Read 1 Corinthians 1:1-3

 

   Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth while he was visiting Ephesus during his third missionary journey (Acts 19-20). Corinth and Ephesus faced each other across the Aegean Sea. Paul knew the Corinthian church well because he had spent 18 months in Corinth during his second missionary journey (Acts 18). While in Ephesus, he had heard about problems in Corinth. About the same time, a delegation from the Corinthian church had visited Paul to ask his advice about their conflicts. Paul’s purpose for writing was to correct those problems and to answer questions church members had asked in a previous letter. 

   Paul was given a special calling from God to preach about Jesus Christ. Each Christian has a job to do, a role to take, or a contribution to make. One assignment may seem more spectacular than another, but all are necessary to carry out God’s greater plans for His church, and for His world. Be available to God by placing your gifts at His service. Then as you discover what He calls you to do, be ready to do it. 

 

    Sosthenes may have been Paul’s secretary who wrote down this letter as Paul dictated it. He was probably the Jewish synagogue leader in Corinth (Acts 18) who had been beaten during an attack on Paul and then later became a believer. Sosthenes was sell known to the members of the Corinthian church, and so Paul included his name in the opening of this letter. 

 

   Corinth, a giant cultural melting pot with a great diversity of wealth, religions, and moral standards, had a reputation for being fiercely independent and decadent as any city in the world. The Romans had destroyed Corinth in 146 B.C. after a rebellion. But in 46 B.C., the Roman emperor Julius Caesar rebuilt it because of its strategic seaport. By Paul’s day (50 A.D.), the Romans had made Corinth the capital of Achaia (modern day Greece). It was a large city, offering Rome great profits through trade as well as the military protection of its ports. But the city’s prosperity made it ripe for all sorts of corruption. Idolatry flourished, and there were more than a dozen pagan temples employing at least a thousand prostitutes. Corinth’s reputation was such that prostitutes in other cities began to be called “Corinthian girls.” 

 

   A personal invitation makes a person feel wanted and welcome. We are called by God to be His own holy people. God personally invites us to be citizens of His eternal kingdom. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is the only one who can bring us into this glorious kingdom because He is the only one who removes our sins. To be made holy means that we are chosen or set apart by Christ for His service. We accept God’s invitation by accepting His Son, Jesus Christ, and by trusting in the work He did on the cross to forgive our sins. 

 

   First Corinthians was probably not meant to be a private letter; rather, it may have been circulated to other churches in nearby cities. Although it deals with specific issues facing the church at Corinth, all believers can learn from it. The Corinthian church included a great cross section of believers: wealthy merchants, common laborers, former temple prostitutes, and middle class families. Because of the wide diversity of people and backgrounds, Paul takes great pains to stress the need for both spiritual unity and Christlike character. 

 

   Grace is God’s free gift of salvation given to us in Christ. Receiving it brings us peace (Romans 5). In a world of noise, confusion, and relentless pressures, people long for peace. Many give up the search, thinking it impossible to find, but true peace of heart and mind is available to us through faith in Jesus Christ.