1 Corinthians 1
1 Paul, called {as} an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
I think that this is the same Sosthenes mentioned in Ac 18. He was beaten up because of Paul.
From Ac 18, we see that Paul came to Corinth and started a church there. Paul spoke boldly of Jesus in the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed and became a part of the church. Then Paul stayed there for about 18 months. During that time, Sosthenes became the leader of the synagogue (could it be that the unbelieving Jews hounded Crispus out for believing in Jesus?), and he too believed and became part of the church.
Perhaps the Jews who did not believe must have been very frustrated with Paul and Sosthenes when they learned that Sosthenes too believed (since they would now have to find another leader), and they beat up Sosthenes.
When Paul had to give this message he must have consulted with Sosthenes (may be at that time Sosthenes was a leader of the church in Corinth?) and that is why the letter is from Paul and Sosthenes.
I find it interesting that Paul didn’t think that there was no need to consult with Sosthenes or anyone else and, since he was the apostle, just write what he thought the Corinthians should know.
An apostle is one who establishes churches.
You have to be called by God to be an apostle. You can’t decide by yourself to be an apostle.
Paul refers to himself as an apostle here because he established the church of Corinth. He wants to establish his authority because he has many tough things to say to the Corinthians.
When you read that God called Paul to be an apostle, what should your reaction be?
Your reaction should be: "What about me? God, what have you called me to be in the church?"
So what about you? What has God called you for?
Does God call everyone to do something in the church? Yes, per Eph 2:10.
Eph 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
But everyone is called not equally. Some people are given 10 talents, some 5 and some 1. But each is evaluated according to how much he has been given (Lk 12:48).
If you want a greater piece of the action of building God’s kingdom you can call on God too, you know! Jabez asked God to enlarge his border, and God granted him his request (1 Chr 4:9-10) and God called him honorable.
When God is writing your legacy to Christianity, do you just want Him to write that you were the son of ‘your dad’ and you were the father of ‘your son’? Or like what God did for Jabez, do you want him to add an extra sentence for you, that you got a larger piece of the action, just because you asked for it?
Lk 11:13 encourages us to ask God for the power of the Holy Spirit to do great things. 1 Cor 12:31 encourages us to earnestly desire the greater gifts. 1 Cor 14:1 tells us to earnestly desire to prophecy. Jesus spoke well of those who asked God beyond expectations (Mt 8:10; Mt 15:28).
Can you miss God’s calling? Rev 17:14 refers to the called, chosen and faithful. So we see that you can be called, but not chosen, and you can be called and chosen, but not faithful. Esau was an example of someone who missed his calling by selling his birthright for a single meal (Heb 12:16).
If and when God calls you, will you be able to recognize His call? Or like the boy Samuel, do you need help recognizing God’s call (1 Sam 3:4,5)?
Why is it tremendously important to recognize and act upon God’s call? It is important because when we get to heaven our reward will be based on how faithful we were to our calling.
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their {Lord} and ours:
To be sanctified means to be separated. You can be separated from anything.
To be holy means to be separated from sin.
Saints are those who are called to be separated from sin.
The entire church, consisting of the saints in Corinth, and the saints from all over the world, has called on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ because they want to be separated from sin, and have agreed to make Jesus their Lord.
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul always wished grace and peace to others in his letters. This was no accident or mundane routine. Paul understood the critical importance of having God’s grace and peace from God.
God gives His grace / help to the humble, but He opposes the proud (i.e. those who are not humble). If God opposes you then you will never succeed in anything you do. That is why it is so important to have access to God’s grace.
Peace from God is unshakable. If you don’t have that peace then you can be taken down. That is why peace from God is so valuable.
4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,
5 that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge,
6 even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,
7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the verses above Paul is summarizing the state of the Corinthian church. The Corinthians had believed and were born again. They understood the truth (in their heads) and were able to talk about it. They had spiritual gifts – i.e. they were equipped to build the kingdom of God. But they were carnal – as we will see shortly.
What do I learn from this? That it is possible to have spiritual gifts and yet be carnal. And that I need to examine myself to see if I am like that. And that even if I am not like that right now, I could end up like that if I am not careful.
Fellowship is the impartation of things of genuine spiritual value from one spirit to another. Two unbelievers cannot fellowship with each other as neither has any spiritual content to impart to the other. Fellowship between God and man is one directional, as is fellowship between a believer and an unbeliever. Two believers can have bi-directional fellowship.
If you have fellowship with God and His Son Jesus, then they can (and faithfully will) impart spiritual content to you, and the result is that you will stay true till the end, and be blameless when Jesus returns.
The Corinthians were called to have fellowship with the Father and the Son. But having such fellowship is not automatic. To have fellowship with God you have to walk in the light (1 Jn 1:5-7).
Even when we see someone who is carnal, if we are spiritual, instead of looking down on them we should look at them in the same way Paul did – we must look at them with hope, that by the time Jesus returns they will become spiritual.
10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Satan’s strategy is to divide people in the church, and people in the home. When you sense division, know that Satan is quite possibly behind it. The Corinthians were not aware of Satan’s tactic, and so they allowed him to bring division among them. We should not let Satan do that in our homes and our churches.
What does "made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment" mean"? Is Paul asking them to agree on everything?
Notice how many times Jesus is referred to as Lord in the above few verses.
As you read about the immaturity of the Corinthians don’t make the mistake of thinking that you are superior to them.
11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's {people,} that there are quarrels among you.
12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ."
Just like what happened during the transfiguration, people have a tendency to put Jesus and other people in the same category. In reality, there is no comparison. And just like at the transfiguration, a cloud appears to tell you that your thinking is clouded, and God rebukes you and points you to Jesus.
13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Paul doesn’t waste time but begins constructively confronting the Corinthians about their issues right away.
Paul’s first point is that Christ is incomparable, and nobody should be put in the same class as Christ. Specifically, whatever another human being has done for you, it is nothing compared to what Christ did for you when He paid the price for your sins.
Now Paul had many things to say to them, but he chose to speak first about putting Christ in the same category of others. He did not do this by accident, but he did it because it was the most important thing to set straight.
In another similar incident, during the transfiguration (Mt 17:5, Lk 9:34), while Peter was still speaking (you can see the urgency of this in God’s mind) and equating Jesus to Moses and Elijah, a cloud came over them and God said, "Listen to Jesus."
When a cloud has formed in your life, figuratively speaking, examine yourself to see if you’ve been giving too much importance to some man and putting him in the same category as Jesus.
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.
16 Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.
If baptism were required for salvation Paul would never have said that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the gospel. In fact, baptism would be part of the gospel.
Paul says a number of times that he didn’t come to the Corinthians with cleverness of speech and human wisdom, etc. It seems like he learnt something in Acts 17 during his encounter with the Greeks where he tried to be eloquent with them and didn’t get too many converts, and so when he came to Corinth (Acts 18) he didn’t depend on eloquent speech (Apollos had eloquent speech).
People shouldn’t come to Christ because of our eloquence or persuasion. They should come because they want to be saved from their sin, and because they value what Jesus (not Paul or anyone else) did on the cross (He suffered spiritual death instead of you and me).
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Who would believe that God became man?
Who would believe that God paid for our sin?
Who would believe that God would allow man to humiliate His dear Son and crucify Him?
Who would believe that God would not require us to pay for our own sin?
Logically speaking, it is foolish to propose such things.
Yet, to those who get saved it is a wonderful display of what only God can do!
19 For it is written, "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE."
This reference is from Is 29:14. To see why God says this you need to look at Is 29:13 which says that God made this statement because these people worshiped Him with their lips but their heart was far from them.
Is 29:13-14 Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed."
These people put God in the same category as man and did not give Him the reverence deserved of God. As a result, God made their wisdom and cleverness of no use to them.
If we just do the routine – church, Bible study, picnic, parties, etc. – but never really have a love for God then we are in the same boat, and God will have the same thing to say to us, and our wisdom will be nullified. That is, we will think that we can identify what God is doing and where God is moving but we will be wrong because our eyes will be blinded. And we will end up being in the wrong church and following the wrong ‘servants of God’. You will end up thinking that the truth of God is foolishness and His power will not be available to you to meet your needs.
Similarly, nations that do not give God the reverence He deserves will also find that their wisdom nullified. Such nations can go from superpowers to sub-powers in the span of a few generations.
20 Where 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?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not {come to} know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
A bit earlier, Paul talked about not putting any man in the same category as Christ. Now he begins explaining the folly of comparing two Christians. He starts out by mentioning that being part of the family of God, or having superior intelligence does not qualify anyone to accurately evaluate another person’s spirituality. That is, you can’t get the truth of God by superior intelligence (which is a picture of the Greeks) or by being part of the family of God (which is a picture of the Jews).
Neither logic nor a spiritual heritage enables people to get saved. How then can logic or a spiritual heritage be sufficient to evaluate the spiritual condition of the servants of God? The only person who can accurately evaluate the spiritual condition of a person is the Holy Spirit, and if you want to be accurate in evaluating the apostles then you have to have the mind of Christ. Paul brings more detail to this point later.
We shouldn’t really be evaluating other people or judging them. We have a tendency of thinking along these lines:
- I am more spiritual than him because I do this, or spend my time like this, or spend my money like this.
- He is less spiritual than me because he does this, or spends his time like this, or spends his money like this.
We should stop doing that!
Why judge the spirituality of others? Why compare one man to another or some man to ourselves?
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Even on His worst day (if there were such a thing) God is better than the best of men on his best day. Therefore, there is nothing for man to ever boast about in the presence of God. No man should ever be exalted in the presence of God.
Why then should you put Paul and Apollos and Peter in the same category as Christ? That is Paul’s point here.
26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,
29 so that no man may boast before God.
30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
31 so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."
The Corinthians were boasting in their favorite apostle. Paul tells them that such behavior is not proper. This is because it only makes sense to boast in the Lord.
To illustrate his point, Paul tells them to look at what type of people among them were chosen to believe – not many who were worth boasting about. God chooses nobodies, and therefore it doesn’t make sense to boast about any man like Paul or Apollos or Peter. We got everything important – wisdom righteousness, sanctification, redemption – from Christ, and not from Paul or Peter or Apollos.
Paul tells them that God chooses that which is not worth boasting about to do His work because He wanted to make sure that no one would boast in anything other than God. This is the secret of being called and chosen and used in God’s kingdom. When you understand this secret you will never want to boast about anything again.
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