81 Corinthians 1

Corinthians is the next book in the New Testament.

Corinth is a place and the Corinthians are the people there. So Paul is writing letters to these people. Paul may be a follower of Jesus, but Paul has feelings too. In these letters, they're mainly anger, jealousy, and frustration. See, even though he founded the church in Corinth, Paul can't quite keep things under control there. Not only are the Corinthians rebelling left and right, but people keep coming into town telling everyone that Paul is actually a monster that can't be trusted in civilized society. Paul calls these guys the false apostles and, for him, they're the worst. While the false apostles spend most of their time bragging about how amazingly holy and spiritually-gifted they are, Paul puts pen to paper to record all his failures. He writes in his letters about being beaten, chained, tortured, imprisoned, starved, and almost beheaded. Paul thinks strength is actually found in weakness.
So if you're looking for a guy from the Bible you can relate to—someone who occasionally gets mad and lashes out in letter form —then, Paul is your biblical superhero. But remember, if you make him angry with your unbelieving ways—not good!


The First Letter: 1 Corinthians

Paul is happy to be writing to his friends in Corinth again. See, he founded the church there, so he's like their main apostle. Even though there have been some rumblings about his credentials, Paul assures everyone that's he's ironclad. He and God are on the same page. He may not be the fanciest apostle out there, but he's devoted his life to Jesus and that should be good enough for everyone.
Paul's concerned about some of the rumors he's been hearing. The Corinthians just are not getting along. He answers some of their specific questions. Yes, it's fine to get married, though it's way better to stay single. But by all means, if you can't keep control, then take a walk down that aisle. Should you be eating meat that's been sacrificed to Roman gods? No, probably not.
He also offers them some unsolicited advice. Ladies, keep your heads covered in church. Everyone, you are not doing communion right. Let's review the proper procedures here and stop being selfish. Guys, there are all kinds of different spiritual gifts that people can have, but let's not overwhelm each other with all kinds of showing off. The greatest gift, after all, is love. Paul closes with some harsh words for those who don't believe in the resurrection of the body and hints that the Corinthians really should think about putting money together for the fund he's starting for the church in Jerusalem.

The Second Letter:

Paul again. Okay, it seems some stuff has gone down in between letters. See, Paul visited Corinth and it did not go well at all. But the good news is everything's been all patched up. But even though things are good, there are still some naysayers in Corinth. These false prophets have been spreading rumors about Paul. None of what they say is even close to being true. These guys just brag about themselves all day, but Paul doesn't roll like that. He's not gonna sit here and tell you all the amazing things he's done. He knows that real apostles aren't super fancy and powerful; they're weak and they suffer for the gospel.

The Third Letter

All right, so things are bad and Paul is not happy right now. It seems the false apostles are more active than ever. They're constantly criticizing Paul, saying that he writes a good letter, but in person, he's hugely disappointing. So, what does Paul do? He writes a letter….Now a real apostle never brags, but Paul is going to have to do it. He's being forced to defend himself. Do you know what he's suffered for the gospel? He's been arrested, beaten, tortured, starved, and near death tons of times. These false apostles see visions? Paul's seen visions, too! One time, he saw Paradise, but does he go on and on about this all day? No! Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians that he won't take money from them (even though he's entitled to support from them since he's their apostle). He's also pretty adamant that he's not stealing money from the Jerusalem collection. Paul closes the whole letter by urging the Corinthians to make things right with him. He'll be visiting the city for a third time pretty soon and he will not suffer fools when he gets there.

Paul opens the letter with a quick greeting. He tells us that he's co-writing to the church along with a guy named Sosthenes (the chief ruler in Corinth, but it's also pretty clear that Paul's the main man here. Paul starts in with some positive talk. He is so thankful for the Corinthians. Their words and actions are really making God happy. They've also got loads of spiritual gifts that they're really good at. Paul knows that God is gonna make things awesome for them.

The Not-So-Great Divide

Paul has received some reports from Chloe and he is none too pleased.. Seems like there's been a lot of fighting going on in Corinth. Lots of divisions are popping up within the community. Some Christians in Corinth are saying that they follow the teaching of Paul. Some people are claiming allegiance to Apollos. Others are saying Cephas (Peter) is the man. Some people say they're just following plain ol' Jesus. It's becoming a problem. Paul is pretty annoyed. He wants to know if he was crucified for them or if they were baptized in Paul's name. That answer is a no. Luckily, Paul didn't baptize that many people when he was last in Corinth, or he worries these people might start telling people that he did baptize them in his name.

Look, Christ didn't hand pick Paul to be his apostle just so he could baptize people. Paul is in charge of spreading the good news about Jesus to everyone. Namely, that Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead. Greek people (those who, like Apollos) usually have a problem with that because they love wisdom and it doesn't seem very smart for God to let his only son die. Jewish folks (who might be following Cephas) don't like it because they want all kinds of miracles from their messiah. But God just isn't that way. He does things (like allowing Jesus to die) so he can turn the world on its head ,when everything comes out amazing in the end. For Paul, that means no one can claim to be some wise, amazing, gorgeous, fantastic person. God hates that stuff. The only time people are allowed to brag is when they're bragging about God. Paul tells us that when he came to Corinth, he wasn't some smart, smooth-talking guy. Actually, he was weak and afraid and pathetic. The point is that Paul didn't try to appeal to them using human wisdom. He let himself be filled with the spirit and power of God. So the Corinthians learned about God not because Paul reasoned and argued them into believing it, but because they felt God through him.

Besides, Christians don't need human wisdom. They have God's wisdom. Just look at the people who run this world, Paul says. They're supposed to be "wise" and yet they put Jesus to death. But Christians have the Spirit of God in them. That means they don't speak in terms that the rest of the world understands. People who aren't living in the Spirit don't get this stuff. It just seems stupid or wrong to them. But, those who are in the Spirit know this stuff is right and from God. They don't answer to anyone or anything. They say that no one can know what God's thinking. But people in the Spirit do. They understand the mind of Christ. Paul explains that when he came to the Corinthians, he couldn't speak to them like people in the Spirit because they weren't. They were like little babies. Bad news though: they're still just sitting there like tiny babies crying in their high chairs. Paul puts it this way—they're living in the flesh, not living in the Spirit. That doesn't sound good. It just means that as long as they keep arguing about whom to follow, they're acting like boring old human beings and not like people who have been transformed by the Spirit of Christ.

Paul says, it doesn't matter. Apollos? Cephas? Paul? They're all serving the same God. Paul might have been the one who planted the seeds, then Apollos stepped in to water them, but it was God who made the plant grow. Paul laid the foundation and Apollos took over the building process after he left. Paul explains, the builder gets to build however he wants, but he still has to fit his little house to the foundation. And if the whole house burns down, guess what's left? the foundation. So, —yes, Apollos and Cephas, they're great. But, they do need to be building on that spiritual foundation that Paul left.

Paul tells them, you guys are God's temples because God's Spirit is in all of you. What does that mean? Well, for starters, you shouldn't be destroying God's handiwork. Please, Paul says, don't lie to yourselves. Don't try to raise yourselves up and be smarter than everyone else. It's rude, and besides, no one likes a know-it-all. Instead, the Corinthians should want to be stupid. Well, God has a hard time reaching people who think they know everything, but stupid people? They're like a blank slate that God can write his name on. So again, don't brag about who you're following—Paul or Apollos or Cephas. Everyone belongs to God in the end.

An important message from Paul in Corintians

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

When you read this passage, what a lot of people call the love verse, it really does contain all the most important teachings for living a good life. Reading this you will understand that it does not matter in the least really what we do in life. It is all about love. No gifts you may possess – really matter if you do not have love. What are we all looking for in life.. love, love and more love, without love life is meaningless. So it is best to understand, totally what is meant by love. When you read this passage that Paul wrote, he is not writing about how love feels, he is writing about how it can be seen in action. True love is always demonstrated by action. Powerful love which leads to actions and sacrifices on the behalf of others. An action, that would involve providing people with what they need, being honest and dependable. Being a good person in general and being useful or providing a service to society.. no matter who they are.

If you want to know if you are following Pauls words.. try substituting the word “love” to the word “I” ..

"I am patient, I am kind. I do not envy. I do not boast, I am not proud. I do not dishonor others, I am not self-seeking, I am not easily angered, I keep no record of wrongs. I do not delight in evil but rejoice the truth. I always protect, always trust, always hope, always preserve."
Hmmm is this true about yourself? If some of them are not, then you will know what you need to work on. This bible verse should apply to you in all aspects of life. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone applied this to their lives..