1 Corinthians 1
Salutation
1 From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother,
The author is the Apostle Paul. Paul did not choose Christ. Instead, Paul tried to commit genocide to the body of Christ. When one attacks the body, then the head is attacked as well. Christ responded by calling Paul to apostleship. Sosthenes was a brother-in-Christ who delivered this letter to the Church in Corinth.
2 to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
God is the architect, or the builder, of the church. Corinth was a seaport city in Greece, known for its loose morals and pagan worship. The Corinthians did not seek God, but instead, God sought them and called them to be saints. The saints were being sanctified in Christ Jesus. Paul was writing to believers in Corinth, but they were immature believers. They were not living up to their high calling. This was also a circular letter, written indirectly to all of the other churches that call upon the name of the Lord.
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
The Greek word for “grace” is χάρις (charis), meaning grace or kindness. The Greek word for “peace” is εἰρήνη (eirana), from the Hebrew word שָׁלום (shalom), meaning peace, prosperity, and security with God. The first was a standard greeting to the Gentiles, while the latter was a standard greeting to the Jews. Paul combined the Greek and Jewish greeting to the highest level. Believers are saved by God's kindness. After believers are saved, they receive peace, prosperity, and security with God. Mature believers do not receive monetary prosperity as the prosperity preachers falsely claim. Believers receive spiritual prosperities which will result in rewards in heaven.
Thanksgiving
4 I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus.
The Corinthians were very immoral, but God chose them and saved them because of his kindness. Notice that Christ comes first in the Greek, but this is reversed in many English translation. Christ means that Jesus was the anointed king prophesied in the Old Testament to rule on David's throne forever.
5 For you were made rich in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge,
God took these poor pagan idol worshipers who were headed to the Lake of Fire and made them spiritually wealthy beyond their wildest dreams.
6 just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you,
The word came to the Corinthians by a human agent, by word of mouth. This message was confirmed by the Holy Spirit.
7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul very subtly addressed the problem of the Corinthian church. There were many spiritual gifts available to the church, but the Corinthians were only concentrating in a few of these gifts, They were also misusing these gifts.
The "wait" is the imminent return of Christ. The Second Coming was predicted in the Old Testament. The Rapture is imminent and can occur at any time, even in the life of the believers of Corinth that were alive in the first century church.
8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God will strengthen the Corinthian believers until the Rapture occurs. They will not be faultless, but blameless. God will no longer see their sin. This will occur at the Rapture of the Church. The dead will arise first, and then the ones living on earth will meet the Lord in the air.
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Man is not faithful. Even believers are not faithful. God is not a liar like man. God is a covenant keeping, promise keeping God, so he will keep his promise. Notice that the Ephesians were called into their position in Christ. They were also called to have fellowship with Christ. The church will live in a husband-wife intimate relationship with Christ. Jesus is called Christ, meaning the anointed king. He is called Lord, meaning deity.
Divisions in the Church
10 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose.
For the tenth verse in a row, the name of Christ is mentioned. He is the solution to the Corinthian problems in which Paul will address in this letter. The first problem he mentions in the church is division among the saints. The rest of this letter, up to chapter fifteen, concerns the divisions that were currently active in the Corinthian church. Many local churches throughout history have inherited these same problems.
Paul commands the Corinthians to have the same mind, meaning the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ comes from studying the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level.
11 For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you.
The Greek word for “quarrels” is ἔρις (eros), coming from the Greek goddess Eros, who was the goddess of strife and contention. Notice that Paul names his source. It is unbiblical to cite a problem without referencing the exact source. The secularists do it all of the time, but they are far from the Word of God.
When there is sin in the church, then it is a cancer which will infect everyone, so it needs to be removed. The reason that the Corinthians were quarreling is because they were a bunch of immature baby Christians who did not have enough bible doctrine to apply the mind of Christ.
12 Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ.”
Paul was the intellectual and the leader of the day. Apollos was another intellectual and a powerful speaker. He had received his training in Alexandria at a top Jewish school. Peter was fiery and the apostle who had the keys to open the door for Gentile salvation. All three of these great teachers and unity and we're teaching the same message. It was the immature Corinthians who did not have unity.
One group was saying that they enjoyed Paul, because he was so spiritual. Another group was saying that we like Peter, because he is fire and brimstone. Another group was saying we like Apollos, because he reaches the multitudes. Another group was the super-duper Charismatic group who was saying that they are members of the invisible church. They were all following a teacher, and not Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul?
Paul was asking sarcastic questions to drive home a point. Christ was not divided, but he was completely in unity with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Paul was not crucified as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, so the Corinthians need to get their eyes off of Paul. The Corinthians were baptized in the Spirit by the name of Jesus at their conversion, so they need to get their eyes off of these human teachers.
14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
The Corinthians were even using the ritual of water baptism as boasting material. They would brag to others about who performed the water baptism ritual.
15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name!
Paul is sarcastically informing the Corinthians that they are so immature, that if he would have personally baptized them with water, they would boast about it.
16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.)
Paul places such little importance in water baptism that he could not even remember who he baptized. Others make a big deal of it. There are some people today who think that the ritual of water baptism saves them or performs some kind of mystical benefit for them.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless.
There are a lot of immature believers today who allow water baptism to split their churches.
The Message of the Cross
18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The cross divides unbelievers from believers, but it should not divide believers from other believers. The most intellectual person in the world cannot understand the cross unless God enlightens him.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.”
Paul quoted from Isaiah 29:14. In this example, the nation of Israel did not listen to their own prophets. Instead, they listened to human counsel. The human counsel advised that Israel should make an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. The Assyrians attacked, destroyed Israel and Egypt, and took both people into captivity with hooks in their noses.
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic Law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?
Without knowledge from the entire counsel of the Word of God, there is no wise human counsel. The Jewish scholars nor the Greek philosophers cannot make wise counsel. The Greek word for “foolish” is μωραίνω (moepaino), meaning moron, stupid, dull, sluggish, or silly. This noun is the origin of the English word moron. The wisdom of the world is silly, stupid, and dull.
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching.
The world believes that the teaching of the Word of God is foolishness. However, it is this preaching of the Word that causes one to listen and believe.
22 For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom,
The Jews were the only nation who had the Word of God, yet they asked for a sign. Jesus commented that an evil and adulterous nation asked for a sign, but He gave them one anyway. His sign was the resurrection.
The Greek philosophers were searching for wisdom, so God sent Paul to Mars Hill. Paul gave them the wisdom of Christ raising Himself from the dead, but the Greeks rejected Paul's message and mocked him.
23 but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.
Jesus was the foundation stone of Judaism, but instead of building upon this foundation, the Jews were blinded and they tripped over the stone. The Gentiles were also blinded, so they tripped over the stone as well, and called the resurrection foolishness.
24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Only those who are called by God can understand the power and wisdom of God. All others will see it as foolishness.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Man is not as smart as he thinks he is. Unless God calls man, then man will remain a stupid creature, thinking that he is smart. Man will think that he is strong, yet he is really weak and does not have the power to do anything unless God gives him strength.
26 Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position.
God was not calling out the wealthy and intellectual geniuses. He was calling out normal, average people.
27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong.
God did the choosing and He did not choose the way that the world chooses. He did not choose the intellectuals, the wealthy elites, or the super-physical athletes. He chose the weak so that they could reflect the glory of God.
28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something,
The Roman world considered Jesus a criminal who did not deserve life on this earth. The Romans felt the same way about the apostles and disciples. Yet, these Roman outcasts and criminals changed the world and brought light into Satan's domain. God took a bunch of lemons and turned them into lemonade.
29 so that no one can boast in his presence.
If God chose the strong, then they would boast. God chose the weak, so that they could not boast. They could only give glory to God. Believers do not need professional actors, politicians, or sports figures in pulpits who boast about their past exploits before God chose them. Believers need weak men who were made strong by God.
30 He is the reason you have a God chosen relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
God chose these weaklings so that they could have a relationship with Jesus. The only reason that anyone has a relationship with Jesus is because of God's call. God redeems, sanctifies, and justifies all who are called. He is the Good Shepherd, so will not lose any of his sheep. He will even leave the 99 sheep to find the one lost sheep.
31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
The only reason that believers are saved, the only reason that believers can know God, the only reason that believers can serve God, and the only reason that believers can earn eternal crowns in heaven, is because the Lord did it all. He placed the believers in this position and then prepared them, equipped them, and guided them for a divine mission. Christ hid the plan of salvation from the wisdom of the world and revealed it to simple believers.
