The Apostle Paul was used by God to write the majority of the New Testament. His writings would be the stability which God wants for the church and He would use Paul to write to many different people, in many different circumstances. This letter to the church at Corinth is one of those written to Jews, Greeks, and Romans who comprised the group of believers in Jesus Christ.
Corinth was a newer built city, located about 48 miles west of Athens. The ancient city was destroyed in 168 BC and this new city was built by the Romans. It was noted for its wealth, luxury, and its vicious, immoral, habits. Much like our society today, Corinth had much carnality and needed strong Christians to help it escape the degradation of society.
Paul was a Jew and raised to be very strict Jew. He was taught at the feet of Gamaliel; which is the equivalent of being taught by a master. Paul had achieved the notoriety of being a zealot, a Pharisee with great ambition. It was Paul who held the coats of those who stoned Steven as Paul had encouraged others to do his own dirty work.
Yet, Paul hands were not without blood for he had done the dirty work for many as he matured. Paul was considered a Pharisee among Pharisees.
No matter what a person had done with their life, God sees them for who they could be. In Paul God did not see him as a killer, but able to become an acclaimed man of God. Therefore, Jesus Christ himself appeared to Paul on the road to Emmaus, blinded his sight, and calling Paul to repent. To which Paul complied.
It was only after being sent to a faithful man of God, a Christian, Paul received his sight back and had no choice but to learn about Christianity for Paul knew it was true. Paul was called to serve God as a brilliant communicator to Gentiles and Jews. Paul became an apostle of Jesus Christ.
Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 1 Corinthians 1:1-2 (NKJV)
Our devotional study of this book will focus on many aspects of remaining unspotted as we live, work, and socialize, in a society which pulls people down and destroys their faith.
Our churches are under attack by people who mean well, but know little about Christianity. The carnality of society has far reaching effects on Christians as well as non-Christians and keeping strong by submitting and repentance of sins is a key for those called to be Children of God.
It is God's design, shared by the Apostle Paul that those who read through to the end of this study and submit to God, they will be changed by the power of God to have a closer, more devoted walk with Christ.
When visiting, Paul spent eighteen months in Corinth, and would later return to stay another three months. On his second stay, Paul would write the letter to the Romans.
Paul became quite knowledgeable about those who were of the faithful and knew much about their weakness in the flesh; having been one who could be manipulated to kill the innocent. In this letter Paul addresses those areas of weakness with care and understanding. So Paul's words of correction are pointed to have immediate and lasting effects.
In this letter Paul deals with problems that were within the Corinthian Church. Though they were Christians, the Corinthian church still carried much carnality. People had converted to Christianity, but still struggled with their old nature.
Divisions, heresies, wrong doctrines and wrong conduct had a stronghold in their lives and in care, Paul address these issues in an attempt to save them from the danger of destruction, which unchallenged sin brings to a church.
You will find that Paul reflects to his emotional concern for these believers who oppose themselves. Where God desires to build unity, many choose division. This hurt the heart of the Apostle and his attempts to rectify these problems are throughout the letter.
Love can and will reach out to correct others; but it must be done skillfully and in prayer. Correction is good if done by the direction of the Holy Spirit; but knowledge of the truth has to be spiritually unveiled.
It is the Holy Spirits job to convict the world of sin, not ours; so one must be careful and be ready to work towards restoration. A restoration effort should only be undertaken after much prayer and God’s leading, in which Paul had done.
What is the condition of your church? Does it have its share of division? Do the practices of our hell bound societies creep into the hearts of the parishioners? Do they spend more time seeking worldly pleasure than God’s perfect pleasure?
To an extent all churches have these tendencies, some more than others. This is why God had Paul write this first letter to the Corinthian church.
Written from Ephesus, about the time of the Passover, Paul had desires to journey to Macedonia. Yet letters of conflict were reaching him from those at Corinth. Their carnality was on his mind and frustrating his travel plans; so he wrote this letter to admonish, encourage, and set straight the problems which beset them.
Christian conduct is often swept under the rug; Paul sought to clean up the mess before it became infectious to other churches and debilitating their own church.
In undertaking this study four attitude should be to take the areas of our life which we find are wrong and allow them to be corrected. Please join us in the study of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church.
May God richly bless us in this devotional commentary.
