1 Corinthians 1

¹Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, ²unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours:

¹Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

²Unto 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:

Commentary · verses 1-2

Doctrine: Apostles are called by God. Apostles travel to a new place and begin the process of forming a church. A key piece of information to remember when reading this letter was that Paul was writing this letter to the church of Corinth, to everyone. It appeared they did not have elders/pastors yet.

³Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; ⁵that in everything ye were enriched in him, in all utterance and all knowledge; ⁶even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: ⁷so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; ⁸who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreproveable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

³Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

⁵That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;

⁶Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

⁷So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

⁸Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Commentary · verses 3-8

Doctrine: Grace was given by Jesus Christ for our enrichment (to make profitable) in all utterance (speech) and all knowledge so that we will be blameless.

⁹God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰Now I beseech you, brethren, through 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 perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

⁹God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁰Now 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.

Commentary · verses 9-10

We are called into fellowship with Jesus Christ and as an effect we ought to be in fellowship with each other: perfectly joined, same mind, no divisions, agreement, etc.

Doctrines on this passage

#50 Fellowship v. 9

¹¹For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them that are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

¹¹For 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.

Commentary · verse 11

Paul had been informed about contentions among the believers in Corinth. In his letter to the Romans, Paul broke down the divisions between Jews and Gentiles. This letter was written to break down the divisions within the church.

¹²Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

¹³Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul?

¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius; ¹⁵lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name.

¹⁶And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

¹²Now 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.

¹³Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

¹⁵Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

¹⁶And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

Commentary · verses 12-16

Paul was grateful that he did not baptize the Corinthians because people were causing divisions among themselves regarding whom they said they belong to.

¹⁷For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void.

¹⁸For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.

¹⁷For 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.

¹⁸For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Commentary · verses 17-18

In the Book of Acts and Book of Romans, Paul (and Peter) used a two step method to preach a sermon:

1st Step: Present the premise (WHAT) and reason (WHY).
2nd Step: Support the premise with scripture.

The key to getting the correct interpretation of Paul's premise is to make sure your interpretation fits the context of what Paul previously wrote and fits the context of the supporting scripture. Verse 17 presented a premise.

Premise: Paul was sent to preach the Gospel not with wisdom of words (eloquent speech), but with actions (power). Teaching is done with wisdom of words. Preaching is meant to move people which involves words and emotions. Paul's reason was that if he focused on words to the point that he was eloquent, he would be distracting people from the power of the cross to change people's lives.

¹⁹For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought.

¹⁹For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Commentary · verse 19

Paul referenced Isaiah 29:14 to show God said those who relied only on facts would be destroyed by Jesus' resurrection because without experiencing the power of the cross, Jesus' death did not make logical sense.

²⁰Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

²⁰Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

Commentary · verse 20

The term "disputer of this world" referred to people looking for special interpretation of the scriptures. Paul referenced Isaiah 33:18 to show God said those who claimed to represent God would be made foolish if they relied only on logic.

²¹For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.

²¹For 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.

Commentary · verse 21

Premise: God gets pleasure out of saving those who choose to believe.

²²Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom:

²²For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

Commentary · verse 22

Paul contrasted the Jews and the Greeks to show why neither believed: The Jews only looked for actions and the Greeks only looked for facts. Paul stated we need to look for both.

²³but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; ²⁴but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

²³But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

²⁴But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Commentary · verses 23-24

The Jews saw the cross as a stumblingblock because they did not understand the scriptures and the Greeks saw the cross as foolishness because they did not experience the power. However, believers know that Christ is the power and the wisdom of God.

²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Commentary · verse 25

Paul continued this "power and wisdom" theme by contrasting God's "lack of wisdom" as greater than man's wisdom and God's "lack of power" as more powerful than men.

²⁶For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

²⁶For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

Commentary · verse 26

Paul added the attribute of noble to the wisdom and power theme.

²⁷but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; ²⁸and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are:

²⁷But 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;

²⁸And 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:

Commentary · verses 27-28

Paul added the concept of the invisible to this theme. God used the lack of: wisdom, power, nobility, and visibility...for what purpose?

²⁹that no flesh should glory before God.

²⁹That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Commentary · verse 29

Answer: So that no flesh should glory before God. God intentionally set everything up for Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection in a way that would not use worldly: wisdom, power, nobility, and appearance so that the flesh would not glory before God, and that people had to operate opposite of the flesh in order to believe in God.

³⁰But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: ³¹that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

³⁰But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

³¹That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Commentary · verses 30-31

Paul referenced Jeremiah 9:23-24 to support the premise that God would be the source of everything that the flesh looked to get from the world.

Commentary · verse 31

Theme of Chapter 1: God intentionally set everything up for Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection in a way that would not use worldly: wisdom, power, nobility, and appearance so that the flesh would not glory before God, and that people had to operate opposite of the flesh in order to believe in God. Paul began chapter 2 by stating he had operated according to this same approach.

1 Corinthians 1

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