Paul's First Letter to Corinth

Background Information

This letter was probably written from Ephesus, during Paul’s three-year ministry visit stay at the front end of his third missionary journey (16:8, 19).

Though he had visited Ephesus briefly at the end of his second missionary journey, on his return route to his sending church in Antioch of Syria (Acts 18:19-21), he spent considerable time there (three or more years) at the start of his third journey (Acts 19:1-20:1, 31). This explains why, despite the pressing nature of the issues in the church at Corinth, Paul would have remained in Ephesus instead, opting to write a letter to Corinth rather than visit in person. The gospel opportunities in Ephesus were too compelling to leave for a trip to Corinth.

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, which he planted during the second half of his second missionary journey (1:2).

We read about the beginnings of this church in Acts 18:1-18. This is where he met the married couple, Aquila and Priscilla, who would become faithful ministry partners for Paul (Rom 16:3; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim 4:19). Timothy and Silas also served with Paul there. Altogether, Paul spent one-and-a-half years there. After being rejected by the Jewish leaders of the synagogue (though the ruler of the synagogue believed!), he relocated his ministry center to the house of a Gentile named Justus, next door to the synagogue. Both intense persecution and pushback as well as many believers’ baptisms were marks of his ministry in Corinth. So, Paul wrote this letter to Corinth between two to four years after starting the church there.

The general theme apparent in this epistle is “Practical Christian Living.”

Unlike most other of Paul’s letters, the initial, opening “doctrinal” section is comparatively small. Rather than open his book with chapters of theological material before giving practical guidance, he seems to “jump right in” to the practical guidance very early, choosing to weave corresponding theological teaching throughout as needed.

It’s fascinating to note that this may not have been the first letter Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. He seems to have written another letter before this one (1 Cor 5:9).

Paul apparently wrote this letter with two primary purposes in mind.

• First, he wrote to address some problems that church members from the family of Chloe had reported to him (1:11).

For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

Members of this family had traveled from Corinth to meet Paul at Ephesus and brought with them a report of problems in the church which needed pastoral attention. The word “contentions” here means “debate, quarrel, strife,” and in some instances, “altercation.”

• Second, he wrote to answer questions from the church that they had asked him by means of a letter (7:1).

Now concerning the things whereof you wrote unto me...

Perhaps Chloe’s family had carried this letter to Paul, or perhaps Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus carried the letter when they also brought to Paul a financial gift from the church at Corinth (16:17). Whatever the case, this second half of Paul’s letter answers the questions the church had asked him in the letter they had sent to him in Ephesus.

In summary, the unifying purpose of this book, though uniquely and intensely practical in nature, seems to be the importance of glorifying God in practice because of the salvation he had provided for them through Christ.

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Cor 6:20)

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Cor 10:31)

As believers individually and as the body of Christ as a church, every believer and congregation must make revealing the character and nature of God to a watching world the preeminent priority of our conduct, even when that means we must say “no” to our fleshly, sinful desires, be different from the world around us, or somehow suffer personally or corporately as a result.

Outline of the Book

• Introduction (1:1-9)
• Responding to a Report of Problems in the Church (1:10-6:20)
  • Divisions within the church (1:10-4:21)
  • Incest within the church (5:1-13)
  • Lawsuits within the church (6:1-11)
  • Sexual immorality in the church (6:12-20)
• Questions from the Church (7:1-15:58)
  • A proper understanding of marriage (7:1-24)
  • A proper understanding of singleness (virgins and widows) (7:25-40)
  • The proper way to handle doubtful things (8:1-11:1)
  • The conduct of women in church worship (11:2-16)
  • A correct understanding of the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34)
  • A correct understanding of spiritual gifts (12:1-14:40)
  • A scriptural understanding of the resurrection of believers (15:1-58)
  • An explanation of Paul’s fund-raising offering for the struggling church at Jerusalem (16:1-4)

Nestled in the middle of Paul’s discussion of spiritual gifts is his classic explanation of Christian love (1 Cor 13). Why is this significant? Corinth was home to the temple of the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love, which fostered a very immoral atmosphere in the city. Corinthian believers needed a clear, Christian explanation of true love as the atmosphere for Christian service, in opposition to pagan love associated with Aphrodite worship. Further fascinating is that Paul places this teaching on love in the center of his teaching about spiritual gifts and church worship gatherings, not – where we might expect – in the center of his teaching on marriage.

1 Cor 15 is the central, extensive New Testament passage which teaches about the doctrine of resurrection. In this passage, Paul speaks like a lawyer presenting an air-tight case, offering one argument after another for the factuality, necessity, and reality of the resurrection.

• Conclusion (16:5-24)
  • Paul’s plans to revisit the churches in Macedonia, with an eventual arrival in Corinth (16:5-18)
  • Greetings from believers and churches in Asia Minor (16:19-24)