PREFACE
Today I finished my exposition on the epistle of Paul to the Galatian Church. I skipped over I & 2 Corinthians after I finished my exposition of the Book of Romans and went directly to the Book of Galatians because the two books are very similar. Now I am beginning my exposition on 1 Corinthians, and my hope is that as I depend on the Holy Spirit to help me not turn this into a commentary, but to use exegesis, that is, allow the text to speak for itself rather than read my pre-conceived views into it; this is the meaning of exegesis. I believe that if a text is expounded in the light of God's grace, that is, that God is the active agent in His Word, and we are the recipients of His grace, we have a very good chance that we will be accurate in our exegesis; I use the editorial "we" here meaning me and everyone who agrees with this grace concept. I will use the same format I have used in all my other expositions. Whatever I write that may glorify God I hope you remember it; however, if what I write is contrary to this grace concept, and brings glory to myself, I hope you might forget it in a hurry, for if what I write does not magnify Christ, I have missed the point of the apostle Paul.
God bless as we study this wonderful Book together in spirit and in truth. The only way we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of Truth is to daily take in Bible Doctrine, and rely on the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us. May we use the mechanics of 1 John 1:9 and confess our known sins, and then "Study to show ourselves approved of God, workmen that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth" (1 Tim. 2:15).
INTRODUCTION
The church at Corinth had many outside influences that appealed to the flesh, being the sin center of the Roman Empire. This city as described by historians seems as if they are describing the metropolitan cities of our own country; sin was rampant, and the religions were outlets for the carnal nature; the worship of the goddess Diana, and Venus was nothing more than an opportunity to partake in prostitution, for the prophetesses were nothing more than whores; the philosophy was in decay and was given over to promoting sensuous pleasure. They were an idolatrous, sensuous, whore-mongering civilization (and I use the term civilization in the same context as I call our country civilized).
Matthew Poole gives this background:
"Corinth (the inhabitants of which are Corinthians) was an imminent city of Achaia, (that Achaia which is now called the Morea), and was situated on an isthmus, or neck of land, betwixt the Aegean and Ionian Sea; so was very convenient for merchandise, and by merchandise came riches, which gave them great temptations to luxury, drunkenness, whoredom, &c. They were very infamous for the latter, as we read in writers, and grown to that impudence, that they made increase of harlots a part of prayers to their idols, and made the bringing of harlots into the city a part of their vows. And as pride usually attendeth wealth, so they also were a people very proud and puffed up. They were also anciently famous for pagan learning, and had amongst them Stoics and Epicureans, who laughed at the resurrection of the body, and looked upon incest, adultery, and fornication, as very venial [excusable] things, if at all unlawful. We read of Paul's first coming thither from Athens, Acts 18:1, where vs. 11, he continued eighteen months; there he converted Crispus, vs. 8, and Sosthenes, and many believed and were baptized. Paul went from thence to Ephesus, vv. 18,19. To the church thus planted at Corinth Paul wrote this Epistle, at what time is not certain; but he is thought to have written it from Ephesus, whither he came, Acts 19:1, the second time, and, as appears from vs. 10, was going and coming to and from that city between two and three years. The occasion of writing this Epistle will appear to any who consideringly reads it. He had heard from some who were of the house of Cloe, chp. 1:11, of factions and contentions that were amongst them, and had heard it reported that they suffered an incestuous person to abide in their communion, chp. 5:1. They had also written for his resolution in several cases and questions about marriage, divorce, &c. He had also heard of several disorders amongst them relating to their communion in the Lord's Supper, and of some amongst them who denied the resurrection. For the allaying [dispelling] of these heats [criticism], and quieting their divisions, and for the directing of them in those cases about which they wrote to him, and the setting them right in the doctrine of the resurrection, and directing them in the true and profitable use of their gifts, and in the right celebration of the Lord's Supper, and the quickening the exercise of their charity [love], he writes this Epistle; which is supposed to be in our Bibles next to the Epistle to the Romans, (though plainly written in order of time before), because that as that Epistle most fully discourseth [dialogue] the doctrine of justification, so this most fully resolves questions concerning church order and government. It is a book of holy writ concerning the Divine authority of which there was never any doubt, nor hath any portion of holy writ (for the quantity of it) a greater variety of matter, nor more of those dusnohta, things hard to be understood, which St. Peter (2 Pet. 3:16) tells us are in this apostle's Epistles; the difficulty of which ariseth from our ignorance of some rites used in the primitive church, but long since disused, and the usages of that country different from ours."
McGee adds about the commerce and religion of Corinth:
"In Paul's day there were about four hundred thousand inhabitants in Corinth. It was located on this important isthmus, as we previously mentioned, and the commerce of the world flowed through the two harbors connected with the city of Corinth. The population consisted of Greeks, Jews, Italians, and a mixed multitude. Sailors, merchants, adventurers, and refugees from all corners of the Roman Empire filled the streets. A perpetual Vanity Fair was held here. The vices of the East and of the West met and clasped hands in the work of human degradation.
Religion itself was put to ignoble [dishonorable] uses. A magnificent temple was built for the Greek goddess Aphrodite, or Venus, as we know her by the Roman name. In it were a thousand priestesses who ministered to a base worship. Those thousand so-called priestesses were actually nothing in the world but prostitutes. Sex was a religion there. I believe that Corinth could teach this generation about sex. However, I think this generation already knows enough about that subject. We are overwhelmed with it ad nauseam today.
Against this corrupt background Paul preached the gospel in Corinth. He founded a church there and later wrote two epistles to them. Paul came to Corinth on his second missionary journey, and it was the terminus of his third missionary journey. Acts 18:1-18 gives us the account of eighteen months spent in Corinth. It was in Corinth that he met Aquila and Priscilla. They had been driven out of Rome by an edict of Emperor Claudius. Suetonius writes that this edict was issued because of tumults raised by the Jews who were persecuting their Christian brethren."
As we study these two Epistles I believe we will see that our contemporary church has declined far beyond the church at Corinth. I believe that the church today has lost sight of the power of the resurrection, and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The church is teaching a humanist gospel, and they are challenged by the so-called pastors to make a difference in the world, and the great commission today is, we need to change the world for God. We are joint-heirs with our Lord, and we have been crucified, buried, raised and seated at the right hand of the Father once and for all the moment we believed in Christ. We should keep these truths in mind as we study. God bless us all.
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