Teaching Notes I CORINTHIANS 1 to 2
Hugh Wood, Atlanta, Georgia
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The first Quarantine in the USA since 1918 continues. It is Day 28 or something. Hiked a few miles with the son and dog. Happy for small miracles. :)
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"The grass withers and the flower [fades], but the word of [the Lord] endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8."
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This Book almost certainly written by Paul. It is addressed to the church in Corinth, in Greece. It is in every early accepted copy of the Bible. It is likely written by the end of AD 53 or 54.
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Ancient Corinth Greece
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Chapter 1: Jesus is he Head of the Church
Corinthians had a Pride of Knowledge. were very boastful of
their Philosophie interpretations of Christianity. And, 'in
addi-
tion to this grouping of themselves around one Doctrine or
an-
other, they were rallying as partisans around one Leader or
an-
other. Thus the Church was split into Factions, each trying
to
stamp Christ with its own little trademark: a practice.
which still
prevails in frightful proportions.
Chapter 2. The Wisdom of God
The Knowledge Party came in for the brunt of Paul’s scathing
rebuke. Corinth was close to Athens, where the atmosphere
was
dominated by egotists who paraded themselves as
Philosophers.
Paul had had little success in Athens. Somehow the
intelligentsia
find it hard to develop enough Mental Humility to acknowledge
the need of a Savior. Corinth was a commercial city. Here
the
Gospel of Christ was received With far more cordiality than
in
the university center.
But the Spirit of Athens had penetrated the Church in
Corinth.
There must have been a very considerable group of leaders
who
were prating about “Wisdom”, with evident desire to display
their
own brilliance in discussion,_whì1e maintaining- a sort of
superior
contemptuous attitude toward the humbler teachers.
Then, as now, the Intellectuals seemed to find it just as
hard
as the common run of folks to be Patient with the views of
others. Even today there is just as much bigotry in
universities
as anywhere else. Many of the high—brows, though their pet
theme is Tolerance, have little use for those who do not
mouth
their own shibboleths.
Paul was a University man, the outstanding Scholar of his
generation. But Paul despised Pedantic Show of Learning.
True
Learning and True Scholarship should make us Humble, and
more Broad-minded toward the ignorant.
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From The Bible Project (c)
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1 Corinthians 1 New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will
of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in
Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those
everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given
you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all
kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony
about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you
eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you
firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
A Church Divided Over Leaders
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say
and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in
mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have
informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of
you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow
Cephas[b]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you
baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you
except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my
name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t
remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize,
but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of
Christ be emptied of its power.
Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who
are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it
is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence
of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c]
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the
law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom
of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom
did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached
to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23
but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than
human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you
were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were
influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things
of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame
the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised
things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that
no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ
Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness,
holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts
boast in the Lord.”[d]
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 1:10 The Greek word for brothers and sisters
(adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s
family; also in verses 11 and 26; and in 2:1; 3:1; 4:6; 6:8; 7:24, 29; 10:1;
11:33; 12:1; 14:6, 20, 26, 39; 15:1, 6, 50, 58; 16:15, 20.
1 Corinthians 1:12 That is, Peter
1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
1 Corinthians 1:31 Jer. 9:24
1 Corinthians 2 New International Version (NIV)
2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came
to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you
the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with
you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with
great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and
persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that
your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the
mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are
coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been
hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the
rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has
heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[b]—
the things God has
prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his
Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In
the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What
we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from
God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we
speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the
Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The
person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit
of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they
are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes
judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human
judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct
him?”[d]
But we have the mind of Christ.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s
mystery
1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
1 Corinthians 2:13 Or Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths
to those who are spiritual
1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13
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Tour of Ancient Corinth, Greece.
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New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Some content adapted from Halley, Henry H., Bible Handbook, Grayson Publishing, Minneapolis, MN. © 1927 - 1959, 1964
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Hugh C. Wood, Atlanta, Georgia
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END
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