Corinth was an important, wealthy, but corrupt city in Greece. Paul had planted a church there during his second missionary journey (Acts 18) and had ministered there for a year and a half. Apparently, Paul had heard reports of problems in the church at Corinth. He wrote this letter to address those problems and to answer some of their questions.
The first 9 verses are introductory, but they do contain some important truths:
- Paul was chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
- The believers at Corinth were called by God to be His own holy people through Jesus Christ.
- This is true of us as well since we are included in "all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." v. 2
- Paul thanked God for them and for the spiritual gifts God had given them.
- They had every spiritual gift they needed as do we. v. 7
- He assured them that God would keep them strong and free from blame because God is faithful to do what He says. (He still is faithful to do what He says!)
1) Don't idolize human leaders.
In vv. 10-17, Paul talks to them about divisions in the church. It's really pretty amazing how often this subject comes up. Paul appealed to them "to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose." Paul had heard that the Corinthian believers had been quarreling about those individuals they were following--Paul, Apollos, Peter, or Christ. v. 12. Paul repudiates any honor for himself telling them that Christ is not divided and that he, Paul, had not died for them, and they had not been baptized in Paul's name! This type of squabble may seem far removed from us, but there are "celebrity preachers" out there, and they can garner quite a following. We can learn from human teachers, but we must be careful that our allegiance is to Jesus Christ alone. Another thing...we have the advantage of the finished New Testament. The believers at Corinth did not have that so they were dependent on these various preachers to teach them the truth. Remember that God's message, the Good News, is much more important than any messenger.
2) Don't depend on human wisdom.
vv. 18-31 reminded the Corinthians and reminds us that the message of the cross and other spiritual teaching will seem foolish to lost people, but we know that it's the very power of God. God has made sure that we (mankind) would never come to know Him through human wisdom or philosophy. God's plan "is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness I stronger than the greatest of human strength." v 25
God has taken us, weak and ordinary and perhaps forgotten, considered by the world to be unimportant and has made us His own children. He has united us with Jesus Christ and made us right with God, pure and holy, and no longer a slave to sin. Because we brought nothing to the table and we had nothing to offer, how could we ever boast about that? "If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord." vv. 26-31
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