1 Corinthians 1
OGCButler’s Comments
FIRST CORINTHIANS
BIBLE STUDY TEXTBOOK SERIES STUDIES IN
FIRST CORINTHIANS
by Paul T. Butler
College Press Publishing Company, Joplin, Missouri
In Paul’s day, Corinth was the capital of the Roman province called by them, Achaia, and the most important city in Greece (even more important from the Roman viewpoint than Athens). Athens was the intellectual center of Greece; Corinth was the commercial center. Corinth occupied a strategic geographical position. It was the southern gate on the isthmus into Greece. It was built on the side or at the foot of the 2000 ft. Mount Acrocorinthus. The acropolis of Corinth was atop this mountain. On a clear day you could see from this acropolis 40 miles northeast to the city of Athens. Corinth had three harbors. Ancient seafaring men so dreaded having to make the 200 mile voyage around the southern capes of the Peloponnesus, they would tie ropes to their ships, put logs under them and drag them across the isthmus. Large ships were unloaded, dragged across, the cargo carried across, put back on board and then they would sail on across the Mediterranean Sea.
Many attempts were made to build a canal across the isthmus in ancient times; the most notable attempt being that of Nero (about 15 years after Paul established the Christian church there), in 66 A.D. The Romans declared Greece and Corinth free in 196 B.C. But a Greek rebellion in 146 B.C. caused the Romans to destroy Corinth totally; its famous art treasures were taken to Rome as booty. Julius Caesar rebuilt Corinth as a Roman colony and made it the capital of Achaia in 46 B.C.
At the height of its power, Corinth probably had a population of 200,000 free born Greek citizens and 500,000 slaves.. about the population density of St. Louis, Missouri. Its population consisted of descendants of the Roman colonists who came in 46 B.C. (100 years before Paul)many Romans who came for business from Italya large Greek populationmany strangers from different nationalitiesand the inevitable Jewish community with its synagogues. A broken lintel (part of a door) discovered by archaeologists bears a Greek inscription, synagogue of Hebrews. The canal at Corinth, connecting the Ionian Sea with the Agean was begun in 66 A.D. by Nero. The present canal, begun in 1881, shortens the distance from the Aegean Sea to Athens by 202 miles for ships able to navigate its 69-foot width and 26-foot depth. Paul undoubtedly chose Corinth for a missionary base because of its itinerant and cosmopolitan population. Anyone who could make his voice heard in Corinth was addressing a spectrum of people from all over the known civilized world, many of whom would be sure to go all over the world and possibly carry with them what they had heard.
This is probably what Corinth looked like in Paul’s day (up-town). The acropolis had the pantheon upon it where their gods were housed. Poseidon, god of the sea, was their chief god. The Isthmian Games were held there every two years, second only to the Olympic Games in Athens. The agora (market place and public buildings) is in the foreground. What the remainder of the city looked like is not pictured.
In Paul’s time Corinth was a city of wealth, luxury and immorality! To live like a Corinthian meant to live a life of profligacy and debauchery. All over the Roman empire, women who were promiscuous or of loose morals were often called Corinthian girls. The reason for this is that at the temple of Aphrodite on the Acropolis there were 1000 Corinthian girls employed as hierodouloi (lit. temple maiden servants), actually prostitutes. Aphrodite was the goddess of love (eros). Worship at the temple involved sexual intercourse with one of these priestesses. Young male homosexuals were also used by the Corinthians. This worship formed a great temptation, even to the new Christians at Corinth, as evidenced from Paul’s exhortations against it (1 Corinthians 5:1 ff; 1 Corinthians 6:9-19). This attracted worshipers from all over the Roman world. To become corinthianized meant a person was living the most licentious, debauched life possible. It was customary in a stage play in the theater for a Corinthian actor to come on the scene drunk. Much drunkenness, homosexuality, fornication, robbery, thievery, idolatry and immorality of all kinds went on here. Strabo quoted the proverb, All the people of Corinth gorge themselves. Corinth had many important industries, its pottery and brass and marble for building columns were famous all over the world.
Sex crazy, sports crazy, affluent and cynical, citizens and visitors of Corinth liked to tell of the notorious priestesses of Aphrodite, whose studded sandals spelled out in the dust of the street, Follow me! Every shop in the city had a deep, spring-fed well in which to cool containers of wine. Alciphro wrote: I did not enter Corinth after all; for I learned in a short time the sordidness of the rich there and the misery of the poor. Aristophanes coined the word corinthianize to denote debauchery.
Date of the Epistle:
Paul visited Corinth for the first time on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1-28) about 50-51 A.D. Claudius was emperor of Rome at that time. He had just been to Athens where he was not well received so he came to Corinth hesitantly (in much weakness, fear and trembling, 1 Corinthians 2:3). The Lord told Paul He had much people in the city. He became acquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, tent-makers like he was. During his stay of 1-1 /2 years he resided in their home. Soon after his arrival, Silas and Timothy joined him with news from Thessalonica. Every sabbath Paul preached in the synagogue of the Jews; he met with strong opposition and gave the rest of his stay in Corinth to the Gentiles (Acts 18:6). Titus Justus, Crispus, Gaius and Stephanas were some of Paul’s first converts. During Paul’s stay, Gallio, the elder brother of the Roman philosopher Seneca came to his rescue when the Jews tried to have him imprisoned.
Paul seems to have visited Corinth again, during his third missionary journey when he was headquartered at Ephesus (2 Corinthians 12:14; 2 Corinthians 13:1). While at Ephesus, Paul wrote an earlier letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:9) which has been lost. Paul wrote our present First Corinthians from the city of Ephesus about 56 or 57 A.D. in answer to a letter from Corinth (probably brought to him from there by Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus (1 Corinthians 16:17) relating some of the problems in the church there. Paul had also heard of factions in the church from the servants of Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:11), probably one of the women members of the church. Paul wrote this letter to deal with these problems, which plagued the saints.
Of course the church at Corinth was probably composed of many small groups of Christians meeting in different homes. There were no church buildings as such until about 200 A.D.
The Purpose of This Epistle:
Problems, problems, problems; every church has them. Even the first century churches were beset with problems. The Holy Spirit guided Paul in the composition of this letter that divine wisdom might be delineated for dealing with these enigmas and aberrations. There are nine or ten distinct problems dealt with: factionalism and schism; spiritual maturation; immorality; Christian integrity; marriage and divorce; liberties in Christ; order and decorum in worship; communion in Christ; abuse and misuse of miraculous gifts; probability of life after death (the resurrection from the dead); collections made for the saints. This book reads like a modern, twentieth century, Report on the State of the Church of Christ. The church today faces, essentially, the same problems. The problems do not change because human nature is the same in every generation. Human beings are either in the process of regeneration through the power of the word of God growing in them, or they are in the process of degeneration through the power of the word of the devil developing in them. The Holy Spirit’s purpose through the pen of the apostle Paul was to produce a holy growth in the saints at Corinth. It will be evident as one studies this epistle that these Christians had much growing to do. But so do we all if we are to reach mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). God wished the Christians at Corinth to know that he loved them with an eternal love as they were growing into the persons for which he had created them. There could never, after the Cross, be any question about the faithfulness of God’s love. The question was, then, whether the Corinthians would choose the growth he desired for them. That is still the question for the church today.
Applebury’s Comments
BIBLE STUDY TEXTBOOK
STUDIES IN FIRST CORINTHIANS
T. R. Applebury
Professor of New Testament Pacific Christian College Long Beach, California
College Press, Joplin, Missouri
Copyright © College Press 1963, A88342 Reprinted 1966 Reprinted 1971 Reprinted 1973 Reprinted 1977
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Manufactured in the United State of America
PREFACE
TO THE READER
These studies are the result of years of research and teaching in the Bible college and in church classes. My object in presenting them is to encourage the program of Bible study and to help meet the needs of the general Bible reader.
The analysis of each chapter is both an outline and, in many cases, a paraphrase of the Bible text. It is intended to be of help to the general reader and also to the teacher who may be leading a study group. The analyses and the charts will enable the reader to have a comprehensive view of First Corinthians at a glance.
The printed text is the American Standard Version of the New Testament. I urge you, however, to use your own Bible in these studies. The commentary should be of help regardless of the version you may use. Under no circumstances should comments be placed above the Bible text in importance. In some instances there are recognized differences of opinion; for example: (1) the question of re-marrying in chapter seven; (2) the matter of authority in chapter eleven; (3) the problems involved in the discussion of tongues in chapter fourteen. In all such cases, I ask that you do not accept my opinions. I urge you to study your own Bible and to do your own thinking that your conclusion may be your own. Every student should seek to learn what the Bible actually says and what it means.
The summary of each chapter will help the student to review the material covered in the commentary. The questions at the end of each chapter are designed to point out the significant issues of the chapter. For best results, the student should write out the answers to each question. Groups may find it profitable to use the questions for discussion, Discussion, however, need not be limited to these suggestions.
These studies have been tested in church study groups. While I was the minister of the First Church of Christ at San Fernando, California, I prepared a brief mimeographed series of studies on First Corinthians for our Bible study class. That material, completely rewritten and enlarged is presented in this book. I am indebted to the good people of that congregation for allowing me time in a busy ministry to study. I could wish that all churches might do the same for their ministers and occasionally make it possible for them to return to college for refresher courses. I am indebted to Don DeWelt, editor of the BIBLE STUDY TEXTBOOK series, with whom I served on the faculty of the San Jose Bible College, for his encouragement and assistance in preparing this work for publication. It is my prayer that you may search the Scriptutes as the Beroeans did and meditate on the meaning of God’s Word day and night that you may translate it into life and share it with others.
Department of New Testament Pacific Christian College July, 1963
**Butler’s Comments
Chapter One
THE PROBLEM OF SCHISM (1 Corinthians 1:1-31)
IDEAS TO INVESTIGATE:**
How could Paul address people with so many spiritual failures as saints and sanctified? (1 Corinthians 1:2)
Do Christians have to all agree on everything and think alike? (1 Corinthians 1:10)
If Christ did not send Paul to baptize, is baptism then not essential to salvation? (1 Corinthians 1:17)
Does Paul’s denunciation of the wisdom of the wise mean Christians should reject all human knowledge? (1 Corinthians 1:20-25)
APPREHENSION AND APPLICATION:
Why do you think the apostle Paul left his home country and wandered all over the Roman empire preaching Christ? Could anyone do that?
Would the city of Corinth, for its time, be comparable to a large American city? Could people be sanctified to God in New York? San Francisco? How?
What is a saint? Which work of grace sanctifies people?
Why does Christian unity have as its basis the character of God?
May Christians be united with those who impugn the character of God?
How important is God’s faithfulness to you? Could not all religious people unite without all believing in the absolute faithfulness of God?
What does the Bible mean by saying God is One?
Is it possible for all Christians to be of the same mind and united in the same judgment? How?
Why are the principles of interpreting human language so important to Christian unity?
Why do people divide the church over human leaders? Do leaders sometimes contribute to division? Why didn-’t Paul?
Did Paul infer that baptism was unessential or unimportant? Why didn-’t he baptize those he converted? Who is authorized to baptize people?
What is the instrument with power sufficient to unite all men in God?
What is a revelation? Why must we accept the atonement of Christ for our sins as a revelation?
Why is the acceptance of revelation necessary to Christian unity?
What has the historicity of the gospel to do with unity? Should Christians seek unity with those who deny the historicity of the Bible? On what basis?
Is preaching foolishness? Why does the world consider the cross foolish?
Is there anything wrong in seeking signs? Is there too much of that today?
Can there be faith without the Word of God being preached? In what?
In what two ways may we prove the Word of God is reliable to produce Christian unity? Have you discussed this with other believers lately?
Should Christians keep reminding themselves of what they were before being saved? What has that to do with unity in Christ?
Do Christians have anything about which they may boast? Nothing at all? Why not?
Applebury’s Comments
CHAPTER ONE.
Analysis
A.
Salutation and Thanksgiving (1 Corinthians 1:1-9).
Salutation (1 Corinthians 1:1-3).
a)
Paul describes his apostleship in relation to Christ and the will of God.
b)
Sosthenes, the brother who must have been known to the Corinthians.
c)
He speaks of the church as the church of God, made up of sanctified ones who are called saints.
d)
They are associated with all who in every place call on the name of the Lord.
e)
His customary salutation is Grace and peace.
Thanksgiving (1 Corinthians 1:4-9).
a)
He reminds the readers that he thanks God for them always.
b)
This thanksgiving is based on the grace of God that had been given them in Christ. It has enriched them in word and knowledge.
c)
The testimony of Christ had been established or confirmed among them with the result that they lacked no gift.
d)
In this manner, they were prepared to await the day of Christ’s coming.
e)
Christ would confirm them to the end as blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
f)
Assurance of this is given in the faithfulness of God who called them into the fellowship of His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
B.
Beginning of the discussion of the problem of division (1 Corinthians 1:10-17).
Introducing the problem. Following the introduction, Paul develops this topic by rebuking the sin of division. In it he contrasts the word of the cross with the wisdom of the world.
Points in this paragraph.
a)
His approach.This is an exhortation in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for oneness of thought and of expression of opinion.
b)
Source of his information, and what they were saying.
c)
Series of questions showing the folly of their actions.
d)
Why he baptized only a few of the Corinthian converts: Lest the cross of Christ be made void.
C.
The word of the cross and the wisdom of the world (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
Why he discusses this subject.He has just mentioned the contrast of the word of the cross and the wisdom of the world. This is at the bottom of the problem of division. This phase of the topic continues through 1 Corinthians 2:16.
Points of these paragraphs.
a)
The contrast explained (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).
(1)
Two views of the word of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-19).
(2)
Series of questions and answers showing God’s view of man’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:20-21).
(3)
In contrast to the Jews-’ interest in signs and the Greeks-’ concern for wisdom, he preached Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:22-25).
b)
Appeal to their own lives to support his view of Christ who became wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
Questions
What is the history of the founding of the church at Corinth?
Why did Paul write the book?
What is the theme of First Corinthians?
What are its principal divisions?
What is said of Paul’s call to apostleship?
What is meant by called apostle?
Who is Sosthenes? Why is he mentioned?
What does the word –church mean?
Why is it called the church of God?
What is meant by sanctified? What is implied by this term as to the life of the Corinthian church?
How does the expression called saints-’-’ relate to the problem at Corinth?
What is meant by call upon the name of the Lord? What bearing does this have on the problem?
How many times is the word Lord used in the first nine verses?
What effect would this have on the readers of the epistle?
In view of the situation at Corinth, well known to Paul, why speak of grace and peace?
Knowing these conditions, how could Paul say, I thank my God?
What was the grace that had been given them?
What had enriched them?
What is meant by utterance and knowledge?
How was the testimony confirmed?
Why did Paul say, Ye came behind in no gift?
What is meant by the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ?
What is meant by confirm you unto the end? How accomplished?
What is the day of our Lord Jesus Christ?
What is meant by unreprovable? What would its use suggest to the Corinthians?
What is meant by called into the fellowship?
What is meant by each word in the expression, Lord Jesus Christ?
What was Paul’s purpose in appealing to the Corinthians in this name?
What is meant by mind and judgment?
What is meant by perfected together? How does this relate to the problem at Corinth?
What was the source of Paul’s information about conditions in Corinth?
What was the nature of their divisions?
Why did Paul ask, Is Christ divided?
How account for Paul’s remark about baptism?
Who were Crispus, Gaius, and Stephanas?
How could the cross of Christ be made void?
What two views of the word of the cross does Paul show?
What two views of wisdom are given?
How does the power of God reach our lives?
What is meant by the foolishness of preaching?
How can the word of the cross save the believer?
In what were Jews and Greeks interested?
Why was Christ a stumbling block to Jews?
Why was the message of the gospel considered foolishness by the Greeks?
What is meant by the statement, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God?
What did Paul mean by the foolishness of God?
- Why did Paul say, beyond your calling?
What is meant by no flesh should glory before God?
In what way are righteousness and redemption related to Christ?
For Discussion
In what ways are the divisions in the church today like those in Corinth?
How would the remedies for division which Paul presents in First Corinthians work today?
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Applebury’s Comments
Salutation and Thanksgiving (1-9)
Commentary Text
1 Corinthians 1:1-9. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; 5 that in everything ye were enriched in him, in all utterance and all knowledge; 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; 8 who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
*Paul.*The life of this remarkable man will forever be an inspiration and a challenge to the followers of Christ. For some of the facts about his early life see Acts 22:3; Acts 26:4-5; Galatians 1:13-14; Philippians 3:4-5.
He is first mentioned in the story of Christianity in connection with the stoning of Stephen. He is the young man named Saul at whose feet the witnesses laid down their garments (Acts 7:58). The name Saul means asked for. Soon after he began his work as the apostle to the Gentiles, he became known by the name Paul (Acts 13:9). It would be a mistake, however, to assume that he got this name from his association with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:7).
*called apostle.*His conversion and appointment to the apostleship are of such importance as to be recorded in three Chapter s of Acts (9, 22, 26). He never forgot the terrible thing he did in the role of persecutor nor the grace of God that made him an apostle of Christ. He saw to it that this grace did not become an empty thing, for, in his own words, he labored more abundantly than all the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:10).
The word called suggests the kind of apostle he was. He was summoned by Christ and sent as an apostle to the Gentiles. The words to be do not occur in the Greek text. They are supplied by the translators in an effort to make the thought clear. In doing so, however, there is danger of loosing sight of the real meaning of the expression: Paul was an apostle summoned by Jesus Christ. Others have taken upon themselves to be apostles (2 Corinthians 11:13-15), but without divine appointment they could not rightly be called apostles of Christ. While he is an apostle of Jesus Christ, God is the agent in his call to the apostleship, for it was through the will of God.
*the will of God.*It was necessary for Paul to establish his authority at the outset, for he was to give the divine solution to the problems that plagued the church at Corinth. For the defense of his apostleship, see 1 Corinthians 9:1-3. For the defense of the apostolic gospel which he proclaimed, see Galatians 1:11-24.
*Sosthenes.*Who was this man, Sosthenes, who is called brother? He must have been a person who was well known to the Corinthians, as suggested by the prominent mention of him in the opening words of the letter. His name does not occur again in the epistle. The fact that he is mentioned in the salutation does not suggest that he shared in any way in giving the inspired directives that were designed to lift the church of Corinth out of its sorry plight. In Acts 18:12-17, mention is made of a ruler of the synagogue by the name of Sosthenes. It is not possible to prove that he is the same man mentioned in First Corinthians, but he could have been.
Paul was well aware of the strong opposition to him at Corinth. It may be that he mentioned Sosthenes to show that he had friends in Corinth who trusted his leadership as an apostle of Christ.
*the church of God.*Paul addressed them as the church of God although they were splitting into various factions and proclaiming loyalty to various men. As God’s church, they had been called into the fellowship of His Son. The disgraceful conduct that characterized so many of them was completely out of harmony with the thought of the name, church of God. But they were God’s church, for the price of their redemption, the blood of Christ, had been paid for them as well as for any other congregation. Their mission, therefore, as the church of God, was to glorify God, not men.
The word church referred to the assembly of free citizens called out from the masses to exercise the privileges of citizenship and freedom. But when Paul used the term church of God, he lifted the word far above its ordinary meaning and put it in the realm of those who are separated from the world of sin by the blood of Christ and called through the gospel into the assembly of saints to enjoy the privileges of freedom in Christ and citizenship in the heavenly kingdom.
Almost every word in this greeting strikes a blow at the sinful practices that had crept into the church at Corinth.
*sanctified.*The word means separated from sin, purified, or set apart for the service of God. The form of the word used here suggests that this separation had taken place in the past and that its effect had carried over to the present. It does not imply that they could no longer commit a sin; it does clearly imply that they were to live a life of consecration in harmony with the fact that they had been set apart to a pure life. This had been accomplished by the blood of Christ at the time of their baptism. And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our Lord (1 Corinthians 6:11). See also Hebrews 9:13-14; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; Ephesians 5:26-27.
What an awful violation of this principle is seen in the conduct of the Corinthians as reported in Chapter s five and six!
*called saints.*The word saint is from the same root as the word sanctify, and it is related to the root word which means pure. In the O. T. it is applied to that which was set apart for the service of God. That which was set apart had to be free from blemish; the term, therefore, came to mean freedom from blemish, spot, or stain, first in the physical, and then in the moral realm. See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 for the appeal for the Corinthians to live a life of separation from sin.
*call upon the name of the Lord.*The form of the expression indicates that it was in their own interest that they called upon the Lord. It was out of man’s despair that he called upon God for help. How Strange that men who had called on God from this point of view should now be saying, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Cehpas.
The first reference to men who called on the name of the Lord is given in Genesis 4:26. Evidently, men realized that their only hope of survival was to turn away from the wickedness of Cain and turn to God who alone could save them. In the days of Joel, the prophet, a similar situation prevailed in the life of the nation of Israel (Joel 2:39). Israel was facing almost certain destruction, and Joel reminded them that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Peter quoted this prophecy on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:21) and showed that there is a sense in which it applies to the sinner whose only hope of salvation is in Christ. See Acts 4:12, Another example is found in Acts 22:16. Ananias had said to Saul, Get yourself baptized and wash away your sins because you called upon His name. Saul, at last, had accepted the truth of Stephen’s message; he could go no further in his opposition to Christ. Consequently, when Jesus spoke to him on the Damascus road, he said, -What will you have me to do, Lord? There was no other alternative; for him, it was repent or perish. All Christians came to be spoken of as those who were calling on the Name of the Lord. He was their only hope.
This is far more than appropriating a name for themselves, or piously saying, Lord, Lord (Matthew 7:21); it was the desperate cry of the sinking sinner, Lord, save me (Matthew 14:30).
*theirs and ours.*This, as the American Version indicates, is a reference to the word Lord which does not occur in the Greek in this phrase. It is possible that it may refer to place, and if so, it suggests that calling upon the name of the Lord was not limited to any one place; but men in every place, even where Paul was, were calling on His name.
*Grace to you and peace.*This is something more than a mere salutation. It seems to breathe a prayer for the strife-torn congregation at Corinth: Let God’s unmerited favor be with them; let His peace abide with them.
*I thank my God always.*Knowing the conditions that existed in Corinth, one wonders how Paul found it possible to thank God always concerning them. He was thankful for God’s grace that had enriched them so that they lacked no necessary instruction to enable them to prepare for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. There was a solution for the problem of the Corinthian church. Note the reference to God’s grace.
*the grace of God which was given to you.*This is a reference to the unmerited favor of God that had supplied the Corinthians with the miraculous power (see Chapter s 12 through 14) through which divine instruction in righteousness had been given them. These miraculous gifts were necessary in the absence of the written Word. They, however, abused this favor, for they quarreled over the relative value of tongues over other spiritual gifts.
*enriched in him.*This enrichment had to do with utterance and knowledge in connection with the confirmed testimony of Christ. Utterance is the word or message of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:8). Knowledge is the ability to know or to understand the meaning of the divinely revealed message. The Corinthians knew and understood God’s revealed will for them; nevertheless, they disregarded it. Consequently, it was necessary for Paul to write this letter to correct the many errors in their thinking and conduct.
*testimony of Christ was confirmed.*Paul had preached to them the message about Christ. It had been established or confirmed by the miracles that accompanied the preaching. See Mark 16:20; Hebrews 2:3-4.
*ye became behind in no gift.*The failures in Corinth were in no way caused by the lack of inspired instruction or its confirmation by miraculous demonstration. They had all the advantages of the other churches. Their disgraceful conduct, so unbecoming to a Christian, was entirely their own responsibility.
*revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.*This refers to Christ’s second coming.
*confirm you unto the end.*The established message about Christ would establish the faithful in Christ. It was adequate to direct them in Christian character and conduct; there was no need for them to fail to enter the rewards of the saints in heaven. Those who were failing were doing so in spite of all that Christ was doing to present them before the Father as irreproachable.
*unreprovable in the day of our Lord.*No one in the Day of Judgment will be able to lay anything to the charge of God’s chosen ones, the ones who choose to obey His will and remain faithful unto death (Romans 8:33; Revelation 2:10). This is a strong reason why Christian people should strive to live a life that glorifies God in the body (1 Corinthians 6:20; Titus 2:11-12). The day of our Lord is the day of His coming to judge the world. The phrase on the Lord’s day (Revelation 1:10) is not only different in form but in meaning also: it refers to the first day of the week.
*fellowship.*This interesting word occurs many times in the New Testament in a variety of forms. The root idea is partnership, association, or participation. Those who are associated with Christ are to share with Him in the proclamation of the Word of the Cross and in the discharge of the other obligations of the saints of God.
1 Corinthians 1:1-17
**Butler’s Comments
SECTION 1
Unity Originates in the Character of God** (1 Corinthians 1:1-17)
1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge6even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; 8who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 I appeal to you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren. 12What I mean is that each one of you says, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Cephas, or I belong to Christ. 13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius; 15 lest any one should say that you were baptized in my name. 16(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any one else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
1 Corinthians 1:1-3 Consecration: Paul, whose Hebrew name was Saul, was born near the beginning of the first century in the busy Graeco-Roman city of Tarsus in Cilicia at the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea. He was born with Roman citizenship (Acts 22:28); the son of a Pharisee and a Pharisee himself (Acts 23:6), he could have boasted of the purest Hebrew background (Philippians 3:5). As a young Jewish patriot and fledgling rabbi he persecuted the Christians with zeal (Acts 7:58-60; Acts 8:1-3; Acts 9:1-2; Acts 26:9-11; 1 Timothy 1:13) until his conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-31; Acts 22:1-21). Calling himself chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), he forever after attributed the change in his life to the overflowing grace of the Lord toward him (1 Timothy 1:12-17). Paul studied at the feet of the famous Hebrew rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3; Acts 26:4-5). He was well educated in the literature of the Greeks (Acts 17:28) and was a world traveler with a cosmopolitan attitude (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). The authenticity and historicity of this epistle is beyond question.
Paul begins by stating that he was called (Gr. kletos, means more than invitedit has the connotation of being uniquely chosen) by the will of God to be an apostle. Paul is declaring that he is in the service of God not by any merit of his own but by the sovereign call of God’s grace. When Paul wrote to churches where his authority as an apostle was unchallenged, he did not assert his apostolic title (Philippians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; Philemon 1:1); but when he corresponded with a church or churches where his apostolic authority might be questioned, he always declared his office in the salutation and sometimes presented the evidence for his apostleship (Romans 1:1; Galatians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1).
On his first missionary journey (45-48 A.D.) Paul established churches in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) (Acts 13:1-52; Acts 14:1-28; Acts 15:1-35). On his second missionary journey (Acts 15:36-41; Acts 16:1-40; Acts 17:1-34; Acts 18:1-22) he established churches in Macedonia and Achaia (modern Greece) (51-54 A.D.). It was during this second journey that Paul established the church in Corinth.
The third missionary journey took three years (54-58 A.D.) and, after spending three months in Achaia (Acts 20:3), he stopped in Ephesus for about two or three years. It was from this residence in Ephesus he received communication from Corinth and wrote back to them this epistle. A Christian named Sosthenes was with him in Ephesus. That this is Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth (Acts 18:17), is doubtful. Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, seems to have been an enemy of Paul.
Paul addressed the Christians in Corinth as the church of God. The Greek word for church is ekklesia (related to the same word Paul used to describe his call to apostleship). Ekklesia means literally the called out ones. It was used in the Greek world to denote the convening of the assembly of all the citizens of a particular city to fulfill the functions necessary for the maintenance of their social structure; a town-meeting. Paul adapts the word to the church for the very same purpose. William Barclay says: In essence, therefore, the Church, the ekklesia, is a body of people, not so much assembling because they have chosen to come together, but assembling because God has called them to Himself; not so much assembling to share their own thoughts and opinions, but assembling to listen to the voice of God. The word ekklesia as it is used in the New Testament certainly connotes those who have been called out of a life conformed to this wicked world order unto a life transformed into the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
Paul emphasizes the fact that those addressed are a church of God because God had sanctified them. The Greek words hegiasmenois (sanctified) and hagiois (saints) mean literally to set apart, to consecrate, to separate for a specific use. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words declares these words do not denote some ethical attainment but rather define the state into which God, through the grace merited by Christ, has made available membership in his kingdom (the church) and all the attendant blessings of salvation. Sanctification is the separation of the believer from evil things and ways. This is God’s will for the believer (1 Thessalonians 4:3); it must be learned from God as he teaches it by his Word (1 Thessalonians 4:4; John 17:17; John 17:19; Psalms 17:4; Psalms 119:9) and it must be pursued by the believer, earnestly and undeviatingly (1 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 12:14). Men must deliberately choose the sanctification which the Lord provides and promises. They must pursue it through the directions and instrumentalities which are authorized exclusively in the revealed Word of God.
At first, reading only the salutation, the idea that a church of Christ might exist in Corinth would present no problem. That Paul addresses the members of that church as those called to be saints, would be initially acceptable also. By the time one has read to the end of this epistle, however, he may find it difficult to believe that a church could ever have been formed in such surroundings and, once formed, that it could have survived. When Paul wrote this letter, the church was not much over six years old. It should give twentieth-century Christians pause to note that the condition of the Corinthian church is a specific example of our Lord’s parables insisting that the growth of the kingdom is slow and difficult (cf. Matthew 13:1-53; Mark 4:1-34; Luke 8:4-18) and the devil is always sowing tares in the same field in which God’s servants are sowing good seed. Christians today should learn from this that no matter how spiritually immature a member of the Lord’s church might be, he is called by God to be a saint and is a brother in Christ if he is willing to be taught the word of God and is willing to conform his mind and life to that Word. No matter how wrong some of these Corinthians were about doctrine and practices, so long as they were willing to receive his divinely-inspired instruction and grow toward it, he said they were sanctified in Christ Jesus. We can do no less today! Of course, a brother who blatantly defies apostolic doctrine (such as the man in 1 Corinthians 5:1 ff.) and refuses to repent must be delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the fleshly mind. Once such a brother repents, however, the church is to forgive him (see 2 Corinthians 2:5-17). A congregation of Christians is not sanctified in Christ because it has reached a pre-determined level of spirituality, but because every member is constantly struggling and growing into the image of God’s beloved Son (cf. Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Peter 1:3-21).
Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians that they belong to a universal brotherhood of saintsall who in every place call on the name of Jesus as Lord and Savior. This reminder is to have its impact on the whole situation at Corinth. Paul wants them to understand they are a part of a whole body of Christians. When they have divisions, immoralities, jealousies and other disorders, the whole body of Christ throughout the world will be affected, one way or another. No congregation is an island! Every saint in every congregation is called together with all those who in every place call on the name of Jesus as Lord.
So, as Paul salutes the Christians at Corinth, he begins his argument against the factionalism in the church there. He salutes them as those sanctified. called to be saints and they are thus because the God who called them and to whom they profess allegiance is sanctified. That is, God is holy! There is absolutely no falsehood or wickedness in God’s nature, nor was any manifested in God’s Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. Those who call upon the name of Jesus Christ as Lord (God) must be holy. Division and schism are unholy. God does not divide himself and fight himself. He is not jealous of his Son’s glory nor is his Son jealous of the Father’s glory. They glorify one another. Christians cannot love one another earnestly from the heart unless they aspire to and act in imitation of the holiness of God (see 1 Peter 1:13-25). Those who destroy God’s holy temple (the church) by division and partyism are trying to destroy Godand they will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). Christians are called to be members of the sanctified (holy) body of Christ throughout the world. Disunity, factionalism and jealousy make a mockery of the call of God for sanctification. The congregation that is constantly bickering and separating one brother from another is not holyit is carnal and no different than the strife-filled, discriminatory, cliquey clubs of unregenerate men.
Unity has its origin or source in the nature and character of God. Unity cannot exist without holiness and sanctified living. Jesus-’ longest recorded prayer is for the unity of his followers through sanctification (holiness) in the truth (see John 17:13-26).
Grace and peace are part of God’s holy nature. The word grace is from the Greek word charis, and means something granted, a favor given, a gift. We get the English word charisma from it. Paul is reminding the Corinthian Christians that their sanctification is only by the favor granted them by God through Jesus Christ. They did not earn the right to be sanctifiedit was by the grace of God. Therefore, the love of Christ should have constrained them to dwell together in unity. If all Christians are sanctified by the grace of God and by no merit of their own one has no right to esteem himself above another and no cause for jealousy and division. Peace in Hebrew is shalom and means wholeness or well-being. The Greek word for peace, eirene, was often used in the same way. It means health, harmony and integrated wholeness. God, in Christ, has called men to peace (unity, harmony). The church is God’s kingdom of peace, God’s holy habitation of peace (see Ephesians 2:11-22). God, by the vicarious atonement of Christ’s death, has declared himself at peace with rebellious man. Those who accept the peace Christ earned for them must practice peace with all other men (Romans 12:14-21). In fact, the peace of Christ must be allowed to arbitrate (Colossians 3:15, Gr. brabeueto, rule) in the hearts of men. All decisions a Christian makes are to be decided on the basis of the meaning and application of the peace Christ has wrought for him. When this is so, there is no schism in the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:4-9 Constancy: God is gracious. And God is also constant. He is faithful. What God promises, he will fulfill. Christ’s body, the church, finds both motive and source of unity in God’s faithfulness. Paul was always giving thanks (Gr. eucharisto, present tense verb, continuing action) for God’s faithfulness and grace to the Corinthians. The Corinthian Christians had been made rich (Gr. eploutisthete, aorist) when they answered the call to be set apart (sanctified) unto Christ. Christ had seen fit to bless the Corinthian church with many miraculous gifts (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; 1 Corinthians 14:1-40). Paul mentions two of those miraculous gifts, speech and knowledge. The Greek word for speech is logos and is usually translated word. This probably means the miracle of declaring divine revelation. It is translated utterance in 2 Corinthians 8:7. Knowledge in Greek is gnosis (from which the English word gnostic comes) and refers, in this context, to a miraculous understanding of the miraculous revelation.
The testimony to Christ’s faithfulness to fulfill his promises was confirmed. Paul uses the Greek word ebebaiothe, a word found frequently in Greek papyri to describe the confirmation of a business transaction. God settled the issue of his faithfulness to the Corinthians by extending a special measure of grace to them, making them excel (2 Corinthians 8:7) in miraculous gifts. The Corinthian church was second to none in experiencing Christ’s faithfulness to confirm the gospel by miraculous gifts (cf. Hebrews 2:4; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7, etc.). They were by no means lacking (Gr. hustereisthai, last, lagging behind). Christ had kept his word. They had all they needed while they waited in daily expectation for his return. There was no lack that could justify their jealousies and factionalisms. They should not have divided up to follow other leaders as if to find in such division something more to sustain them against the judgment day. Christ alone gives the revelation and knowledge necessary for that. No other leader has anything to say about salvation worth hearing! If that be true, there is no reason in heaven or on earth for Christians to divide over human leaders or institutions. The unity of God’s kingdom has its source in this characteristic of God and his Son, Jesus Christabsolute faithfulness!
The sentence in the Greek text (1 Corinthians 1:9) begins literally, Faithful, the God through whom you were called. It stresses God’s faithfulness. Faithful is the very name of God. And if he called the Corinthians into communion (Gr. koinonian, fellowship, sharing) with his Son, he is certainly able by himself to sustain them. They need not divide up, compete with one another, or follow other leaders. Factionalism would make the world believe the God of the Corinthian Christians was impotent, unfaithful and less than absolute. And that is precisely what division in Christendom does in the twentieth century!
The grace of God had made it possible for these Corinthians to have the saving work of Christ imputed to them. God saw to it that they were second to none in possessing miraculous gifts. They had advantages other Christians did not have. Their disgraceful conduct (division, immorality in the church, disorderly worship, vanity, pride, and misapprehension of true doctrine) was not because God supplied them insufficiently with divine direction or that God was unfaithful toward them. It was due to their own spiritual immaturity and refusal to grow.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17 Completeness: Is Christ divided? Paul appeals for a mentality and practice of Christian unity in the Corinthian church on the basis of the oneness of God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one! (Deuteronomy 6:4). God is one in character, in purpose and in action. There is no variation in him (James 1:17). Jesus declared that he and the Father and the Holy Spirit were one and the same person (cf. John 1:1-18; John 14:1-11; John 14:18-24; John 8:25-30, etc.). Paul clearly taught that Jesus was God when he wrote, For in him (Christ) the whole fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily. (Colossians 2:9; see also 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:19; Galatians 3:20). Even the prophet Isaiah declared the triune oneness of God (Isaiah 48:16). Jesus claimed he always agreed with and did perfectly the works of God because he was God (cf. John 5:17-46; John 6:45; John 8:28-30; John 8:58; John 10:22-39; John 15:7-11; John 16:15; John 17:1-5, etc.). That Jesus was God in the flesh is certainly a verifiable proposition. His deity was established historically by the signs and wonders he did in the presence of men (cf. Acts 2:22; Acts 26:26). The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) means more than simply enumerating Jehovah as the only God there is. It means that he is one integrallythat is, he is perfectly unified, totally single in purpose, objective and goal. God may manifest himself in three persons, but his mind, his will, his heart, his actions and his purpose are absolutely undivided. God is not man that he should change or be divided (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Isaiah 40:8; Isaiah 55:11).
Paul appealed (Gr. parakalo, called upon) to the Christians at Corinth on the basis of the name, or authority, of the one Lord of all Christians, Jesus Christ. His appeal was that they all agree (Gr. lit. hina to auto legete pontes, that the one thing you may be saying, all.). The KJV translates it, … that ye all speak the same thing. In the present context, this unquestionably means Paul is directing them to all say one thing (all agree on one thing) which is: there is only one church of Godone body of Christiansover which Jesus Christ alone is the head. Paul is not here insisting that all Christians must agree on every issue of lifeespecially those issues not expressly commanded or clearly enjoined in the New Testament. All Christians are free, in Christ, to have opinions which may differ from other Christians in matters where the New Testament gives no specified direction. But even our opinions must be subordinated to the authoritative commands of the New Testament for brotherly love, peace, doctrinal purity, unity of the church and edification of one’s brother. Agreement, in this context, applies primarily to the fundamental New Testament doctrine of the oneness of the body of Christ. There are not many different churches, separated according to differing teachings of human leaders, constituting the church of Christ. If the church of Christ is essentially one, as Thomas Campbell said in his Declaration and Address, then to speak of a divided church is a contradiction of terms. If it is intentionally one, to divide it is to disobey the intentions of Christ. If it is constitutionally one, it implies conformity to a plan or constitutional (Biblical) organization which must be inherent in the revealed will of its Head.
Paul considered himself free to exercise his own opinions about cultural preferences, evangelistic methods, and marital status so long as the Lord Jesus had not plainly commanded otherwise. But Paul had also committed himself so completely to the law of love he would relinquish his freedom to exercise personal opinion if opinion caused a brother to sin (see I Corinthians, Chapter s 8, 9, 10, and Romans, chapter 14). Paul would not divide the body of Christ over one of his own opinions. He certainly would not allow any attempt to divide it over human personalities to go unrebuked. The Corinthian Christians are exhorted to refrain from dissension. The Greek word is stronger than thatit is schizmata, meaning, to rend, to split, to break. In non-biblical Greek the word was used to describe cleaving the head with an axe, or a ship breaking to pieces in the sea. Greek cultic religions punished members for schizmata (division) in the same manner they punished someone for stealing from or deceiving a member of their cult. Cancer cells within the human body are physical schizmata. Division within the church is destructive. The Greek word schizo is used as a prefix to many English words used in psychology to describe the mental disorder sometimes referred to as split-personality. Schizophrenia is a type of psychosis characterized by loss of contact with (withdrawal from) environment (reality) and by disintegration of personality. That is an apt description of a divided Christendom! Modern Christendom has a spiritual sickness (psychosis) characterized by loss of contact with (withdrawal from) its real unity in Christ and evidences a disintegrated personality to a lost world! Dividing the church of God is a sin. It is called a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). There the words are dichostasiai, from which we get the English word dichotomy (stand apart), and haireseis, from which we have the English word heresy (to defect, to divide). James wrote that the contention which causes division (Gr. eritheian, from Eris, goddess of strife and fighting) is demonical! Indeed, the devil is the master designer of all division in the church. The devil is an anarchist, a divider, a liar and a murderer from Eden until now. Those who deliberately practice and cherish dividing the church of Jesus Christ into opposing, unbelieving, unloving factions are children of the devil.
The apostle urges these Christians to be united in the same mind and the same judgment. The Greek word katertismenoi translated united means, be repaired or be restored. It is used in Matthew 4:21; Mark 1:19 to describe the folding together of the fishermen’s nets. In 2 Corinthians 13:11 Paul tells the Corinthians to mend their ways. The idea is to restore or repair something that has been disordered to its proper order so that it will be fit for productive use. Christian unity is not something which originates from manit originates from God. At the time a human being becomes a Christian God joins that new-born being to the body of Christ. We are joinedwe do not join. Once we are joined to Christ’s body (the church) we must give diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). There are times when Christians may sin and promote division, but they must repent and be diligent to repair and restore that unity by surrendering to the will of Christ for their lives.
Paul insisted that unity would not come until these Christians were restored (united) in the same (Gr. auto, one, only, same) mind and same* judgment* (Gr. gnome, understanding, means of knowing). Some commentators insist that the Corinthian Christians were not dividing over central or doctrinal issues, but over diverse opinions. Consider the following issues over which there seemed to be not only differences but divisions:
a.
The issue as to whether who baptized a person was more crucial than the doctrine of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:1-31).
b.
The issue of divine revelation and apostolic inspiration and inerrancy (1 Corinthians 2:1-16).
c.
The issue of sanctification and church discipline (1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20).
d.
The issue of marriage and divorce (1 Corinthians 7:1-40).
e.
The issues of idolatrous associations; of Christian liberty; of apostolic rights (1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 1 Corinthians 9:1-27; 1 Corinthians 10:1-33).
f.
The issue of who is the Lord’s body and of judging others and improper observance of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:1-34).
g.
The issue of immaturity; of misuse of spiritual gifts; of indecency and disorder in worship (1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; 1 Corinthians 14:1-40).
h.
The issue as to whether there can be a resurrection from the dead or notperhaps even belief in the bodily resurrection of Christ an issue! (1 Corinthians 15:1-58).
Most of these are more crucial than differences of opinion. They are doctrinal issues. We believe the Lord intends his church to be of the same mentality, knowing the same revelation of his will and understanding his will the same way. We believe that is the reason the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write this epistle to the Corinthian Christians. The Lord intended the church at Corinth to come to the same understanding, to think the same and act the same way in all the matters to which Paul gave instruction in this epistle. Is it possible for Christians to all understand the Bible alike? Of course it is! God wrote his book in human language. That is what Paul clearly says in chapter two of this epistle. The Bible is to be understood by using the same principles of understanding human language one would use in understanding any other book. There are some fundamental guidelines used by every one who reads in order to understand what another person has written:
a.
The correct and true interpretation of any written communication is what the author intended to saynot what the reader wants the author to say.
b.
God intended only one ultimate meaning in every word he has written in the Biblenot many conflicting meanings for each word.
c.
God is certainly able to say what he intends to say and he knows to whom he speaks. God expects men to be able to understand his message to them and insists they must if they are to be saved.
d.
To understand a communication from another person we must investigate how he uses words. To do, that we must take into account grammatical structure, context, historical usage, historical circumstances, parallel passages, etc.
This is why Paul states emphatically in 1 Corinthians 2:13 that the mind of God has been imparted to mankind (through the apostles) in wordshuman language. No human being could have known the mind (will) of God had it not been delivered through words (human language). God wants all men to know and understand his will. And God wants all men to understand it alike! Paul repeated this appeal many times (cf. Romans 15:5-6; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 1:27; Philippians 2:2) and so did Peter (1 Peter 3:8).
As long as Christians have different levels of scriptural knowledge, there will exist differences in spiritual mentality and judgment. One of the major functions for which the church was established was to bring all followers of Christ to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13). Bringing all Christians to the same (unified) faith and knowledge in mature (Gr. teleion, perfected, attained the goal) manhood to the stature (Gr. helikias, adulthood, grown up) of Christ is the purpose of ministry. The very fact that some Christians are content to be deficient in the knowledge of God’s word gives the devil fertile ground in which to produce division! The church must not neglect the imperative ministry of edifying every member in the scriptures. A primary goal for the church is to bring all members to the same level of knowledge of God’s word. Until it-gives priority to that goal it is not giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Bible study must have top priority in the church!
A woman member of the Corinthian church named Chloe had apparently visited Paul in Ephesus, with members of her household (people), and they had informed Paul of the divisions and quarreling (Gr. erides, strife) among the Christians. Practically every Christian (each one of you) in Corinth was involved in the strife. Christians were forming certain doctrinal and/or non-doctrinal stands opposing one another and striving against one another. Beyond that they were trying to make out that they followed divinely-appointed leaders of Christianity who also opposed one another in these differences of doctrine and opinion. Some had even attempted to portray Paul, Peter and Apollos as opposing Christ and Christ opposing these leaders. Satan still dupes theologians and religious leaders today with the same sophistryalleged doctrinal differences between Paul and Peter and Christ. It is absurd to think that the absolute, almighty, inerrant Holy Spirit of God would contradict himself as he spoke through these. But the biggest lie the devil perpetrates is that these men were not divinely inspired and inerrant instruments of the Holy Spirit. They were, according to many modern theologians, fallible and often mistaken in what they wrote. Before unity in the church is ever repaired or restored the issue of the infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible must be settled.
What the attraction was that polarized these Christians toward certain human leaders we do not know for certain. Perhaps it was seniority or the successes which the parties claimed for their superiority over one another. Peter was one of the first called to be an apostle and was recognized spokesman for the twelve a number of times. Paul, on the other hand, had demonstrated phenomenal success with evangelism and missionary endeavors to the whole Gentile world. Apollos was a man noted by many in the Roman world for his eloquence (for which neither Paul nor Peter was noted). Paul’s question, Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? means divisions were being made according to who the baptizer might have been. There is no historical evidence whatever that Peter was ever in Corinth. There might have been some people in the Corinthian church who had been baptized by Peter in Palestine on the Day of Pentecost (or later) who then returned to Corinth. The divisions were probably more according to alleged differences in doctrine than anything else. There is only one name in which Christians are baptizedthe name of Jesus Christ (cf. Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; Acts 10:48; Acts 22:16; Acts 4:12). Men are not to be baptized in the name of the church.
Paul was thankful that he had not baptized many at Corinth with his own hands lest some glory in the fact they had been immersed by the great apostle Paul. Paul would not have his name used by these factions to set themselves apart from others. Paul had immersed Crispus, ruler of a synagogue in Corinth (Acts 18:8), and Gaius (identity unknown), and the household of Stephanas, first convert of Achaia (1 Corinthians 16:15). He could remember no others. Paul would have a difficult time understanding some preachers today who take great pains to advertise the number of baptisms they perform. Paul’s statement that he was not sent by Christ to baptize but to preach the gospel must not be taken to mean that Paul considered baptism unessential or of little importance. Baptism was and is an essential part of the gospel message of salvation. Paul submitted to baptism himself as necessary to washing away his sins (Acts 22:16). He stated in his writings that it was the act of obedient faith which brought penitent believers into covenant participation in Christ’s death and resurrection (Romans 6:1-11). He implies that only as many as are baptized into Christ have put on Christ and are sons of God, Abraham’s spiritual offspring, heirs according to the messianic promise (Galatians 3:25-29). Paul taught people to be baptized (Gr. baptizo, immerse, plunge, dip) when he preached or there would never have been any question raised about some claiming to have been baptized in Paul’s name! We have documented proof that people were baptized as a consequence of Paul’s having preached what to do to be saved (Acts 16:14-15; Acts 16:29-34; Acts 18:8). When Paul preached, most often others did the baptizing. John writes in his Gospel about Jesus, The Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than JohnJesus himself baptized not, but his disciples (did), (John 4:1-2). The twelve apostles undoubtedly did not, with their own hands, baptize each of the three thousand believers on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38 ff.). There is no commandment in the New Testament that only an ordained clergyman may officiate at the immersion of a believer into Christ. For the sake of propriety, it would be preferable to have someone who was already an immersed believer in Christ to immerse new believers; but it might be an elder, a deacon, a father baptizing a son, a son baptizing a father, or, most appropriate, a Christian baptizing the person he has brought to belief. There was no problem with immersion in water in obedience to the gospel covenant of salvation in the first century church; neither in mode nor purpose. The problem Paul had to deal with here is sectarianism, not gospel immersion. It is not immersion Paul is renouncing here but the argument over who immersed whom! He is disclaiming the idea that being immersed by any particular human leader makes the immersed one a member of any religious faction or party. He is saying it is possible to overemphasize baptism. Baptism is not redemption. Redemption is what Christ did on the cross and through his resurrection. Christ’s command, and that of the apostles, to be immersed in water for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38, et. al.) is one of the initial covenant terms by which that redemption is to be granted. The New Testament is plain: to possess redemption requires covenant relationship and covenant relationship requires, initially, faith, repentance and immersion, But to make the person or party by whom one is immersed the central issue of redemption is to empty the cross of Christ of its power, Paul says, He (Christ) is the source of our. redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). Being immersed into Christ is not the source of our redemption; Christ is the source. But we cannot receive that source without accepting the Source’s terms. Immersion into Christ does not tap us into different sourcesit unites us in the One and Only Source! That is what Christ sent Paul to preach. And preach it he did!
Paul declares that he was not given the commission of apostle of Christ to compete in sophisticated word-games (Gr. sophia logou). He wanted no one to become his disciple or trust their redemption in his eloquence or other abilities. The fact of the cross of Christ cannot apply its power when human pride gathers followers through human cleverness. Such an approach inevitably produces heresy and destroys unity in Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Applebury’s Comments
Problem of Division (10-17)
Text
1 Corinthians 1:10-17. Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them that are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius; 15 lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name. 16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas; besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void.
*Commentary
through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.*This earnest appeal to the Corinthian brethren in the name of Christ was designed to make them think seriously of the real problem they faced in connection with their divisions. They were Paul’s brethren in Christ, even though they were doing many things contrary to the principles of Christianity. Accepting this basis of agreement meant that they could move on to the divine solution of their problems. Each word in the divine name has significance in relation to the problem in Corinth. Lord implies servants who are to obey; Jesus implies that sinners are to be saved by His grace; Christ, which means prophet, priest, and king, implies the necessity of believing His Word, accepting His sacrifice for sin, and obeying Him, for all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Him (Matthew 28:18-20). He is the only one through whom men must be saved (Acts 4:12). The divine name is, in itself, a strong appeal to abandon the sectarian names of men who were leading the factions in Corinth.
*all speak the same thing.*It is often said that no two people ever see a thing exactly alike. This is offered as an excuse for the sin of division. What if the rule were applied in the field of Mathematics? The Scriptures condemn division as one of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:20). Division destroys the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). It was possible for the Corinthians to say the same thing about Christ, as Paul clearly shows by the questions and their implied answers in 1 Corinthians 3:13.
*be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.*This expression was used in political circles to urge groups to compose their differences. This, most likely, is the sense in which it is to be taken here. The expression is used throughout the N. T. with various applications. Fishermen used the term when they spoke of mending their nets, or preparing them for use. It was a medical term meaning to set a dislocated joint. Read Galatians 6:1 where it is translated restore with this in mind. It was used to describe the outfitting of a ship to get it ready for a voyage. It is rewarding to think of all these usages in relation to the problem in Corinth.
They were to have the same attitude of mind so that when they expressed an opinion all would say the same thing. This would prevent the divisions among them which were produced by one of them saying, I am of Paul, while another said, I am of Apollos. Composing their differences meant getting back to the position where they could be in the same frame of mind and all say the same thing when they expressed an opinion or judgment.
*by them of Chloe.*Paul had received his information about conditions in Corinth from those who were in some way connected with Chloe. Were they servants in her household, or were they members of her family? We cannot answer these questions. Evidently, they were aware of the problems and believed that Paul should be informed. Their action is to be commended, for when problems arise in a congregation the correct thing to do is to turn to the inspired Word of God for the solution.
*contentions.*The divisions (splits) in the church resulted from the, strife over leaders. Some were saying that they belonged to Paul; some, to Apollos; some, to Cephas; some, to Christ. Is this last group composed of the true Christians in Corinth or to a wrangling party arrogating to itself the divine name? The context seems to imply the latter. It is possible to use the name of Christ in a sectarian manner.
*Is Christ divided?*Certainly Christ is not divided. He alone died on the cross to save the world. Only the sinless Lamb of God could become sin on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21). Certainly, Paul wasn-’t crucified for them; hence, there was no excuse for anyone of them to claim that he had been baptized in Paul’s name.
A moment’s reflection on these three questions shows how ridiculous the divisions in Corinth were. Two of them are so framed as to require a negative answer. Thus, all must speak the same thing in answering these questions.
*I baptized none of you.*Why did Paul thank God that he had baptized none of the Corinthians, except the few mentioned? This does not suggest that he considered baptism of no importance. See Romans 6:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:1-2; 1 Corinthians 12:13. The evident meaning is that he was thankful that he had personally baptized this limited number so as to avoid the very criticism that was being made that people were being baptized in his name. If he had not taught them to get themselves baptized, there never would have been a question about the one into whose name they had been baptized. All of them knew that they had been baptized into the name of Christ, for He was crucified for them.
*Crippus, Gaius, Stephanas.*Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized (Acts 18:8). The identity of Gaius is not certain, but see Acts 20:4. Stephanas was the first convert of Achaia (1 Corinthians 16:15).
*For Christ sent me not to baptize.*Careless reading of this statement might lead some to believe that Paul did not consider baptism important. A similar statement is found in John 4:1-2. The Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John. John adds the explanation: Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples.
After Paul had baptized a few, they could have taken up the task of baptizing the rest while Paul continued to proclaim the good news. Baptism was a part of the proclamation of the gospel. See Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16. The facts of the gospel which deal with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ are symbolized in the act of baptism, for baptism is a burial and a resurrection (Romans 6:4).
*lest the cross of Christ should be made void.*Words of wisdom that left out the sacrifice of Christ made the cross an empty thing. Paul’s aim was to avoid the philosophical speculations of the day and to preach Christ in such a manner that men would desire to be baptized in His name. That gave meaning to the cross of Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
**Butler’s Comments
Unity Operates Through the Instrumentality of the Gospel** (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise,
and the cleverness of the clever I
will thwart.
20Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:18-20 Because the Gospel is Revelational: Unification of men and women from all different strata of humankind in one brotherhood of peace and love is operative only by the instrumentality of the gospel of Christ. That is so because only the gospel of Christ is the final, complete and perfect revelation from God. It alone is the divinely-sanctioned, perfectly-delivered, and supernaturally-functional instrument for man’s redemption, Paul says the word (Gr. logos, teaching, doctrine) of the cross is foolishness (Gr. moria, moronic, stupidity) to those who are continuing to perish. However, God’s declaration and demonstration that in the cross (and the resurrection) of Jesus Christ he atoned for all the sins of all the world is the dynamic (Gr. dunamis, power, dynamic) of God to those who are continuing to be saved through it. The Greek prepositions apollumenois (perishing) and sozomenois (being saved) are present tense, denoting a continuing action. Those who continue willfully to perish, reject the fact and doctrine of the cross as moronic. It does not make sense, from a strictly human perspective, that someone else should suffer (or could suffer) for my sins. It does not seem reasonable; it does not seem fair. Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam, former head of the World Council of Churches, wrote the following:
We hear much of the substitutionary theory of the atonement. This theory to me is immoral. If Jesus paid it all, or if He is the substitute for me, or if He is the sacrifice for all the sin of the world, then why discuss forgiveness? The books are closed. Another has paid the debt, borne the penalty. I owe nothing. I am absolved. I cannot see forgiveness as predicated upon the act of some one else. It is my sin. I must atone. (A Testament of the Faith, 1958, pg. 144)
That is precisely why the doctrine of the substitutionary, vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary must be established on the basis of the historically-verified resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It is a doctrine that is unacceptable to human pride. It is a doctrine that must be accepted on the basis of faith (a faith based on verification). It is a doctrine revealed. Jesus teaches that man’s willingness to accept revelation from God is primary in the matter of kingdom citizenship (see comments on Matthew 11:1-30, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol. II, pp. 426-594, by Harold Fowler, College Press). So long as there are those claiming citizenship in the kingdom of God unwilling to let God give arbitrary, indisputable, seemingly-irrational revelations, there will be division. No nation can have a dependable, unified army if it has no final authoritythe commander-in-chief.
1 Corinthians 1:19 is a quotation of Isa 29:14 as God’s prophecy that he would, in the messianic era, deliver a divine revelation which would destroy dependence upon human pride and wisdom for salvation. The student should study both Isaiah Chapter s 28 and 29 in their entirety. Isaiah is predicting the messianic kingdom to come as one in which men would humble themselves and let God teach them by revelation rather than presumptuously thinking they knew all they needed to know through their own wisdom. Isaiah has a great deal to say (and so do all the prophets) about the fact that God is aiming to build in the messianic age (the church) a kingdom filled with people willingly surrendered to total guidance, in every area of life, under the revealed word of his Messiah. That is a fundamental issue of the prophets; they shall all be taught by God (see Isaiah 54:13; John 6:45). Through thousands of years of history God allowed one human philosophy, religion, and political system after another to come and go. They each repeated themselves, so that even in Solomon’s day he could say, There is nothing new under the sun.
God is onehe is not divided. His mind, will and purpose are all united. The unity of God’s revealed will (the Bible) may be thoroughly demonstrated by simply comparing it with the pronouncements and writings of the scribes and debaters of the ages. Philosophers, theologians, scientists, teachers and sages have contradicted and negated one another consistently since the world began. Their inability to find unity in human tenets has been the cause of men dividing themselves from one another and from God. But the Bible, because it is a divine revelation of the One Unified Being, God, produces unity when every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God is destroyed by the gospel and every human thought is taken captive to obey Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). The power of the gospel to change wicked, idolatrous pagans into loving, believing, hoping people demonstrated the utter foolishness of the alleged wisdom of the ancient philosophies and philosophers. Claiming to be wise, the ancient philosophers exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and became fools (see Romans 1:18-32). That was not simply theoreticalthat was demonstrated in life! It still is today! Human unity operates through the instrumentality of the gospel, or it doesn-’t operate at all!
1 Corinthians 1:21-23 Because The Gospel is Reportable: The gospel is real. It is history. It is not theoretical or ephemeral. Human beings make theories. God does things in history and in reality. God was wise enough to give men the freedom to theorize if they choose. In this freedom God is able to demonstrate vividly the finitude of man. Since man without God is able only to theorize he should acknowledge his limitations. Man should welcome an Absolute Being with absolute wisdomespecially since such a Being has revealed Himself in history. When God decided that man’s inability to redeem himself had been sufficiently established in the demonstration of the foolishness of human theories, the Son of God was sent to the world to establish historically and experientially the absolute wisdom of God.
The KJV translation of 1 Corinthians 1:21 is unfortunate. Paul is not saying that preaching is foolishness, or that the world will be saved by the foolishness of preaching. Many people preach. Politicians preach; philosophers and moralists preach; terrorists and anarchists preach, so it is not the methodology of preaching that the world calls foolish. The RSV is much clearer when it translates, … through the folly of what we preach to save.. The world calls the Christian message, the gospel of the cross, foolish. But, clearly, it is the message of the gospel that saves human beings from lawlessness and wickedness, The Greek phrase, tou kerugmatos clearly intends the reader to understand that it is the thing preached (the message) which the world calls foolish. But that message is of the accomplished redemption of Christ and God has chosen to save through it. This redemption was wrought upon the cross and verified by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Its proclamation and acceptance saves men unto the glorious destiny for which God created them. T. R. Applebury wrote: While the basic facts of the gospel are the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the gospel is not limited to these facts, for it takes the whole Bible to tell the whole story of the whole counsel of God about salvation through His Son. In the Old Testament it is seen in prophecy, promise, and type. In the New Testament it is seen in the facts of the life of Christ; in the history of conversion to Christ; in the explanation of the essentials of righteousness; in the application of the gospel to daily life; and, finally, in the prophecy of the victory of Christ and of those who accept His gospel. (Studies in First and Second Corinthians, by T. R. Applebury, p. 23, College Press, 1963). If the Christian message (kerugmatos) was only of a crucified, dead Messiah, it would be foolishness. Any claim to atone for the sins of the whole world by someone who had no power to conquer death would be an absurd, abortive claim. But the Christian message, authenticated by eyewitnesses, friends and enemies alike, is of a Messiah who conquered death. Therefore his claims of atonement are trustworthy and will transform or regenerate those who continue to believe him. God transforms the minds and personalities of sinners through the word of his Son’s redemptive program, the gospel. But man must believe that. God created man with the capability to believe and respond to God’s promises and commands. So Paul says, God was pleased to save men through the agency and instrumentality of his word. Paul uses the Greek present tense when he writes the word believe (Gr. pisteuontas) indicating that those who are being saved (see comments, 1 Corinthians 1:18) are those who are continuing to believe.
While those continuing to believe the facts of the gospel are being saved, those continuing to demand signs and continuing to seek wisdom from some source other than the gospel are being lost! The Jews continually demanded signs. Paul uses the present tense Greek verb here, aitousi, indicating that the Jews were not satisfied with the signs Jesus gave of his Messiahship, but continued demanding them. Jesus called these Jews, an evil and adulterous generation for continually demanding signs (Matthew 12:38 ff.) when sufficient signs were already promised (Jesus-’ miracles and his resurrection from the dead). God is not pleased with people who continually put him to the test, asking for signs, when sufficient signs have been given (cf. Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 14:22; Deuteronomy 18:18-19; Luke 16:30-31). Elevating spiritual (miraculous) gifts above teaching and preaching the word line upon line and precept upon precept is a clear indication of spiritual immaturity (cf. Isaiah 28:7-13; 1 Corinthians 14:20 ff.). The Jews were even demanding a sign from Jesus when he was hanging on the cross (Matthew 27:41-44). Jesus pronounced condemnation on whole cities (cf. Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 10:1-20) for demanding signs and then not repenting when many signs were done. It is not one’s proximity to supernatural demonstrations or even persons which saves, but faith in the deity and divine work of Jesus. Jesus said some at the judgment would claim proximity to his fleshly presence as merit for salvation (cf. Luke 13:22-30) but to no avail. It is not the possession of supernatural gifts which signified the salvation of the Christians at Corinth (for they came behind no other in such gifts). That which saves is faith in the reportable, reliable redemptive work of Christ on the cross and at the empty tomb. Without the word being preached there can be no faith (Romans 10:17); without the seed (Word) being sown, there can be no fruit produced (Luke 8:11 ff.).
1 Corinthians 1:24-25 Because the Gospel is Reliable: Unity operates through the instrumentality of the Gospel because the Gospel is the only source of power available to man to break down barriers of racial, cultural, and religious divisions. It is reliable first, of course, because it is authenticated by miracles and signs and fulfilled prophecies (Hebrews 2:3-4). But the world should now acknowledge its reliability because it has been demonstrated through 2000 years as the only workable instrument of true spiritual unity for the human race. Producing human spiritual unity in love and peace through universal human philosophy, culture and government was tried for 700 years by four successive world empires (Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome). That did not produce! In fact, it produced the oppositeslavery, hatred, war and wickedness. Only the righteousness of God in the redemptive work of Christ (which the world calls foolishness) is powerful enough to effect the unity of the human race under the constraints of love, peace, justice and righteousness. That is what is taking place in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ because that is where redemption is made available. The church, dwelling place of the living word of God, is the living organism in the world, kept alive by God’s Spirit, where men may be redeemed. The church is the only place where men do not lift up sword against one another and where they learn war against one another no more. In the world are the lawless. For them only a superficial form of unity and temporary restraint against wickedness is maintained by enforcement of law (cf. 1 Timothy 1:8-11; Romans 13:1-7). But for the citizen of God’s kingdom, all arbitration is done peaceably and with love by the power of the Spirit of Christ in their minds and hearts (cf. Colossians 3:1-24).
The Gospel is the only reliable dynamic for bringing about spiritual oneness between man and God and man and man. Christ proved it by the supernatural verification of his redemptive plan; history had proven it by experience. It is imperative that all those who profess to be followers of Christ focus all their energies to the proclamation of that message.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Applebury’s Comments
The Word of the Cross and the Wisdom of the World (18-31)
Text
1 Corinthians 1:18-31. For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. 22 Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumbling-block, and unto Gentiles foolishness; 24 but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28 and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are: 29 that no flesh should glory before God. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: 31 that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
*Commentary
the word of the cross.*The divisions in the church at Corinth were being perpetuated by those who were putting the wisdom of the world above the gospel of Christ. By contrasting the two, Paul condemns the party spirit. The contrast is plain: it is between them thai perish and those who are saved; it is between foolishness and the power of God.
*For it is written.*The quotation is from Isaiah 29:14. It is freely applied by the apostle to the situation at hand. In the time of Isaiah, the wisdom of the worldly statesmen failed to protect Judah against the invasion of the Assyrians. The quotation is thus applied to the situation in Corinth: the wisdom of the world could not possibly save men from destruction in the spiritual realm. That can only be done through the word of the cross.
*the power of God.*It is through the gospel that the power of God is channeled into the mind of those who hear the message. The force of the facts of the gospel (the life, death, and resurrection of Christ) changes unbelief into faith. The force of the motives of the gospel (the goodness of God, Romans 2:4, godly sorrow for sin, 2 Corinthians 7:10, and, among others, the consideration of the impending judgment, Acts 17:30-31) changes the will, and that change of the will is repentance. Submission to the command of the gospel to be baptized into Christ brings the penitent believer to the blood of Christ which washes away sin (Mark 16:15-16; Romans 6:4; Acts 22:16; Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:22).
This power of God to save the believer was demonstrated in the resurrection of Christ (Ephesians 1:19-20). It is the same power that raises the one dead in trespasses and sin to the new life in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-6). It is the power that worketh in us (Ephesians 3:20), that is, the power of the gospel to save and to equip the believer to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16).
*the wise, the scribe, the disputer of this world.*Paul calls upon the wise (the Greek) and the scribe (the Jew) and the debater of the world (both Greek and Jew) in such a manner as to show that none of them could offer anything to save man from his sin. The reason is clear: the world in its wisdom did not know God.
*the foolishness of preaching.*The word of the cross, although looked upon by those who were perishing as foolishness, was the power of God to save the believer. Foolishness does not refer to the act of preaching, but to the message that is proclaimed, that is, the word of the cross. While the basic facts of the gospel are the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the gospel is not limited to these facts, for it takes the whole Bible to tell the whole story of the whole counsel of God about salvation through His Son. In the O. T. it is seen in prophecy, promise, and type. In the N. T. it is seen in the facts of the life of Christ; in the history of conversion to Christ; in the explanation of the essentials of righteousness; in the application of the gospel to daily life; and, finally, in the prophecy of the victory of Christ and of those who accept His gospel.
*to save them that believe.*God reaches the mind of the unconverted sinner through the message of the cross. When God created man, He created him with the capacity to respond to His commands. It requires no miracle of illumination to enable man to understand what God says in the Bible. That is why the word of the cross can save the believer. Followers of Christ are to proclaim it; sinners are to believe it; and God will save those who believe it. These three issues should be carefully noted: (1) God made foolish the wisdom of the world; (2) the world through its wisdom didn-’t know God; (3) in the wisdom of God, God was pleased to save the believer through the foolishness of the message that was preached.
*Jews ask for signs.*See Matthew 12:38-40; John 2:18; John 6:30; Matthew 27:42.
*Greeks seek after wisdom.*See Acts 17:21; 1 Corinthians 2:6-9.
*unto Jews a stumbling block.*The Greek word which is translated stumblingblock referred to the trigger of a trap, and then to the trap or some means of causing one to stumble. The crucified Messiah was like this to the Jew. The Jewish concept of Messiah led them to think of an earthly kingdom such as existed in the days of David and Solomon. How could Christ crucified be their expected leader? They failed to understand that His kingdom was not of this world. They would have been glad to make Him their king in opposition to Caesar, but He refused the temporal crown. They turned against Him, and in the end they cried out, We have no king but Caesar. See John 6:14-15; John 19:15; Matthew 21:42-44.
*unto Gentiles foolishness.*When Paul preached Jesus and the resurrection in Athens, the philosophers called him a babblerone who had no real system of philosophy like theirs, but who was like the little birds seen in the marketplace picking up bits of food here and there. Compared to their systems of wisdom, this seemed like foolishness. (Acts 17:18).
*Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.*In contrast to the Jews and Greeks who rejected the message of the cross, Paul points out thoseboth Jews and Greekswho accept Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God. Those who are called are the ones who respond to God’s call through the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:13-14). Christ is the power of God, that is, He is the one who exercises God’s power to save the believer. The gospel has a logical force, the force of the facts of the gospel to produce faith; it has an emotional force, the force of the motives of the gospel to produce repentance; it has a redemptive force, the force of the blood of Christ to cleanse from sin. Christ is the wisdom of God, that is, He is the one who has revealed the divine wisdom that has to do with salvation; in other words, what to do to be saved and how to live the Christian life. He is the personal revelation of God, and through His office as prophet, He caused the written revelation of God, the Bible, to be written.
*foolishness of God.*As the context indicates, this expresses man’s attitude toward the things of God. But, as Paul indicates, what man deems foolish and weak in God’s plan to save the sinner is wiser and stronger than man. David’s conquest of Goliath illustrates the point.
*behold your calling.*The words that follow explain Paul’s reference to the foolishness and weakness of God. A glance at their own station in life was enough to show the Corinthians that the word of the cross had made its greatest appeal to those of the lower class, While it is true that the early church was made up largely of those from the lower classes, it does not follow that others were excluded. Crispus and Sosthenes were rulers of synagogues, and Dionysius, a convert at Athens, was known as the Areopagite, a member of the high court of Athens. It was not, however, until the fourth century that the world was to see a professed Christianat least, one who favored Christianityon the throne of the Roman Empire.
*things that are not.*God chose the things that are spiritualrighteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17)rather than eating and drinking. He chose the Christian virtues rather than the Jewish practices. He chose righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:31) rather than wickedness, uncleanness, and slavery to sincharacteristics of Gentile conduct.
*no flesh should glory before God.*No human being can boast of his accomplishments before God. Man cannot save himself; he can be saved only by God’s grace through faith expressed in obedience. The Christian belongs to God because of his relation to Christ Jesus. By using what man calls weak and foolish, God has made it impossible for any man to boast that he could have performed Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. Christ alone made that sacrifice.
*wisdom from God.*Christ is the personal revelation of God; He is the word made flesh. Through His office as prophet, He is the author of the written revelation. See 1 Corinthians 2:6 for further comment on this wisdom.
*righteousness.*This word is used in three ways in the N. T. It refers to the fact that God is right; to the standard of conduct that God demands of man; and to the status of one whom God considers right in His sight because his sins have been forgiven.
Christ is the righteousness of God in relation to all three connotations. He was without sin (John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 7:26; 2 Corinthians 5:21); in His conduct He always did the will of His Father (John 5:19); righteousness (remission of sins) is made possible through the blood of Christ (Romans 3:21-25).
*redemption.*Christ is our redemption, that is, He is the one who has provided our release from slavery to sin (Romans 6:16-18). He is all that is needed. He alone by His Spirit through the apostles revealed the wisdom that is proclaimed in the message of the cross.
Summary
The interesting account of the beginning of the church in Corinth is given in Acts 18:1-17. Luke states in simplest terms that Paul left Athens and came to Corinth. There he found Aquilla and Priscilla who had recently come from Rome. The work began in the synagogue of the Jews, but Paul was soon forced to move to the house next door which belonged to a man by the named Titus Justus. Luke also records the conversion of Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue. Encouraged by the vision from the Lord. Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and six months teaching the Word of God. Persecuting Jews brought Paul into the court of Gallio. His indifference to the quarrels of the Jews probably saved Paul from the beating which was given to another, Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue.
Paul visited Corinth a second time, during his third missionary tour (Acts 19:21; Acts 20:2-3).
The problems that were faced in starting the work in Corinth set the pattern for its subsequent history. Corinth was destined to become a problem church. First Corinthians was written to straighten out their problems. There were problems of division and derelictions; there were problems of marriage and meats used in idolatrous worship; there were problems that related to women’s costume in public and abuses of the Lord’s supper; there were problems about spiritual gifts; there were problems connected with the doctrine of the resurrection. The problems at Corinth were very similar to the problems of the church today. First Corinthians, therefore, becomes an important book for those who seek to adjust present problems in the light of divine revelation. Paul appropriately begins the epistle with a reference to his apostleship. He is an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God. He writes with the authority of one sent By Christ and upheld by the will of God. This assures his readers that they will find in this letter the divine solution to their problems. Paul lifts the solution of the problems of the church out of the hands of wrangling men and puts it where it belongs, within the limits of the authority of Jesus Christ as expressed in the writing of His inspired apostle. Sosthenes, who must have been well known to the church at Corinth, is associated with Paul in the greeting to his fellow-Christians at Corinth. Although they were guilty of conduct so unbecoming to a Christian, Paul addresses them as those who were sanctified and called saints. Thus, he upholds the ideals to which he attempts to lift them through his inspired instruction. The Corinthians were not the only ones who were sanctified and called saints, for with them Paul includes all those who, because they recognized their utter dependence on Christ for their salvation, called upon the name of Jesus Christ. Paul’s customary salutation of grace and peace sounds the deep spiritual tone of the letter. Before taking up the problems that are to be discussed in the epistle, the apostle pauses to thank God for the spiritual enrichment of the Corinthians. God had supplied them with the information they needed as brethren in Christ and the ability to use this information when they spoke. They had received the established testimony about Christ so that they lacked nothing; they, therefore, did not need to turn to worldly wisdom for help as they awaited the day when Christ would be revealed. Such testimony would establish them to the very end as unreprovable followers of Christ. This assurance was furnished them by the faithful God who had called them through the gospel into close association with His Son. As Paul takes up the problems which are to be discussed in the epistle, he mentions first the matters which had been reported to him by the household of Chloe. From this source he had learned of their divided state and their consequent derelictions in such matters as immorality, litigation and abuse of the body. Paul approaches the problem of division with a view to securing his readers acceptance of the inspired solution which he presents: he exhorts them as brethrens. He urges all of them to say the same thing, instead of saying, I am of Paul or I am of Apollos. He urges them to settle their differences which had caused splits in the church. It was possible for all to say the same thing by adopting the same mental attitude and expressing the same opinion on such questions as these: Is Christ divided? Paul wasn-’t crucified for you, was he? You were not baptized into his name, were you? It was to avoid possible claim of being baptized into the name of Paul that he refrained from personally baptizing any of the Corinthians except Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephenas. Paul determined that the cross of Christ should not become an empty thing. Having thus indicated the folly of their divisions, he continues to rebuke the sin of division as he contrasts the word of the cross with the wisdom of the world. Worldly wisdom was a contributing cause of their wrangling disputes, but Paul reminds them that the issue is salvation or destruction, as the Scriptures clearly stated. The world that followed the wise ones of that day did not know God, but God’s plan was to save believers through the message of the cross. Both Jews and Greeks failed to see this. Those, however, who did see it discovered that Christ has revealed God’s wisdom and exercises God’s power to save. This could easily be verified by looking at themselves. God had not called many of the wise of that day nor many of noble birth. He had chosen the humble and the weak that men might be taught not to boast in their own power, but to glory in Christ who exercises God’s power to save. Christ who revealed the wisdom from God is the source of their forgiveness, cleansing, and freedom.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
**Butler’s Comments
Unity Occasions Glory to God Alone **(1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
26 For consider your call, brethren, not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many of noble birth; 27but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; 31therefore, as it is written, Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:26 Their deficiency: The very fact that there existed in Corinth a body of believers, immature and struggling, but united in the love and peace of Christ, proved that whatever unity they had achieved was to be credited to God the Father and Christ the son, for there was no other such body of human beings in Corinth like them. The philosophers and politicians had not produced such a fellowship. These Christians certainly had not come to their fellowship through wisdom according to worldly standards. Paul reminds them to take a look at (Gr. blepete, see, look) their condition at the time they answered the call to the Gospel. Not many of them were sophisticates (Gr. sophoi, wise) as judged by worldly (Gr. sarka, fleshly, human) standards, Not many were powerful as the world would estimate power; nor were many of noble birth (Gr. eugeneis, well-born).
God actually chose what the sophisticates, the powerful and the nobility would call foolishness to form a society in Corinth of loving, caring, righteous-living people. They were called Christians. This put all the philosophies and other human attempts of man to create his own Utopia, by his own wisdom, to shame. The faith and righteousness of Christians became, as it were, a condemnation of all the humanism of their society, just as Noah’s obedience to God thousands of years earlier (cf. Hebrews 11:7).
The apostle’s enunciation of the former lack of worldly prestige of these Corinthians is mild compared to his reminder of what a few others had been before becoming Christians (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). The gospel not only has the power to create a kingdom of love and peace and goodness out of the unsophisticated and powerless people of the world, it also has divine power to bring into this same kingdom, by conversion, people who were formerly the dregs of humanity. Its power is operative, however, only when human beings acknowledge they have no sufficiency in anything that is human and surrender to the revelation of God’s redemptive plan for their lives.
1 Corinthians 1:27-28 Their dynamic: When one considers the tools God chose to use in his redemptive program and the end result he produced, one must admit divine power as the source. God chose what the world, in all its accumulated expertise, calls foolishness (Gr. mora, moronic, stupid), to demonstrably put to shame the sophistication of worldly-wisdom. The world, with all its science, philosophy and psychology has never done what the gospel has done. God chose the weak things (Gr. asthene, no strength, sick, impotent) in order to expose the shame of what the world calls strong and powerful. The world calls the vicarious atonement of Christ sick. But the change wrought in the lives of those who believe Christ proves that the world is wrong in what it depends on for power.
God chose to use what the world calls low and despised (Gr. agene, inconsequential, unknown; and exouthenemena, contemptible, rejected) to abolish (Gr. katargese, nullify, destroy) the things which the world in rebellion against God considers effective. Paul is not the first God uses to reveal this. The Old Testament Prophets warned their people that God was going to accomplish man’s redemption by a despised and rejected Messiah, one in whom was no comeliness and who would not be esteemed (cf. Isaiah 52:13-15; Isaiah 53:1-12). Jesus warned in his parables that the kingdom would start as small and insignificantly as a mustard seed but would grow to be huge (Matthew 13:31-32). Righteousness, love, self-control, humility and faith are things the world calls weaknesses. Wealth, fame, self-sufficiency, political position and skepticism are things the world calls powerful. God has demonstrated his sovereign wisdom by putting everything the world calls powerful to shame through the power of the redemptive work of Christ. Only the gospel of Christ produces the society of people transformed into loving, hoping, trustworthy, faithful, peaceful servants of God. Wealth, fame and political power all combined has never done it and never shall.
God chose the betrothed of a lowly Jewish carpenter as the mother for the Savior of the world. He decided this Savior was to be born in a cattle-shed. This Savior’s friends would be harlots and hated publicans. He would select as his intimate co-workers fisherman, publicans and women. But these low born and rejects would, with the divine message of God’s reconciling grace through the cross of Christ, turn the world upside down (cf. Acts 17:6) showing that philosophies of men were totally inadequate while the word of God changed people and society for the best.
It is through this word that human beings may be born again (cf. 1 Peter 1:22-25). Through these promises human beings may partake of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4). Through this, human beings receive power to be transformed and purified (cf. Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 3:1-3). And the word of God is the only instrument chosen by God to accomplish this in the world. The world thinks otherwise because it has believed the devil’s lie told in Eden (Genesis 3:1-7) that to trust, depend upon and obey God is weakness, while independence from and resistance to God brings power.
1 Corinthians 1:29-31 Their declaration: God deliberately gave salvation to mankind as a gift so that no human being might boast. He chose to effect man’s salvation through what the world called weaknesses so that man would not be able to glorify himself or any of his finite schemes. Salvation is absolutely by faith in the redemptive deeds done by God in Christnot by any merit of man. Salvation is appropriated (or accepted) by man’s believing obedience to the covenant terms decreed by God in his New Testament. But man, by accepting salvation, never merits it, His sins were paid for by Christ’s deathfinally and completely. When finite and sinful man compares himself with other finite and sinful men, he is inclined to find someone who, in his estimation, is worse than himself. He then resolves to trust in his own self-righteousness and his own glory, (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:12). But when man, by belief in the divine record (the Bible) honestly compares himself with the infinite and absolutely righteous God (and his Son), he finds nothing in himself to trustnot even his own feelings (Jeremiah 17:5-10, esp. Jeremiah 17:9-10; Mark 7:21-23; Ephesians 4:22; Ecclesiastes 9:3; Isaiah 6:5). Jeremiah, tempted to follow his own feelings and desires, surrendered to the word of God burning in his bones (cf. Jeremiah 20:7-12), and preached to turn man’s trust in the Lord.
The KJV is nearer a literal translation of the Greek text in 1 Corinthians 1:30. The Greek phrase is: ex autou de humeis este en Christo Iesou. Literally that would be translated: but out from him you are in Christ Jesus. The RSV gives the meaning in its translation: He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus.. Christ is the source of our salvation because he became (Gr. egenethe, 3rd aorist, sing. passivehe was both made and willingly became) our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. God was in Christ on the cross, reconciling the world to himself. God decreed (made) Christ to be sin for us and righteousness for us (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:11-21). At the same time, Christ, the Son, willingly became sin for us (Hebrews 10:5-10). God decided on the substitutionary atonement by his Anointed One from the foundation of the world (cf. 1 Peter 1:19-20; Isaiah 53:1-12, etc.). The Son of man knew he had come into the world as a vicarious ransom for the sins of the whole world (Matthew 20:28; Matthew 26:28). He knew that it was only by his perfect sacrifice men would be able to be set apart (sanctified) to God (cf. Hebrews 10:5-10; John 17:13-26). Christ is the source of our sanctification. We could never be good enough on our own to be set apart unto God! If we are sanctified for God at all it is because we trust completely in the merit of Christ’s perfect sacrifice, Of course, we must choose to accept his sanctification for us. And our choosing must conform to his revealed will. The same concepts apply to any claims we may have to wisdom or redemption. Christ alone is the source. We choose whether we want what he offers or not on his terms.
1 Corinthians 1:31 is a quotation of Jer 9:24. Jeremiah faced the same problem with God’s covenant people 600 years before Paul. Men basked in their own self-glory. The glory of other men was what they thought was the ultimate meaning of life (Jeremiah 9:23). As a result they conducted their lives on the bases of falsehood, hypocrisy, treachery, slander and deceit (Jeremiah 9:1 ff.). But Jeremiah poured out his life in ministry of the Word to turn them to glorying in the Lord (Jeremiah 9:24) and in what the Lord determines is righteousness.
Paul wrote a great deal about boasting and glorying to the Corinthians. The Corinthians apparently assumed that anyone with the office of apostle would automatically be boastful, proud and arrogant. Paul did not behave like that (see 1 Corinthians 3:18-23; 1 Corinthians 4:1-13; 2 Corinthians 11:1-33; 2 Corinthians 12:1-21). Paul made it plain that Christians have nothing to boast about except the grace of God (Romans 3:27-28; Galatians 6:14; Philippians 3:3-7; 2 Corinthians 12:9). And who can boast in self when all one is or has or hopes to be is by the grace of Christ?
Since all Christians are thus joined and united to Christ by grace alone, such unity must give occasion to glorifying only Christ. Whatever results from the regenerative work going on in the church on earth, whether through spiritual leaders or those being led, it all redounds to God’s glory and not man’S. Man works, God gives the increase. Unless God gives the increase, there will be none of any value or permanence at all, no matter how hard and expertly man works.