[:en]SCRIPTURE: 1 CORINTHIANS 1
“God, who has called you into fellowship with His son Jesus Christ our lord is faithful” (1 Corinthians 1:9)
“I appeal to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no division among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Corinthians 1:10)
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate” (1 Corinthians 1:19)
“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25)
“Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31)
Corinth is located on the Mediterranean and was a wealthy and important city of trade in Greece. But it was also a wicked and corrupt city because it had all kinds of religions and philosophies. The church in Corinth was founded by Paul in his second missionary journey. The Christians in Corinth were divided. They did not get along with each other. Many believers were living sinful lives. Paul wrote this letter to deal with the sins of the church.
Paul addressed himself as an apostle of Christ by the will of God. He opened his letter with thanksgiving because of the wonderful blessings of God to them:
- They were sanctified in Christ and called to be holy (*v. 2)
- Grace of the Father and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ were in them (v. 3)
- They were enriched with spiritual gifts (vs. 5, 7)
- Their good testimony about Christ was confirmed (v. 6)
- They will be kept strong and blameless to the end (v. 8)
There were 4 factions in the church of Corinth with different leaders that they followed:
- Paul – apostle to the Gentiles
- Apollos – an orator and wonderful speaker
- Cephas or Peter – an apostle to the Jews
- Christ – they considered themselves more spiritual by rejecting human leaders.
Reasons for the division in the church:
- Their eyes looked on men instead of Christ (v. 12)
- They mixed the Gospel with human wisdom (v. 21)
- They were glorying men instead of God (v. 31)
Paul emphasized that the preaching of gospel is sufficient for all people:
- Christ send him not to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with words of human wisdom (v. 17)
- The gospel is the message of the cross, which has the power of God to save human (v. 18)
- The Scripture stated that the wisdom of the wise will be destroyed and the intelligence of the intelligent will be frustrated (v. 19)
- The gospel was simple and unique. One can be saved by believing in Christ and in His Word. Human knowledge or wisdom are not needed to obtain salvation (vs. 20-21)
- The gospel was a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. But this “foolish gospel” has God’s power and wisdom to make salvation available thru a crucified Christ (vs. 23-25)
- God hinders His truth from the “wise” and reveals Himself to the humble (vs. 27-29)
- It is through the gospel that we can obtain righteousness, holiness and redemption from Christ Jesus (v. 30)
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