Sermon Series: 1 Corinthians

This week, we embark on our series of 1 Corinthians, comprising 18 sermons, which will conclude in November. Our small groups will be studying the same sermon pericopes in greater detail, with a view to apply them in their daily living.

To reiterate, the main idea of 1 Corinthians we’ll be working with is as follows:

The wise, self-effacing Gospel challenges a foolish,

self-exalting Church towards: (1) Spiritual Unity, (2) Sexual Morality, (3) Sacrificial Humility,

and (4) Symbiotic Worship – for the Resurrection ensures that our labour for the Lord is not in vain.

The theme for our series is titled “Gospel Wisdom for Loving Churches”, which reflects the apostle Paul’s conviction that thinking with a gospel mindset is the key to loving unity and purity within the church.

This week’s editorial1 takes us through a brief introduction of 1 Corinthians. Our prayer is that by getting better acquainted with the letter, we might refresh our theology of the letter, and learn with greater understanding!

Ps Luwin Wong

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Getting Acquainted

The apostle Paul’s epistle to the Corinthian church covers many different theological and practical questions, but there is one central issue he is addressing: unity. The Corinthian church was fractured, and the chief reason was pride. This pride manifested itself in a skewed view of the gospel, which led to sinful attitudes about things such as speech and knowledge, and a misuse of their spiritual gifts.

Like many churches today, the Corinthian church was very gifted. The people were intellectually sharp; some were financially blessed. They were variously talented and had very visible and powerful gifts from the Holy Spirit. Yet those gifts were not submitted to the greatest of the Spirit’s purposes in human lives — namely, love. Paul argues throughout this letter that Christ-exalting, cross-defined love must replace the puffed-up pride that coursed through this church. In fact, a key principle in 1 Corinthians is that giftedness without character leads to bondage and sin, not freedom and redemption.

At the heart of this book is the reality of the cross and resurrection. Paul admonishes this church to return to the logic and pattern of the gospel, so that pride is replaced with servant-hearted love and unity.

Placing It in the Larger Story

First Corinthians is one of Paul’s letters to a first-century church in ancient Corinth. Jesus had completed his earthly ministry, had died on a cross for the sins of the world, had been raised from the dead in fulfilment and victory, and had returned to his Father in heaven. The Spirit had been given in full at Pentecost, and the church had begun to grow throughout Asia Minor, with both Jews and Gentiles being brought in. This letter is one of many epistles written to local churches that were growing and wrestling with what it means to be faithful communities of Christ’s followers. Each church had unique questions and struggles, and the church at Corinth was no exception. This letter addresses a fundamental and ongoing issue for any local church: How does the gospel unite God’s people in humility and love?

Date and Historical Background

The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian church sometime between 53–55 AD, toward the end of his three-year ministry in Ephesus. First Corinthians is actually one of several letters exchanged with this church, but only 1 and 2 Corinthians survive as part of the inspired canon of the Bible.

The ancient city of Corinth, home of the church to which Paul addressed this letter, was formerly a Greek settlement and had been rebuilt after a devastating war in 146 BC. It was a port town and was situated along a trade route. Corinth was prosperous—what we might refer to today as an economically resourceful, bourgeois, new-money town. With those characteristics came cultural dilemmas for the church, which was made up mostly of Gentile converts. Among these challenges were the lure of wealth, social elitism and rampant sexual temptations tied to paganism. This was a church of new believers who struggled to transcend the values of the Hellenistic, pagan world.

Paul sternly, but pastorally, exhorted this church to seek the better way, the way of Christ-centred, humble, loving unity built upon the cross-cultural reality of the gospel.

Questions to consider as we go through the 1 Corinthians sermon series

• What is your understanding of how 1 Corinthians helps us to grasp the identity and role of Christ’s church? What in your view does 1 Corinthians uniquely contribute, theologically and practically, to our understanding of a truly Spirit-filled, faithful local church, as well as the Spirit-filled life of the individual believer?

  
  

• What is your current understanding of what 1 Corinthians contributes to Christian theology? How does this letter clarify our understanding of Christian unity, the role of preaching, church leadership, sexual ethics, principles for worship gatherings, the place and role of spiritual gifts, Christian freedom and conscience, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and other truths?

  
  

• What aspects of 1 Corinthians have confused you? Are there any specific questions about church life and personal discipleship that you hope to have answered through this series?

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1. Jay Thomas, (2015). 1 Corinthians: A 12-Week Study. Crossway Books https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/knowing-the-bible-1-corinthians