Sunday School | 1 Corinthians

Introduction

Virgil, First Corinthians. So, if you need First Corinthians, there's a handful of people that have them. So just raise your hand and somebody can get one to you. And then everything we've ever done is all up here. So if you're missing one from past weeks that you want to add to your collection, this box will always be here — just come find whatever you need. Alright. Are we about ready to go?

Alright. So here's the deal. We are going to jump in there, Chad. Chad's taking the whole box. So what we're trying to do here is one-week overviews of every book in the New Testament. We have done Luke and Acts and Romans. I forget what we've done. James, Philippians. Is that it? Is that it maybe? This week, we're gonna do First Corinthians, and then next week, we're gonna do Second Corinthians. And so, First Corinthians, thought it would be a good idea to do before we finish our series in the sanctuary on First Corinthians. This might have a little more familiarity to it because we've just been teaching through that the last couple of months. But we'll give you the high-level view, and then, again, we're gonna finish up the Corinthian set next week.

The Context of the Passage

One thing I want you to go back several weeks to, though, is the book of Acts. Okay? So when we did Acts, I always invite people — when you begin to read the New Testament or if you're doing a new Bible reading through the New Testament — to read Luke, Acts, Romans. Luke, Acts, Romans. Luke, Acts, Romans. That gives you a really good base. And within the Luke, Acts, Romans set, of course, is Acts. And what's really helpful about beginning with Acts is that it gives you the whole overview of the whole thing. Most — not quite all of, but most of the letters that we have in the New Testament — you can plug them back into the Book of Acts.

That you could understand. We're going to be studying First Corinthians here, which is a letter to the church in Corinth. And there was a moment where Corinth was the primary location. It was the setting for the book of Acts. As Paul was traveling around the Roman Empire and preaching the Gospel, there's a time where he goes to Corinth. And so I think it's helpful just as you're trying to build kind of a comprehensive view, get it and understand where does the letter to the First Corinthians fit into the Acts timeline? And the answer to that is — does anybody know where Paul plants the church in Corinth? Like, where? Well, he plants the church in Corinth in Corinth, but where in the chronology of Acts does he plant the church in Corinth? Anybody know what that is?

Anybody know this? It is Acts 18. Alright? And I want — we're gonna start there in Acts 18 to kind of understand what was going on when he starts this particular church. So if you've got your Bible, go to Acts 18. We'll begin there, and then we'll kind of launch out of there into the letter itself. And Acts 18, as you read it, it might give you a little bit of insight into the tone and mood of the letter we have here, not only the first letter but the second letter.

Take a look at this. It says in Acts 18, verse 1, "After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, and there met a Jew named Aquila, native of Pontus." Da da da. And we go — this is the tentmaker scene where Paul is making tents with Priscilla and Aquila. If you follow through Acts 18, what you'll find is that this was a super low point for Paul. Corinth was tough. Corinth was really, really difficult for him.

You'll see here in verse 5, when Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, by the way, what's the lead city of Macedonia? We studied this a couple weeks ago. What's the primary city in Macedonia? Philippi. Philippi. Okay. So remember what, and what are the Philippians famous for? Their generosity. Their giving. The Macedonian churches are the ones that give. It's a major theme — how generous the Macedonians were.

Take a look at this: in verse 5, "When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching." You know what that means in verse 5? What's that? It means they support him. He quit his job. A verse earlier, he was only doing ministry on the Sabbath, and the rest of the week, he was making tents. He had to get a job. He was cutting canvas so he'd have enough money to pay the rent and eat. But then when Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, from Philippi, they brought a bag of money. Paul quit his job and went full time preaching.

Okay? So, but as it goes on in verse 6, watch this. It says, "But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, 'Your blood be on your own heads. I'm clear of my responsibility. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles." It's a massive moment. We've talked about this. We saw in the Book of Romans the tension over the Gospel coming to the Jews and coming to the Gentiles. It's a major, major theme.

This is a message for the Jews. Jesus is a Jewish Messiah. It is the fulfillment of the hopes of the people of Israel, but then the Jews don't want it. And he begins to go and spread the Gospel to the Gentile world. What's going on right here in Acts 18, as the church of Corinth is being planted, is that Paul has reached a breaking point. He is so tired of opposition from the Jews that he makes a resolution — I wonder if we could put these. Do we have more of these? You want to see if anybody else needs them? Feel free. There's a He makes a resolution, "I'll never share the Gospel with another Jew as long as I live." He's it. I'm done. From now on, we're going to the Gentiles. And that resolution lasts one verse. Just look. "From now on, go to the Gentiles," verse 6. Paul left the synagogue, there you go — Paul, and he went next door to the house of Tiadis Justice, worshipper of God. And in verse 8, Crispus, the synagogue ruler and presumably a Jew, and his entire household of Jews, believed in the Lord. And many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.

Okay? So Paul is, like, so tired. He doesn't want to do it anymore, but he can't not do it anymore because he loves the Jewish people, and he continues to preach the Gospel.

Now, typically, what you imagine would happen, by the way, if you were the synagogue ruler and you become a follower of Christ? How is that going to impact your vocation? Probably not good, right? Just keep that in mind. What's the synagogue ruler's name? Crispus. Just hold on to that. But it's so difficult.

In verse 9, one night the Lord speaks to Paul in a vision. He says, "Don't be afraid. Why do you tell people not to be afraid?" Because they're — Keep on speaking. Paul is constantly speaking. Right? It's astonishing he's got to tell him to keep on speaking. What it means is he doesn't want to talk anymore. Do not be silent. Paul is so tired of the abuse. Everywhere he goes, there's a revival and a riot, and the riots have grown wearisome to him. So God says, "I'm gonna be with you. No one's gonna attack and harm you because I have many people in this city."

What do you think that phrase means? "I have many people in this city." Does it mean that there's an armed guard that's going to protect you? No. What does it mean? Believers, believers. Prayer warriors. I think there's something even more subtle than that. Robin? Ones that he has their hearts, but they don't know.

That's right. Robin said, "Once he has their hearts, but they don't know yet." I think it's akin to when Elijah is before the prophets of Baal, he's just so discouraged, he doesn't want to play anymore. He's so tired of the opposition. And God says, "I've reserved 7,000 for myself who have not yet bowed the knee to Baal." What he's saying is there are elect people. You keep preaching the Gospel, Paul, because people are gonna respond. You don't be silent because I'm going to use you even in this city. Stay in the game. Take the hit. Remain. It'll be okay. Keep doing it.

And so Paul, ever the faithful servant, he keeps his head down and he does it. And it says in verse 11 that Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the Word of God. He continues. Now, what's curious here is that God has made a promise to Paul that he has many people in the city. People are going to respond. They're going to believe. There'll be faith. There'll be fruitfulness. Just stay in the game. But then we don't see any more explicit statements of people coming to faith. Just that Paul continues to preach, and there continues to be an uproar.

Look at verse 12. It says, "Just as Paul was about to speak" — no, we'll start in verse 12. When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul, as usual, and brought him into court. This man, they charged, 'Is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.' And just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, 'If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names in your own law, settle the matter for yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.' So he had them ejected from the court.

And watch this. This is so interesting. In verse 17, "They all turned on Sosthenes, the synagogue ruler, and beat him in front of the court." Who was the synagogue ruler earlier? Crispus. Who's the synagogue ruler now? Sosthenes. Why isn't it Crispus? That's it. Now, he became a believer, right? So, you know, he loses his job. You start following Jesus, you're going to lose your job. Right? So he does. They replace him with this guy Sosthenes, and Sosthenes is now leading the charge. So the mob comes, the crowd comes, but they get embarrassed by the Romans. The Romans aren't interested in, "Who cares?" You don't care about your religious squabbles, and so they just kind of dismiss him. Nobody really knows who the "they" is in verse 17. Then they all turned on Sosthenes, the synagogue ruler, and beat him in front of the court. The Gallio showed no concern whatsoever.

There's basically three possibilities. It's either the Romans or the Jews or the Christians. Probably one of the three. Either the Christians are like, "You didn't defeat us. We're going to pound you down." I think that's the least likely of the options. It's possible that the Romans beat him because they're just tired of the Jews making a mess and clogging up the courts. And it's possible that the Jews beat him because they were just embarrassed that he just did such a terrible job prosecuting this. Okay? But we don't know. It's just they beat Sosthenes. Right? Robin?

Wait. Wait. Say it a little louder. Peel her coffee. Yes. And I don't think that's kind of positive stuff about earlier. You told him that, I'm going to show you the things you're going to suffer. That's right. Because of me. Yes. And then it turns around and it falls on Sosthenes. Yeah. So it is interesting. So what you know, God is — when God said, "Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent. I'm with you." in verse 10. And then in verse 12, it says, "They made a united attack on Paul." Like one verse later, God's like, "No one's going to attack and harm you." And in the next verse, they attack him, but he slips the noose. Right? So you gotta be — I'm sure Paul was like, "What did you mean exactly when you said no one's gonna attack and harm you?" And don't you think that's the case? Don't you feel like God makes promises and you're like, wow, I thought you might have fulfilled this promise differently than you did. Right? So Paul is ultimately kept safe. He ultimately prevails, but it was still — it's high stakes. And then he's gonna go to the next city and the next city and the next city, and it's all gonna be the same.

But here's what I want you to notice. Sosthenes, he's leading the thing. He gets beat. And I don't know — do guys, is it more obvious to you? Do you think it was the Christians that beat him up? Anybody on, like, team Christian gang? Okay. It has to be the Jews because in the previous verse, it says he drove them away from the judgment seat. And so if you see in verse 17, "they," you have to go back to an antecedent to find out who they're talking about. Yes. That's it. It has to be the Jews.

But what if — yeah. So the trick of a pronoun, figuring out the antecedent to a pronoun, can be a little bit complicated, and it could absolutely be the "them" that were ejected, the previous thing. And I think that's the right answer. But it's possible that they could refer to the one who had them ejected in Gallio and the whole Roman system. But I think it was the Jews. But who knows? But here's what you've got to get: Sosthenes, he's leading the attack. He gets his teeth kicked in. And I don't know, do guys, is it more obvious to you? Do you think it was the Christians that beat him? Or the Jews?

Anyways, that’s all we get. We don't get any more details. It says in verse 18, "Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time," and then he left, and he sailed for Syria. We're out of Corinth. That chunk right there, that is our Corinthian base as we understand the letter. But here, I want you to notice something. Think about this. First Corinthians is the letter we're about to study. Who wrote it? Who wrote First Corinthians? Paul? Paul? Are you sure? Our brother. Look it up. Go to First Corinthians 1, verse 1.

Look it up. Let's just start. There's these opening verses that we always get because they're like blah blah blah. Listen to this.

First Corinthians 1, 1: Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and our brother Sosthenes.

Isn't that fascinating? So Sosthenes, who leads the attack against Paul, the second synagogue ruler who's oppositional to this, he gets his head kicked in. Paul stays in that city for some time. Sosthenes comes to faith and becomes a disciple of Paul and coauthors scripture. See also: "Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent. I have many people in this city."

In Acts, we don't see the full story. But in the letter to the Corinthians, we do — if you don't skip the little detail, in verse 1 of chapter 1, that's Sosthenes. That's our guy who led the attack. And Paul is faithful to take the hit, and to take the hit, and to take the hit — it produces fruit. And Sosthenes helps write Bible. Isn't that amazing?

Alright, so I’ll just throw that out there just to say it is worth paying attention to the details. The Bible rewards diligent study, and there's all kinds of little Easter eggs that are just so interesting and so delicious, you will take the time to notice them.

Content Overview and Main Themes

Alright. Corinthians. Does anybody have 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17 memorized? Anybody? This one?

All scripture is God-breathed. Useful. Useful for? Teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Right? Okay. Not all letters are an equal distribution of teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training. First Corinthians is very heavy on correction. Very heavy. Sprinkled in with a little bit of rebuke, and along the way, we're gonna learn some things. Okay? Romans is very high on teaching, very little rebuke. It's just all teaching, teaching, teaching. Galatians, pretty strong rebuke. Very heavy on the rebuke. Corinthians is a corrective letter.

So when you read through it here, what you're going to find is Paul is constantly saying, "You're wrong about this," and "You're wrong about that," and "You're wrong about this." Corinth was a mess. Corinth was a tricky letter. We've looked, and you've been hearing it, and we've preached on it over the last year, so there's all kinds of things. But there's a whole bunch in Corinthians that is corrective and difficult.

So even without looking at it, what do you remember about the errors of the Corinthians? What are they getting wrong? And you have a long list to choose from. But I'm curious — what pops to you?

Major Issues Addressed in First Corinthians

The Lord's Supper. The Corinthians are screwing up the Lord's Supper. We've studied that — it's chapter 11. We looked at it a couple weeks ago. What's the primary error in how they celebrated the Lord's table? Being selfish. That's right. They're not thinking about the rest of the body. That's right. They were selfish. Total disregard for the gathered body. Just me, me, I. How much bread and wine can I get out of the deal? Basically? Right? So they were selfish people, and Paul rebukes them strongly for that.

Robin? Weren't they having trouble with getting one foot in the culture, one foot in their faith? Absolutely. So Robin says, weren't they having trouble with getting one foot in the culture, one foot in the faith? Yeah. So one theme of the letter to the Corinthian Christians is "Act more like Christians and less like Corinthians." Right? So he picks at their behavior.

And the reality is that the city they're dwelling in, their town, is not just the Jews, and we know we're putting all this opposition, but Corinth was a very indulgent city. Right? I generally liken it to the church in Las Vegas. So they are influenced by their local culture.

What are some of the ways that the Corinthian worldview was seeping into the church? Do you remember? Like, the specific way that the culture leaks in? What is wrong in Corinth?

Remember any of his corrective rebukes?

Notable Corrective Topics

Kate? Meat to idols. Yes. Okay. So what's this all about? And let's see — did we do this already? We didn't do it here, but did we talk about meat sacrificed to idols and how that all works out? Like, there's a huge worship industry, and so all the meat — if you wanted a side of beef, you couldn't just go to the butcher. You would go down to the temple and buy meat that had been sacrificed to an idol.

And so the Corinthians were very distressed. "If we want to eat meat, it's necessarily going to be meat sacrificed to an idol. Are we allowed to eat it? Are we not allowed?" If I do eat it, am I, like, worshiping pagan deities? Or if I don't, am I just gonna have to be a vegan? How is this going to work? So the issue of meat sacrificed to idols is a major thing Paul has to work through.

Other issues? Yep. Immodesty. Yes. And I would broaden that to all kinds of sexual perversion. He rebukes them because there's somebody in the church. You guys remember this. What's the deal? Somebody is sleeping with his stepmom. Is that what this is? Someone's having sex with his stepmom, and Paul's like, "What's that all about? What's going on?"

It's just an indulgent culture, and those things are leaking into the church. And so Paul's trying to clean that up. That's great.

Spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts — they were really bad at that. This is where we get our teaching on spiritual gifts, in particular the supernatural gifts, in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, specifically because they were messing up the gifts. And he's got to fix that. And then even the passage Landon taught on and will teach on this morning, chapter 13, is sandwiched in between that. So it's really 12 and 14 that focus on spiritual gifts. 13 is about love. But it's not like Paul interrupted himself. 12, 13, 14 is all a set, that they are. Again, they're just selfish and performative, and he's gotta clean that whole mess up.

Very good. Any other big issues in the Corinthians?

Understanding the Structure and Purpose of 1 Corinthians

Then we'll run through — I'm gonna give you the high-level overview of all their issues. But there's a couple more things I want you to notice. When you study 1 Corinthians, you could broadly separate the topics Paul addresses into two categories. One is the stuff that Paul brings up because he's troubled by, he's distressed by, and he wants to correct them about.

Do you know what the second list of the second category is?

Answering questions they had.

If you flip over to the back of your sheet, I want you to see how Paul does this. The phenomenon here — sometimes it's very obvious, sometimes it's just super clear — but you can apply this throughout the rest of the Bible. Sometimes there are recurring phrases that are meant as section headings or subheadings.

So Paul begins this. He says in chapter 7, "Now for the matters," plural, "that you wrote about." This, quote: "It is good for a man not to marry." That is kind of like the main point.

Chapter 7 in 1 Corinthians, Paul switches from the first six chapters, focusing on stuff he's concerned about because he's annoyed: "You are doing this wrong. This is not going well." From chapter 7 onwards, it's all about responding to things they said. And with a lot of other topics, he still talks about what he wants to talk about, but he allows their letter to be an outline for the topics.

So, often, you write someone a letter, they write you back. You write them a letter, they write back. And so Paul’s letter is a response to a letter he got from the Corinthians. To their credit, they wanted answers. Right? So, get the sense of the letter as being correction, but also a dialogue. They wanted to understand things, and so they wrote Paul.

Now, chapter 7 — it’s a broad section misunderstood. We talked about this, I think I preached on it about a month ago. But he says, "Now for the matters you wrote about, 'It is good for a man not to marry.'" I think generations of Christians have thought that Paul was saying, "It is good for a man not to marry." Paul is not saying that.

Paul is saying, "You said," Corinthians, "that it is good for a man not to marry." And let me tell you why you're wrong. Okay? So, that's in quotes because he's quoting them. Now, for the matters you wrote about.

The first thing you talked about was that Christians should all just be single for the rest of their lives. And he walks through and says, "Yeah, that's a pretty bad idea." And I think that will be a recipe for sexual immorality, so no. And then he's going to use that same phrase over and over: "Now about virgins. Now about food sacrificed to idols. Now about spiritual gifts. Now about the collection of God's people. Now about our brother Apollos."

What you should read there is that each of those is Paul responding to something they raised, something that was going on that they were troubled or confused about. He's like, "Hey, let me clarify this." When he does, now that we're on the topic of your claim that everybody should be single for the rest of their lives, Paul uses that as a way in and starts talking about other issues.

He kind of gets his foot in the door, and he's like, "While we're here, here's a few other things you're messing up." And so they'll raise a new topic, and he's like, "Let me answer your question," but then he uses it as a bridge to something else they need to hear.

So, when you read through the letter, anytime you see "Now about," "Now about," "Now about" — just know that's how Paul responds to the issues they raised.

Got it? Questions about any of that so far?

No? No. Okay.

We're going to look at that. And then I want to go back to the beginning. We're just going to run through it, but we're going to come to the Gospel as an application in a few minutes. Come back to the front.

What I tried to do here was a little tricky; I went through the whole letter and tried to say, really, what are the topics? Sometimes Paul's letters have a very logical flow — one thing leads to another. Corinthians isn't like that. When you read through 1 Corinthians, it's really a checklist. I want to talk to you about this, and this, and this, and I want to correct, and I want to answer, and I want to talk about this, and this, and that. And while we're here, I'll talk about this. And then you raise another question, and he responds.

It's very staccato. It’s difficult to follow. You could largely, you could rearrange the chapters in 1 Corinthians, and it would still be just as coherent because they're like individual bricks. Does that make sense?

You with me? Okay.

But take a look at this. And in fact, what I'll do is I'll give you just a minute at your tables, and you guys can go through — I'll have comments on a handful of these. But I want you to just take a second. I don't think you need me to read it to you, but look at just the bolded topic heads, and then the ones that interest you. I chose the topic with a short, three-word phrase, and then here's a passage that captures it. So this is a summary of the book, but it’s hard to summarize because there are so many discrete, distinct topics it covers.

Take a minute. You guys can chat about it. Point out what’s interesting. And then I’ll point out the ones I find interesting. Okay? So have at it. Here we go.

I know everybody in this stage is Dan. And Dan's husband. And you gotta walk with him. Yep. You need more? How many? There are some people back there. Yeah. There you go. Yep. Great. Absolutely.

Did you have a chance to skim through it? Do something to that?

Alright. Come on in.

Now, some of these are interesting to me, but they might not be to you. So I’d love to hear, are any of these things you got comments on or questions about?

I think these are the topics that he covers. But of course, if you double-click on each one, they all explode with all kinds of insights. So, which ones, any of these striking you as curious or bewildering or fascinating?

Gary?

The very first box you have up there, it says, "I appeal to you that all of you agree with one another." And Gina brought up the point of, "How's that ever going to happen? That all of you agree with me," right? And that, I mean, that actually shows up in a number of times in different letters. So he's like, "I plead with you to agree with one another."

We are supposed to bear with one another, forgive one another. That's not just unique to the New Testament letters. Have you ever been in a room with people? How many things do you think we disagree about right now in this room? It would be legion. How many people are here? I mean, there's so many things.

And yet, he's appealing. You get the sense of, like, "You guys, come on. You guys are just bickering about all these different things."

I follow Paul, and I follow Apollos, and all these kinds of things. And he's just pleading that we would do it. So, how is that even possible? That we would agree with one another if we think different things are true? What is?

Well, how could that even happen?

The Spirit being the one agreeing with us?

Yeah. So, we might — it might be possible to like somebody even if you think different things about something. Yes.

Do you know that it’s possible? It's rare, but it’s possible. Right? So, even if we have a different perspective or belief about something, we can still respect and be kind. And I learn from people I disagree with all the time.

I mean, that's the value you bring in my life — seeing something differently than I see it. It might be something I don't see.

It's also really helpful if we seek to persuade one another instead of just, you know, nipping at each other. If you think you're right about something that I’m wrong about, make your case. I would love to hear your case, but don’t just tell me, "Well, I feel that way." I'm like, "Great. Bring your A game and let’s go." You might have some benefit, but do the work, bring the case.

Kat?

This is a little bit related. We talked about this a little bit, about disputable matters. It’s like, "Eat meat, don't eat the meat." If something really, really matters to a brother or sister in Christ and it doesn’t really matter to you that much, don’t fight them on it. Just be agreeable. If they’re that passionate and you’re not, whatever is.

And Kat, that’s so good that you mentioned that because as good evangelical Christians, we know that there are no disputable matters. We're right, and you're wrong. Right?

And Paul throws out this "haymaker" of, "Hey, there are some things where it's genuinely vague, and I’m not sure," or, "it genuinely varies situation to situation."

Does this. Do you remember what the primary disputable matter was he’s talking about?

Like, if somebody’s worried about?

Exactly right.

You’re exactly right.

Yes.

So, look at the center column here. Look at what he does, and I summarized it this way on purpose: Wisdom about idolatry. Eat the meat. The next box: Wisdom about idolatry — don’t eat the meat.

If you read it, do you remember his case? He makes a case for when and why Christians should eat meat offered to pagans. And then, in the next breath, he offers advice about when and why Christians should not eat meat offered to pagans. And depending on your personality type, this could be very frustrating. You’re like, "What’s the answer?" Paul's like, "Well, it genuinely depends."

Some people love that. Some people love that it "genuinely depends."

Don’t pin me down.

Other people, it drives them crazy.

According to Paul, why should you, why and when should Christians eat meat sacrificed to an idol?

Jason?

Because you shouldn’t be superstitious about these other gods.

Yes.

Great answer.

Jason says, "You shouldn't be superstitious."

He's like, "Listen, they offered their meat to an idol that doesn’t exist."

Big deal.

That’s his answer. He's like, "We know there’s only one God, so who cares?"

That's part of his argument. "Just eat the meat."

But there's another argument. Why shouldn’t we eat meat sacrificed to idols?

According to Paul?

What is it, Dan?

If you cause your brother to fall.

Fall.

Now, why would eating meat sacrificed to an idol that doesn't exist be a problem for your brother?

Because he doesn’t know.

Right.

So, he sees you, and you're eating this thing offered to Baal or whatever, and he's like, "Oh man, I guess Christians worship Baal, too," and maybe I should worship Baal. He's like, "No, no, never do that."

Like, "When I exercise my freedom, that's going to damage anybody else." Then, of course, I won't do that. I will go vegan. I won't like it, but I will because what I like more than pleasing myself is doing good to others.

And so he makes the decision, "If you go to the market and they're offering meat, just eat it. Don’t even ask." Just take it home and cook it and eat it and be fine.

But if somebody says to you, "Hey, behold, this was offered to a god, come worship us with it," then you’d be like, "You know what? Actually, I’m good. I ate at home."

And so it's situational specific. And so he's being wise. Think about it. He's like, "You're free to." Of course, you're free to. But let's never exercise our freedom in a way that's harmful to people.

It's brilliant.

And there are disputable matters. Maybe in one situation, we do that. Under different circumstances, we do differently.

By the way, not everything is disputable. Paul’s pretty clear on some issues.

He’s like, "So, you're sleeping with your stepmom? I don’t think there's much dispute on this."

So, you've got to be careful. Those of you who love the idea that everything is gray, everything is not gray. Some things are black, some are white, some are gray. Paul is saying, learn to know the difference. Don’t treat gray things like they're black. Don’t think black things like they're gray. But get it right and move on.

Eric?

What stood out to me as we discussed and talked about different issues is that this list here is, like, the "top 20" list of things that we still think about, argue about, divide over, sometimes create offshoots of, faiths.

So, even with 1 Corinthians, we still fight about this.

Absolutely.

And that’s the odd thing. Like, if I were God and I was creating a holy book to instruct His people, I don’t think I would have ever done it that way. I wouldn't have thought to do this.

But what he has given us in the New Testament is largely a collection of letters to specific people, at specific times, with specific questions. And he engages in a very incarnational, relational, real-life way. Their problems, their solutions, their failings, their misunderstandings become a template that every era of the church can look back and say, "Yeah, we deal with that too."

Yes, we have the same question. Yes, we have the same behavioral problem. I would have just said, "Do this. Don’t do that."

But he’s given it in a relational community setting. We read their story, see our story reflected in it, and we think, "Yeah, we’re like those guys," and we see it.

It's fascinating and odd in an organic way, as opposed to external, didactic instructions.

Catherine?

Where does he say, "Do not get involved in useless arguments"?

Second Timothy 2.

And?

And this keeps coming to my mind while I’m reading this. Underneath all this, the relationships are more important than the issues. People are more important than issues. And it’s what you’ve always said or shown, how to listen.

And I’m learning how to listen because, especially with my family, I feel that flare-up inside — I guess, certainly.

Yeah.

And I love them, and they know that. But the people are more important.

So, let me look. And when I answer, you said 2 Timothy 2.

Truth is, Paul addresses that numerous times. But listen to 2 Timothy 2 because it’s exactly what you’re describing, and totally applicable.

Keep reminding them of these things, warn them before God against quarreling about words that is of no value and only ruins those who listen.

You love quarreling about stuff.

Then he goes on, verse 16: "Avoid godless chatter. Become more and more ungodly."

Listen to this. As he builds his case, come down a little bit, verse 23, "Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments because you know they produce quarrels."

Have you ever been involved in a foolish or stupid argument? Did it produce a quarrel?

Okay.

And he says, "Catherine, the Lord’s servant must not quarrel. Instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful."

Those who oppose him, he must gently instruct — in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.

It seems it's God's job to lead them to the truth.

And then, they come to their senses, escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

But our job?

We’re not to be quarrelsome.

And that’s what they were doing in Corinth — nipping, fighting about dumb things.

Now, Eric, one more thing I want to mention about what you said, how we look at Corinthians, and it becomes a pattern of instruction. That's true.

But interestingly, Paul was alluding to Israel's history as the Corinthians too.

So, if you look, just a little block here, look at chapter 10, verses 6 to 10. I’ve parsed it out.

Paul says:

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things, as they did.

Do not be idolaters, as some of them were.

We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did.

We should not test the Lord, as some of them did.

Do not grumble, as some of them did.

So, in the same way, there's this pattern where we look back at the Corinthians and say, "Hey, what are they getting wrong? How can we learn from their mistakes?"

When Paul was talking to the Corinthians, he was pointing back to ancient Israel and saying, "You see what they did? Don’t do that."

The issues in their story are lessons for us too.

The entire story of Israel is yours.

It was written down, and you can mine it, extract lessons.

See yourself in the story.

Probably, if you see yourself, you'll tend to see yourself as the hero. That’s typically a bad idea.

You are not likely to be the hero of the story.

You're probably the one who screwed something up.

And then, see how God responded, and how, in His mercy and grace, He provided solutions.

Then the whole story becomes alive because it’s all for you.

Not just Corinth. Not just the letter to the Corinthians, but the whole Bible.

It’s written for you.

And because of that, we want to read it, know it, see ourselves in it, understand what it means today.

Clear?

Robin?

Yes, okay.

Let's talk about this.

So, the idea that — Robin's in 1 Corinthians 15. We’ll preach on that in a couple weeks.

First, Jesus’ resurrection and our resurrection. You’re right. Paul often places that as a first importance.

But for the sake of time, let me use that as a segue to this last box on the back: the Gospel as an application to all issues.

I want you to see something. This transcends 1 Corinthians.

For example, in Ephesians, it's easier to see.

Paul frequently frames whatever’s wrong, whatever they’re screwing up, whatever they’re misunderstanding, whatever their behavior, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ—His death and resurrection.

And then he lays that Gospel over their problems so they can see the solution clearer.

For example, in Ephesians, there’s a marriage problem. Husbands aren’t loving wives well.

How does Paul address this?

He uses the analogy of Christ and the church.

And I’d even say it’s more than an analogy.

He’s saying that this is the very nature of marriage.

Husbands love your wives how?

Like Christ loved the church — who gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, cleansing her — all He does for the church.

That’s why husbands love their wives so sacrificially.

He’s like, "Hey, you know why you're not a good husband? Because you don’t understand the Gospel."

See the Gospel as the foundation?

Look at the example of Christ’s love.

And then go and do likewise.

But it’s not just doing an example, it’s seeing what Christ has done for us, which causes us to flourish, to heal our hearts.

So that’s a solution for marriage.

In 2 Corinthians 8, the church was tight-fisted, not generous.

And Paul addresses it.

Do you remember how he frames the Gospel in this?

He says, "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus: though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that through His poverty, you might become rich."

He overlays the Gospel into the issue of generosity.

He describes Jesus’ crucifixion, not just as a moral example, but economic — that Jesus, who was rich, gave it all up for us, so that we could be blessed.

And he wants you to understand how the generosity Christ demonstrated on the cross is this great blessing in your life.

And how God, through giving generously, can bring life.

And if you're not generous, what does that show?

That you don't understand the Gospel.

Because if you did, you’d be jumping into that stream, too.

The Gospel solves issues in your marriage, in your giving.

That phenomena permeates this entire letter.

Flip to the back and look in the last box.

You can tease out how Paul overlays the Gospel into all these issues, just like we did in Ephesians and 2 Corinthians. I’ve saved the rest of these for you to explore, but you’ll see the pattern.

Paul’s addressing their problems. But what he keeps doing is pointing them back to their Gospel truth — the death and resurrection of Christ as the ultimate resource, the ultimate source of life, sacrifice, and transformation.

His point:

When understanding the Gospel of Christ's death and resurrection is pouring out His love for you, it changes everything.

It changes how you come to the Lord's table, how you handle conflict, how you endure wrong, how you think about your possessions, everything.

In chapter 6, he's talking about lawsuits among believers:

The fact that you have lawsuits among you already means you've been defeated.

Why not rather be wronged?

Why not rather be cheated?

You, yourself, cheat others. But in that act of forgiving, enduring wrongs, there's life and salvation.

This all points to one thing — the person, work, and Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the ultimate resource that transforms every area.

So, as you read 1 Corinthians, look for those Gospel overlays.

Connect it to Acts.

And you'll find all kinds of fruit.

Good enough?

Yeah.

Alright.

Second Corinthians this week is First Corinthians. Next week, we'll look at Second Corinthians.

If you need extra books or sheets, they are here. That’s all.