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The book of 1 Corinthians contains mature content, so if you’re reading with little ones, please use discretion! Need some more tips on reading hard topics with young kids? Read our article Should I Read Sensitive Bible Passages with My Kids? here.

Introduction

What is the Book of 1 Corinthians About?

Read this 3-minute introduction to help you find your bearings in the Bible story, and be inspired to read 1 Corinthians!

Videos
on 1 Corinthians

Historical Context
of 1 Corinthians

Accordion Content

The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian church.

From Bibles.net: Remember that the ultimate author of every book of the Bible is the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). He has written this book to equip you for life, to help you know the true God, and to give you hope (2 Timothy 3:16; Romans 15:4). The Holy Spirit wrote 1 Corinthians for your good and to lead you into joy.

The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian church in the spring of AD 53, 54, or 55. This was near the end of his three-year ministry in Ephesus. Altogether Paul wrote four letters to this church: (1) the previous letter mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:9; (2) 1 Corinthians; (3) the tearful, severe letter mentioned in 2 Corinthians 2:3–4; and (4) 2 Corinthians. Only 1 and 2 Corinthians have survived.

When Paul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians to the church at Corinth, the believers had been Christians for no more than three years. They were all recent converts. They didn’t have generations of Christians in their culture. None of them grew up in a Christian home.

—Andy Naselli

Source: Andy Naselli, quoted from his article, “10 Issues the Gospel Solved in the Corinthian Church,” This article originally appeared here at The Gospel Coalition

The Setting of 1 Corinthians

c. AD 53-55

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians during his third missionary journey, near the end of his three-year ministry in Ephesus (Acts 19:21-22). Both Corinth and Ephesus were wealthy port cities steeped in pagan idolatry and philosophy. Corinth benefited both militarily and economically from its strategic location at one end of the isthmus that connected the southern Greek peninsula to the mainland. 

—ESV Global Study Bible

Unless otherwise indicated, this content is adapted from the ESV Global Study Bible® (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright ©2012 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Books

Message Series
of 1 Corinthians

True Grace by Reuben Hunter

Pastor Reuben Hunter preaches section by section through the book of 1 Corinthians in short 30-minute messages, focusing our attention on Jesus, and on the identity we have been given in him. You will find his preaching to be clear and concise, it will compel you to live in obedience to the Lord Jesus. 

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1 Corinthians Dictionary

As you read through 1 Corinthians, you might come across words and ideas that are foreign to you. Here are a few definitions you will want to know! Note that this dictionary was created for the New International Version (NIV) Bible.

A place where sacrifices were made to worship God. An altar could be a pile of dirt or stones, or a raised platform of wood, marble, metal, or other materials. The bronze or brazen altar was used for burnt offerings in the tabernacle’s courtyard. It was a large box, eight feet square and four-and-a-half feet high, made of wood covered with bronze. A much larger altar replaced it when Solomon built the temple. The altar of incense (also called the golden altar) was smaller, covered with gold, and placed just in front of the veil to the Holy of Holies. Every day, both morning and evening, incense was burned here, symbolizing the prayers of the people.

A Hebrew word that means “Let it be so!” or “This is the truth!” Amen is often said after a prayer to show that people agree with what has been said and believe that it will happen.

Heavenly beings created by God before he created Adam and Eve. Angels act as God’s messengers to men and women. They also worship God.

To promise to marry.

The Greek word that means “God’s Chosen One.” “Messiah” is the Hebrew word meaning the same thing. Jesus was the Christ.

An assembly or gathering. The word church is used to refer both to local groups of believers in Christ (church) as well as to all believers (Church).

(1) To find someone guilty of doing something wrong and to declare or pronounce a punishment. (2) To be against or disapprove of something because it is wrong.

A feeling about what is right and what is wrong; a sense of knowing what is good and what is bad.

A city in Greece. Always a commercial center, Corinth was made the capital city of the province by its Roman conquerors. Paul taught in Corinth for a year and a half.

An agreement. In the ancient Near East, sometimes covenants were made between two people or groups of people. Both sides decided what the agreement would be. However, in the Bible, the word usually refers to agreements between God and people, when God decides what will be done and the people agree to live by the covenant. The old covenant of law set standards of behavior in order to please God. The new covenant of grace presents God’s forgiveness based on faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

An evil spirit working for Satan (the devil). People can be tempted, harassed, or possessed (controlled) by demons. Jesus has authority over all demons and in his earthly ministry ordered evil spirits to come out of many people.

Abilities provided by God to believers that allow the accomplishment of good works.

(1) Great beauty, splendor, honor, or magnificence that can be seen or sensed. The Israelites saw the glory of the Lord in the cloud that filled the tabernacle. The shepherds saw the glory of the Lord when the angels told them Jesus had been born. (2) To praise; to be proud or happy; to boast.

A statue or other image of a god that is made by people and then worshiped as if it had the power of God. Idols are often made of wood, stone, or metal. Sometimes the Bible calls anything that takes the place of God in a person’s life an idol. God tells us not to worship idols but, rather, to worship only him.

A person who helps people settle their disagreements. When the Israelites were settling in the Promised Land after the death of Joshua, God chose leaders called judges to rule the people. Often these judges led the people in battle against their enemies. Some of the judges were Deborah, Gideon, and Samuel. After kings began to rule Israel, judges once again settled disagreements and took care of official business.

(1) All the rules God gave to help people to know and love him and to live happily with each other. The Ten Commandments are part of God’s law. (2) The first five books of the Bible. These five books are often called the Law. (3) The entire Old Testament. Sometimes the Old Testament is referred to as the Law. (4) Any rule that must be obeyed, whether it was decided by God or by people. (5) God’s rules in the Old Testament plus other rules added by Jewish religious leaders. (6) The conscience of an unbeliever who knows he or she has not followed his or her own moral code (see Romans 2:14-16).

A person who does not worship the true God, especially a person who worships idols.

(1) To come back to life after being dead. Jesus died, was buried, and after three days he rose from the dead. That event is called the Resurrection. It shows Jesus’ power over sin and death. (2) A future time when everyone who has ever lived will live again in new, spiritual bodies that will never die. Those who do not love God will be separated from him forever.

To make known something that was hidden or unknown. In Old Testament times, God revealed himself through his mighty acts and through his words to the prophets and to other people such as Abraham, Moses, and David. In the New Testament, God made himself known by sending Jesus Christ. As Jesus lived on earth, he revealed God’s love, his holiness, and his power, helping us know what God is like. One of the ways God reveals himself to us is through his Word, the Bible. The last book of the Bible is called the Revelation of Jesus Christ because it describes how Jesus will triumph over evil.

The most powerful enemy of God and all people. Other names for Satan include the devil, the evil one, the prince of this world, the father of lies, the enemy, the adversary, and Lucifer. Satan is the ruler of a kingdom made up of demons. He hates God and tries to destroy God’s work. The Bible tells us that in the end, God will destroy Satan and the demons.

Untrue things said about a person in order to hurt his or her reputation. The Bible says that slander is sin.

The permanent place in Jerusalem where the Jews worshiped God. The first temple was built by King Solomon and the people by following the instructions God had given Solomon’s father, King David. The temple was a very beautiful place. It was destroyed and rebuilt twice. In AD 64, the temple was destroyed again but was not rebuilt.

Languages. The New Testament records miraculous speaking in tongues, indicating that the Holy Spirit enabled believers to speak in languages they had never learned.

Attached and attracted to values and commitments that go against God rather than being attracted to the values and commitments of the eternal kingdom of God. The Bible warns against loving worldly things more than the things of God.

Dictionary Source

This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. 

Tough Questions
from 1 Corinthians

We have found answers to some tough questions that we anticipate may arise as you read 1 Corinthians. We know we can’t answer every question you will have; therefore, we have written this article, so you know how to find answers for your kids: How Do I Answer Tough Questions About the Bible?

Insights about 1 Corinthians

The following insights are from pastors and scholars who have spent significant time studying the book of 1 Corinthians.

Though Paul’s letter specifically addresses the many problems in the Corinthian church, this book is really about holiness, about living the Christian life. In fact, if we wanted to distill all of Paul’s church epistles into a single grand truth, it would be this: act like what you are. The Corinthians, like their twenty-first-century counterparts, did not need to learn how to be righteous, but rather how to live out the righteousness that Christ has provided, even when immersed in a culture that is decidedly unholy. 

. . . 

Paul teaches that believers can and must be holy, even when immersed in a culture that is not. Paul’s choice of the word saint to identify believers is both a reminder and a subtle rebuke. “Act like what you are” is his challenge. Believers should remember Paul’s declaration that, during this period in which we wait for the Lord’s return, the church does not lack any spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 1:7). No matter how inadequate we may feel, no matter how much we have struggled, our failures are not because we are not equipped. In Jesus we obtained everything needed for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). When you feel weak, you can be strong, for we know he keeps uswe don’t keep ourselves. Our security is rooted, not in our service, but in our Savior. We can be strong, we can endure, we can persevere! If Paul could make this promise to first-century Christians in Corinth with all their problems and sins, twenty-first-century Christians can believe it too.  

—Hershael W. York  

Source: York, Hershael W. 40 Days in 1 Corinthians. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2021.

Before Paul took the Corinthians to task for their failures as Christians, he carefully and lovingly reminded them that they belonged to God and to each other in a far-reaching fellowship. He summarized their position and their blessings as believers in Jesus Christ, as children of God, as saints. The benefits of being a Christian have three dimensions. Some are past, given the moment we accept Christ as Savior and Lord. Other benefits are present, worked out as we live our lives in him. Still other blessings are future, to be experienced only when we go to be with him in heaven. In the past there is grace, in the present there are gifts, and for the future there are guarantees. Our past is already taken care of, our present is provided for, and our future is assured. In so many words, Paul was saying: “Look who you are! Look at what you have!” Only then does he say, “Now I exhort you…”  

—John MacArthur  

Source: Taken from 1 Corinthians: Godly Solutions for Church Problems by John MacArthur Copyright © 2007 by John MacArthur. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com

When using the term “saint”, the New Testament does not mean a specially pious or self-sacrificing Christian who has been canonized by an ecclesiastical council. The Greek word translated “saint” is hagios, meaning “set apart one” or “holy one.” All believers have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and are saints by calling. The Corinthian believers were holy in God’s sight, regardless of their sinful living and distorted doctrine. They were saints because they had been sanctified (from hagiazō), set apart from sin, made holy in Christ Jesus.  

—John MacArthur  

Source: Taken from 1 Corinthians: Godly Solutions for Church Problems by John MacArthur Copyright © 2007 by John MacArthur. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com

First Corinthians discusses many hotly debated issues, including divorce and remarriage, gender roles in worship, and spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and prophecy. While we must acknowledge the complexity of the issues, we should not allow this to obscure gospel principles that are clearly expressed in the text. 

—C. D. “Jimmy” Agan III  

Source: Content adapted from the ESV Gospel Transformation Study Bible by C. D. “Jimmy” Agan III. This article first appeared on Crossway.org; used with permission. 

The apostle Paul’s epistle to the Corinthian church covers many different theological and practical questions, but there is one central issue he is addressing: unity. The Corinthian church was fractured, and the chief reason was pride. This pride manifested itself in a skewed view of the gospel, which led to sinful attitudes about things such as speech and knowledge, and a misuse of their spiritual gifts.

Like many churches today, the Corinthian church was very gifted. The people were intellectually sharp; some were financially blessed; they were variously talented and had very visible and powerful gifts from the Holy Spirit. Yet those gifts were not submitted to the greatest of the Spirit’s purposes in human lives, namely, love. Paul argues throughout this letter that Christ-exalting, cross-defined love must replace the puffed-up pride that coursed through this church. In fact, a key principle in 1 Corinthians is that giftedness without character leads to bondage and sin, not freedom and redemption.

—Jay Thomas

Source: Content taken from 1 Corinthians: A 12-Week Study © 2015 by Jay Thomas. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Parents who have watched their children fight with one another may recognize the tone of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church. This is a spiritual father pleading, confronting, and reasoning with his wayward offspring to get along with one another. Paul founded the church and personally led many of its members to the Lord. He had watched them take their first steps in Christ and had a personal interest in their spiritual wellbeing. So imagine his alarm when he began to receive reports of their dysfunction and misbehavior—and when he received letters from them with questions that revealed they had matured little in the years since his departure. Paul’s stern but loving words reveal that he wanted to hold the Corinthian believers accountable for their actions but also show them their immense potential in Christ.  

—David Jeremiah 

Source: Taken from 1 Corinthians: The Authentic Christian Life by David Jeremiah Copyright © 2019 by David Jeremiah. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com

The length of the letter and the rhetorical care with which it is written reveal how much Paul loves the Corinthians and wants to win them over. The depth of theological argument, even when addressing things that you would think are obvious…highlights his desire for believers not just to change their actions but to understand why they should do so. His tender language displays his affection for them. The way he sandwiches his ethical teaching between sections on the cross (chapter 1) and the resurrection (chapter 15) shows that for Paul, the gospel really is the beginning and the end of the Christian life.  

—Andrew Wilson 

Source: 1 Corinthians for You by Andrew Wilson, copyright 2021 by The Good Book Company, used by Kind Permission.

The believers in Corinth faced many issues as they struggled to maintain their Christian identity in a city filled with immorality, idolatry, and competing philosophies. In many ways their situation was similar to ours. For this reason, we would do well to listen to Paul’s warnings and advice and apply them to our lives. Paul’s letter rebukes and corrects—but it also serves to focus our attention on Jesus. In the end, we come to realize the incredible love Jesus has for us as we take confidence in the fact that his victory over the grave guarantees our own future resurrection.  

—David Jeremiah  

Source: Taken from 1 Corinthians: The Authentic Christian Life by David Jeremiah Copyright © 2019 by David Jeremiah. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com

But what about issues that are not specifically mentioned in the Scriptures—how do we determine God’s will and develop conviction in those areas?

1. “Everything is permissible for me—but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
Question 1: Is it helpful—physically, spiritually, and mentally?

2. “‘Everything is permissible for me’—but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
Question 2: Does it bring me under its power?

3. “Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall” (1 Corinthians 8:13).
Question 3: Does it hurt others?

4. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Question 4: Does it glorify God?

—Jerry Bridges  

Source: Bridges, Jerry. The Pursuit of Holiness. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1996. Quote retrieved from Grace Quotes at gracequotes.org.

Many people today, like the Corinthians of old, pray constantly for the power of the Spirit. They forget that all the gifts that God bestows are given so that Christ might be exalted and others blessed. If God gives me any little gift at all, he gives it not so that I may gather people about myself, but so that it may through me be a blessing for others. God gave these nine gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 to assist in the founding of the new Church, but people were using them to gratify their pride. Paul points out that the purpose of the gifts is for building the Church (see 1 Corinthians 12), that they should be used in love (see 1 Corinthians 13); and that their value was to be measured by their usefulness to the Church.

—Henrietta Mears

Source: This content is from What the Bible Is All About, written by Henrietta Mears. Copyright © 1953, 2011 by Gospel Light. Copyright assigned to Tyndale House Publishers, 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

1 Corinthians Playlist

Discover music inspired by the message and content of the book of 1 Corinthians.

God’s Own Fool
by Michael Card | 70s 80s 90s
I Am Not My Own
by Keith & Kristyn Getty and Skye Peterson | Hymn
May the Mind of Christ My Savior
by The Worship Team | Hymn
So I Can Love
by The Worship Initiative and Shane & Shane | Praise & Worship
We Are the Body of Christ
by John Chisum feat. Integrity's Hosanna! Music | Praise & Worship
Do Everything
by Steven Curtis Chapman | Contemporary 
Remember and Proclaim
by Andrew Peterson | Indie
Resurrection Power
by Chris Tomlin | Contemporary
Hope of the Ages
by Hillsong Worship feat. Reuben Morgan and Cody Carnes | Praise & Worship
Where, O Grave Is Your Victory?
by Co-Mission | Praise & Worship
Cleansed
by Charity Gayle | Praise & Worship
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