First Corinthians - Introduction and Outline

 Written by: The Apostle Paul

When: about 54-56 A.D. Most likely during the third year of his stay in Ephesus, per most dictionaries or commentaries. 

Message and Purpose:Main theme: “All believers belong to the Lord. Jesus is Lord: believers are His possession. Whatever the issue, the answer was always addressed with a reminder of the Lord’s authority over them...

Paul’s purpose in writing: This first letter to the Corinthians was to motivate the Corinthian church to acknowledge the Lord’s ownership of them and the implications this had in their lives. Key topics Paul addresses in this overarching theme of the ownership and authority of the Lord include:

• Christian unity, 
• morality, 
• the role of women, 
• spiritual gifts, and the resurrection... 

Paul gave specific solutions to specific problems, but the underlying answer to all these problems is for the church and its members to live Christ-centered lives. It all comes down to living under the lordship and authority of Christ, the head of His body (the church).”

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Note: My intent was to have each section of verses of the chapter in italics, with discussion following. If there were significant phrases or words, these are handled separately, and will be shown italicized and bold. Verses quoted as reference or explanation will be italics with the address bold.

Please forgive fractured grammar, and partial sentences. These were notes written as I thought and prayed during the study. The truncated written thought was fully developed in my mind, or so I like to believe.

ISSUES COVERED IN 1 CORINTHIANS. 
• Denominations (Divisions) Based on Personalitiy, e.g., pastor or evangelist
• Worldly wisdom - 1:19-31 
• Spiritual wisdom - ch. 2
• Fleshly Behavior - 3:1-23 
• Stewardship - ch. 4 
• Immorality - ch. 5 
• Airing differences before non-believers - 6
• Lack of Moral Purity - 6
• Marriage/Husbands /Wives - 7
• Idols and Arrogance - 8, 10
• Support of Missionaries - 9
• Communion - 11
• Spiritual Gifts - 12, 14
• Tongues - 14
• Doctrinal Issues - 15

 

Outline of Paul's First Letter to the church in Corinth
Chap. 1 1:1-3 - Hello. It’s Paul 1:4-9 - Enriched in Jesus 1:10-17 - Divisions 1:18-25 - Wisdom 1:26-31 - God’s Wisdom	Chap. 9 9:1-6 - Support Paul & Barnabas 9:7-11 - Soldiers & Oxen 9:12-18 - My Reward 9:19-23 - For Gospel’s Sake 9:24-27 - Discipline to Win
Chap. 2 2:1-5 - Spiritual Wisdom and power in Christ crucified 2:6-9 - Wisdom in a Mystery 2:10-16 - Wisdom revealed by the Holy Spirit	Chap. 10 10:1-5 - Our Ancestors 10:6-11 - Examples for Us 10:12-13 - Temptation is Normal 10:14-22 - Idols Are Not All that Important 10:23-33 - Do All to Glory
Chap. 3 3:1-9 - You Are Fleshly 3:10-15 - Built on Christ’s Foundation 3:16-17 - Temple of God 3:18-23 - You Belong to Christ	Chap. 11 11:1-2 - Imitators of Christ 11:3-7 - Spiritual Hierarchy 11:8-16 - Praying Men & Women 11:17-19 - Who is right; who is Wrong 11:20-26 - Communion 11:27-34 - Lord’s Supper
Chap. 4 4:1-5 - We Are Servants 4:6-8 - Fools, Do not be Arrogant 4:9-13 - Working to build you up 4:14-21 - Admonishments	Chap. 12 12:1-3 - Be Led by the Holy Spirit 12:4-7 - Holy Spirit is for your Benefit 12:8-11 - Spiritual Gifts 12:12-13 - Baptized into the Body 12:14-20 - Body 12:21-25 - Care for Every Member 12:26-31 - Seek Greater Gifts
Chap. 5 - Rules For harmonious living 5:1-5 - Immorality and Arrogance 5:6-8 - Clean Out 5:9-13 - Keep the House Clean	Chap. 13 13:1-3 - Without Love 13:4-8 - Love is... 13:9-13 - When Perfect Comes
Chap. 6 - Rules for harmonious living 6:1-8 - Going to Court 6:9-11 - Inheritors of the Kingdom 6:12-13 - All Things Lawful 6:14-20 - In the Body of Christ	Chap. 14 14:1-5 - Prophecy vs. Tongues 14:6-9 - Understandable Tongues 14:10-14 - Language must have meaning 14:15-19 - Spiritual Gifts 14:20-25 - Tongues 14:26-33 - Edification 14:34-35 - Keep Quiet 14:36-40 - Do Things Properly
Chap. 7 7:1-6 - Marry or Immorality - your choice 7:7-9 - If Possible 7:10-16 - Married to an Unbeliever 7:17-24 - As You Were 7:25-35 - Demands of Marriage 7:36-38 - Virgin Daughters 7:39-40 - Widows and Re-Marriage/td>	Chap. 15 15:1-2 - Hold Fast 15:3-8 - Gospel 15:9-11 - Labor 15:12-19 - Christ is Risen 15:20-28 - Christ Reigns 15:29-34 - Baptism 15:35-41 - Resurrected 15:42-49 - Perishable vs. Imperishable 15:50-58 - Flesh & Blood
Chap. 8 8:1-6 - Sacrifice to Idols 8:7-13 - Use Knowledge Wisely	Chap. 16 16:1-9 - Offerings 16:10-12 - Timothy Coming 16:13-14 - Be Ready in Love 16:15-18 - Shout Outs 16:19-24 - Closing

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Note 1: Most of the New Testament writings, which comprise the Holy Scripture of the Church, were written between 45-70 A.D. The last writing was the Revelation to John, believed to have been written about 90-95 A.D. Most of the letters by Paul, Peter, etc., were written before the any of the Gospels. First Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians may have been the first of the church writings. I use ‘may have’, and ‘probably’ because we rely on information and confirmation of scripture by church fathers and leaders who lived many, many years after the beginnings of the Christian church. The Gospels were written by men who had either met Jesus personally, or got ‘first-person’ evidence from men who had spent time with Jesus. All of the letters were written by men who knew Jesus personally. Paul is a special case, in that he had a personal encounter on the road to Damascus, and then was taught by Jesus for a period of time. 

James 5:19-20 - Conclusion

19 My friends, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings you back again,
20 remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner's soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

Support Each Other

James closes out his letter. Like much of the rest of this letter, he does not waste a lot of words, he just stops.

V. 19-20 - “if any of you wander away from the truth” - Look back a couple of verses. He tells us to pray for each other, and our sins will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other, and you will be healed. Committing sins is wandering away from the truth. For me, ‘wandering’ is more than an occasional ‘oops, I messed up’, but a change from following Jesus to ignoring or opposing Him.

“another one brings you back again” - This is Christians looking out for each other, helping each other, encouraging and correcting. We remind each other the path that Jesus has called us to walk. The writer of Hebrews said, “And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Heb. 10:24-25)

“whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner's soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.” - Powerful words, here! I do not think this is saying that Christians can lose their salvation. It seems to say that, I will admit. If I am a believer and then decide to turn away, my life will not be satisfying (pleasant, happy, etc.).

James jumps from bringing a struggling Christian back to obedience, to saving sinners. Saving a Christian from judgement is totally different from saving a sinner from Hell. Actually we humans can do neither. We can bring another into the presence of Christ, and help them see that salvation and fulfillment comes only from Christ.

Forgiveness for a Christian’s errant behavior means that the believer can live empowered by the Holy Spirit. A ‘fallen’ Christian cannot not be empowered by the Holy Spirit, unless and until he confesses and repents of his sin and asks the Spirit to fill and control him. This is the same way that a non-Christian receives the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior - confessing sin, believing and accepting Jesus as Messiah and Savior given by God the Father to us. Neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit forces themselves upon you, your soul and spirit.

In Conclusion:

I am reading a book by Eric Metaxis, “Letter to the American Church”, in which he compares the Christian church in America to the German Christian churches in pre-World War II. He notes that the German churches had taken the concept of ‘saved by faith alone’ to the point that ‘works’ were anathema. They had ‘forgotten’ that our faith must be lived out, our lives demonstrate the efficacy of our faith.

That point is what the letter by James is about - your faith is shown in how you live. The letter by James was not universally accepted by church leaders - it took a long time to be accepted into the New Testament canon. Why? Because the letter does not emphasize ‘faith alone’. It does remind us that our lives must demonstrate our faith in Christ.

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End of Letter

James 5:16-18 - Pray For One Another

16 So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.
17 Elijah was the same kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and no rain fell on the land for three and a half years.
18 Once again he prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops.

The Prayer of a Good Person

V. 16 - “So then, confess your sins to one another ” - Continuing on from the previous paragraph in which we are urged to share our needs openly with fellow believers: James had just said that when we pray for one another, bodies can be healed, sins can be forgiven. He goes further than sharing our ailments with other Christians.

Share your spiritual burdens, sins, with other Christians. This is amazing! Do I really want to tell anyone my sins, my failings? What will they think of me? Will they shun me? Many of us have trouble confessing to the Lord - even though He already knows, being omniscient! Amazingly, I think 'Yes' that is what we are to do - confess to another believer. This does not mean stand up in church and tell all. Have someone who can be a confidant, someone with whom you have established a relatlionship. Get alone, pray and share you plight. Have that person pray with and for you. Keep it private, just between you and the other. You can easily convince yourself that what you did isn't all that bad, and maybe you don't need to confess. Confessing out loud moves it from conjecture to the reality of facing your failings.

James is saying that confessing your sins to other Christians will bring about cleansing. I do not believe that the Christians have anything to do with bringing about the forgiveness - that comes from the Lord, and only the Lord. Confessing your sins is agreeing with the Lord that you have wronged Him, that you need forgiveness. It is not just admitting you have sinned  (although that is a significant part of confession). If you will not admit you have done wrong, then you will not seek forgiveness from the Lord. Your stubborn, sinful self stands in the way of the spiritual healing we all desperately need.

James is also speaking about Christians getting along with other Christians. Anger and bitterness can destroy the unity of the church. If you have offended someone; go, confess and ask for forgiveness. If someone has offended you, forgive them. That can 'cleanse' the bad feelings that can destroy a church. 

A sermon heard recently emphasized the ‘speaking out’ as a means of ‘releasing’ the issue. I think this aspect ties in closely to Rom 10:9, 10; “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” We see that speaking about the issue, whether it is confessing a sin or confessing that you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that act shows you have made a decision. You have announced it to the world, and have made the commitment to go through with your decision.

“pray for one another, so that you will be healed” - What are the truths about prayer emphasized here? Accountability - we are not ‘accountable’ to fellow Christians (our behavior may have a positive or negative effect on Christians around us - but we answer to Christ alone). Speaking about your sin brings it out into the open, you cannot deny you said it or did it. This is similar to confessing Christ as Lord and Savior. Saying it cements it in your heart and mind. See: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.” (Rom 10:9-10)

Confession leads to cleansing by the Lord. See also: 1 John 1:8, 9 - “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, ‘We have not sinned,’ we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

“The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect.” - Being supported in our prayers for healing - physical and spiritual - by another believer buoys us up. Knowing that we are supported by Christians around us, gives us some confidence when we come to the Lord. We know, or at least should know, that when we pray he hears us. See: “This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.” (1 John 5:14-15) But on the other hand, if there is a cloud of witnesses praying with us, isn’t that a plus? (No. I do not think that God will hear a crowd praying over, or before, a single voice lifted to Him. He hears all of our prayers.) However, having other Christians praying with us, echoing our pleas, helps us to think we are on the right track with our requests. When others pray with us we can feel that we are not alone, and be encouraged.

V. 17-18 - “Elijah was the same kind of person as we are.” - The King James Version translates this to read "like passions as we..." Elijah is given as an example to de-mystify him (i.e., if he can do it, so can you!) We often elevate the prophets, like Elijah, Isaiah, or Jeremiah, putting them on ‘pedestals’, thinking we could never be heard by God as those prophets were heard.

What are the truths about prayer emphasized here? Believe in God, believe also in Jesus Christ.  (See also: John 14:1) It does not take massive faith in Jesus to seek Him to work in and for you. See also Matt. 17:19, 20  “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately, and said,  Why were we not able to send it out? And he says to them, Because of your little faith: for truly I say to you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Be moved from this place to that; and it will be moved; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Requiring a 'massive' faith before you do anything for the Lord is closely related to requiring works to make you 'good enough' for Jesus to want to save you. That line of thinking is a form of heresy in which we can be good and God will then find us acceptable - which flies in the face of Rom 5:8.

As mentioned earlier in comments on James chapter 4: Motivation is the key. Prayer is not magic: i.e., You ask, therefore, you get. James is teaching us that we are to focus our prayers on Christ and what He has planned for us. When we are attuned to His plans, our prayers will be asked according to His will, not our selfish desires. He is not saying personal prayers are wrong, just personal prayers for self pleasure, wealth

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James 5:13-15 - Prayer

As James closes out the letter in the next few verses, he gives a series of directions, (not necessarily commands), but advice on living together in the Christian family of believers. This is the first of a series instructions that end the letter, on how to live while waiting for Christ’s return.

He deals with:

• praying for the sick in health and circumstances (vs. 13-15); 
• prayer for those who are struggling in their faith (vs. 16-18); 
• and helping those who struggle in their faith to return (vs. 19-20).

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13 Are any among you in trouble? They should pray. Are any among you happy? They should sing praises.
14 Are any among you sick? They should send for the church elders, who will pray for them and rub olive oil on them in the name of the Lord.
15 This prayer made in faith will heal the sick; the Lord will restore them to health, and the sins they have committed will be forgiven.

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V. 13 - “Are any among you in trouble? .” We see here in verses 13 and 14 James addressing the church body. (Key words: “any”, “anyone”) Looking back to chapter 4, verses 2-3, James is addressing the similar problem - i.e., asking with the wrong motives; but perhaps in this case, they are not praying enough, or at all. I think James had Paul’s admonition in mind when he wrote this advice. Paul said, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phi 4:6)

Both James and Paul combine supplication and praise. This would not be too unusual for Jewish believers because they have the Psalms to learn from. David often cried out to God for help, and included praise to God for His love and mercy.

A number of years ago, I was taught the acronym ‘ACTS’ as a guide for prayer.

“A” - Adoration - singing praises to God. Praise is an important part of prayer.
“C” - Confession of sin to God, that we might be cleansed of sin and guilt
“T” - Thanksgiving - for all that the Lord has done and will do.
“S” - Supplication - speaking our requests to God.

Why is praise important to prayer? Praise helps us to focus on God, His majesty, His power, His love for us. Praise helps to prepare our hearts and minds to make our requests in the proper attitude - requests to the all-powerful, and all-loving God of the universe. We can bring nothing to Him but our worship of Him. We have no standing to make demands. We only have the privilege of asking as a child of the Most High God.

V. 14 - Are any among you sick?” - Prayer for times of sickness. It is entirely appropriate to ask for the church elders to come and pray for a sick person.

“church elders, who will pray for them and rub olive oil” - Any church member can pray for healing for another - this is not limited to the church elders. We may assume the elders are people in the church that have demonstrated a long-standing faith and obedience in Christ. These would be the local leaders of the church.

“Anointing with oil” is not a common practice in the modern church. What is the purpose of the oil? Several of the commentaries indicated that olive oil was considered medicinal. They did not have the advantage of modern medicine with antibiotics, etc. I do not know if there is any healing power in olive oil, but it is mentioned several times in scripture for this purpose (See: Mark 6:13 - healings; Isa 1:6 - wounds soothed; Luk 10:34 - wounds bandaged.) Anointing with oil was also a symbol of God’s blessing being poured out on a leader or a needy person.

"in the name of the Lord" - This is similar to ending prayers with “in the name of Jesus”. As noted above: asking in “Jesus’ Name” is appealing to God’s grace and mercy based on the price Christ paid for our sins. We appeal to the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We are not appealing to all three of the Godhead just in case one of them is not listening to our prayers. We do not need to get them to pay attention.
We are saying, “If You, O Lord, are willing, please heal this believer!” We do not know God’s will and purpose in the ‘micro-details’ of our lives. In the big picture, God wants all to believe and accept Him as Savior. Praying in the ‘name of the Lord’ always reminds us that we are totally dependent upon Him for life and breath and health. This is to focus our attention on the Lord, rather than on ourselves our abilities, our labor,  our circumstances, our science and health system? (See also: John 16:23-26. - I think this statement means when we ask Jesus we are talking directly to God. Jesus is not an intermediary through whom we must funnel our prayers. We speak to Jesus, we speak to God Himself.)

V. 15 - This prayer made in faith will heal the sick ” - In this prayer session, the sick person asks the church elders to pray for him. The prayer of faith, by the elders, appeals to God and Jesus to heal. The healing comes from God, not the elders. (See note 1, below.)

“the sins they have committed will be forgiven.” - This is about prayers of intercession for the sick. The elders pray for the sick person, and two things happen - the sickness is healed and their sins are forgiven. We know from Luke 5:18-26, when a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus. The first thing Jesus did was to forgive the man’s sin. The Pharisees were incensed, “How dare you!” Jesus asked then which was easier, forgiving sins or healing a broken and sick body. Don’t both take intervention from the Lord God? If Jesus has the power, ability to forgive our sins, does he also not have the power to heal our bodies?

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Note 1: I will admit I do not completely understand this verse (5:15). The statement is that the prayers of the elders will bring God to action who will heal the ill or injured person. If the elders pray, and the person is not healed, what is the problem? Did the elders not have the faith required? That last question is most likely the wrong question. I have heard people say that prayers are answered with a "Yes", or "No", or "Not Now." Both the 'No' and 'Not Now" brings us to the point of deciding if we will have faith in the Lord and trust Him. It is not a very robust faith if it is active only when I get the things I want - that is the behavior of a spoiled child.
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James 5:12 - Say What You Mean; Mean What You Say

In the next few verses as James closes out the letter, he gives a series of directions, not necessarily commands, but advice on living together in the Christian family of believers. This is the first of a series instructions that end the letter, on how to live while waiting for Christ’s return

He deals with:

• honesty and reputation (v. 12); 
• praying for the sick in health and circumstances (vs. 13-15); 
• prayer for those who are struggling in their faith (vs. 16-18); 
• and helping those who struggle in their faith to return (vs. 19-20).

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12 “Above all, my friends, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Say only ‘Yes’ when you mean yes, and ‘No’ when you mean no, and then you will not come under God's judgment.”

Let Your Word Be Your Bond

V. 12 - “above all” - James is saying, “In addition to all the issues just discussed in this letter, include the following in your life in Christ.”

“Do not use an oath” - This is not about foul language, but appealing to a ‘higher power’ to guarantee a promise. It seems that it had become a common occurrence for someone to say, “I swear by all that is holy that I will…” or, (I swear by God that what I said is the truth.” It had become a Jewish custom of swearing oaths, unnecessary and improper; basically using God in an oath appeals to His involvement.

Here is an example of ‘swearing’ from our court system: “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” (I think in our degraded society, this question is no longer asked, especially using a Bible and the name of the Lord.)

I got the following from a commentary by Matthew Henry: “The true nature of an oath is, by our speech, to pawn the reputation of some certain or great thing, for the averring of a doubted less thing; and not (as is commonly held) an appeal to God or other judge."

Don’t use God, His Name, or His Son as a guarantor of your commitment or pledge. Your personal reputation must be evident to those around you based on the way you act and live. There should be no question when you say you will do thus or so. “You said it, that settles it.” (Note 1) A handshake is all the contract needed because you are trustworthy.

How is this different than praying in Jesus' name? An ‘oath’ is asking a higher power to guarantee the result. Asking in “Jesus’ Name” is appealing to God’s grace and mercy based on the price Christ paid for our sins. For that reason alone, we should be aware to not use Jesus’ Name when asking for frivolous things, for wants and desires and pleasures. I do not mean it is a sin to ask for ‘wants’ to be fulfilled, but God is not a piggy bank to be raided to get what I want.

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Note 1: I think that is a quote from an old Walter Brennan TV series “The Guns of Will Sonnett”.