1 Corinthians 1

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First Corinthians 1 opens Paul's letter to a gifted, divided, and worldly church with thanks for their grace and a plea for their unity. They have split into factions around Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and Christ, and Paul answers with a question: "Is Christ divided?" He then lays down the letter's foundation, the message of the cross, which is foolishness to the perishing and the power of God to the saved. Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom; Paul preaches Christ crucified. God chose the foolish, weak, and lowly things of the world so that no one may boast except in the Lord.

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First Corinthians 1 is addressed to a church with every gift and no unity. Paul begins graciously, thanking God for the grace at work in Corinth and assuring the church that God will sustain them to the end. Then he names the problem. Chloe's people have told him that the congregation has split into camps, each claiming a leader: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, even Christ as one party among others. Paul's response is a series of questions that expose the absurdity. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? He is relieved to have baptized almost no one there, because his job was to preach, and to preach in a way that did not empty the cross of its power by dressing it in clever words. From there the chapter becomes the letter's foundation. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing and the power of God to those being saved. Jews want signs, Greeks want wisdom, and Paul offers a crucified Messiah, a stumbling block to one and a joke to the other, and the power and wisdom of God to anyone who is called. Then he asks the Corinthians to look at themselves. Not many of them were wise, powerful, or well born. God chose them precisely so that no one could boast in his presence. If anyone boasts, Paul says, quoting Jeremiah, let him boast in the Lord.

Pasajes clave

1 Corinthians 1:10-13 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Isaiah 29:14 Jeremiah 9:23-24

Historical and literary context

Corinth was a wealthy, cosmopolitan port with a reputation for status-seeking and sexual license, and its church, founded by Paul around AD 50, reflected the city. Traveling teachers were judged by rhetorical polish, and the church had begun ranking its leaders the same way. Paul writes from Ephesus a few years later, having heard reports from Chloe's household. His quotations of Isaiah 29 and Jeremiah 9 frame the Corinthian problem as the ancient problem of human wisdom and boasting confronted by God.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 3 greet the church as sanctified and called to be holy, with all who call on the Lord everywhere. Verses 4 to 9 give thanks for their gifts and promise that God will sustain them to the end. Verses 10 to 17 name the divisions, the party slogans, Paul's relief that he baptized so few, and his commission to preach rather than baptize, lest the cross be emptied. Verses 18 to 25 set the message of the cross against the wisdom of the world, with Jews demanding signs and Greeks seeking wisdom. Verses 26 to 31 point to the Corinthians' own calling, not many wise, powerful, or noble, as proof that God chooses the lowly so that boasting can only be in the Lord.

Why this chapter matters

The chapter contains the New Testament's classic statement of the scandal of the cross: a crucified Messiah is a stumbling block and a joke by every human measure, and the power and wisdom of God by God's. It has shaped Christian thinking about the relation between faith and human wisdom ever since. Its diagnosis of church division as a form of boasting, attaching oneself to a leader to borrow his status, remains uncomfortably current. And its reminder that most of the first Christians were not wise, powerful, or well born is one of Scripture's clearest statements of grace as God's choice of the unimpressive.

Interpretive tension to watch

Paul seems to dismiss wisdom, yet chapter 2 will claim a wisdom "among the mature," and the letter is itself a highly reasoned argument. The wisdom he rejects is the world's wisdom used as a standard for judging God; the wisdom he commends is Christ himself, "who has become for us wisdom from God." Keeping that distinction prevents the chapter from being read as anti-intellectual.

Preguntas para este capítulo

The Corinthians divided over which leader to follow. What are the equivalent slogans in churches today, and what status does each one borrow?
Why is a crucified Messiah foolishness to the world, and why does Paul refuse to make it more palatable?
Paul tells the Corinthians to consider the time of their calling: not many were wise, powerful, or noble. What does God's choice of the lowly say about how he works?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Añadir a notas

1 Paul, called [to be] an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes [our] brother, 2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called [to be] saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 3 Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and [in] all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, [that ye may be] blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God [is] faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 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. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; 15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. 16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

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