I Corinthians 5, Outside vs. Inside

Paul has been confronting the arrogance of the Corinthian church, as they fight about leadership and standing.  In this chapter, Paul addresses the question, "When is it appropriate to discipline another for immoral or unethical behavior.  At one level, the answer is easy....

1 Corinthians 5: 1-5, Incest in the Church

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife.  And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 

Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present.  When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

The church, arrogant and divisive, has at the same time been ignoring an active sexual relationship among members that they all recognize as wrong and damaging.  Paul confronts this harshly.

1 Corinthians 5: 6-8, The new bread of Christ

Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?  Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

Replace boasting by sincerity.  Remember the Lamb who was sacrificed for us, in sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5: 9-13, Outside vs. inside

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.  But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

Paul mentions an earlier letter, now lost.  He also gives clear advice, often forgotten by the Church. Those of us who voluntarily join the church community, who seek to follow Christ, offer ourselves for (constructive) criticism and judgment.  In that realm, (compassionate) judgment is appropriate and may even lead to discipline. But don't judge those who are outside the church!  

If only Christians in America practiced this...!  Instead (in my experience) the church gets this backwards, making pronouncements about those outside the church while often ignoring the sin and hypocrisy within the church!

The Old Testament quote in verse 13 is appears in Deuteronomy in a number of places, 17:7; 19:19; 21:21; 22:21,24; 24:7.

I Corinthians 4, True Leadership

Paul has been attacking the divisions within the church in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 4:1-5
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.  I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

Good advice: don't judge; leave that to God.  Judging others is generally not in our realm of responsibility.  Even one's conscience is not a good judge.

Meanwhile, Paul wishes for the Corinthians to respect and value (but not worship) their leaders like Apollos, Peter and, yes, Paul.

1 Corinthians 4:6-9
Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings--and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.

Those apostles (such as Paul, Apollos, Peter) have endured much for the Gospel.  The people in the church in Corinth have received many gifts; they have many strengths and talents.  They need to include humility among their characteristics!

1 Corinthians 4:10-13
We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

It is humility and service that are the hallmarks of leadership.  The Gospel of Christ inverts the social pecking order and Paul reminds the Corinthians of this.  In describing the servanthood of the apostles, he is asking the Corinthians to follow that model.

1 Corinthians 4:14-17
I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.

Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

Paul now is explicit in his insistence that the believers in Corinth imitate his service and stresses this by assigning Timothy to travel there and help monitor church development and growth.

1 Corinthians 4:18-21
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

Paul wants Timothy's visit to be one of love and support, but he oscillates between frustration and optimism.  He asks the Corinthians to make a decision.  

The difficulties the Corinthians face will be explored in the next chapter.  Paul will elaborate on when it is appropriate to condemn another's behavior.

I Corinthians 3, Building an Eternal Church

Paul continues to talk about the spirit-led life and to attack the divisiveness of the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 3:1-4, Jealousy
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?

What makes the Corinthians immature?  Their jealousy and quarreling.

1 Corinthians 3:5-9,
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.  For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

The believers in the city of Corinth have allied themselves with various leaders and apostles, forming sects.  Paul confronts the division, arguing that whether they were discipled by Paul, Apollos, or Cephas (Peter) is irrelevant. Indeed, all are to be followers of the Messiah, Jesus.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15, The importance of a good foundation
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

The foundation is important. Outward appearances are irrelevant.  The concept of fire fits Paul's building metaphor: a good building survives a fire, a poor one does not.  Fire burns away the outside painting and reveals the true inside structure.

1 Corinthians 3:16-23
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";  and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."

So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

The divisions in the church in Corinth are echoed in the Christian church today, with various denominations claiming some type of special insight into the kingdom.  Yet we are all, together, to follow Christ.

The Old Testament quote in verse 19 is from Job 5:13.  The quote in verse 20 is from Psalm 94:11.

I Corinthians 2, Wisdom of the Spirit

Paul began his letter to Corinth by reminding his readers of the life available in the Holy Spirit and confronting them for divisions based on various Christian leaders.  He continues to discuss these issues, focusing on spiritual wisdom.

1 Corinthians 2: 1-5
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

Jesus is the priority; it is to his kingdom, his country, to which we belong.  This membership, and the accompanying wisdom, is much simpler (and yet much deeper) than any temporary eloquence of speech or philosophy.

1 Corinthians 2:6-10a, A different wisdom

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" -- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The short-term "wisdom" of the world is very different from the longterm eternal wisdom offered by the crucified and resurrected Messiah.

The Old Testament quote in verse 9 is from Isaiah 64:4.

1 Corinthians 2: 10b-13
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

Paul emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, acting internally, aiding the believer to begin to see things from God's perspective.  This follows an argument similar to that expressed in Romans 8 (which was written from Corinth.)

1 Corinthians 2: 14-16
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

This is a significant theme of Paul's: if one is constantly immersed in the temporary social and intellectual realm of "earth" then one has a mindset very different from that given by the Holy Spirit, given to those who are part of the kingdom of heaven.  (In this way -- as to be elaborated later -- the followers of the Messiah are to be "ambassadors", remembering our "true country" while living in this one.)

The Old Testament quote in verse 16 is from Isaiah 40:13.

I Corinthian 1, A Higher Calling

The church begun in Corinth was in the midst of a pagan and chaotic society.  Paul wrote several letters to the church dealing with practical concerns and questions that they had posed to him. Over the next three weeks we look at the "First Letter" to the church in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 1:1-3, Greeting
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this fairly traditional greeting, Paul lays out the writers (he and Sothenes) and addresses the people of the Corinth church, reminding them of their high calling.

1 Corinthians 1:4-9, General calling

I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge--because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Paul elaborates on this calling. The people of the church have been provided everything they need through Christ and the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 1:10-13, Concerns about divisions

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?

One sign of the love of God is a unity and common encouragement among the followers of God. Paul is distressed that in Corinth the Christians are breaking into factions, depending upon which teacher they claim as theirs.  

Sadly, this has only gotten worse over the millenia since.

1 Corinthians 1:14-17, Division caused by baptism

I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

One of the conflicts in Corinth is over baptism.  Here the conflict is related to the identification with a certain teacher, not the mode of baptism. But note how uninterested Paul is in baptism as he says, "I didn't baptize anyone... well except Crispus and Gaius.  Oops, right, I also baptized the household of Stephanas...."  Paul would be shocked that modern churches have moved the dispute to the "mode" of baptism.  None of these disagreements should allow conflict among the people of God's kingdom.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25, The "Weakness" of the Gospel
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

The Old Testament quote in verse 19 is from Isaiah 29:14.

There is a short-sightedness to the earthly, naturalistic view of things, in which the current "wisdom" fad is all that matters along with the social standing it brings.  Paul will make careful intellectual arguments in other cases (see Acts 17 in Athens, and the arguments in the letter to the Romans) but he is not going to worship the human hierarchy of scholars.

1 Corinthians 1 26-31, God's standards are utterly different
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

The Old Testament quote in verse 31 is from Jeremiah 9:24.

Why has God chosen this path?  Why does he work with the weak, poor, humble?  I'm not sure we are eager for the answer....  But it has been God's plan through ancient Israel, from his choice of Abraham, Judah, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, David.  Jesus repeated this message throughout his ministry.  Paul will elaborate on Jesus and this ministry of the "weak" or "foolish" in the next chapter.

Romans 16, Personal Notes

Paul ends his letter to the church in Rome with a series of personal greetings.  These small matters give a lot of insight into Paul's ministry and the early churches in Europe.

Romans 16:1-6
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me. 

Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house. 

Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. 

Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. 

The first two people mentioned in this chapter are women.  It is Phoebe who carries the letter to Rome and "Prisca" (here), a short form of Priscilla, who is mentioned with her husband, Aquila.  The word translated "servant", in verse 1, describing Phoebe, is the Greek "diakonos", from which we get the word "deacon."

Cenchea was the port town just outside Corinth, all the people in the list of greeters at the end of this letter (when we can identify them) were involved in Corinth, from where Paul presumably writes this letter.

Romans 16:7
Greet Andronicus and Junias, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. 

Some claim that there were only twelve apostles ... but Andronicus and Junias are given that title here by Paul.  There is an argument to be made here that Paul wrote "Junia", the name of a woman; Andronicus and Junia may have been a traveling couple, like Priscilla and Acquila.

Romans 16:8-15
Greet Ampliatus, whom I love in the Lord. 

Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. 

Greet Apelles, tested and approved in Christ. 

Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. 

Greet Herodion, my relative.

Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. 

Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. 

Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. 

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. 

Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brothers with them. 

Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them. 

We read a long list of greetings to people, more than two dozen, whom Paul knows; all are apparently now involved in the growing church in Rome.

Romans 16:16-20
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings. 

I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 

Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. 

Unity, community, fellowship are all high on Paul's priority list for the young churches.

Romans 16:21-24

Timothy, my fellow worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives. 

I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord. 

Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. 

Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

Tertius wrote the letter for Paul and gets an opportunity to greet those in Roman.  Gaius was a founder of the church in Corinth, one of the few people baptized by Paul (see I Corinthians 1:14).

Erastus was also apparently at Corinth.

The The NIV does not include a verse 24 as the passage is missing from some ancient texts.  Other manuscripts add "May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen."

Romans 16:25-27
Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him-- to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

And finally a strong benediction.  We follow a Messiah that all nations will believe and obey!

Paul's letters to Corinth

After reading through Paul's letter to the church in Rome, we will look at Paul's "first letter" to the church in Corinth.  Paul wrote at least four letters to the church(es) in Corinth but only two survive. There is an early letter that is alluded to in I Corinthians 5:9, then the letter we now call 1 Corinthians, the "first letter" to the Corinthians in our New Testament.  A third letter (a "painful letter") was apparently sent later and then a more moderate response that we record as 2 Corinthians.

The "first letter" (I Corinthians) was written from Ephesus, probably around 54-7 CE, about the time of Acts 19.  In it Paul expresses concerns about the divisions and practices of the church in Corinth and gives some strong practical admonition on living as a Christian in a pagan society.  His advice is especially poignant as the church in Corinth was probably mostly pagan converts in a society that had little connection with the Jewish moral code.  Worship of Aphrodite was an excuse to engage in prostitution, sex and pornography were widely available on the internet (whoops, wrong millenium!) and the church struggled with the grace that Jesus offered.  Paul's advice oscillates between concern (morality IS important!) and recognition that human beings were quick to rationalize their harmful behavior.  He tells the young church to not judge those "outside the church" but to have genuine moral standards within the church -- advice that is still good today.

A video summary on this "First Letter to the Church in Corinth", well done by Read Scripture Series is available here.  (I highly recommend this series!  It has a nice, simple introduction to almost every book of the Bible.)

There are a variety of study helps fro reading Corinthians.  There is a nice introduction to the Corinthian letters at Blue Letter Bible and an introduction, from Easton's Bible Dictionary, is available here.  A full commentary (Catholic) is available here.  A commentary in "easy English" (for those with English as a second language, made available by a ministry of Wycliffe Associates UK) is available here.  See also a commentary here and a nice overview from Overview Bible.

"Google" search brings a lot of good resources to us (and a few bad ones.)  And, of course, there is always Wikipedia....  

We will look carefully at I Corinthians next week.  Until then we have one final chapter in Romans to read.