Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 19
August 3, 1967
NUMBER 13, PAGE 9b-10a

Paul's First Letter To The Corinthians

B. G. Echols

After Paul's departure from Corinth, events did not always move satisfactorily. Before Paul's return to Ephesus on his third preaching journey, Apollos, came to Corinth and made many converts (Acts 18: 27-19:1.) After doing an excellent work in Corinth, Apollos joined Paul in Ephesus and the difficulties in the church at Corinth began.

It seems that Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth (I Cor. 5:9) which was strong in language. He charged the Corinthians to "cease all company with fornicators." The Corinthians did not understand this command and Paul explains it to them in I Corinthians.

The first epistle to Corinth was written from Ephesus at a time of great prosperity in the work (16:8,9.) This must refer to the book burning in Ephesus (Acts 19:19-20.) If the sojourn of Paul in Asia had almost ended when this epistle was written, its date would be late in 56 A. D. or early 57.

The distance from Ephesus to Corinth by sea was about eight days. In the constant travel between the two cities, news of what was happening in Corinth frequently came to Paul. Members of the household of Chloe are mentioned as having brought news of contentions (1:11.) Other messengers from Corinth included Stephanus, Fortunatus and Achaicus (16:17.) They may have borne the letter from the church which asked Paul several questions (7:1.) Paul hastened to reply to the questions while at the same time he denounced the sins of the church that had been brought to his attention.

From the epistle we learn much of the problems in the church. The spirit of partyism had seized upon the members to almost destroy the church. There were factions in the church which Paul rebuked with the utmost severity, insisting that he and other workers were not leaders of parties, but messengers of Christ (1:10-17; 3:1-15,21-23.) The parties took the names of different preachers, but the men mentioned by Paul were not responsible for the factions.

We find that the work of Paul had been disparaged in Corinth because of his methods. This Paul admits (2:3-5.) He had not attempted to win them by worldly wisdom. He had not lacked God's wisdom, but the Corinthians had not been ready for strong meat (2:63:2, 19-20.) Some, perhaps Judaizers, sought to deny Paul's apostleship and thus persuade the Corinthians to deny his authority (chapter 9).

One of the most serious difficulties in the Corinthian church was the failure of some to break completely with heathen immorality. The habits in which many had been educated made it very difficult to root out immorality. They failed to realize the absolute necessity of living pure lives. The conduct of some members had brought shame on the name of Christ. The prevalence of this were many problems concerning marriage about which they wrote to Paul for advice (chapter 7.)

There were other evils. Some were showing a lack of brotherly love by bringing actions against their brethren in heathen courts of law (chapter 6.) Another problem was the difficulty of some of the Corinthians keeping themselves from entanglements of idolatry. There must be no compromise with idol worship lest the Corinthians fall into the same condemnation as the Israelites (chapters 8 and 10.)

A number of matters in connection with the assemblies had to be corrected. One was the place of women. Evidently some of the women had begun to assert rights and independence in a way that caused disturbance. This situation needed to be corrected and controlled (11:2-16.) The Lord's Supper was being perverted by some. To correct this Paul pointed out the true nature and meaning of the communion (11:17-34.) The gift of tongues had become a source of disorder and confusion in the church. Paul sought to correct their use and understanding of all spiritual gifts and to emphasize the need of love toward one another (chapters 12, 13 and 14.)

Evidently the church was also disturbed about the resurrection. Some must have lost or been very near losing the foundation of faith - belief in the resurrection of Christ. Paul dealt with this important subject at length (chapter 15.) He concluded this letter with statements of his plans, and greetings from his fellow workers in Ephesus.

The success of this epistle was great as we can see from the second. Its success encourages us to believe more strongly in the power of the Word of God to change the hearts and lives of men.