Bible Commentaries
1 Corinthians 1

Verses 1-20

1 This is not the first time the apostle has written to the Corinthians. He had written a letter to them ( 1Co_5:9 ) and they had written one in return ( 1Co_7:1 ). This epistle is partly a reply to their letter. So that it is not to be taken as first Corinthians in the absolute sense, but in relation to the second epistle.

2 It is worthy of note that this epistle, like the Thessalonian and Galatian epistles, is written to a corporate ecclesia. Indeed, the whole of the latter half treats of ecclesiastical relations.

2 The name Sosthenes recalls much of Paul's career in Corinth. Crispus, the chief of the synagogue, believed and probably lost his place immediately, for we next read that Sosthenes was the chief of the synagogue. When Gallio refused to interfere, the crowd took Sosthenes and beat him in front of the dais. It may be that this man was also reached by the evangel, and became Paul's companion in Ephesus, where this epistle was, in all probability, penned. If so, it is a notable triumph of grace.

4 Corinth was the first place, after Paul's severance from the rest at Antioch, where he was allowed to continue long enough to teach and establish the saints in the truth. He was there a year and a half ( Act_18:11 ), and many of the Corinthians not only believed, but were recipients of many spiritual graces looking forward to the day of Christ's unveiling.

9 What a marvelous privilege and honor is involved in fellowship with the Son of God! Yet this is the portion of everyone who is His.

10 It should be an occasion of gratitude to God that the correction of the Corinthians, though of temporary and local interest at the time, still provides guidance on many points of practical importance. Thus their very divisions not only exposed their own carnality, but are the sure sign of the prevailing lack of spirituality today. Few, Indeed, would rebuke allegiance to themselves, yet Paul, first of all, objects to anyone saying "I am of Paul". No matter what name is used, schism is indefensible and deplorable.

14 The Crispus here referred to can be none other than the chief of the synagogue who believed on the Lord with all his house when Paul first came to Corinth. Gaius was probably his host on a later visit ( Rom_16:23 ). The household of Stephanas was probably the first to receive the evangel. It seems that Paul, in his early ministry, like the Lord ( Joh_4:2 ), did not usually baptize with his own hands. As Stephanas was the first to believe in Corinth, there may have been no one else to do so in his case. Crispus was the most prominent Jew in the city, hence the apostle officiated personally when he was baptized. After this we do not read of his baptizing. He couples baptism with circumcision, as being ours in the burial of Christ ( Col_2:12 ) .

17 Baptism, like circumcision, was a physical rite, and seemed to give the flesh a place before God. The entire tenor of Paul's commission was against this. He draws a sharp line between baptizing and evangelizing.

18 The "word of the cross" has a far deeper significance than the death of Christ for our sins. It brings before us the manner of His death. The curse of the law was attached to such a death. It brought down the curse of God. On the human side, however, it showed what human religion and human wisdom can do. When God's Image was present among men they not only failed to appreciate Him, but displayed the innate hatred of their carnal religious hearts by dooming Him to the death of the vilest criminal. He Who spoke as never man spoke should have been welcomed by the wise men of the world, but they showed the essential stupidity of human wisdom by gibbeting the embodiment of all wisdom upon the ignominious cross. Yet God has made that scene of weakness and shame the brightest exhibition of His power and glory. Though it seems to sound the depths of powerless infamy, it eclipses all the power and wisdom of men. The word of the cross is still despised, but its proclamation is salvation to all who believe. The height and summit of man's wisdom cannot reach to the divine folly.

Verses 21-31

21 To this day the great, the noble, and the wise are a small minority among the true saints of God. It is a matter of extreme thankfulness that this is so. If high birth or wisdom or any other attainment were necessary to His choice, how few would be able to measure up to His standard, and how little glory would there be for Him! Yet now we see those mentally deficient, chosen by Him, acting more wisely than the philosophers who shut God out of their lives. Here in Corinth we see the trembling apostle, scorned even by those to whom he has been the means of blessing, doing a work which has brought more glory to God and good to man than all the efforts of the might and nobility of all time!

30 Would that we would cease looking for anything in ourselves! Let us not boast in our wisdom, or our holiness, but find these only in Christ. Then let us boast to our heart's content in that which we have in Him.

1 Eloquent appeals, logical arguments, or profound philosophy, have no place in the proclamation of the evangel. We are to proclaim the word, testify to the truth. The subject matter is all provided by God. Nothing would have appealed to the Corinthians better than some new philosophy, or some astute line of reasoning. But faith does not rest on reason but on a message backed by the power of the Spirit of God. What is needed today is a return to the simple, unadorned proclamation of the evangel, the death of Christ on the cross for our sins and the resurrection of Christ because of our justification. The power of this good news is as great today as it proved to be in Corinth.

7 Though God has repudiated the world's wisdom, there is a divine wisdom, of which the world knows nothing, which even the saints do not apprehend until they attain maturity. This wisdom is fully unfolded in Paul's later epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians.

It cannot be grasped, even today, by carnal saints. It is for the spiritual, who have seen the end of the flesh.

7 " Before the eons" shows that the eons or ages are not eternal in the past, but had a definite beginning.

9 We need only consider our own desire to surprise and gratify those who love us to realize a little of what is in God's heart toward us. God gives of His Spirit, that we may apprehend His further gifts. The secret here hinted at by Paul can be none other than the secret economy unfolded in his Ephesian epistle, which is based upon the secret of Christ, or His exaltation as the Head of the whole universe. As such He is the Lord of glory, for no one on earth, or in the heavens, approaches the honor and dignity which will be His in the eons of the eons.

11 The apostle appeals to our own experience. Human beings can understand one another because they have the same spirit. But animals cannot enter into the recesses of human experience. No more can a man apprehend things divine without the interpretive presence of

God's holy Spirit.

13 The Scriptures often lay stress on the character of the words employed by the Spirit of God. A large measure of the current confusion may be traced to the loose, unscriptural terms which are used. Timothy was urged to hold to the pattern of sound words. If this is true in the original language, how much more should we endeavor to fulfill this charge!

13 The term "matching" has been rendered "comparing". But the thought of the passage is not the agreement between spiritual things, but the adaptation of spiritual things to mankind. It is useless to teach a soulish man spiritual things, for he has no means of grasping them.

1 Doubtless the apostle would gladly have instructed the Corinthians in the deep things of God, but they were not able to bear them. And what was the sure sign of their carnality? Division. While some were the partisans of Paul, who planted, and some of Apollos, who watered, and strove about God's gifts in the person of His servants, they were effectually frustrating any further outflow of His favor. And so it is today. If any yearn to know the deep secrets of God, let them purge themselves of all party spirit, and thus open their hearts to the great Giver Himself.