipients of 1 Corinthians
Paul had in an earlier letter prepared the Corinthian Church for Timothy’s coming visit. That visit was designed by Paul to reinforce and to carry further the work that his letter was designed to do, namely, to bring the Corinthians back from their flight out of Christian reality and into an intoxicated and enthusiastic individualism, back to the cross, back to where Paul stood: “I urge you … be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy … to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them … in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:16, 17). The immediately preceding context makes plain what those “ways in Christ” were. Paul ironically contrasted the blissful state of the Corinthians—who had become kings, who were rich, wise, strong, and held in honor—with the apostles’ wretched and unfinished state under the cross, sentenced to death, a spectacle for angels and others to gaze on, fools, weak, in disrepute, hungry, thirsty, ill-clad, homeless, the meekly enduring, toilworn refuse of the world (4:8–13). Paul anticipated that Timothy’s task would not be a pleasant one and that his reception would be less than amiable (16:10, 11). Timothy’s stay was brief, and since Corinthians doesn’t mention it, we know nothing of its results except what we can infer from the events that followed.
The Corinthian Church was a brilliantly endowed church, “enriched … in all speech and all knowledge … not lacking in any gift” (1:5, 7). However, the church was full of tensions and ferment. And the church’s outward situation did nothing to improve its inward state. This was because the church members lived in Corinth, where all the brilliance of the Greek mind and all the vagaries of the Greek will mingled with an influx of Eastern religiosity to produce a moral climate that even the Greeks found singularly vicious.
Summary of 1 Corinthians
1:1–2:5 Paul highlights the strengths of the congregation, strengths God extends to all believers by His grace. In contrast, divisions in the Church are a denial of the one Baptism into Christ, who was crucified for all. We should avoid pride and boasting about what we do for God or for others. The Good News is conveyed not through eloquence, but through humble messengers testifying about the cross.
2:6–4:21 The message of the cross is simple, but the spiritual wisdom that comes with it touches every area of life and faith. There is no ground for pride in human achievement in Christ’s Church. Such an attitude undermines the very nature of His gifts of salvation and service. People may despise God’s messenger because the Spirit’s power is concealed in lowly, suffering leaders like Paul. The crowd always yearns for flashy leadership and despises those who teach the basics and lead by example.
Chapters 5–6 Sins such as sexual immorality are out of place among the people of God. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has taken our sins upon Himself. Just as the old sinful nature rises to cause grievances between Christians, it also tempts us to seek satisfaction through secular processes. God calls churches to settle grievances through Law and Gospel before matters get out of hand. Because Christ has united us with Him and with one another, immorality has no place among us. Freedom to live in Christ excludes living in opposition to Him.
Chapter 7 Marriage brings obligations, but being in Christ forms a new being. The Lord transforms believers from our previous existence and makes us members of His household. In view of this, Paul outlines two blessed estates, that of marriage and that of celibacy.
Chapters 8–9 The rights and the freedom of the Gospel are wrongly promoted in the Corinthian Church, leading the believers to adopt too easily the behaviors and practices of the surrounding culture. No believer has the right or freedom to destroy the faith of others, especially those whom Paul describes as weak in the faith. Faith is not a private matter. As founder of the Corinthian Church, and as an apostle, Paul is perceived to have more “rights” than anyone else. Yet he consistently sets an example for the Corinthians, encouraging them to put off their own rights in order to serve one another.
10:1–11:1 “Flee from idolatry” (10:14) summarizes this section. Even Israel, who had seen God’s mighty works throughout the exodus, acted as if God were not real, as if they could rely on gods of their own creation or even themselves to keep them safe. In Western culture, Christians rarely have to deal with food sacrificed to other gods, though Christians in Asia and Africa must deal with these issues directly. In either case, Paul’s instructions show that our actions communicate something about who we are to those around us.
11:2–16 Corinthian women thought they could go along with cultural trends. However, removal of their hair covering would be similar to a woman in our culture removing her wedding ring: it symbolizes that she no longer intends to live in a faithful marriage relationship. Paul is concerned with outward conduct as well as with the roles God has given to each gender. The removal of the covering would eliminate the gender distinctions God established.
11:17–34 The Corinthians have turned the Sacrament into a supper of their own making. As a result, the community of believers formed by the Gospel and the Sacrament is being harmed, and individuals are falling under God’s judgment. Recalling Christ’s own institution of the Supper, Paul reminds the Corinthians to recognize what God has offered in the Sacrament: the body and blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and through it the union of the Body of Christ, the Church, gathered around the altar.
Chapters 12–14 God, who is one, unified and blessed the Corinthian congregation through His Spirit and gifts. Paul seeks to settle and unite the Corinthian congregation by emphasizing the order God established in creation and the priority of the Gospel. By so completely describing and advocating love’s divine qualities, Paul reveals the Corinthians’ immaturity. He sharply rebukes all noisy, clanging boasts of superiority. Yet, he alludes to the fact that the Father—who knows His children all too well—still loves them. Some Corinthians showed a lack of love by pursuing their own edification to the neglect of those around them. For example, issues of worship practice divided the Corinthians. Though Paul tolerates the Corinthians’ personal interests, he insists that such interests have no place in congregational gatherings, which should clearly teach God’s Word for all.
Chapter 15 Because of zeal for more knowledge, the Corinthians have neglected what has first importance: the simple truths and application of the Gospel. They take pride in their wisdom, but Paul tears apart their arguments with basic logic and rhetoric defending the doctrine of the bodily resurrection. Logic, rhetoric, and even sarcasm have their uses in preaching and teaching the Gospel. Yet all our powers and wisdom must remain subject to the Lord, who is “all in all” (verse 28). The body—corrupted by sin—declines, decays, and dies. Humanly speaking, we can extend our lives only by having children, whom we likewise corrupt with our inherited sin. The justification Jesus provided is our resurrection-hope against sin, death, and the Law’s condemnation. Jesus delivers us from death’s jaws.
Chapter 16 Compassion leads the early Christian congregations to treasure up and distribute support for fellow Christians and ministries in need. As Paul closes the letter, he also clears the way for future work and for the work of his colleague Timothy. Paul urges the leaders at Corinth to recognize the service, calling, and authority of one another and to see themselves as part of a larger team. Paul’s bittersweet conclusion illustrates his passion for the Gospel and for the congregation
Martin Luther on 1 Corinthians
…
“[St. Paul] had taught his Corinthians Christian faith and freedom from the law. But then the mad saints came along, and the immature know-it-alls. They broke up the unity of the doctrine and caused division among the believers. One claimed to belong to Paul, the other to Apollos; one to Peter, the other to Christ. One wanted circumcision, the other not; one wanted marriage, the other not; one wanted to eat food offered to idols, the other not. Some wanted to be outwardly free [leiblich frey]; some of the women wanted to go with uncovered hair, and so on. They went so far that one man abused his liberty and married his father’s wife, some did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and some thought lightly of the sacrament.
“In short, things got so wild and disorderly that everyone wanted to be the expert and do the teaching and make what he pleased of the gospel, the sacrament, and faith. Meanwhile they let the main thing drop—namely, that Christ is our salvation, righteousness, and redemption—as if they had long since outgrown it. …
“Therefore St. Paul most severely rebukes and condemns this shameful wisdom, and makes these connoisseur saints out to be fools. He says outright that they know nothing of Christ, or of the Spirit and gifts of God given to us in Christ, and that they had better begin to learn. … This is what St. Paul deals with in the first four chapters.” … (AE 35:380–83)
Scripture: ESV®.
Quotation marked AE 35 is from Luther’s Works, American Edition © Fortress Press. Used with permission of Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved.
Blog post adapted from Lutheran Bible Companion, Volume 2: Intertestamental Era, New Testament, and Bible Dictionary © 2014 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Read more summary content with important theological commentary in Lutheran Bible Companion: Volume 2.
