Here is a teaching on chapter 1 of the book of 1 Corinthians. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters from now on, join our group here. Once you get added to that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and see all the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
I did want to say a quick prayer... LORD, I pray that You lift up every person reading this right now. Please give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we are reading and the wisdom to implement it in our daily lives. Please open up our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and our minds to You LORD. I pray that whatever it is that each person is supposed to receive from this Bible study, they receive it and implement it in their daily lives. I love You with every ounce of my being. In Jesus' name, Amen.
1 Corinthians Chapter 1:
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Alright, so I am going to stop right there and discuss these verses with you guys here. So in verse 1, we see that the apostle Paul (formerly known as Saul) and Sosthenes wrote to the church in Corinth. If you've kept up with any of our Bible studies in the past in the book of Acts and also Galatians we went over the apostle Paul. So this whole book of Corinthians was a letter to the Church of Corinth.
In verse 4, Paul is thankful for these people in the church of Corinth because they have grace given to them by Jesus Christ. So all of these people in the church of Corinth were together in one. The apostles, the brothers, and the believers of Jesus Christ were all together in one. Even though Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth in Ephesus during his ministry there and they weren't in the same location, they were together through Jesus Christ. Paul was thankful for these people in the church of Corinth because they had grace from Christ Jesus, they had been enriched in every way, and spoke in knowledge because of the testimony of the brothers and apostles about Jesus Christ that was confirmed in those people in the church of Corinth.
In verse 7, these people were given all of the spiritual gifts. Whenever we are saved by Jesus Christ we have the Holy Spirit within us, we have the fruit of the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives each person different spiritual gifts. Here in this verse, Paul says that they lack no spiritual gift but they eagerly wait for the Lord Jesus to be revealed. So these people are looking toward Jesus and waiting for the time when he comes back for his people and they are speaking with knowledge, having spiritual gifts, living in the way of the Lord, and seeking to live and have a heart like Jesus. All of us should look toward Jesus, let the Holy Spirit guide us, portray the fruit of the Spirit to others, and use the spiritual gifts that are given to us by the Holy Spirit.
What Paul says in verse 8, whenever we let the Holy Spirit guide us, we will never be led astray. The Holy Spirit will keep us strong and we will be able to do all that God has called us to do and stand up under temptation as long as we are letting the Holy Spirit guide us and staying faithful to the calling that God has placed on our hearts. Whenever the Lord Christ Jesus comes we will be blameless because we had stayed steadfast and continued to stand firm in our faith and let the Holy Spirit guide us. This doesn't mean that we are going to be exempt from sin or never sin because we as mere humans are sinners, but we will be able to discern the truth, know what is right and wrong, seek to live and have a heart like Jesus, and walk in the ways of the Lord if we are letting the Holy Spirit guide us and asking for strength and everything that we need from God the Father. In verse 9, God the Father is faithful and He will fulfill His promises to us. We just have to stand firm in our faith, trust in Him completely, let Him lead and guide us, obey His commands, worship Him, and do all that we can to seek the Lord and seek heavenly things and not be conformed by this world.
10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there be no divisions among you and that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
In verse 10, Paul was appealing to the brothers in the church because there were some divisions. He wanted them to agree and resolve all of the divisions and be in complete unity with each other as believers in Jesus Christ. As we saw from our Bible study in Acts chapter 2, verse 44 it says: "All of the believers were together and had everything in common." Jesus prays to God the Father about this in John chapter 17. In verses 22-23 of John 17 Jesus prays to God the Father and says: "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." So Paul doesn't want these divisions in the church of Corinth. He wants all of them to be in complete unity with Christ, to have everything in common, and to stop arguing about things and having these divisions because that is what Jesus Christ wants for us. Jesus wants us to be in complete unity with each other as believers in Him. Us in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ in God the Father. We as believers of Jesus Christ all have one mission; to spread the gospel of Jesus to others in hopes that they may be saved by Him. We should also love and serve others and seek to have a heart and mind like Jesus.
In verse 12, some of these people were having quarrels with each other and saying that they follow this apostle or that apostle or some were saying that they follow Christ, but all of us as believers of Jesus Christ should only follow Him. Just like Paul says in verse 13, Paul wasn't crucified for us, Jesus Christ was crucified for us. Jesus isn't divided, He loves all of us, and will save anyone who comes to Him and asks for forgiveness. Jesus wants us all to be saved by Him and go to heaven. When we are baptized it is in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So even though someone tells us about God or spreads the gospel to us, we shouldn't ever say that we follow that person. Jesus Christ is the one that we should follow. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. This is what Paul is telling the people in the church of Corinth; to all be together in one, know that Jesus Christ is the one to follow, and they are all believers of Jesus Christ so they shouldn't be divided.
In verses 14-17, Paul goes on to say that he's glad he didn't baptize anyone except for the people that he names here, because Jesus Christ didn't send him to baptize but to preach the gospel of Jesus to others. Like we saw in Acts chapter 9 with Saul's (Paul's) conversion where he became blind and Jesus said to Ananias that this man Paul (formerly known as Saul) was Jesus's chosen instrument to carry His name before the Gentiles and the people of Israel. So Jesus used Paul to spread the gospel so that other people may know about Jesus and be saved by Him. Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit and he let the Holy Spirit guide him and he only spoke the truth that the Holy Spirit had given him. The truth that the Holy Spirit gives us is from God the Father. Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive us of our sins. He made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross and that is so powerful.
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18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Alright, those are all of the verses of chapter 1 of the book of 1 Corinthians, but I'm going to discuss these verses with you guys here. In verse 18, people that are full of evil and corruption and people that are not saved and just living their life perfectly content in sin won't understand the message of the cross of Jesus. Those of us that are saved and believe in Jesus Christ know that it's from the power of God the Father that Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive us of our sins. God the Father sent His only Son Jesus, our Savior, to die on the cross for us so that whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life in heaven with Him and God the Father. The verse that it quotes in verse 19 is from Isaiah 19:14. So these super intelligent religious people that think that they know everything there is to know about the Bible and the law and about God, will be confused and frustrated because they won't understand the message of Jesus Christ. Just like the Pharisees and the religious leaders whenever Jesus died on the cross, those were the people who crucified Him. The Pharisees, the people that were well known and knew all about the Bible and the law, were the people that crucified Jesus or wanted Him to be crucified.
In verses 20-25, Paul is showing here that the gospel of Jesus Christ that we preach (that all who come to Jesus, ask for forgiveness, and believe in Jesus Christ are saved,) is foolishness to people that think they are wise and people that don't believe in Jesus. These Philosophers, scholars, and people that think that they know all there is to know, think that the message we are preaching about Jesus isn't true. Through all of the wisdom of the world, these people didn't know Jesus Christ. They didn't know the Messiah when He was standing right in front of them and they wanted Him to be crucified. So all of the foolishness, or really the truth of Jesus Christ that is being testified now, God is pleased with the preaching of saving lives through Jesus Christ because He is the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him. In verses 22-23, what Paul says here, these Jews wanted miraculous signs and the Greeks were looking for some type of wisdom to show them the truth, but the apostles and we as believers of Jesus Christ talk about Christ being crucified because that is the ultimate sacrifice that He made to forgive us of our sins. That is something that we should be spreading to everyone in hopes that they may be saved by Him also. These Jews and Gentiles think that is just foolish talk and it's not true because they are looking for these miraculous signs and this wisdom and all they need to know is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, rose 3 days later, and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life in heaven with Him and God the Father. What Paul says in verse 25, God is the Almighty, He's all-powerful, the most wonderful, and Most High, He is omniscient, He is stronger than we could ever imagine, and He is higher than we could ever imagine, so even the foolishness of Him is wiser than any man's wisdom. God's weakness is stronger than any man's strength because we can not even fathom the power of God. We as mere humans will not ever be able to understand God's power and strength and all about Him. We just have to trust and know that He is the Almighty, He is our Creator, and not try to search for these miraculous signs, this wisdom, and all of that but know the truth of God's words, that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and spread that to others.
In verses 26-29, Paul is saying to these other believers that before they were called to spread the gospel of Jesus they weren't wise by human standards. God chose these regular men that were not wise as others may say or didn't have great influence or power or anything like that, and He used them to shame the wise people and the strong people of the world, the people that thought that they knew everything, because these people that God chose, and He's still choosing us today as Christians, spread the truth that Jesus Christ walked on this earth, lived a sinless life, was crucified on the cross for our sins, rose 3 days later, and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life in heaven with Him and God the Father. Whenever we are saved we have to Holy Spirit within us, we have to let the Holy Spirit guide us, we have the fruit of the Spirit within us, and we have to portray that to others. None of us can boast because we are nothing without God. Whenever we were saved by Jesus Christ we became a new creation, we are in Jesus, and we are children of God the Father. No one that is a believer of Jesus Christ or no one at all can boast because we are nothing without Jesus. Our main mission in this world is to let others know about Jesus so that they may be saved also and go to heaven when it's their time to go. So we have to humble ourselves. We can't think that we are better than anyone else or try to be wiser than someone or more strong than someone. We must humble ourselves, follow the Lord, worship Him, spread the gospel, and love and serve others.
In verses 30-31, God the Father sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins. So it is because of God the Father that we are in Christ Jesus. When we are saved we are a new creation and we are in Jesus Christ. Jesus is our wisdom and He is our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption, our Savior. The verse here that it quotes in verse 31 of 1 Corinthians is from Jeremiah 9:24.
1 Corinthians Ch 1 Study Guide
How do we receive spiritual gifts?
Why is it so important for us to let the Holy Spirit guide us?
Who is the only one that we should be following? Why?
Why should we be in complete unity with other believers?
Why is the message of the cross foolishness to some people?
What is our main mission as believers of Jesus Christ?
In verse 29, why can we not boast before God?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible Study?
So that concludes this Bible study on chapter 1 of the Book of 1 Corinthians. Next week we're going to go into chapter 2 so make sure that you stay tuned for that.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights