I Corinthians

Author: the apostle Paul
Place of writing: the city of Ephesus
Time of writing: probably 56 A.D.

When Paul was on his second missionary journey, he planted a church in the city of Corinth, the most important commercial city in Greece, and also considered to be the most immoral; and he remained there two years to teach and instruct the Corinthian believers (see Acts 18:1-8). However, almost as soon as he had left, he began to hear of many problems that had already arisen, as certain members of Chloe’s household brought him news (1:11); and furthermore, the Corinthian believers themselves displayed many errors and wrong ways of thinking in a letter that they wrote to Paul, questioning him on various matters (7:1). In response to these troubling reports and questions, Paul is writing a letter to correct their wrong teachings and practices.

Paul’s major theme in this letter is that true faith in Jesus must show itself in a life which conforms to his teachings and examples. It is not enough to profess to be a believer, and still live a life full of immorality, division, and selfishness; those who have been given the grace of God because of Jesus the Messiah will also be kept unblemished by him, until the day of his return (1:4-9).

Paul begins his letter by acknowledging the grace of God with which the Corinthians have been blessed, and then proceeds to instruct them how to conduct their lives in a matter befitting that grace. First, he rebukes their division and pride in their relationship to various teachers, reminding them that the apostles whom they are foolishly boasting in are themselves only humble servants of Christ. Then, he rebukes their acceptance of a believer living in open immorality; he forbids them to take other believers to court, or to visit prostitutes; he corrects their false views of marriage; he gives instruction on the matter of eating meat offered to idols, and living for the good of others; he rebukes their misuse of the spiritual gifts, and teaches them about the pre-eminence of love; and finally, he corrects their false teachings on the resurrection, before concluding with some personal news, requests, and greetings.

Leave a Reply