Introduction: Studying 1 Corinthians
A Christ-Centered Approach to Understanding Scripture
Think greatly about the greatness of God.
-John Owen
Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly estate until he has compared himself with God’s majesty.
-John Calvin
More than a Bible study
Even though this study’s goal is to prayerfully read Paul’s first recorded letter to the Corinthian church and attempt to comprehend the times, trials, and culture of his first-century audience, its primary aim is not just to gain an improved understanding of its meaning and message. It is not even the top priority to look for ways to apply his divinely inspired instructions to our everyday lives.
Yes, greater knowledge and application are to be rightly sought and desired, and will certainly be discussed as we progress. However, it should be immediately understood that this study’s greatest possible outcomes will hinge upon our intention to better understand and mine the divine qualities and characteristics of the Creator himself.
Seek Ye First
What do Paul’s words, which the Bible says were directly delivered from the Holy Spirit to his pen (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:21) reveal about the One who crafted them?
If, as Proverbs 30:5 says that “every word of God proves true” and that “he is a shield to those who take refuge in him”, then it behooves us to take refuge in the holy, eternal, loving, all-powerful, all-knowing, universally-present, and fully-good God before all other endeavors.
As Jesus reminded his disciples in Matthew 6:33, all we will ever need will be given to us when we commit ourselves to first seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. In essence, personal transformation and application are certain to follow as we first aim to better know and understand the God of the universe.
It could even be argued that one cannot fully grasp the true heart and soul of any of Paul’s letters without initially understanding his single-minded desire and intent to grow in a deeper knowledge and relationship with the living God.
In Philippians 3:8 he reflects upon the sum of his life’s accomplishments by saying, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
In Ephesians 3:8-9, he encourages members of the Ephesian church not to lose heart over his present sufferings, but rather, that God had allowed all of it to enable him “to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
In 1 Corinthians 2:6-7, Paul reminds the church that the wisdom he is delivering isn’t made up of the temporary and superficial things of the current culture, but rather, “a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.”
Together, we have the privilege to not only gain a better understanding of the text set before us but to better comprehend the God who has first made himself knowable that we might in turn make him known to a world desperately lost in its own ignorance.
Beginning at the End
1 Corinthians 16 contains a list of final instructions for the believers in the church Paul helped establish towards the end of his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1-17). It begins with brief guidance over the collection of financial gifts for fellow believers and continues with information about his plans for a return visit, as well as the announcement of the eventual arrival of his young protégé, Timothy, and fellow evangelist, Apollos.
It is here where Paul then pauses in verses 13 and 14 to offer five distinct and seemingly disconnected commands that seem to leap from the page:
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
What do these words reveal about the heart and character of God?
What did they mean and what was their full implication toward the followers of Jesus Christ in first-century Corinth?
What is the full implication for the followers of Jesus Christ in every century that has followed, including our present day?
Do each of these commands stand alone or could they somehow be linked?
How would first-century believers have been expected to apply and obey them within their culture, and how are we expected to do the same within our own?
Do these commands uniquely apply just to men?
What does it mean to act like a man as God intended in Scripture?
This study will seek to carefully understand the full context and meaning of this specific passage and address each of these questions and others as we do.
Secondly, we will then closely examine and gain a better understanding of the Book of 1 Corinthians in its entirety, moving from chapter to chapter until we conclude with Paul’s final instructions. As we do this, however, we will pause to examine each chapter through the specific lens of 1 Corinthians 16:13-14.
What, for example, does it mean to apply Paul’s command to “be watchful” in light of the specific instructions, admonitions, and overarching themes of each individual?
This is in no way intended to add to or take away from the plain and clear meaning of a given text, nor is there an effort to misapply or overstate a command while considering its meaning. Rather, this author contends that each of these commands exists in harmony with the rest of Paul’s inspired thoughts and can be used to further illumine a given passage and better instruct the man of God on how they could and should apply it.
For instance, one may ask, “How does Paul’s command to ‘be watchful’ in 1 Corinthians 16:13 help me better apply his instructions to ‘flee from sexual immorality’ in 1 Corinthians 6:18?”
Though this example may appear somewhat basic, God’s clear instructions automatically compel us to carefully consider the central goodness of God’s character and his willingness to condescend to reveal himself through his word to those so undeserving. This leads us directly back to this study’s central purpose.
By God’s grace, leading, and wisdom, we will look for and discover him there, and when we do we will find ourselves echoing the words of the Apostle himself in Romans 11:33-36:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Your First Assignment: Pray, Read, Write
Has it ever occurred to you just how readily and easily those of us in the non-persecuted world have access to the Holy Bible?
It is not an overstatement to say it has never been easier to not only read and study numerous versions of the Scriptures but to also take advantage of a seemingly unlimited number of resources to help us better understand it. Not only do many of us own various study tools and texts, but the Internet has unlocked and democratized access to the rarest of manuscripts and materials.
Though this freedom should certainly celebrated, we must also understand that such unfettered availability can often be accompanied by complacency.
How often do we pause to truly consider that the 66 books comprising the Bible’s Old and New Testaments are God’s living and inspired words to man? How often do we simply forget?
Carefully reflect upon these words from the Book of Hebrews:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature ishidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:12-13
I would encourage you to begin by taking the three following steps as we prepare to embark on our study of 1 Corinthians:
Pray - Pray and ask that the same God who inspired Paul’s words, would open and convict your own heart to reveal his divine character and also apply its truths to your life as you study.
Read - Take time to read through the entire book over the next week.
Write - Make personal notes as you read through the text. Who was the intended audience? When was it written? What do its passages reveal, either implicitly or explicitly, about God’s attributes? What does it reveal about fallen humanity? How do the struggles, strengths, and weaknesses of those in Paul’s day compare and contrast with our own?
As we learn together, we can be assured by the words of the prophet Isaiah that God will faithfully carry out his intended work in each one of our lives:
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.Isaiah 55:11
Coming Next Week: 1 Corinthians Chapter 1