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Introduction

Paul’s two letters to the church in Corinth, especially when combined with Luke’s references to Paul and Corinth in the book of Acts, provide extraordinarily rich ground for exploring the breadth and depth of Paul’s thinking about the gospel of Christ – how it changes the world as well as human hearts.

In New Testament times, the city of Corinth was situated in the region called Achaia, which was the southern portion of modern-day Greece. (The region which was the northern portion of modern-day Greece was called Macedonia.) Luke tells us of Paul’s first visit to Corinth beginning at Acts 18:1. Paul entered the city and began preaching Christ at the local synagogue. Before long, the synagogue became divided (Acts 18:6); so Paul withdrew to a nearby location and kept on preaching Christ (Acts 18:7). The congregation of those who believed grew and Paul ended up spending 18 months teaching in Corinth (Acts 18:11). He became very close to these people; the personal affection he had for them becomes obvious in various places of both letters to this church.

The church at Corinth has written Paul with some questions (see 1 Cor 7:1; 16:15-18; see also accompanying BSN notes on both those passages below) and this letter answers those questions. We don’t have the letter they sent him, but this letter of answers helps us infer what those questions were.

Paul’s closing remarks in this letter indicate that he was in Ephesus when he wrote it (1 Cor 16:5-9).

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1 Corinthians 1

1 Cor 1:1 – Seldom in the New Testament do we see an apostle working alone. They were usually working with another apostle (e.g. Peter and John the son of Zebedee working together in Acts 3, 4, and 8; or Paul and Barnabas working together in Acts 11-15)…or sometimes with an untitled helper (like Timothy or Silas or, in this case, Sosthenes).

1 Cor 1:2-3 – This was the typical way Paul greeted the churches to whom he wrote.

1 Cor 1:4-9 – Paul reminds these believers of the truths he taught them – beliefs therefore that he and they all share and live by.

1 Cor 1:7-8 – Paul is here speaking of the coming day of the Lord (the Second Coming of Christ, the coming of the kingdom of God, etc.). This coming was imminent in the late 1st century, but it is ancient history for us – vital history, but ancient nonetheless. (Jesus Christ Has Already Come Again)

1 Cor 1:9 – Paul is reminding them again of things they jointly believe. He’s laying a foundation for the things he’s going to say in this letter – which consists of answers to questions they have written him.

1 Cor 1:10-17 – The first point Paul wants to make is that he doesn’t want the church to factionalize. Jesus said, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand” – Mt 12:25. Depending on how you count them, modern-day organized Christianity consists of over 30,000 factions – called denominations. The New Testament church was the only true church. The apostles kept it pure and kept it together by the sort of exhortations we see here.

1 Cor 1:12 – Luke tells about Apollos in Acts 18 and mentions that he spent some time in Corinth in Acts 19. Paul will elaborate on this factionalizing in 1 Cor 3, even mentioning Apollos again. ***** “Cephas” is the Aramaic name for Peter.

1 Cor 1:14-17 – Baptism is already being deemphasized at this point (50’s AD). It would become completely obsolete at the coming in the kingdom of God which occurred later in the 1st century AD. It is preaching the gospel, Paul says, which should be receiving the emphasis. And, indeed, the book of Revelation speaks of “an eternal gospel” being preached (Rev 14:6). And at the heart of that gospel is the crucified Christ. Some might be inclined to consider Messiah’s resurrection as more central, but the resurrection can only be fully appreciated when it is seen as God’s response to the sacrificial death of a completely innocent man for the sins of mankind.

1 Cor 1:18-25 – As with Paul’s letter to the Romans and other letters, there is the need to clarify that the gospel message of Jesus the Messiah (i.e., Jesus Christ) is for both Jews and Gentiles – “Greeks” being a synonym for “Gentiles” in a context like this. Both Jews and Gentiles stumble over the idea of a crucified Christ – that is, a crucified Messiah, a crucified King – but for different reasons. For the Jews looking for signs, a crucified Messiah suggests a powerless and defeated king; for Gentiles looking for wisdom, a crucified King seems senseless and absurd. But for those Jews and Gentiles who have the right attitude toward God, a crucified Messiah seems a perfect fit for resurrection, and resurrection seems a perfect solution for mankind’s biggest problem of all – death.

1 Cor 1:26-31 – So to prove how much Jews and Gentiles stumble over the cross of Christ, Paul asks the Corinthians to take a look at themselves and see how few worldly wise and powerful men are in their midst. On the contrary, it is the lowly who find it easier to acknowledge the kingdom of God and seek it. This point is made in other New Testament writings as well.

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” – Lk 6:20 (Jesus)

Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? – James 2:5

“…it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” – Mt 19:23 (Jesus)

It’s not that it’s impossible for the high and mighty to get into the kingdom of God; it’s that they must humble themselves to do it. And, it’s typical, therefore, that the high and mighty are the last to come around. For most of them, their world has to fall apart first before they’ll consider abandoning the status quo. Therefore, Paul’s opening point to this congregation before getting into their specific questions is to get them back to basics…and that means getting them to return to the humility before God and each other that Paul remembers them having when he first introduced them to the gospel.

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1 Corinthians 2

1 Cor 2:1-5 – Paul continues building on points he was making in the previous chapter (But don’t forget that Paul, like all the other biblical authors, did not write in chapter and verse.) Paul started off this letter expressing concern about divisions in the Corinthian church, and he sought to return the congregation to the basics he had taught them when they first converted to Christ. Those basics began with the crucifixion of Israel’s Messiah for the world’s sins. (That includes mine and yours.) This is not the way that the world or those in power want to talk because they do not want to think or talk about sin. Yet there is no way to present the gospel of Christ without talking about His cross, and you can’t talk about His cross without talking about sin…because He didn’t have any. And if He didn’t have any sins, why was He crucified? Our sins. Only humble people willing to repent are open to having this kind of discussion. That’s why the cross of Christ is foolishness to the world (1 Cor 1:23).

1 Cor 2:6-13 – Paul is making the point in this paragraph that there are actually two different kinds of wisdom: godly wisdom and worldly wisdom. Godly wisdom is of the Holy Spirit. Worldly wisdom is of human reasoning. (James also makes this clear distinction between the two kinds of wisdom in James 3:13-18. Godly wisdom is what James calls “the wisdom from above.” Worldly wisdom is what he calls that which is “earthly, natural, and demonic.”) Paul is urging the Corinthians to seek wisdom for the issues they face, and he himself is going to give them some, but he wants to be sure they know there are two kinds of wisdom. Otherwise, they’ll get caught up in the wrong kind, which will only make their problems worse. It was usually Gentiles who needed this kind of pep talk since the Jews, because they had the Scriptures, had been sensitized to the two categories of wisdom ever since they were children. And Corinth, being a Gentile city, had now more many more Gentiles in the congregation than Jews. That’s what makes this pep talk especially necessary.

1 Cor 2:14-16 – This is a summary point and sets up what Paul wants to say in the next chapter. ***** At various points in the remainder of this letter, Paul is going to call on the Corinthians to use “the mind of Christ” he mentions here as in their possession.

1 Cor 2:16 – “the mind of Christ” see #TGTC.

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1 Corinthians 3

1 Cor 3:1-4 – This is a strong rebuke. It’s a continuation of what Paul was saying to the Corinthians at the beginning of this letter. In the first chapter, he told them they were wrong to be quarreling (factionalizing, taking sides against each other); in this chapter, and specifically in this paragraph, he’s telling them why they’ve been quarreling (factionalizing, taking sides against each other).

1 Cor 3:1 – Based on what he wrote in the second chapter, Paul can now reveal to the Corinthians why they’ve been quarreling: they’re spiritual infants! That would have been hard on their ears, especially coming from the apostle who first led them to the Lord. Therefore, Paul softens the blow by addressing them as “brethren” – that is, speaking to them as peers, not underlings. Being called “brethren” and “babies” in the same sentence must have been like getting kissed and slapped at the same time. But that’s tough love, and it’s necessary to make us grow spiritually (“He who hates reproof is stupid” – Prov 12:1.)

1 Cor 3:2 – Paul is likening his teaching to nourishment. God’s word as nourishment is a common theme in Scripture. Moses said (Dt 8:3), and Jesus quoted him (Mt 4:4), that the word of God was like bread. Jesus called Himself the bread of life (Jn 6:35). More specifically, this metaphorical distinction between “milk” and “solid food” illustrates that when it comes to the word of God, some things must be chewed on before they can be swallowed. Milk is associated with teaching that is for beginners and is easy to swallow and digest, while solid food requires chewing for proper digestion. These metaphors of milk and solid food are used again by Paul in his letter to the Hebrews (Heb 5:11-14). Peter also talks about “the milk of the word” (1 Pet 2:1-3).

1 Cor 3:3 – Paul again points out that the Corinthians are “fleshly” and not “spiritual.” We can see in the Gospels that Jesus’ first disciples were all fleshly in the beginning. We shouldn’t be ashamed to be labeled as fleshly because we all start that way. As is the physical world, so also in the spiritual world. That is, we begin physical life as babies and grow to become men; similarly, we begin spiritual life as babies and grow to be men. There’s no problem with this unless we remain spiritual babies when we’ve had time to mature. That’s the problem here in Corinth, and it was also the problem Paul was addressing in Heb 5:11-14.

1 Cor 3:4 – Paul is here quoting directly from what he wrote in 1 Cor 1:12. Recall that Luke briefly introduces Apollos in Acts 18-19 as someone who came to Ephesus to teach, was tutored privately by Priscilla (Prisca) and Aquila, and went on to teach in Corinth (after Paul had established the church and spent 18 months grounding them in the faith). It is Apollos’ teaching in Corinth to which Paul is now referring.

1 Cor 3:5-9 – Paul here uses himself and Apollos as examples of all the teachers the Corinthians have had – and they have had many at this point. Corinth was a large city, accessible by land and sea trade routes. There were many apostles and other traveling teachers in those days and the Corinthians were eager to learn all they could about this Christ they had accepted from Paul. To help the Corinthians understand how they have erred by dividing themselves according to their respective loyalties to this or that teacher, Paul now switches metaphors. He describes himself and Apollos as, essentially, farm hands. Since Paul preached in Corinth first, he was the one who “planted.” Apollos is the one who came along later and “watered.” But only God could bring about growth, and the Corinthians were giving insufficient attention to Him! How foolish it would be to focus on individual farm hands instead of the process of which they were only a part – the process of seedtime and harvest. Paul’s calling their attention to the productivity of “God’s field,” their spiritual growth and maturity – or lack thereof – in God’s sight. If they were really maturing, they wouldn’t be quarreling. Paul also introduces yet another metaphor: “God’s building.”

1 Cor 3:10-15 – God’s Building

1 Cor 3:10 – Paul is pointing out that if the Corinthian church is God’s building, then Paul is distinguished from all the other teachers (like Apollos and Cephas) because only Paul laid the foundation – that is, established the congregation by preaching Jesus Christ.

1 Cor 3:11 – Paul makes clear that Jesus Christ – not Paul – is the Corinthians’ foundation. Otherwise, he’d merely be trying to draw the Corinthians to himself and away from the other teachers. Paul is determined to draw people to Christ – not himself.

1 Cor 3:12-15 – Paul now likens all the teachers who have followed him in Corinth as builders who have built on the foundation that Paul laid. And the quality of their work will be revealed the fire of judgment – in other words, by how well the Corinthians do. Fire is used throughout both testaments of the Bible as a metaphor of judgment – the consequences of sin that come as wrath (death and destruction). Thus comes the idea of hell. The purpose of the gospel is to make us fireproof. The teachers won’t be judged by the pupils; they’ll be judged by the principal. And what the principal cares about it growth, maturity, and well-being of the students.

1 Cor 3:16-17 – Paul here refines his metaphor of “God’s building” into “God’s temple.” In Old Testament times, God’s temple was the stone structure in Jerusalem. In New Testament times, it was the church. In post-biblical times, it is the family on a micro level and the entire human race on a macro level. The kingdom of God rules all. God’s people are no longer a subset of people; God’s people are…people. He could afford all of them so He bought all of them.

1 Cor 3:18-20 – Paul here reverts to the point he made in the previous chapter – that there are two kinds of wisdom and the Corinthians must turn to God’s wisdom. For their reliance on men’s wisdom (by ranking their teachers and factionalizing over them), has led them to the confused place in which they currently find themselves.

1 Cor 3:21-23 – By mentioning “Paul or Apollos or Cephas,” Paul again quotes from what he wrote in 1 Cor 1: 12 (as he did in 1 Cor 3:4 above). Paul now shows how all the teachers of Christ fit together. They are not to be considered as heads of individual sects; rather, they are all part of what God is doing through Christ in the Corinthians. God will be the judge of their work…and of the Corinthians.

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1 Corinthians 4

1 Cor 4:1-5 – When Paul refers to “us” in the first sentence, he’s talking about himself, Apollos, Cephas (Peter), and others who have taught the Corinthians about Christ. (Paul has previously mentioned these “servants” and “stewards of the mysteries of God” in 1 Cor 1:12; 3:4-6, 21-23.) Paul’s theme in this early part of the letter is to get the Corinthians to quit segregating themselves according to their varied preferences in teachers. Paul doesn’t mind being judged along with these men, but he emphasizes that it’s the Lord – not the Corinthians – who’s going to be doing the judging. When Paul says “until the Lord comes,” he’s referring to the Second Coming of Christ. What was future tense for them is past tense for us (Jesus Christ Has Already Come Again).

1 Cor 4:6 – Paul has been using himself and Apollos (e.g. in 1 Cor 3:4-6) as a representative sample of all those who have taught the Corinthians – including Cephas (Peter). Paul is focusing on the various traveling teachers (including himself) who have spent time in Corinth’s church because the Corinthians arguing about how these teachers ought to be ranked has been what has caused divisions in Corinth’s church (1 Cor 1:10-13).

1 Cor 4:7 – Paul will ask a similar rhetorical question in 1 Cor 14:36.

1 Cor 4:8-13 – Up to this point, Paul has been correcting the Corinthians by telling them that they shouldn’t be judging things that are God’s to judge. Now he gets personal. He’s shaming them by pointing out that none of the Corinthians are enduring the kinds of difficulties that the apostles are. (Not all the teachers that have been through Corinth have been apostles, but Paul is choosing here to focus on apostles like himself.)

1 Cor 4:14-21 – Paul makes clear that his references to the ordeals he’s faced was not to leave the Corinthians shamed, but to lead them to a better way of thinking. It’s becoming apparent as Paul’s letter continues that the questions the Corinthians had sent to Paul (that is, the ones that prompted Paul to write this letter) must have included some sharp criticisms of Paul.

1 Cor 4:17 – Timothy is yet another of the many teachers with whom the believers in Corinth had experience.

1 Cor 4:18-21 – Paul is definitely planning to come to Corinth again. The question is whether the current issues will be resolved by then. Paul obviously wants an early resolution, if at all possible.

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1 Corinthians 5

1 Cor 5:1-2 – Once he’d gotten his general greeting (which was a blessing of the Corinthians) out of the way, Paul immediately brought up news he’d received about them – troubling news of the divisions and quarrels that had developed among them since he was last with them (1 Cor 1:10-13). Now, having spent four chapters addressing that problem, Paul brings up some other troubling news he has heard about the Corinthian church. Gentiles in general and Romans in particular were noted for their sexual sins, but a man taking up with his father’s wife was beyond the pale. Paul doesn’t understand why the Corinthians are putting up with it.

1 Cor 5:3-5 – This sin is so egregious that Paul does not need, and can’t afford to wait, to get to Corinth in order to address it. To “turn someone over to Satan” was to exclude that person from the fellowship of believers. This was a drastic step, but drastic problems require drastic solutions. This is the kind of step Jesus said to take in such a situation (Mt 18:15-17). Paul presumes the Corinthians have already approached the erring member of the congregation about this but to no avail. Paul is therefore surprised that they had not yet taken this serious step with him. To exclude from the fellowship of believers was to ostracize, to shun – to “cancel” as 21st Americans would put it. People complain about “cancel culture,” but every society has taboos and puts to the fringes anyone who violates one of those taboos. The problem today is not that some people are getting cancelled; rather, it’s that the wrong people are getting cancelled while people who ought to be cancelled are getting off scot-free. Generally speaking, it’s the righteous who are getting cancelled, and the reason for their cancellation is usually that they have have had the “nerve” to criticize unrighteousness.

1 Cor 5:6-8 – Paul uses the Jewish feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread that Moses had instituted as illustrations of why the Corinthians need to remove the sinner (and therefore his sinning) from their midst. As Adam and Eve had to be removed from the garden of Eden if it were to remain a paradise, so this man must be removed from their midst if their meetings are to continue being blessed by God. (If this is the way Paul feels about a man taking his father’s wife, what would he say of a child molester?) The NT church was a place of blessing because it was a gathering of repentant people seeking to glorify God with righteous living; by allowing an unrepentant sinner to fully participate in their gatherings, these people were denying their very reason for existence. As Jesus would put it, the salt of the earth had lost its taste (Mt 5:13). (Jesus Himself spoke in the same tone to some of the churches in Revelation as Paul is using here with the Corinthian church; either purify yourselves, or you become “accessories after the fact” to someone else’s sin.)

1 Cor 5:9-13 – If it hasn’t been clear enough so far, this paragraph confirms that Paul is talking about removing this man from fellowship. We can also infer from what Paul says that we who believe should not hive ourselves off from society; he’s just saying that we can’t treat a grossly unrighteous man as if he’s righteous. ***** We also see in this paragraph that to relinquish someone to “God’s judgment” (v. 13) is to “deliver that person to Satan for the destruction of his flesh” (v. 5). What form that destruction (God’s judgment) might take can vary, but, as Paul says in Romans, sexual sinners receive “in their own persons the due penalty of their error” – Rom 1:27. (Paul is quoting – in the NASB all caps – a frequent refrain of Moses to the Israelites that they should purge the evil from among themselves, such as is found in Dt 13:5 and 17:7). Of course, Moses meant for the Israelites to literally put such people to death, but in the kingdom of God separation from God is spiritual death. This Corinthian had separated himself from God and thus was already experiencing spiritual death; therefore, the congregation continuing to accept him as before was only confusing the situation and confusing him. By not expelling him, the Corinthians were inviting the judgment due him onto themselves and not offering him the life-giving reproof he needed. If he repented, he could, in due time, be forgiven and restored! ***** Since we live in the kingdom of God in which the church is obsolete, we no longer have to deal with situations like this. Where we have to apply the principle is in the family. Of course, we cannot expel minors from family because we still exercise a great deal of control over them and have other severe ways to deal with them. However, a family should not continue to house and protect an adult child who sins grievously and does not repent. God forbid any of you should face such an awful predicament, but, if you do, Jesus Christ will give you the strength to get through it.

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1 Corinthians 6

1 Cor 6:1-6 – Paul is saying some amazing things in this paragraph – things we’ve seldom, if ever, heard preachers say. The most common thing we hear preachers, and even people in general, say is “Jesus says we should never judge.” A statement like this is usually being made by hypocrites – that is, people who are judging you for thinking differently than they do. But Jesus didn’t say that we shouldn’t judge; He said that we shouldn’t judge wrongly. In Jn 7:24, Jesus teaches us to judge righteously; and, in Mt 7:1-5, He teaches us that one of the things this means is that we will be judged in the way we judge others. In this paragraph, Paul confirms that we are to judge, and we are to judge rightly – both in this life and the one to come. Paul can’t understand why the Corinthians wouldn’t seek out the wisest man in their midst and designate him to decide the right and wrong of their personal disputes rather than take such disputes to a court administered by unbelievers. This point is similar to the one Paul made in the previous chapter: the behavior of believers ought to be markedly better than the behavior of unbelievers. Otherwise, belief is useless. And indeed faith is regularly discredited in our age because so many people who claim to have it don’t behave any better 1) than they used to, or 2) than people who claim to not have any.

1 Cor 6:7-8 – “Why not rather be wronged?” Paul fills this letter with thought-provoking rhetorical questions like this one. For example, recall his battery of such questions in 1 Cor 4:7: “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” The one here, however, is exceedingly thought-provoking – especially for people in our age. Who thinks this way? Who asks themselves this question? Such a question should not be foreign to believers in Jesus for isn’t He the epitome of someone choosing to be wronged? How can we who Paul says, earlier in this letter, have “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16) not be trying to think the way Jesus thinks? The whole point of the Bible is to present God’s thoughts to us so that we can replace our bad thoughts with His good ones.

1 Cor 6:9-11 – We see from this short paragraph that the focus on judging rightly in this chapter is a continuation of the issue Paul was addressing in the previous chapter about the man who had taken his father’s wife for himself. Paul is trying to bring the Corinthians to their senses. The whole purpose of a New Testament church was to prepare for the coming of the kingdom of God. How was that purpose being served if no one was addressing the flagrant sin in their midst? As Paul told the Romans, “the kingdom of God is…righteousness…” (Rom 14:17). If they’re not seeking righteousness in the Corinthian church, what are they seeking?

1 Cor 6:12-20 – We know from Paul’s writings that he considers the NT church to be the body of Christ, with each human being in that church being a member of His body. How then can a grossly sinning man be a part of that body without contaminating all the members in it? Paul wants to know. ***** Whenever you see the word “immorality” in the NASB NT, know that it is referring to sexual immorality, not immorality in general. The widespread acceptance and normalization of the sexual revolution in our day has dulled our senses to just how fundamental sexual purity is to a life that pleases God. People who think God doesn’t care about sex have forgotten that He invented it. The sexual revolution didn’t change His mind about how it ought to be conducted. God’s full judgment against the sexual revolution has yet to come. When it does, it will be awful indeed. Let us use the present moment therefore to repent and soften that blow.

1 Cor 6:19-20 – The underlying Greek for every “you” and “your” in these two verses is plural. In this regard, see also 2 Cor 13:5 and accompanying BSN note for reinforcement of the idea, rooted the truth Jesus expressed in John 2:19-22 that the 1st-century church was the body of Christ.

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1 Corinthians 7

1 Cor 7:1-9 – Until now, Paul has been writing this letter to the Corinthians about news he’s received about them from others (ie, the divisions and quarreling, as well as the incident with the man among them who “had his father’s wife”). Now, Paul starts answering questions they had sent him. (This sounds a little like people today who podcast and have “Ask Me Anything” episodes.) Unfortunately, we have no record of that list of questions, so we have to infer what they were from the answers Paul gives…and that’s not easy. ***** Marriage has many virtues. (See the book The Honor of Marriage.) Paul narrowly focuses on just one of them in this paragraph. That specific virtue of marriage is that it provides protection against sexual sin. We see that Paul thinks that unmarried people – especially in that day, because it would experience the greatest tribulation the world had ever seen or would see – are generally better off. However, he acknowledges the reality of sexual temptation and he therefore urges everyone who is not sure he can withstand that temptation to go ahead and get married. While I don’t think the tribulation we are going through – bad as it is – or even any tribulation we will yet go through, to be as bad as what Jesus’ and the apostles’ generation went through, I still think Paul’s advice here deserves consideration.

1 Cor 7:2 – Recall that in the NASB 1995 NT, this word always means sexual immorality specifically.

1 Cor 7:10-11 – What Paul says here is consistent with what Jesus taught about divorce in Mk 10 and Mt 19. In other words, Paul is just repeating in these two verses what his readers know to be the teaching of Jesus on the subject.

1 Cor 7:12-16 – Now Paul makes clear that he’s adding to the recorded teaching of the Lord. This was necessary because Jesus didn’t answer every question about divorce that people had back then. And He sure didn’t answer every question we today have about it. Therefore, the most we’re going to find in this chapter is principles to guide us – not specific answers to specific questions.

1 Cor 7:17-20 – Now Paul is turning from the subject of marriage and divorce to answer a specific question from the Corinthians about circumcision. We don’t have so many questions about circumcision today. Generally speaking, it’s considered a health issue – not a spiritual one.

1 Cor 7:19 – “What matters is the keeping of the commandments of God” is the guiding principle Paul is giving for divorce and remarriage, and for circumcision. However, that principle leads in different directions when it comes to these two subjects because Jesus strengthened the commandments of God regarding marriage over what the Jews had in the Law of Moses, but did away with the commandments of God regarding circumcision. (There is still, of course, a “circumcision” of the heart, but it’s the physical kind that’s being discussed here.)

1 Cor 7:21-24 – Now Paul turns to the subject of slavery, but the principle is the same as it was for marriage and divorce, and for circumcision: “each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.” Fortunately, because slavery is no longer tolerated by society at large, this is a choice we no longer have to make.

1 Cor 7:25-31 – Paul now addresses a question about virgins, which brings him back to the previous subject of marriage.

1 Cor 7:32-35 – The Lord is very practical and understanding. He knows that an unmarried man (as apparently Paul was) has more discretionary time to give to the Lord than a married man does.

1 Cor 7:36-38 – This situation demonstrates an important aspect of the kingdom of God. It’s focused on the heart – motives, intentions, etc. This is why it’s possible for two very different decisions to both be right and blessed by the Lord. What we do is important, but why we do what we do is even more important – and only the Lord can fully see why we do what we do. Paul was acknowledging this liberty the Lord gives us.

1 Cor 7:39-40 – Paul is saying, in essence, I’m not giving you commandments in this chapter (Chapter and Verse divisions), but I am giving you inspired wisdom.

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1 Corinthians 8

1 Cor 8:1-3 – It’s reasonable for us to infer that Paul is beginning here to answer one or more questions about idols – questions that had been submitted to him by the Corinthian church. ***** There are two guiding principles Paul lays down at the start.

Knowledge is good, but love is better.
Uncertain knowledge is not the kind of knowledge God wants us to live by.

1 Cor 8:4-6 – Paul is reminding the Corinthians of something he taught them – something about which they can be certain. That is, there is only one God and He alone should be followed. ***** We see something here and elsewhere in the New Testament that we never saw in the Old Testament: a distinction being made between God and the Lord. In the OT, “God” described what He was and “Lord” described who He was. In other words, “God” was His category and “Lord” was His name. In the NT, however, there’s a difference. More specifically, in the NT once Jesus ascends into heaven (ie, in Acts through Revelation) “the Lord God” of the Old Testament becomes “God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” What’s different is that while the word “God” continues to be used in the same way, Jesus has been named “Lord” over everything in the same way that Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything he had Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt. Potiphar’s servants had to get used to answering to Potiphar’s right hand man; Egyptians had to get used to answering to Pharaoh’s right hand man. This creates a tension that the apostles taught would be resolved in the Second Coming (that is, the coming of of the kingdom of God, the day of the Lord, the day of Christ, etc.). The apostles don’t spell out exactly what or how it’s to be revealed. They don’t even declare that they themselves do or don’t know exactly what that revelation will be. They just repeatedly create the expectation that the day the Lord comes will be the day of His revelation. Here are some examples of those kind of references, including two from this very letter.

Lk 17:30 – “on the day that the Son of Man is revealed”
1 Cor 1:7 – “awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ”
1 Cor 4:5 – “wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness”
1 Pet 1:13 – “the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”

1 Cor 8:7-13 – With the principles Paul has laid out above, we can now try to put ourselves in the shoes of these 1st-century believers and see how they navigated the unbelieving world in which they had to live. In doing so, we can learn better how to navigate the unbelieving world in which we have to live. Their pagans think differently than our pagans, but both groups reject the God we serve.

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1 Corinthians 9

1 Cor 9:1-23 – Earlier in this letter, Paul talked about the various teachers who had ministered in Corinth, including himself, and how all the teachers should be viewed as a group by the Corinthians. Now Paul returns to that subject, but with a more personal focus. That is, the focus in this chapter is almost entirely on Paul himself, though he does compare himself here and there to the many other teachers that have been through Corinth. Given what Paul writes in this chapter, we have to infer that was being criticized by some of the other teachers – though probably not by Apollos or Cephas (Peter). We may find it hard to believe that at this point in history, any believer would question Paul’s motives or dedication to the cause of Christ – but they did! We must read this chapter carefully so that we don’t come away from it with the idea that Paul is seeking the approval of men instead of God. Rather, he is using the Corinthians’ personal knowledge of him to keep them from being misled by others who don’t have their best interests at heart.

1 Cor 9:1-2 – From a human standpoint, Paul was the one who birthed this congregation (Acts 18:1-18) – how could anyone question his credentials? The Corinthian believers were themselves the only credentials he needed!

1 Cor 9:3-7 – Apparently, Paul was being criticized for accepting offerings (financial support).

1 Cor 9:8-14 – Paul uses the Law of Moses to demonstrate that there was ample precedent for ministers to receive compensation for their work in the Lord.

1 Cor 9:9 – The rhetorical question in this verse makes clear that Jesus had taught the apostles to interpret the Old Testament spiritually and not literally or traditionally. The way Paul asks this question, you know he is not presenting a new idea to them. He must have ingrained it in them during the more than a year and a half that he taught them (Act 18:11, 18).

1 Cor 9:12 – Re: “the gospel of Christ” see #TGTC.

1 Cor 9:15-23 – What’s behind Paul’s thinking as expressed in these two paragraphs is that it was often Paul’s practice to accept offerings from one church but not another. For example, when he started ministering in Corinth, he was supporting himself with his trade of tent-making (Act 18:1-4). However, after apparently receiving a gift from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, he set aside his trade and began ministering to the Corinthians full time (Act 18:5 cf. Phil 4:14-16 cf. 2 Cor 11:8).

1 Cor 9:21 – Re: “the law of Christ” see #TGTC.

1 Cor 9:24-27 – In this paragraph, Paul is pivoting from a focus on himself to a focus on the Corinthians (which will fully manifest in the beginning of the next chapter).

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1 Corinthians 10

In this chapter, Paul returns to a subject he initially addressed in 1 Corinthians 8. That subject is idols…and how the Corinthians were to conduct themselves in a culture that believed in them.

Early in this chapter, Paul demonstrates how the Old Testament was used by New Testament believers. The apostles did not want NT believers to become Israelites; that is, the apostles didn’t want everyone to be circumcised and follow the Law of Moses. Rather, the apostles wanted NT believers to extract principles from the experiences of the ancient Israelites that were documented in the Old Testament. That meant having a church see itself as being a spiritual Israel. In the kingdom of God, however, the entire human race is “Israel” and “the Egyptians” from whom we are seeking freedom are the demonic forces of this world – the powers of Satan that work through temptation, lust, sin, and death. Yes, New Testament churches had to deal with these forces, too, but we who live in the kingdom of God have the benefit of their operating solely from earth because until the Second Coming, they operated from heaven as well. It was a polytheistic age, whereas we live in the kingdom of God, which is a monotheistic age.

1 Cor 10:4 – Paul is saying the rock represented Jesus Christ. (See Types and Shadows of Christ) #FJOT

1 Cor 10:7 – Here’s where Paul begins to be specific about idols. Idols for us in the kingdom of God are more spiritual than they were in NT times. People today usually don’t bow down to a carved statue – but they do bow down to many things other than God, including each other. ***** Paul is quoting the OT passage about Israel worshiping the golden calf that they had Aaron make for them (Ex 32:6). The first and foremost application I have for this principle is to make sure I don’t sit down and read my Bible in the morning but then rise up forgetting to act according to what I learned, or was reminded of, in my reading. Yes, eating is pleasurable, but pleasure is not the purpose of eating. The purpose is to gain strength for living – and, specifically, living righteously. The pleasure is incidental to that purpose.

1 Cor 10:8 – Paul’s use of the term “immorally” surely took the Corinthians’ minds back to the man who “had his father’s wife” (1 Cor 5).

1 Cor 10:10 – “Grumbling” is one of those sins that “so easily entangle us” (Heb 12:1).

1 Cor 10:11 – The generation upon whom the ends of the ages came – that is, the New Testament generation – had the Old Testament. But we who live in the kingdom of God have both testaments and can carry them around with us not just in print but also on our phones – which we take everywhere!

1 Cor 10:12 – This exhortation is like the one in 1 Cor 8:2, which is “If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know.”

1 Cor 10:13 – Keep this truth in mind, especially when praying “lead us not into temptation” – Mt 6:13.

1 Cor 10:14-22 – Paul now returns to the subject of idolatry and will dwell on it. He’s here comparing the Corinthians sitting down to the Lord’s Supper (bread and wine) to sitting down to eat with Gentiles who sacrifice to idols. A person thinking clearly about what he’s doing could never eat from both tables; he’s got to make a choice.

1 Cor 10:23 – This is a great principle, and easy to understand. It’s not always easy to practice, but it is always worthwhile to practice. “Just because I have the right to do something does not mean I should do it.”

1 Cor 10:24 – I love this paraphrase of “love your neighbor as yourself” – it’s so clear! And it helps define the word “love,” which is so grossly misused these days.

1 Cor 10:25 – In the instruction he gave in verses 14-22 above, Paul was talking about sitting down to eat in an unbelieving Gentile’s house who would be serving a meal he had sacrificed to idols. Paul said to avoid it. However, in this verse he’s talking about meat that was sold in the meat market which may or may not have been sacrificed to idols. Paul is telling the Corinthians they don’t have to ask the butcher if this or that slab of meat had ever been associated with an idol.

1 Cor 10:26 – As his rationale for not asking the butcher, Paul quotes Ps 24:1 (and possibly Ps 50:12).

1 Cor 10:27-28 – Now we’re back to the scenario of preparing to eat in an unbelieving Gentile’s house. Paul is telling the Corinthians here: “If you’re invited to an unbeliever’s house, don’t go looking for problems by asking a bunch of questions about idols.” Then he’s adding, “If, on the other hand, the host volunteers that the meat was sacrificed to idols, then respectfully explain why you can’t partake.”

1 Cor 10:29 – Paul makes clear that he’s telling the Corinthians how to protect the other man’s conscience – not their own. For, as Paul wrote the Roman believers, “Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense” – Rom 14:20. This is also why Paul wrote earlier in this letter, “Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies” – 1 Cor 8:1.

1 Cor 10:30 – For Paul and believers like him, all things are clean if they are received with thankfulness to God.

For everything created by God is good,
and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
1 timothy 4:4-5

1 Cor 10:21 – This is one of those verses – like verse 24 above – that stands true on its own as well as fits perfectly in this context.

1 Cor 10:32-33 – This is synonymous with “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1).

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1 Corinthians 11

1 Cor 11:1 – This is one of the many verses in this letter which not only serve well in their context, but also serve well as stand-alone statements. Other examples are 1 Cor 13:13; 10:24; 16:14 – and that’s just a few of them. The majority of Bible verses must be understood in their context to be understood at all, but it is nice to have some that can be understood independently and printed on a 3×5 index card for quick reference.

1 Cor 11:2-16 – Unlike the preceding verse, this passage does not work as a free-standing statement that needs no explanation.

1 Cor 11:2 – We can only guess at what all is included when Paul says, “the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.”
1 Cor 11:3 – There are a few sentences in this 21-verse passage that can be understood on their own. This is one of them.
1 Cor 11:4-6 – Now we’re back to things hard to understand simply because we’re not 1st-century Corinthians.
1 Cor 11:7-9 – We can at least understand some of this logic because we can see in Genesis why Paul would frame things this way. That is, God created Adam from the dust of the earth but He created Eve from Adam.
1 Cor 11:10 – We can sort of understand this, but we need to build into our thinking that angels are observing us all the time. After all, God’s not the only one in the spiritual dimension who watches us. This doesn’t help us unravel what Paul is saying about Corinthian church meetings but it does help us with daily living.
1 Cor 11:11-12 – Again we see some points we can understand; we just don’t fully understand how Paul is applying all these points in his directions to the Corinthians.
1 Cor 11:13-16 – Again, our 21st-century social mores get in the way of our understanding 1st-century ones.

1 Cor 11:17-22 – This passage, like the preceding one, contains things easy to understand and hard to understand. And it’s not so much that we lack the spiritual maturity – though there is surely some of that – it is more that we just don’t have the details about the situation that the writer and the recipients of the letter have. It is this way – to varying degrees – with all of the epistles, for they were explicitly written for people of the 1st century and not for posterity. For if the apostles had consciously written for posterity, they would not have left us so many unanswered questions. Fortunately, it’s only some of the details we’re missing; we still have the majority of them, and we have all of the headlines.

1 Cor 11:17-18 – Paul here mentions the topic he addressed head-on in the beginning of the letter with his sharp criticism of the divisions that had developed in the Corinthian church (1 Cor 1:10-17).
1 Cor 11:20-22 – When the church gathered for the Lord’s Supper, they were apparently hiving off into their various factions. Beyond that, it’s hard to tell exactly what was going on. Sounds wild.

1 Cor 11:23-26 – This is a picture we can recognize because it matches almost perfectly what Luke described in his Gospel (Lk 22:19-20). And given that Luke and Paul were co-workers, we should not be surprised that their writings often demonstrate a shared viewpoint.

1 Cor 11:26 – This fits well with Lk 22:17-18 and explains why communion became obsolete with the coming of the kingdom of God (Jesus Christ Has Already Come Again). In the kingdom, life itself is our sacrament (Rom 12:1; 2 Cor 5:14-15).

1 Cor 11:27-34 – Again, Paul makes clear that divisions in the church are a no-no. How in the world then can today’s church with its thousands upon thousands of denominations claim that it is still in God’s hands. On the contrary, its divisions are further evidence that the church age is over and the kingdom is here. Judgment is, too. (Judgment Is upon Us)

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1 Corinthians 12

Paul is now turning his attention to spiritual gifts. This is apparently one of the subjects the Corinthians have asked him to address. Three chapters are taken up with this subject: 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14. The middle chapter – 1 Cor 13 – is a digression, and a wonderful one. Back to the main point of spiritual gifts, one of the many ways we know that church became obsolete with the coming of the kingdom of God is that you cannot find a church on earth that looks like the one Paul is describing in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14. A few try, but even they fall way short. As the book of James (Jas 5:14-15) also would imply, what church can you go to today with a guarantee that the sick will be healed?

A discussion about spiritual gifts is a discussion about the Holy Spirit because it is through the Holy Spirit that spiritual gifts come. The Holy Spirit was active and known from the beginning of creation (“…and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” – Gen 1:2). However, the Spirit was, generally speaking, only bestowed on the prophets of Israel. What changed in the New Testament once Jesus ascended into heaven is that the Holy Spirit was bestowed on believers – all of them, Jew and Gentile alike. This is one important factor that made the new covenant better than the old one (Heb 7:22; 8:6). It’s quite understandable that believers – especially Gentile believers – would have questions about how the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts operate.

1 Cor 12:1-3 – Although the Holy Spirit manifested in a variety of ways, the most common way was by words. Words from God coming out of a worship experience was something practically unknown in the Gentile world because its idols, almost by definition, were mute. After all, a hand-fashioned statue cannot speak. The Spirit not only speaks – He speaks in a certain way. Just as the Holy Spirit cannot do bad, neither can he speak wrongly – and most certainly He’s not going to speak wrongly about Jesus. Therefore, the first rule of spiritual gifts that Paul lays down for the Corinthians in this letter is that the Holy Spirit speaks for and promotes Jesus. This is just what Jesus promised (Jn 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:13-15).

1 Cor 12:4-11 – Variety Is the Spice of Life

1 Cor 12:4-6 – No matter how much variety there is in the manifestation, it is…the same Spirit…the same Lord…the same God.
1 Cor 12:7 – Whatever spiritual gifts are given, they are given for the common good – not the individual’s good. What gifts God gives you are for you to use for the good of others.
1 Cor 12:8-10 – Note that even though there’s variety in this list, the most common element found in gifts from God is words. That’s why Paul laid down the foundation he did in 1 Cor 12:1-3.
1 Cor 12:11 – It is by God’s will, not by human will that spiritual gifts are distributed.

1 Cor 12:12-13 – Paul likens the church to a human body – with Christ as the head and everyone else as members. The way he uses this metaphor in his writings indicates that it applies to the New Testament church as a whole as well as to each individual NT church. In our time – the time of the eternal kingdom of God – this metaphor has a similar multiple application: to the human race as a whole, to individual nations, and to each individual family. Christ is always the head and each of us is one of the members – either a hand or a foot or a toe or whatever. The body is to work together for the good of the whole according to the directions of the head. Christ is head of the human race, of every nation, and of every family. Of course, there are bodies that do not respond fully to the head – they have paralyzed or uncontrollable parts. Paul is describing how a body should work; he’s not diagnosing malfunctioning bodies. He’s talking about the ideal. And we should seek that ideal, even when we know we cannot reach it. If we don’t have a clear sense of what a body is supposed to do, we won’t be able to clearly distinguish between a healthy body part and a diseased of disabled one.

1 Cor 12:14-26 – We could apply this long paragraph to the human race or to a nation, but let’s apply it to the family. That is, you apply it to your family. Every person in your family matters; every person in it has something unique to supply. God wants all parts of the family to work together for the good of the whole family. And the way that is best achieve is with Christ as the head. Sure, the man is responsible for the family and should lead it – but he himself must be led by Christ or the entire effort will fail. Therefore, with Christ as the head, every member of the body should work together for the whole. Train your children to think that way; make sure they all grow up knowing they have contributions to make…and that they must make those contributions if the family is to reach its potential.

1 Cor 12:27-31 – Paul is making the point that every member of the Corinthian church had a different gifting. Similarly, every member of the family you lead has a unique gifting. And just as Paul is encouraging each member of the Corinthians church to seek the greatest gifts they can give the church, so you should encourage each member of your family, including yourself, to be seek the greatest gifts you and they can give each other.

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1 Corinthians 13

The Holy Spirit inspired the prophets to write the Old Testament and the apostles to write the New Testament. It is a testimony to the eloquence of God that the grandest ode to love ever written came as an apostle digressed on his primary subject. That is, it’s in a discussion of spiritual gifts that Paul pauses to talk about love. There’s a lead in to this digression in the last verse of the previous chapter (Chapter and Verse divisions):

1 Cor 12:31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way.

The “more excellent way” is love. From 1 Corinthians 12 through 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is addressing spiritual gifts and the Holy Spirit’s activity in the church. This digression is about making clear that love should be the motive both for seeking spiritual gifts and for exercising them.

1 Cor 13:1-3 – The Importance of Love

1 Cor 13:1 – “Tongues” is just another word for “languages.” ***** As there is human language, so there is angelic language. Down here, we had the tower of Babel to give us more than one language. As for angels, I’ve never been to heaven and I’ve never knowingly encountered an angel (Heb 13:2) so I don’t know if they all speak the same language or not. ***** Recall from 1 Cor 12 that though there is variety in spiritual gifts, words are their most common element. Paul is therefore making clear that without love as our motive in practicing spiritual gifts with each other we’re more likely to sound like a cacophony than a symphony.
1 Cor 13:2-3 – Nothing we do for God – NOTHING! – matters…if love is not at the heart of it. This is the law of the King (James 2:8), and this is the law of His kingdom (Matt 22:34-40).

1 Cor 13:4-7 – What Love Is and Isn’t; What Love Does and Doesn’t – Paul says more in these few words than a person without the Holy Spirit can say in endless books. ***** 1 Cor 10:24 is logically connected to “does not seek its own.”

1 Cor 13:8-12 – Now and Later – Whether the future in view here is the coming of the kingdom or our entrance into heaven, the distinction between present and future valid and practical. The present is the only realm in which we can act on love.

1 Cor 13:13 – Between faith, hope, and love – great as they all are – love is the greatest. And that’s why it must be emphasized as the underlying motive for any attention given to the spiritual gifts and the Holy Spirit. ***** As a digression our own, note that in this verse we see that faith and hope are related to each other as well as to love, but also that faith and hope are not the same thing. Paul helps us sort faith from hope in some of his other writings.

Rom 8:24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Thus hope has to do with what is unseen, and faith has to do with the assurance or certainty of that hope.

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1 Corinthians 14

Paul now returns to the train of thought that he began laying down in 1 Cor 12 – which was about spiritual gifts and the activities of the Holy Spirit among the congregation in Corinth. 1 Cor 13 was a parenthetical reminder that such a discussion needed to be understood in the context of love. Having made that point, Paul now returns to finish in 1 Cor 14 what he had started in 1 Cor 12.

There is one topic that runs throughout this chapter, about which I am unable to provide much help. It is the subject of tongues. The word “tongue” is just another word for “language” – as in “English is my mother tongue.” Therefore, “tongues” is just another word for “languages.” That much is pretty simple.

We know from the book of Genesis that before the incident with the tower that came to be called Babel “the whole earth used the same language and the same words” – Gen 11:1-9. And we know from the previous chapter that angels, too, have their own language or languages – “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” – 1 Cor 13:1. Another thing we know is that on the day of Pentecost chronicled in Acts 2, the 120 assembled disciples received the Holy Spirit and spoke in languages they did not know but were understood by Jews who had come to the feast from around the world as “speaking of the mighty deeds of God” – Act 2:1-12.

What I do not know is how to correlate that information in a way to be able to explain the many things Paul says about tongues/languages in this chapter. Therefore, I can only speak to that topic in a limited way. A lot of the time Paul is going back and forth between tongues and prophecy – comparing and contrasting the two. This way of teaching can be very helpful, but not as much in instances where someone is only knowledgeable about one of the two.

1 Cor 14:1 – Paul singles out prophecy as an especially valuable spiritual gift because it gives God a voice. The Bible, of course, gives God a voice. But should He be limited to that voice? God forbid! He did not give the Bible so that He could go mute on us! On the contrary, He gave us the Bible so that He would be able to speak more freely to us. The Bible allows that because it gives us a standard against which we can measure any prophetic utterance. God cannot contradict Himself, so any so-called prophecy that contradicts the Bible can be known to be false. Without the Bible, we’d have no sure way to judge between true and false prophecy. Therefore, we should see the Bible as God’s way of allowing Him to open His mouth more – not shut it. ***** As for a definition of prophecy, it simply means God’s words spoken through a human being. This is illustrated in Ex 7:1-2 (see also accompanying BSN notes on that passage). Prophecy is not just about predicting the future; it’s about whatever God wants to talk about.

1 Cor 14:12 – This exhortation fits perfectly with 1 Cor 13 (love). It is an exhortation to selflessness in the pursuit of spiritual gifts.

1 Cor 14:31 – Paul’s clear statement that “all” can prophesy is a reminder that while in the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was only given to the prophets, in the New Testament the Holy Spirit was given to all believers. This was something Moses longed for (Num 11:29). This was something Joel prophesied (Joel 2:28-32). And it was something that God fulfilled (Act 2:1-21). Jesus also promised that you would have the Holy Spirit and that He would be with you forever (Jn 7:37-39; 14:16).

1 Cor 14:34-35 – The Law of Moses was waning as the law of Christ (1 Cor 9:21) was waxing, but still served as a Jewish cultural norm that could be embraced by Gentiles. But the Law of Moses became fully obsolete once the kingdom of God came (Jesus Christ Has Already Come Again) The church also became obsolete at that time, though its vestiges remain even to this day. In any case, Paul’s guidance implied nothing about sexual inequality. Rather, it was all about keeping order and avoiding confusion. The Corinthian church meetings sounded confusing enough as it was (e.g. 1 Cor 11:17-22).

1 Cor 14:36 – Paul had challenged the Corinthians in similar fashion earlier in this letter (1 Cor 4:7). It is another of those statements in Scripture that serve well in context, but also serve well as a stand-alone statement.

1 Cor 14:37 – A principle to be extracted from this verse is that as we grow spiritually we will recognize more and more that the Epistles teach the same things as the Gospels. In the Gospels, Jesus spoke for Himself; in the Epistles, He spoke through the apostles. But it’s the same teaching; it’s His teaching.

1 Cor 14:39-40 – Paul ends this chapter where he started it: prophecy is the greatest of the spiritual gifts to be sought. This is because it gives God more of a voice in the world. And that is what the world needs now. Some would say it’s love that the world needs now, but the world cannot even understand or agree on what love is without hearing the word of God. God is love…and Jesus Christ is God. And He is the word of God (Jn 1:1-2; Heb 1:1-2; Rev 19:13).

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1 Corinthians 15

Paul has saved the topic of this chapter for near the end of his letter, for, as he will make clear, the topic he’s going to address now is the most important one the Corinthians have brought to his attention. If the Corinthians don’t get straight on this subject – the resurrection – getting straight on the other issues won’t matter. The same is true for us. The resurrection – of Christ and of humanity – is the foundation on which all other truth rests.

1 Cor 15:1-2 – Recall that this church in Corinth had its beginning when Paul first preached the gospel of Jesus Christ at the synagogue there (Acts 18:1ff). Paul now reminds the Corinthians of the foundation he laid in their minds at that time. He spoke briefly of that foundation earlier in this letter:

1 Cor 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel…
1 Cor 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered…
1 Cor 3:10-11 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Paul is now going to lay out for them again the gospel of Jesus Christ as he had preached it to them in the beginning.

1 Cor 15:3-11 – Notice that the gospel Paul is laying out here is history – well-attested history. Paul did not preach to the Corinthians that they should believe because Christ had appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Rather, he preached that they should believe because of the abundance of witnesses to Jesus resurrection – from men who lived with Him and knew Him well before He died (Act 1:21-22). Modern people tend disregard the judgment of ancient people because ancient people didn’t have all the technological and scientific advances that we have. But ancient people knew the difference between a dead person and a living one – and that’s all the judgment that Peter, the twelve, and the many others had to make. If someone argues against Jesus’ resurrection, they’re arguing against history and, to be consistent, would have to refuse to believe anything historical. Of course, that’s absurd and so unbelievers try to sweep Jesus’ resurrection under the rug and make life miserable for anyone who notices the lump in the rug.

1 Cor 15:12-19 – Apparently, some in Corinth had adopted the view that the Sadducees in Jerusalem had adopted – that there was a God who created us but that there was no resurrection from the dead for any of us. Paul demonstrates with logic that if there is no resurrection, then Christ could not have been raised from the dead. Paul goes on to say that if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then all of us who believe in his resurrection are idiots.

1 Cor 15:20-28 – Because Christ’s resurrection is so well-attested, Paul doesn’t waste any more time considering the possibility that it didn’t happen. Instead, he moves on immediately to point out that since Christ has been raised, it implies the resurrection of everyone else. Jesus of Nazareth has come forth from the ground as if He had been a seed planted – and indeed He was (Types and Shadows of Christ include a seed). Similarly, human beings are seeds and there will be a full harvest of those seeds – Jesus just being the first fruits of that harvest. Should we be surprised that God governs things in the spiritual world with processes similar to those He makes a part of the physical world?

1 Cor 15:21-22 – Am I reading this wrong? Are only some going to be made alive? If so, then maybe only some were sinners. I’m being facetious, of course. (Everyone Is Going to Heaven)
1 Cor 15:23-28 – Death was not abolished until the Second Coming. So, in Paul’s time, people were still descending to Sheol/Hades at death. (Jesus Christ Has Already Come Again) The Second Coming would also reveal that the Son had come from the Father because He had been the Father, and thus He would be subjected to Himself at the last trumpet. The acorn fell from the oak tree in order to become…an oak tree to replace the one Satan thought he had chopped down (Is 6:13).

1 Cor 15:29-34 – Paul had made clear at the beginning of this letter that the Corinthians were getting sidetracked on baptism (“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel…” – 1 Cor 1:17). It was the gospel of resurrection that mattered! The Corinthians have been getting some bad ideas from questionable affiliations.

1 Cor 15:35-41 – Paul acknowledges that some people will demand to know what a resurrected human being will look like before they’ll believe in it. Paul doesn’t attempt to give them a description of what the resurrected Jesus looked like for He would indeed be the prototype; instead, Paul just points people to examples with whom they have personable experience to remind them that God is able to give a body to all creatures suitable to the habitat in which they’ll be situated. Being in heaven will require a heavenly – not an earthly – body. Although Jesus’ resurrected body was never described in the gospels, his actions were described. Those actions implied a body that was able to do things an earthly body couldn’t (e.g. penetrate walls, appear and disappear at will, etc). We can trust that we will likewise be equipped for our ultimate habitat.

1 Cor 15:42-49 – Adam is a type of Christ. As Adam was the progenitor of the human race, so Jesus Christ is the progenitor of the resurrected human race.

1 Cor 15:50-57 – Dead was “swallowed up in victory” at the last trumpet when the dead rose from Sheol/Hades. That’s also the instant that death ceased leading downward to Sheol/Hades and began leading upward to heaven. In fact, the only reason we can have confidence that we are going to heaven when we die is that the Second Coming is in the rear-view mirror. (Jesus Christ Has Already Come Again)

1 Cor 15:58 – If there were no resurrection – of Christ and of humanity – then nothing else would matter. But resurrection – for everyone – is reality; therefore, work for the Lord like your work for Him matters. Never despair of that!

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1 Corinthians 16

Having dealt thoroughly with the most important subject in the entire letter – resurrection – Paul now closes out the letter by addressing housekeeping issues.

1 Cor 16:1-4 – Concerning this collection, see “Paul’s Collection” in Paul.

1 Cor 16:5-9 – It’s obvious from v. 8 that Paul is writing this letter from Ephesus, which is located in the region that was then called Asia, but is in modern times known as the nation of Turkey. ***** It’s obvious from the letter itself that Paul did not currently have time to visit Corinth. For who writes a letter when it would be just as easy to visit? Paul here gives the Corinthians a sense of the factors that could either hasten or postpone his visit to them.

1 Cor 16:10-12 – Both Timothy and Apollos were familiar to the Corinthians, but Timothy, being a younger man and working as a subordinate to Paul, was not as likely to get the respect from the Corinthians that Apollos would. That’s why Paul puts in the personal appeal for respect on Timothy’s behalf.

1 Cor 16:13-14 – Paul cannot deal with housekeeping matters for long without lapsing back into spiritual exhortation. These two verses are fitting in the context for that reason, but also work well as an independent couplet or even as two distinct stand-alone statements. We human beings need exhortations to do right in order to do right. And Paul is as good at it as anyone (excepting Jesus, of course).

1 Cor 16:15-18 – Paul mentioned Stephanas very briefly in 1 Cor 1:16 as someone in Corinth he had baptized. Stephanas and two other men had come to Paul from Corinth and had probably been the means by which the Corinthian letter to Paul – the one with questions (1 Cor 7:1) – had reached him. They would also, obviously, have brought Paul news of the congregation by word of mouth. Thus this letter we call 1 Corinthians is thus a response to the visit of these three men and the letter from Corinth they brought to Paul. The letter from the Corinthians, by the way, has been lost to history.

1 Cor 16:19 – Aquila and Prisca would have been well known to the Corinthians since the two of them had helped Paul start the church there (Act 18:1-4).

1 Cor 16:20 – This was not mindless ritual. It was an acknowledgement of the deep bond that they shared. This was the greatest generation of all.

1 Cor 16:21 – This is a reminder to us that biblical authors often used scribes. Paul is writing this line himself to personalize the letter. The scribe’s name is unknown. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, the scribe identified himself as Tertius (Rom 16:22).

1 Cor 16:22 – Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord, so if someone refused to do that, how could that person not remain cursed? For we are born under the curse that came on the earth when Adam and Eve first sinned; the only way to get out from under it is to love the Lord. ***** As was typical for New Testament writings, the whole letter was written in Greek. However, this expression “Maranatha” is Aramaic for “Our Lord, come!” and refers to the Christian hope in the Second Coming shared by both Gentiles and Jews. We no longer hope in it; rather we believe in it. (“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for” – Heb 11:1.) (Jesus Christ Has Already Come Again)

For some greater detail on the Aramaic expression in this verse, consider the following comparisons (I pulled all this information from biblegateway.com):
NASB 1995 translation – …Maranatha.
NASB 1995 footnote – I.e. O [our] Lord come!
NASB 2020 translation – …Maranatha!
NASB 2020 footnote – Aramaic [Our] Lord, come!
NRSVA translation – Our Lord, come!
NRSVA footnote – Gk Marana tha. These Aramaic words can also be read Maran atha, meaning Our Lord has come
NRSVUE translation – Our Lord, come!
NRSVUE footnote – Or Our Lord has come

When considering the NRSVA footnote, recall from the preceding comments on this verse above, including the link to Ancient Writings, that ancient manuscripts of NT texts were printed in all block letters with no spaces between the words (to get the most words possible on a scroll, which was expensive). What this particular footnote helps reveal is that “Maranatha” is not one word, but two. And it is the translator’s discretion as to how to break them up.

The point for us to take is not that Paul could have meant the expression to be interpreted as past tense, for earlier in the letter (1 Cor 1:7-8, 4:5; 11:26; 15:24) he made it abundantly clear that it was still a future tense event at the time he wrote. Rather, it is just fascinating and wonderful for us to know that the same expression that has been exclaimed in hope can now be exclaimed in victory: Maranatha! “Our Lord has come!”

1 Cor 16:23-24 – Amen, indeed! This letter has been a treasure trove of truth.

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