Paul Plants the Church at Corinth

Paul was on his second missionary tour when he was divinely directed to Philippi to found a church (Acts 16:11-40). From Philippi, Paul went to Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9), then on to Berea (17:10-15), next to Athens (17:16-34), and then to Corinth (18:1-18a).

Paul established the church at Corinth (Acts 18:1-4) with the help of fellow tent-makers Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:2). Later, Silas and Timothy joined them to round out a powerful leadership team (Acts 18:5). After establishing the church, Paul remained in Corinth for eighteen months, laboring in training sessions as he grounded the church in God's word (Acts 18:11). Paul's length of stay in the city came about in response to a vision where God told him to be courageous and speak out, openly confident that he would not be attacked (Acts 18:9-10). When Paul was finally attacked by the Jews in Corinth, he was exonerated. 

Paul Writes First Corinthians

Toward the end of Paul's three-year ministry to Ephesus (Acts 20:31) and just before Pentecost, Paul wrote this letter back to the Corinthians and the church he had planted (1 Corinthians 16:5-9; Acts 19:21-22).

Contents of First Corinthians

First Corinthians is actually the second letter Paul wrote to the Corinthian church. The first one dealt with the problem of pervasive immorality in the church (1 Corinthians 5:9; 1-13; 6:12-20). This second letter was penned by Paul in response to some of those problems and a list of other questions in the church that had been reported to him:

• “For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers” (1:11).

• “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you …” (5:1) 

  “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— ... But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral …” (5:9, 11 NIV). 

• “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: …” (7:1)

• “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman” (7:1).

• “Now regarding your question about the young women who are not yet married” (7:25 NLT).

• “Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols” (8:1 NLT).

• “Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us” (12:1 NLT).  

• “Now regarding your question about the money being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem” (16:1 NLT). 

Purpose 

The chief purpose of this letter to the Corinthians was to bring the church back into harmony with Christ and His gospel. By the time of the writing of 1 Corinthians, the church was fractured and fragmented by so many means, and their focus on Christ and their dependence on the gospel were barely hanging by a thread. In Paul’s absence, itinerant ministers had stopped by the church to minister, including Apollo the great orator, and even Peter, who stopped by on his way to Rome. All of this led to some division of the church.

• Their devotion to Christ had been dissected into celebrity factions, hearts being whisked away by human personality, charisma, and legend (1:12).

• Their devotion to Christ had been severed over arguments concerning what kind of sexual sin was tolerable within their church community (5:1-3,6).

• Their devotion to Christ had been disrupted by greed as they began to value their money ahead of relationship (6:1).

• Their devotion to Christ had been disrupted as the rich and affluent loved eating and drinking together while they were treating the poor with contempt, not waiting to eat with them and especially not sharing the communion supper (11:21-23).

• Their devotion to Christ had been disrupted as they were using spiritual gifts for their own amusements instead of comforting, strengthening, and encouraging others (14:1-3).

The list of behaviors clouding the Corinthian Christians' devotion to Christ and His gospel certainly included more than these five core issues. 

In his unique way, Paul used this letter not to correct bad behavior, but more to show how certain behavior destroyed the church's devotion to Christ. Paul's goal was not to get the church to behave in the right way but to behave in a way that would lead the church back into a life completely devoted to Christ.

Outline

Greeting and Prayer (1:1-9)

Celebrity Divisions (1:10-4:21) 

Ignored Sexual Immorality (5:1-13)

Filing of Lawsuits (6:1-11)

Sacredness of Sex (6:12-20)

Marriage, Divorce, and Singleness (7:1-24) 

The Engaged and the Widows (7:25-40)

Food Offered to Idols (8:1-11:1)

Cultural Customs and Worship (11:2-16)

Social Snobbery and Communion (11:17-34)

Misuse of Spiritual Gifts (12:1-14:40)

The Centrality of the Resurrection (15:1-58) 

Collection for the Saints and Travel Plans (16:1-12)

Closing Admonitions (16:13-24)