The first letter to the Corinthians of St. Paul the Apostle

1 Corinthians – read and listen chapter by chapter.

1 Corinthians consists of 16 chapters, which you can read and listen to on our website.

Authorship, time and place of writing.

Unlike Paul's Epistle to the Romans, which was written down by Paul's disciple, the author wrote down the Epistle to the Corinthians in his own hand. This happened during the third apostolic journey to Ephesus. Time of writing: between 54 and 57. The authenticity of the message was never in question. The authorship of the Apostle Paul is proven by the following points:

• There are several indications of Pauline authorship in the text;
• The epistle to the Corinthians is similar in style and tone to other texts attributed to Paul;
• The picture drawn by the author of the Epistle is very detailed and does not contain any historical inconsistencies, which indicates the high probability of the authorship of Paul himself or someone from his close circle.

During his first stay in Corinth, the Apostle Paul founded a Christian community here. First, he preached the gospel to the Corinthian Jews in the synagogue. His sermons did not have the desired effect. Therefore, he soon turned his attention to the pagans and found many adherents among them. It was pagans from the poor who formed the basis of the new Christian community in Corinth.

The Apostle Paul spent about two years in Corinth.

The purpose of writing the Epistle to the Corinthians.

After Paul's departure, Apollos preached in Corinth, whose activities brought confusion into the life of the community. The believers of Corinth split into four camps - adherents of Peter, Paul, Apollos and those who did not recognize the apostolic authorities and believed only in Christ.

The believers who made up Apollos' camp were mostly Jews. Apollos succeeded in what Paul had previously failed to do: convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. There were many educated pagans in Apollos’ camp. They were impressed by the education of Apollos and how intricately he structured his speeches, in contrast to the Apostle Paul, who spoke simply and straightforwardly.

Although there is no evidence confirming that the Apostle Peter preached in Corinth, nevertheless, a camp of adherents of his ideas arose here. Most likely, many Palestinian Jews who came to Corinth brought Peter's teachings with them. Peter, according to the Christians of the Petrov camp, was a kind of supreme apostle - and his interpretation of certain laws was the only correct one.

Apostle Paul

Many Corinthians converted by Paul to Christianity stood for the ideas of their teacher and also formed a special camp of Paul’s followers.

The fourth camp consisted of those who did not want to see any intermediaries between themselves and Christ.

Thus, three years after Paul’s departure from Corinth, four parties were formed here - the Apollos, Petrovs, Pavlovs and Christovs.

In the Epistle to the Corinthians, the author informs the community of his intention to visit the city again in order to reconcile the believers. The position of the Apostle Paul in this matter is simple - he insists on the reconciliation of believers in Christ. In addition to the ideological split in the camp of believers, the author also condemns believers for their numerous sins - adultery, litigation, drunkenness - and for an incorrect or deliberately distorted understanding of the freedom of a Christian.

1:
1-3 Paul, called by the will of God to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ, and Sosthenes, brother
Paul reports that he is not an impostor, but an apostle of Christ, without worrying that some “well-wishers” of a skeptical congregation may attribute Paul’s attempt self-exaltation above them. Anyone who is called by God to the work of service must announce this to everyone whom he himself calls to serve the Lord. It is interesting to consider to whom he writes a letter in Corinth:

The Church of God is the entire congregation of Christians in Corinth, where Paul wrote; illuminated in Christ Jesus and called saints - Christ died for them, sanctifying them with His blood before God and making them, thanks to this, suitable for God (righteous in His eyes). all who call on the name of the Lord (in this case, Christ) in every place

, both in Corinth and where Paul was at that time - these are all the other Christians.

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4-6 in Him
(in Christ, having received Christ)
you have been enriched in everything, in every word and in all knowledge
Paul rejoices for all to whom God, through Jesus Christ, has sent the riches of spiritual understanding of His word and the knowledge of His will. It is difficult to say exactly how God did this with the Corinthians; most likely, he instructed and called through the preaching of Paul. In addition, the Corinthians, like other pagans, were baptized with the holy spirit in the name of Jesus Christ -1:13, which made it possible for all the first meetings of Christians in the 1st century to comprehend the wisdom of God supernaturally quickly - 1 John 2:20,27

1:7,8 so that you lack no gift, as you wait for the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ

Because of Jesus Christ's care for this congregation, they are not lacking in any spiritual gift.
This very gift of the holy spirit will help all Christians to continue to remain faithful until their very end (death), which will allow them to appear innocent before Christ on the day of the appearance of his second coming: Who will also establish you to the end, [so that you may be] innocent on the day of the Lord our Jesus Christ.
1: 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

God, being faithful to His promise to accept the Gentiles, made it possible for this congregation to be in spiritual communion with Christ through the work of the holy spirit in them (1 John 1:3, 4:13). That is, in this congregation there is every opportunity to become righteous. However, how they use them is a big question.

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10-13 I appeal to you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same spirit and in the same thoughts.
As we see, the acquisition of spiritual gifts by the Christians of Corinth through the anointing of the holy spirit from above has not yet helped them either to become righteous or to be of one mind among themselves.
What was their contention about? Paul is not telling them about the difference in the gospel of the pattern of Christ’s teaching. And about the wrong relationships between themselves due to assigning to themselves and each other different “statuses” of significance for the Christian congregation - depending on who they were baptized by: Apollos, Peter or Paul: you say: “I am Pavlov”;
“I am Apollosov”; “I am Kifin”; “And I am Christ’s” Remnants of the habits of a worldly approach in some communities also affected their perception of Christianity: if, for example, I was baptized by the very pillar and stone of the Christian congregation - the Apostle Peter, then I, naturally, should occupy a more honorable position in the congregation in comparison with the one whom Apollos baptized, he was not even an apostle.

Sister Chloe became concerned about such divisions of “authority” and careerism in the congregation, so she reported this to Paul, which, in fact, became the reason for Paul writing a letter to this Corinthian congregation.

1:14-17

Paul explains that neither Peter, nor Apollos, nor he himself died a sacrificial death for them on the cross, and therefore it does not matter WHO baptizes, but what matters is IN WHOM NAME (for what) those who want to be Christians are baptized. The main thing in a Christian’s work is not to baptize, but to evangelize.

Baptism is a natural result of the impact of the word of the gospel, confirming only the fact of the desire of the listener - to be a Christian, to lead a righteous lifestyle and to preach the gospel after baptism. Moreover, to evangelize in such a way that the wisdom of man and the eloquence of the words of the sermon do not overshadow the main thing: an explanation of the essence of the cross (path) of Christ - for every Christian: Christ sent me not to baptize, but to evangelize, not in the wisdom of the word, so as not to abolish the cross of Christ.

Baptism itself, as a procedure, means little without the essence of fulfilling a promise to God of a good conscience.

1:18-20

Why is it important to focus not on the regalia in the meeting and not on the competition in verbal floridity and sophistication of word debates - in front of each other? Because the main power of the saving message is not manifested in the acquisition of authority and weight in the congregation, but solely in whether a Christian began to follow the path of Christ or not, whether he became better, purer, more righteous from the moment of baptism or not. And behind the verbosity, you can lose the essence of the good news about Christ crucified and still not understand why Christ died and what his atoning sacrifice means for Christians.

The reaction to the news of Christ crucified reveals who is who of the listeners: God's sheep cleave to it, and those seeking worldly glory are rejected by it: they consider the message about the meaning of the path of Christ for man to be foolishness (only an abnormal person can deliberately condemn himself to great difficulties - foolishness is This is what the whole godless world thinks) For the word about the cross is foolishness for those who are perishing, but for us who are being saved it is the power of God.

However, for the sheep of God, the idea of ​​the sacrificial death of Christ and the desire to serve God in self-denial is very clear. That is why all the wise men of the world make fun of those who want to become Christians, but such a state of affairs, when the wise men of this age will not understand anything, and the fools will accept Christ, was predicted (Is. 29:14) Where is the wise man? where is the scribe? where is the questioner of this century? Has not God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness?

It is difficult for sages to choose the path of self-denial, because they have something to lose in this world. And those who have nothing to lose except their “chains” of slavery to sin are not afraid to step onto the “narrow bridge” of Christ crucified, thrown across the abyss of the world - to God.

1:21
For when the world through [its] wisdom did not know God in the wisdom of God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believed
. God foresaw that to the wise and successful of this age, in the conditions of “take everything you can from life,” the path of self-denial and approaching God through becoming righteous will seem stupid. God was counting on this: the foolishness of preaching about Christ crucified helps to discover believers - those who are ready to accept the atonement of Christ, change their lifestyle and be saved.

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22,23 For both the Jews demand miracles, and the Greeks seek wisdom; and we preach Christ crucified, for the Jews it is a temptation, and for Greeks it is madness.
Preaching Christ crucified means talking about God's Messiah - as the one who suffered the execution of a blasphemer. In this version, neither the Jews nor the pagan Greeks could accept the preaching about God's Christ. Why?

The Jews, for example, in addition to preaching about Christ, also demanded signs of the triumphal procession of the Messiah with the authority of the Messianic king (all this, in their opinion, should have accompanied the coming of the Christ of God). Where was all this with Christ? What king entered Jerusalem without a triumphal procession and without fanfare? Which king was the son of a carpenter? If he is the son of God, why did he not have the appearance or majesty of a king? They did not understand the Christ of God - in the version that Jesus presented to them, for they expected the Messiah with carnal eyes, not understanding the spiritual significance of the role of Christ, who was to redeem humanity through the crucifixion.

And the Greeks recognized human philosophies. Moreover, the Greek culture of pleasure and voluptuousness - in general, the path of self-denial and self-sacrifice - did not allow understanding.

That is why the path of Christ without a triumphal march through life, without royal authority, and, moreover, doomed to “crucifixion” by the mentality of this wicked age and associated with great difficulties - became a stumbling block for the Jews, for the Greeks - it looked like madness, as, indeed, for modern times . Everyone counts God's blessings today - in the form of the number of blessings that fall on one's head and thinks that the path of a Christian should be strewn with roses. And if they are not there, then you are not a man of God.

And few people see the essence of God’s true blessing in the image of the “crucified Christ” - in the difficulties and serious problems in this wicked world - because of the mere desire to lead a righteous lifestyle and worship the true God. It is written about this paradox that only those living in evil will prosper and prosper in this world, and the pious, from the point of view of God, will suffer greatly, for they will be persecuted by everyone (2 Tim. 3:12,13) ​​It is this path - Christ humiliated, despised crucified by everyone, and not basking in luxury, glory and respect - and Paul wanted to preach and know. And I knew, otherwise I would not have written later that we Christians are trash for the world, trampled underfoot by everyone: they blaspheme us, we pray; We are like rubbish for the world, [like] dust, [trampled] by everyone to this day.

(1 Cor. 4:13)

Paul learned the essence of Christ crucified on his own “skin,” so to speak. He was rejected by this world, and he himself lived in poverty and persecution for the sake of fulfilling the will of God, always balancing on the brink of life and death throughout his entire Christian path. That is why Paul preached Christ crucified, so that those who want to become Christians would not hope to follow in the footsteps of Christ to God - and at the same time have a profit from piety (1 Tim. 6:5) A true Christian in this age will not receive any good except the approval of God. will receive.

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24,25 For those who were called themselves, Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God;
Believers see in this sermon about Christ crucified the power of God and His wisdom.
Why such a difference in the perception of the same message? because the foolish things of God are wiser than men, and the weak things of God are stronger than men.
Because the wise men of this age, from the point of view of God, are in fact fools, for they rely on their personal and very limited knowledge, they are not interested in becoming a righteous person worthy of eternity in the Creator’s universe, they are pursuing the temporal glory of this age.

Those who are more interested in the inner essence, and not the outer gloss, who live in hope for the future and believe in the possibility of finding God through the acceptance of Christ are wise, for they desire the salvation and glory of the man of God, and acquire knowledge from God, realizing that their own knowledge they will not be made righteous.

1:26-29

Look, brothers, who you are called.
not find his disciples in the Sanhedrin, neither the nobles nor the Pharisees with the high priests walked as his disciples;
and large businessmen and merchants were also not to be found among them. So in Corinth: few of the congregation possessed the carnal practicality of this age and worldly opportunism. Those who have successfully settled into this world and are thriving on the laurels of this century are not interested in the path of Christ in principle. As we see, the possibility of salvation does not depend either on a person’s worldly merits or on his position in society. But it depends only on spirituality - on the inner worldview of those living on earth, who want or do not want to lead a God-pleasing lifestyle. As a rule, the higher the worldly and carnal status in a person, the less chance he has of approaching God: God chose the base things of the world and the base things and the things that are not, in order to abolish the things that are.

Why did Paul say this if we go back to the beginning of his letter and the problem in the Corinthian congregation? So that they understand: those members of the Corinthian Christian congregation who could be considered influential people according to the usual worldly approach could not claim election and privileges in the congregation due to some of their personal qualities or the fact that they were baptized by Christian “authorities.” " What matters to God is only inner humility and lack of ambition. Therefore, discord in Christian congregations due to differences in the status of fellow believers is unacceptable.

so that no flesh should boast before God. This principle excludes human merit as a criterion for election and calling by God. It is the basis of the Biblical teaching about the possibility of salvation for every believer, regardless of weight and position in society. Salvation does not come from merit in the society of this age, but as a gift from God to those who fear Him and want to live in His world.

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30,31 From him you also are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
All for whom the way of Christ and Christ himself became the meaning of life, who accepted his redemption and were sanctified by it, have the opportunity from now on, it is not to boast about personal merits or position in society, but about the fact that God called them to serve and recognized them as righteous:
he who boasts, boast in the Lord.
A Christian has the opportunity to boast about his spiritual successes achieved thanks to the Lord, for example: the strength of faith, Christian internal qualities, resistance to temptation, the ability to evangelize and win disciples for Christ, increasing the congregations of God.