Introduction
Corinth was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire (maybe third
after Rome and Alexandria). It was situated about 60 miles west of Athens,
on an 4.5 mile isthmus between the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. Since sailors
preferred to have their ships dragged overland here rather than go around
the more treacherous waters south of Greece, Corinth controlled the naval
trade between Italy and Asia.
With all of the people and money flowing through Corinth, it became
infamous for its intellectual debate ("They do nothing but
speak and hear new ideas all day long"), religious agitation
(APHRODITE: priestess/prostitutes; ASCLEPIUS: clay genitals for healing
from venereal diseases; BACCHUS: drunken orgy worship; MYSTERY CULTS:
occultic initiation rites), and moral debauchery (Romans used
"Corinthianize" as synonym for sexual immorality). "All
of this evidence suggests that Corinth was the New York, Los Angeles,
and Las Vegas of the ancient world." [1]
Paul brought the message of Christ to this city in 51 AD, about three
years earlier (Acts 18:1-17), and a large number of people came to
Christ.
Since then, things hadn't gone so well in the Corinthian church. A
casual reading of this letter will reveal that some were involved in
sexual immorality (religious prostitution [6] & even incest
[5]), some had serious drinking problems (11:21), some were falling
into religious syncretism (10:21,22), some were embarrassed
about key elements of the gospel (cross [1] & resurrection [15]),
and they were racked by division (1,3,6,11). To put it mildly,
the church was a mess! They weren't transforming Corinthian culture;
Corinthian culture was conforming them!
How would you begin a letter to a group like this? By beginning the way
he does, Paul reveals two key spiritual priorities . . .
The Priority of God's Grace (vs 1-9)
Paul corrects, admonishes and warns them in this letterbut first
he does something else (read vs 1-9). How can he say this? Not because
he is a "shmoozer," but because of the most important truth
in Christianitythe grace of God.
Paul thanks God "for the grace of God which was given you
in Christ" (vs 4). "Grace" is the root from which we get
the word "charity." It is the undeserved gift God gives to us
because of the work of Christ. Because Christ was willing to receive what
he did not deserve (God's judgment for our sins), God is free to give
us what we do not deserve. Paul mentions three incredible implications
of this grace in vs 1-9:
SAINT STATUS (vs 2): We think of "saints" as
an elite group of spiritual heroes who attain that status because they
no longer sin. But Paul says all Christians are "saints"including
the Corithian Christians in spite of all their moral short-comings. "Saint"
and "sanctified" have the same root, which means to be set
apart, to belong to God.
God permanently confers this status on us ("saints by calling")
the moment we "call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
(NIV "called to be holy" is inaccurate.) So it is proper
and significant to refer to each Corinthian Christian (and each Christian
here) as "saints." The fact that Paul reminds these Christians
(with all their moral problems) that they are saints is a striking
reminder that our standing with God is based not on what we do for
God, but only on what Christ has done for us.
GIFTED FOR MINISTRY (vs 5-7a): God not only made them saints; he also
gave them the privilege of representing him in their world and he supplied
them with the spiritual abilities to do this effectively. "Gift"
refers to these spiritual abilities, and it derives from the same root
as "grace." Verse 6 indicates that these gifts are given the
moment we receive Christ.
All Christians, no matter how new or immature or damaged, have this
same privilege. The gifting to influence others for Jesus Christ is
given to every one of us from the moment we meet Christ. If I had
not been taught this, I would not be here today. In spite of all my
problems and short-comings, God's people taught me this as a new Christian
and challenged me to discover the unique role of ministry to which
God had called me. This gave me great motivation to learn God's word
and ask him to change my life.
FUTURE SECURITY (vs 7b,8): When Christ returns visibly, he will judge
mankind for its sins. In view of their sins, why were the Corinthians
"awaiting eagerly" this day? Because they knew Christ would
"confirm them to the end blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
The NIV translation is misleading here."Make you strong"
is bebaioo, as in v. 6, a technical term for confirming or
guaranteeing legal contracts."So that you will be" is not
in the text. The NIV makes it sound like Paul is saying that God make
them strong so that they will be blameless when Christ returns. Actually,
he is saying that God will confirm them blameless (in Christ) to the
end.
If you have received Christ, you can look forward to the return of
Christ, not because you are blameless or because you hope to
live a blameless life by then, but because he promises to confirm
you blameless on that day. You will not even undergo God's judgment
to see if you are worthy of entering his kingdom; you have already
passed out of that judgment (Jn. 5:24). This is because of God's
graceChrist's payment for your sins has once and for all time
assured you of your membership in his eternal kingdom.
If there was ever a group of Christians who should be warned of forfeiting
God's acceptance, this is it! If there ever was the danger of grace being
used as license to sin, this is it! But Paul still begins this letter
by affirming God's grace in the strongest terms! He will go on
to correct them, rebuke them, threaten to give them a spiritual spanking
(4:21) and call on them to live consistently with who they are. But he
will not call into question God's acceptance, or his willingness to gift
them, or his promise of eternal life because these are given to us not
on the basis of our good works, but on the basis of whether we have by
faith trusted Christ and asked him to give us this gift of grace. This
is what makes your decision to receive Christ so important . . .
The Priority of Unity (vs 10-17)
Read vs 10,11. Of all of the serious problems in this church, Paul addresses
division first. More than the sexual problems, more than the doctrinal
confusion, Paul is horrified by the prospect of division growing in Corinth. We
infer from this that unity in the church is of paramount importance. In
order to understand why he prioritizes unity so highly, we must understand
what division is. There are many misconceptions on this point.
Paul is not talking about organizational division here. It is possible
for Christians to divide up into different churches organizationally
and yet still be unified. On the other hand, it also possible for Christians
to be in the same church organizationally (as these were) and yet be
deeply divided.
Neither is he talking about Christians disagreeing over non-essential
doctrinal issues or strategic issues. Christians can deeply disagree
with one another over these issues, even to the point of working separately
from one another (see Acts 15:36-41), and still be unified. Or they
can agree on virtually all doctrinal and strategic matters, and still
be deeply divided.
Division occurs when Christians "quarrel" (vs 11) with each
other. Every time Paul uses this term, it refers to conflicts arising
from things like envy, jealousy, bitterness, malice, greed, and conceit
(Rom. 1:29; 13:13; 1 Cor. 3:3; 2 Cor. 12:20;
Gal. 5:20; Phil. 1:15; 1 Tim. 6:4; Titus 3:9).
In other words, division is relational conflict between Christians
arising from sinful attitudes in one or both parties.
Conversely, unity is the personal love which Christians have for
each other based on their common love for Christ. When Christians
relate to each other this way, it unleashes the power of God's Spirit
in a unique way. Non-Christians are struck by a quality of community
which they long for but cannot find in the world (Jn. 13:34,35). Christians
are powerfully built up and motivated to grow and serve Christ.
No wonder Satan works so hard to spread division. As in normal warfare,
so also in spiritual warfare, the maxim "divide and conquer"
holds true. In the early years of this church, we could never get
anything done because division was an annual event. Through the years,
every home group failure has had divided leadership teams. Those of
us who have personally experienced the recent division in our church
know how demoralizing it can be!
How does division start? It is not usually obvious until it is full-blown. Its'
symptoms can be very subtle.
IMMATURE ADULATION OF HUMAN LEADERS: That was the symptom in Corinth
(read vs 12; 3:3,4). Paul saw evidence of division in the way
they talked about their spiritual leaders. It wasn't that some of them
liked Paul's preaching style better than Apollos' or Peter's. It wasn't
that some of them felt especially grateful for how God had worked through
one of them to bring them to Christ or help them grow. There is nothing
wrong with such affinities and affections. But their willingness to
"quarrel" over this betrayed that something else, something
fleshly, was going on. I suspect that they were talking down the other
leaders (and maybe trying to pit them against one another) more than
they were simply talking up their favorites. At any rate, Paul was not
flattered by this; he was horrified (read vs 13-17).
Our primary allegiance should be to Christ. He was crucified for
us. He is the One we have committed ourselves to follow. Read 3:3-9. Leaders
should be viewed simply as God's servants, people through whom he
works in special ways to bring people to Christ and give them spiritual
feeding and direction. They don't want to be told how much greater
they are than other leaders. They want the people who follow them
to love Christ first and serve him and respect the other leaders.
UNREPENTANT SIN: Sometimes Christians spread division because they
are in sin but don't want to deal with it. In Titus 3:10,11, Paul tells
Titus to deal firmly with factious people, reminding him that they are
"perverted and sinning, being self-condemned." When God confronts
us with moral impurity through other Christians and we don't want to
repent, the natural response is to despise the person who corrected
you and try to discredit him to yourself and to others. This the beginning
of division (see 4:3-5).
If you have enmity toward someone who has corrected you, judge your
own flesh instead of the person who cared enough to try to help you!
SELFISH AMBITION: Sometimes Christians spread division because they
are bent on building their own kingdoms. In 3 John 1:9,10, John warns
them of Diotrephes who unjustly accused John with wicked words and actively
tried to turn other Christians against him. Why was he doing this? Because
he "loves to be first among them." Diotrephes evidently wanted
power and the benefits that went with it, and he found church leadership
a good avenue to this. But this attitude will view strong, godly leaders
as a threat, and move to discredit them.
James speaks of this same attitude in Jas. 3:14-16. Who can
deny that sometimes the reason we divide from other Christians is
because we're jealous that they get the attention we want, or because
they hold positions of influence which we covet? This is rank, but
it is in every heart and it must be firmly judged or it will result
in division.
LACK OF PROPER PURPOSE: When Christians don't stay focused on reaching
out to the lost and building up other Christians, they become vulnerable
to division. An inward focus makes it easy to start picking at one another's
faults. But an outward, serving focus enhances unity (Phil. 1:27;
2:2).
Treasure unity and be diligent to preserve it (Eph. 4:1-3)!!!!!
Footnote
[1] Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to
the Corinthians, p. 3.