In my Life of Paul 25 post I mentioned all the various elements that went into the makeup and organization of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. He was writing this letter during his time in Ephesus on his third missionary journey. A group of people from Corinth had crossed the Aegean Sea to deliver a letter to Paul that was in response to some things he had said in another letter that he had sent to them (which we don’t have). This group told Paul about some conflicts that were affecting the Corinthian church and the letter they brought had, among other things, a series of questions asked by the church. The questions were something like the ones shown below.

• Is it good for a man not to have relations with a woman? (1 Cor. 7:1)
• What about the unmarried and widows? (1 Cor. 7:8)
• Should virgins marry? (1 Cor. 7:25)
• Is it acceptable to eat food sacrificed to idols? (1 Cor. 8:1)
• How does the Spirit of God manifest itself? (1 Cor. 12:1)
• When people die, will they ever really be resurrected? (1 Cor. 15:12)
• Should we be taking up offerings to help other believers? (1 Cor. 16:1)
• Would you ask Apollos to come back to us again? (1 Cor. 16:12)

Here are my summaries of Paul’s answers to their questions:

Is it good for a man not to have relations with a woman? What about the unmarried and widows? Should virgins marry? (1 Cor. 7)

The entire seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians addresses the topic of sexual relations and various states of marriage. Whatever the original wording of the question(s) were they likely all stemmed from at least 2 things. The first letter that Paul wrote to the church, which we don’t have but was referenced in this letter, dealt at least in part with sexual immorality. He said (1 Corinthians 5:9-10), “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.” Paul is using this current letter to clarify this statement to focus on the sexual immorality that was rampant within the church of Corinth. This is tied with the second reason for the Corinthian questions regarding this subject. They lived in a city in which sexual freedom and experimentation was open and socially acceptable. You can read a brief discussion of this in ancient Corinth in the article “Corinth: The Sex Capital of Ancient Greece.”

In essence, Paul addresses sexual ethics within the church by focusing on the fact that sexual practices should be confined to the marriage bed between a husband and his wife. He does not condemn sex, but simply emphasizes that it is to remain a part of a healthy marriage and not engaged in outside of marriage. The Corinthians were apparently taking his admonitions to mean that all sex should be avoided and condemned and Paul is trying to rectify that view.

Is it acceptable to eat food sacrificed to idols? (1 Cor. 8:1)

This next question apparently stems from some divisions in the church about whether they could include meat from pagan sacrifices in their regular food consumption. This stems from the fact that some of the choicest meat offered for sale in the market place was meat that had been butchered as part of temple sacrifices to pagan gods. The question also was probably tied to a common social practice of having parties or meetings in temple dining areas, which would also involve the serving of meat sacrificed to pagan gods. Paul’s main point in his answer is that the meat itself is not the issue as much as how others perceive the consumption of it by Christians – and this relates to a multitude of related examples and topics.

In a nutshell, Paul emphasizes that whatever a Christian chooses to do, he must do so with the awareness that he is being observed by others. I recently heard someone correctly state that “the world is not reading the Bible. They are watching you and learning about God and the Bible from your life.” That was true in first century Christendom as well. If someone (Christian or non-Christian) sees a known Christian doing something that they think a Christian shouldn’t be doing, they may be inclined to reject Christianity because of perceived hypocrisy. Specifically regarding meat sacrificed to idols, eating that meat in and of itself is not wrong – it’s just meat. But if someone thinks that in doing so you are giving your blessing or participation to pagan worship practices, then you should avoid doing that thing in order to protect the name of Christ (which you bear).

How does the Spirit of God manifest itself? (1 Cor. 12:1)

Whatever form this question was in, it was somehow tied to feelings of jealousy or inadequacy in the church. They were unclear on how the Holy Spirit works in the life of a Christian. If you do a search through the Old and New Testaments, you’ll find that only about 10 percent of our knowledge about the Holy Spirit can be found in the Old Testament. I’m basing that on the linked site that lists 100 verses about the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians is only the fourth book of the New Testament that was written. Less than ten percent of the remainder of the “Holy Spirit” verses at the link above had even been written (much less widely disseminated) by the time that the Corinthians were asking Paul about the work of the Holy Spirit. You also see in Luke’s book of Acts the descriptions of the Holy Spirit were unique and varied and the eyewitness tales about these events would have been confusing at best.

That’s why chapters twelve through fourteen in 1 Corinthians are so important. They are the first lengthy treatise written on the work of the Holy Spirit and form a very important theological foundation for not only Corinth but all of the Christian church ever since. In a nutshell, Paul emphasizes that the Holy Spirit is the tool that God uses to conform us to the image of Jesus. Paul says in 12:3 that “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” He talks about how the Spirit enables us to do the work of God through the spiritual gifts. He also emphasizes that the use of the gifts should not hinder or detract from the ministry and life in which they are intended to be used. He gives many examples of spiritual gifts, how they are to be used to the glory of God and the unification of the church, and how they can be misused.

When people die, will they ever really be resurrected? (1 Cor. 15:12)

Chapter 15 has a couple of really interesting passages in it related to the resurrection of Jesus. First, it is important to remember that many of the earliest Christians were Jews. Within Judaism, there were two predominant groups of “scholars” – the Pharisees (of which Paul was one) and the Sadducees. We see Jesus’ interactions with both of these groups in the gospel biographical accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Both of these groups would have had influence in synagogues scattered across the Mediterranean region, including Corinth. We know there was a synagogue there and have read about two of its leaders (Crispus and Sosthenes – the co-author of 1 Corinthians.) The Sadducees are known for their rejection of resurrection. Not just of Jesus’ bodily resurrection, but of anyone’s resurrection. They did not believe in any afterlife and that life on Earth is all there is. This belief would have influenced at least some of the Corinthian Christians.

Paul’s words are so significant that we need to read them (1 Corinthians 15:3-19):

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.“

Paul opens this passage with a declaration of the foundational beliefs of Christianity – Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. He identifies that over 500 people can testify to this fact because many of them were still alive at the time. Remember that this letter was being written from Ephesus, probably around 53 A.D., which is only twenty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul asserts that Jesus provides proof of resurrection and life after death and this enables those who trust in Him to be certain of their own future with Him. He also asserts that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, than Christianity is made null and void.

Should we be taking up offerings to help other believers? (1 Cor. 16:1)

This question may have been more of a “what do we do with the gifts we’ve collected”, except Paul mentions that they need to do it ahead of his planned arrival there.

Would you ask Apollos to come back to us again? (1 Cor. 16:12)

In Paul’s final closing remarks he implies that the church as asked for Apollos to return to visit them. Considering how the letter opened with admonishments about divisions in the church tied to following certain leaders (Apollos, Paul, Peter, etc.), Apollos may have felt it best not to go back at this time until those divisions had settled down. Paul indicates that he urged him to go (showing the high regard Paul had for Apollos) but said that Apollos wasn’t willing.

Obviously, I’ve only scratched the surface on this amazing letter but I’m going to leave it at that and move on with Paul’s story next time.