Controversy in the corinth church

While still in Ephesus, Paul heard from “some of Chloe’s people” (1:11) that there were divisions and quarrels in the church at Corinth. Paul also heard that there was a serious case of immorality in the church (5:1), and that some of the Corinthian saints were taking their brothers to court (6:1ff.). In addition, Paul received questions concerning marriage (7:1), virgins (7:25), foods sacrificed to idols (8:1ff.), spiritual gifts (12:1ff.) and more. While still in Ephesus (16:8), Paul wrote this first preserved letter to the Corinthians. It seeks to address some of the major problems in the church.

Elitist Snobbery in the Church

Paul rebukes the Corinthians because there are divisions and quarrels in the church. This is the result of a religious snobbery associated by cliques that produced pride and conflict. Religious snobs want to be a part of a small group who think of themselves as the spiritual elite. They are proud and smug because of their associations, especially with their leader, and they look down upon those who are not in their group. The elitism evident in Corinth was based upon two things: (1) who they followed – who their leader was; and, (2) the message and method of their leader.

The Corinthians were boasting of their close association with certain men, men they considered superior to others. By associating with them, the Corinthians felt superior to those who followed others. Taking pride in mere men was evil. If there was any boasting to be done, Paul reminded his readers that their boasting should be “in the Lord”.

Sexual Improprieties

Paul calls the church’s attention to the man in their midst who is living in an incestuous relationship with his father’s wife. This situation called for separation, for a kind of division. The man carried on his sin publicly, before the church (Did he bring this wife to church?) and before the unsaved in Corinth. The heathen Corinthians were shocked by this kind of conduct, and yet the man did not repent. What is even worse, the saints in the church had apparently not even rebuked him. Somehow, instead of grieving over this terrible sin, they were puffed up with pride about it:

Meat Sacrificed to Idols

For the “liberated” Corinthians, to partake of meats offered to idols was to participate in the heathen ritual – the worship of heathen gods – in which the meat was sacrificed. Paul reminds us that while there may not be other gods, there are demons, and they are very much involved in heathen worship. Christians who sit weekly at the Lord’s Table should have no part in the heathen rituals in which meat is offered to idols. The “liberty” so cleverly reasoned out in chapter 8 is no liberty at all. Eating meats offered to idols is strictly forbidden if it involves participation in the heathen ritual itself.

Conduct in the Church

In the Corinthian church, certain gifts were valued above others. In particular, the gift of tongues seems to have been viewed as the greatest gift, so that all were striving to get it, and those who did not have it felt inferior and useless to the body. Paul turns the tables on those who sought to elevate the gift of tongues above all others by declaring that it was the lesser gifts that were given “more honor” to compensate for their apparent insignificance. In so doing,

Denying the Doctrine of the Resurrection

To deny the resurrection of the dead means that there is no future hope; it also means that there will be no future judgment. If this were the case, one should certainly not live dangerously, as did Paul and the true apostles. To the contrary, one might as well “eat, drink, and be merry” because there may be no tomorrow. If “we only go around once,” as the television commercial used to put it, “then we’d better grab all the gusto we can get.”

Moral Lessons

(1) No teaching, no matter how amazing it may seem, should ever take us outside the boundaries of the Word of God:

(2) Our boasting must never be in men, but only in God.

(3) We should not seek our own glory, but the glory of God.

(4) We should not seek our own good, but the good of others.

(5) Just because something is lawful, does not mean that it is profitable, to me or to others.

EVALUATIONS

1. What are the controversies that the Corinth church was involved in?