The assembly at Corinth was founded by Paul (1 Corinthians 3:10;410According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. (1 Corinthians 3:10)
10We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised. (1 Corinthians 4:10). 15) during his second missionary journey. At the outset of his labors there he met with great opposition from the Jews, but was especially encouraged by the Lord, who spake unto him at night in a vision, promising protection for his person, and assuring him of success in that city. So Paul continued to labor there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. Opposition increasing on the part of the Jews, who led Paul to the judgment-seat of Gallio, the proconsul, the Lord’s promise to His servant was fulfilled: “I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee.” Gallio declining to interfere, the attempt to stop the work failed, and Paul remained there some time longer. (Acts 18:1-181After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. 4And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 5And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. 6And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. 7And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. 8And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. 9Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. 11And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, 13Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: 15But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. 16And he drave them from the judgment seat. 17Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things. 18And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. (Acts 18:1‑18)) In these few verses is summed up all that we know of the work at Corinth, except that which Paul supplies by his remarks in the two epistles to the Corinthians.
To work in Corinth was evidently in Paul’s eyes no ordinary task. It was highly civilized, noted for its wealth and commerce, and, as may be the case where civilization and wealth abound without the restraining power of the grace of God, it had earned a most unenviable reputation for licentiousness and all that ministers to the natural man. Into that city the apostle, led by the Holy Ghost, and knowing the character of the people, had determined from the outset, surely guided of God, as to the spirit in which he should there labor. Anything which would have pleased the natural man, and thus attracted people to hear him, he carefully avoided. We quote his own account of himself: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 15) The results were great, and a special feature of God’s work in the assembly there formed, was the rich endowment of spiritual gifts enjoyed by the converts. “In everything,” writes Paul, “ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of the Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:6-86Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:6‑8))
After he had left that city, endeared to him by so many ties formed between himself and his converts, for households embraced the truth (Acts 18:88And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. (Acts 18:8); 1 Corinthians 1:1616And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. (1 Corinthians 1:16)), it was no wonder that communications were kept up between them and him; and when questions arose in their midst which they did not seem able to solve, it was not unnatural that they should write to Paul respecting them. (1 Corinthians 7:11Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. (1 Corinthians 7:1)) Private friendships had been formed, which bore fruit, as evidenced by the visit to him of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (1 Corinthians 16:1717I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. (1 Corinthians 16:17)), who personally ministered to his need. But they were not the only people who visited him, or brought him news about the assembly at Corinth. There were those of the house of Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:1111For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. (1 Corinthians 1:11)), whom he mentions, from whom he had heard of the sad state of the assembly. That moved him to write this letter to them whilst he was at Ephesus. (1 Corinthians 16:88But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. (1 Corinthians 16:8)) It is a letter dealing with the state of things among them, and divides itself into two great parts. From chapter 1. to chapter 6. we have certain disorders of which he had heard, exposed, and corrected. From chapter 7. to chapter 16. Paul is chiefly occupied in answering questions which they had put to him in writing.
Commencing with a reminder of his apostleship, he connects Sosthenes with himself in the salutation here addressed “to the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all that in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, theirs and ours.” No other epistle of Paul has an address so wide in its application as this, which embraces every professing Christian throughout the world, and through all the time that the Church of God shall be upon earth. No one therefore, even in these days, who bears the name of Christ, outwardly calling on the name of the Lord, which expresses profession, whether real or not, can excuse himself from submission to the teaching of this epistle. It is most catholic in its application. To it let us turn.
Beginning with the acknowledging of every good thing in them that he could, and counting on God’s faithfulness to accomplish His purposes of grace towards them (chapter 1: 49); Paul first treats of those evils rife amongst the assembly of which he had been informed. “I beseech you, brethren,” he writes, “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.” (vv. 10, 11) Schism had begun its work, and heresies would appear to test them.
(Chapter 11:18,19) Schools of teaching they had fostered, which engendered divisions, pupils ranging themselves under different teachers, calling themselves after their names. But who were the teachers they ran after who allowed this, and, worse, fostered it? We may ask, but ask in vain. Their names, then familiar as household words, have perished; whilst those of God’s faithful servants of the same date, as Paul, Apollos, and Cephas, remain to this day. What a lesson to any who would gather round themselves and encourage such a practice in our day! Such forget, or, at all events, by their action contravene, the teaching of this epistle.
How, then, did the apostle deal with this? He reminds them that he had not labored with any such intent, and asks the pertinent questions, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized unto the name of Paul” How carefully he had worked at Corinth, baptizing very few, lest any should say that he had baptized unto his own name. His work was to preach the gospel, not to baptize; to call on souls to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not to make disciples to be surnamed after him. John the Baptist had disciples called after him. Paul avoided all that for himself; for what was right in John’s day would have been wrong in Paul’s day. (Chapter 1:13-17) He preached too, but not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For he had understood the principle on which God was working; viz., to bring down all high thoughts of man, as evidenced: first, in the subject preached, the cross, and the person exalted, Christ crucified (chapter 1: 18-25); next, in the people called, and the instruments used for the preaching of the truth (vv. 26-29); and thirdly, in the way of blessing provided for souls, for the Corinthians and all others. “Of God,” he writes, “are ye in Christ Jesus, who is made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (vv. 30, 31)
Now in the spirit of all this Paul had labored at Corinth (chapter 2:15), as a vessel feeling his weakness, but as a faithful servant refusing to resort to any methods of working attractive to the natural man. Such might have made the truth appear more palatable, but they would not have been of God. Now he worked that their faith should not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. How dim had been their perceptions, that all this had escaped their observation! Evidently, they had perceived neither the principle on which God was working, nor the spirit in which Paul had labored in their midst. Was all his labor, then, in vain? No. He had begotten them in the gospel, however little many of them understood the preaching of the cross and the deep teaching of Christ crucified, whom alone Paul had desired to know among them. Some, however, had perceived it, and to them it was wisdom, for they were perfect; i.e. souls come to manhood in Christianity. But the natural man, ψυχικὸς; i.e. one unconverted, understands not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man, πνευματικὸς, discerneth all things, yet he himself is discerned of no one.
Did this last term fitly describe the saints of the Corinthian assembly? Alas! no. Taken up with their teachers and schools of doctrine, the apostle still had to speak to them as he had always done, as to fleshly σαρκιίνοι, even as to babes in Christ; for in them the Spirit, though they had received that gift, was not really working. That a quickened soul can be described as fleshly yet not carnal, Romans 7:1414For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. (Romans 7:14) really teaches, and that characterized the state of the Corinthian saints. (1 Corinthians 3:11And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:1)) So he had fed them with milk, not with meat; for they could not have profited by the latter, neither yet, he added, were they in a condition to receive it. “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men (ἄνθρωποι)?” he asks. (Chapter 3:4) Their strifes and divisions proved they were carnal (σαρκικοί), the flesh being at work in them. Their spiritual condition was that which he described as (σαρκἰνοι) fleshly. Hence they not only stood in the way of their own spiritual growth by encouraging the formation of parties, but they were robbing themselves of the value and profit of gifts which the Lord had given for edification.
If we take up exclusively one line of teaching, following one teacher, we deprive ourselves of the benefits we might derive from other gifts to men. “Therefore,” he writes, “let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” (Chapter 3:21-23) How foolish were they! how shortsighted!
And what were the laborers in truth? In what light ought they to view them? Paul, and with himself he here joins Apollos, would have them remember that such are but ministers (ὐπηρέτας) of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Thus, fully does he enter into this question of parties and schools of doctrine. It was the early introduction of a sectarian spirit, which has done so much harm in the assembly of God. Now the reader may remark how throughout these chapters the apostle traces all up to God. Some might make a party name of the Lord Jesus Christ, none could of God; for there is but one God. They were God’s assembly, and God had called them. (Chapter 1:2,9) It was God’s testimony which Paul declared, and God’s wisdom in mystery which he spake, and which God had revealed (chapter 2:1, 7, 10); and the result was, that whilst Paul planted, and Apollos watered, it was God who gave the increase. And the Corinthian saints were God’s husbandry, God’s building, and God’s temple too, by the Holy Ghost; and the teachers were God’s fellow-laborers, called by Him for His service. (Chapter 3:6,9,16) Furthermore, the laborers were but stewards of the mysteries of God, and by-and-by each would have his praise of God. (Chapter 4:1,5) What was there in this way of presenting the truth to encourage the formation of parties among them? There were many and weighty objections against it then, are there not such still?
But other disorders were rife. An incestuous person was in their midst, with their full cognizance, the sin unrebuked, the guilty party being unjudged, and the assembly unconcerned about it. (Chapter 5:2) In decided language he writes about this. They were unleavened. Let them be a new lump by purging out the leaven that had come in. Watchful should they be against any introduction of evil into the assembly; and as for the guilty person, they were to put him out from among themselves. (v. 13) The responsibility of the assembly in cases which call for, discipline is here distinctly asserted.
Passing on from that, he next takes up the unrighteousness practiced amongst them, some doing wrong and defrauding their brethren, others resorting to law before the heathen, the world, about matters which the least esteemed in the Church might easily have settled. Let such, he tells them, decide those cases. And what truth does he bring to bear on these saints? They were going to judge the world, and angels too; could they not judge such small matters, things which pertain to this life? Besides, they were inheritors of the kingdom; their conduct then ought to be in harmony with that which befits the kingdom. Now all this proceeded from their natural will being in action instead of being kept in subjection; a will which when checked in one outlet will make a way for itself, if permitted, through another channel. If I may not act unrighteously to my neighbor, I may at least do what I like, a man may say, with my body. This liberty is for the Christian negatived at once. The body is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. It is also a member of Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Ghost; and he adds, “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” (Chapter 6:19,20) Here the apostle really stopped; for his thesis was the proper treatment of his body by the individual Christian How low morally and socially have men sunk through sin that such directions should be needed! How great the grace in which the Christian capable of sinning, really shares! His body is both a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Ghost. With this the first part of the epistle ends.
C. E. S.
(To be continued, D.V)