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1 CORINTHIANS — THE KEY TO SOLVING CHURCH PROBLEMS

1 Corinthians Blogs
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OVERVIEW

The Book of 1 Corinthians is brutally honest in exposing the same church problems and sin patterns that still require wise insight and counsel from pastoral hearts today. The Apostle Paul reminds believers of their call to Christian holiness and unity as he exalts God rather than man as the focus for our boasting. The crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ remain the key to living out the gospel in the challenging environment of a world awash in idolatry and pride and selfishness.

Divine wisdom is spiritually discerned and unites all believers at the foot of the cross. While the world places great weight on spectacular gifts and personalities and intellect, the church must boast in Jesus Christ alone. Self denial and love for the brethren should characterize the mindset and practice of each believer and contribute to a mutual ministry of edification and encouragement. Specific questionable practices are reviewed and clarified in an effort to keep believers on track in their pursuit of holiness.

BIG IDEA

The Gospel Message of Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection Brings God’s Wisdom to Bear on the Practical Problems That Are Rooted in Man’s Pride and Selfishness

1 Corinthians 1:31 “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord…”

1 Corinthians 3:21, 23 “So then, let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you… And you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.”

BASIC OUTLINE

(1:1-9)  INTRODUCTION: GOD’S CALLING LEADS TO EXPRESSIONS OF THANKSGIVING ROOTED IN DIVINE GRACE

A.  (1:1-3) GOD’S CALLED SAINTS NEED TO HEED THE MESSAGE FROM GOD’S CALLED APOSTLE

B.  (1:4-9) THANKSGIVING IS ROOTED IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS AND FOCUSES ON THE GIFTS OF GOD’S GRACE IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

I.  (1:10 – 6:20) ADDRESSING PROBLEMS UNDERMINING THE UNITY AND HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH —

THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST REINFORCES THE WISDOM OF GOD WHICH PROTECTS THE CHURCH FROM PRIDEFUL DIVISIONS AND DISORDERS 

A.  (1:10 – 4:21) DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH – EXALT GOD RATHER THAN MAN

    1. (1:10-17) Problem of Divisions: Loyalty to Christ Cements a Church Together — Churches Need to be Unified around the Simplicity and Power of the Gospel Message (the Cross of Christ) Rather than Loyalty to One Particular Preacher
    1. (1:18 – 4:5) Two Protections Against Divisions in the Church
    2. (4:6-21) Power to Discipline those Causing Divisions in the Church

B.  (5:1 – 6:20) DISORDERS IN THE CHURCH – REPLACE ARROGANCE WITH GOD’S WISDOM

    1. (5:1-13) No Tolerance for Sexual Perversion — Church Discipline Must Be Enforced Against Sexual Immorality
    1. (6:1-11) Civil Suits Undermine the Unity and Testimony of the Church
    2. (6:12-20) Glorifying God in Your Body Supports the Unity, Holiness and Testimony of the Church

 II.  (7:1 – 14:40) ANSWERING QUESTIONS REGARDING PROPER PERSONAL AND CHURCH CONDUCT —

THE GLORY OF GOD REINFORCES SELF DENIAL AND LOVE FOR THE BRETHREN IN ALL AREAS OF CONDUCT

A.  (7:1-24) CONCERNING SEXUAL PRACTICE IN MARRIAGE AND THE APPROPRIATENESS OF DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

    1. (7:1-7) Married Couples Must Maintain Sexual Relations — Both Celibacy and Marriage Are Legitimate Gifts of God, but a Consistent Pattern of Sexual Intimacy in Marriage Must Be Maintained to Protect Against Immorality and to Express Mutual Submission
    1. (7:8-16) Singleness . . . Marriage . . . Divorce  — Different Situations Call for Different Divine Instruction Regarding Singleness, Marriage and Divorce
    1. (7:17-24) Bloom Where You Are Planted — Embrace with Contentment God’s Sovereign Providential Dispensation of Your Outward Circumstances as You Focus on Serving Christ to the Max

B.  (7:25-40) CONCERNING ADVANTAGES OF REMAINING SINGLE

Staying Single Has Much to Commend Itself . . . but Marriage is Still a Valid Option

C.  (8:1 – 11:34) CONCERNING QUESTIONABLE PRACTICES, THE VOLUNTARY RESTRICTING OF OUR LIBERTIES AND THE UNSELFISH NATURE OF THE MINISTRY

    1. (8:1-13) Christian Liberty Must Not Violate Christian Love –The Controlling Factor in our Decision Making Regarding Debatable Areas of Christian Conduct Must Be Love
    1. (9:1-27) First Century Practice: the Apostle Paul set Aside Personal Rights for Loftier Goals
    2. (10:1 – 11:1) Further Particulars: Christian Liberty does not Extend to Association with Idolatry
    3. (11:2-34) Free-spirited Prohibitions: Correcting Abuses Where Proper Decorum Needs to be Maintained

D.  (12:1 – 14:40) CONCERNING THE PROPER EXERCISE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS IN THE CHURCH

    1. (12:1-31) The Diversity of Spiritual Gifts Working Together in the Church
    2. (13:1-13) The Necessity, Nature and Supremacy of Love in Exercising Spiritual Gifts — Spiritual Ministry Must Flow Through the Channel of Love
    3. (14:1-40) The Proper Regulation of Spiritual Gifts

III.  (15:1-58)  ARGUING FOR THE NECESSITY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD —  

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST REINFORCES THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE SAINTS WHICH MOTIVATES PERSEVERANCE IN FAITHFUL SERVICE

A.  (15:1 – 15:19) THE RESURRECTION: FACT VS FUTILITY

    1. (15:1-11) The Core of the Gospel Message –The Historical Fact of the Resurrection Established –The Faithful Proclamation of the Gospel — Focused in the Death and Especially the Historically Attested Resurrection of the Person of Jesus Christ — Accomplishes Salvation by the Grace of God
    1. (15:12-19) Absurdity of Denying the Resurrection of Dead Saints –Seven Futile Ramifications of No Bodily Resurrection of the Dead

B.  (15:20 – 15:34) THE RESURRECTION: VICTORY VS FUTILITY

    1. (15:20-28) Victory in Jesus — The First Fruits Guarantee the Full Harvest –The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Guarantees Ultimate Triumph
    1. (15:29-34) Futility Apart from the Resurrection — Doctrine Matters — No Resurrection . . . No Christian Motivation — Denial of the Resurrection Would Kill All Motivation for Christian Baptism, Spiritual Service and Holy Living

C.  (15:35 – 15:58) THE RESURRECTION: BELIEVABLE AND GLORIOUS

    1. (15:35-49) Link Between Our Mortal Body and Our Transformed Resurrection Body
    2. (15:50-58) The Final Victory over Mortality –Transformation of the Body Equips All Believers for Glory

(16:1-24)  FINAL THOUGHTS: CLOSING APOSTOLIC INSTRUCTION, EXHORTATIONS AND GREETINGS

WHY STUDY THIS BOOK?

• To give proper focus to the unity of the church universal as opposed to the spirit of sectarianism and division that exalts prominent individuals and their giftedness

• To drive home the practical implications of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the problems of human pride and selfishness

• To combat idolatry and worldliness by maintaining the call of believers to holiness and a life separated to following Christ

• To deal with a series of church problems and misguided church practices that are still relevant today

• To provide a balanced theology and practice of spiritual gifts in the local assembly

• To exalt edification and love as goals of the mature believer

• To gain insight into the opportunities and challenges of both the single and married states

• To motivate disciplined Christian living in the context of a world characterized by wickedness

NOTABLE QUOTES

David Malick: Out of a heart of love, Paul exhorts the Corinthians to cease exalting themselves in accordance with natural wisdom, and to limit themselves in accordance with the wisdom of God – the Crucifixion.

Charles Hodge: The epistles to the Corinthians, therefore, reveal to us more of the personal character of the apostle than any of his other letters. They show him to us as a man, as a pastor, as a counselor, as in conflict not only with heretics, but with personal enemies. They reveal his wisdom, his zeal, his forbearance, his liberality of principle and practice in all matters of indifference, his strictness in all matters of right and wrong, his humility, and perhaps above all, his unwearied activity and wonderful endurance.

James Boyer: If Paul were to write a letter to the evangelical, Bible-believing churches of late twentieth century America, I believe it would be much like I Corinthians. Their world was like our world: the same thirst for intellectualism, the same permissiveness toward moral standards, the same fascination for the spectacular. And their church was like our churches: proud, affluent, materialistic, fiercely eager for intellectual and social acceptance by the world, doctrinally orthodox but morally and practically conforming to the world.

Morris: Paul’s purpose, then, in writing this Epistle, is principally to set right disorders which the Corinthians took lightly, but which he regarded as grave sins. Secondly, he wrote to answer some questions put to him. Thirdly, he wrote to give some doctrinal teaching, particularly on the resurrection.

John MacArthur: The most serious problem of the Corinthian church was worldliness, an unwillingness to divorce the culture around them. Most of the believers could not consistently separate themselves from their old, selfish, immoral, and pagan ways. It became necessary for Paul to write to correct this, as well as to command the faithful Christians not only to break fellowship with the disobedient and unrepentant members, but to put those members out of the church.

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