CHAPTER 1

(A.D. 59)

INTRODUCTION

¹Paul, c alled to be an Apostle (this Calling presents the titular leader of the Church, and pertains to the Message; in other words, every God-called Apostle has been given a special emphasis by the Holy Spirit regarding his Message) of Jesus Christ through the Will of God (by Gods Own Appointment and Will), and Sosthenes our brother (Acts 18:17),

²Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth (this form of address shows the absence of any fixed Ecclesiastical Government), to them who are Sanctified in Christ Jesus (set apart unto Christ), called to be Saints (means that everyone who is in Christ is a Saint), with all who in every place call upon the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord (pertains to the fact that this Epistle is meant not only for the Church at Corinth, but for all other Churches and for all time), both theirs and ours (deals a death blow to Christians who claim a monopoly on Christ for themselves and their own sects, etc.):

³Grace be unto you, and Peace (Grace is the beginning of all Blessings, while Peace is the end of all Blessings; all are made possible by the Cross), from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ (places the Father first; in this paternal role, He is the Source of every good gift and every perfect gift, but does so through Jesus Christ and what He did at the Cross).

THANKSGIVING

⁴I thank my God always on your behalf (the natural overflow of a full heart), for the Grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ (as stated, all Grace, which is the Goodness of God, is made possible by the Cross, and the Cross alone!);

⁵That in every thing you are enriched by Him (meant to exclaim the Source of every good thing, Who is Christ Jesus), in all utterance (is not speaking of the Gift of Tongues as some think, but rather all the Promises of God which He has uttered or given since the beginning of time), and in all knowledge;

⁶Even as the Testimony of Christ was confirmed in you (what Christ did at the Cross had played out in the lives of some of these Corinthians):

⁷So that you come behind in no Gift (is not limited to the nine Gifts of the Spirit, but rather every single thing given by the Lord, which He paid for at the Cross); waiting for the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (pertains here to the Rapture of the Church [I Thess. 4:13-18]):

⁸Who shall also confirm you unto the end (refers to the keeping power of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is done by the Holy Spirit as the Believer ever makes the Cross the Object of his Faith), that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (once again, such a life can only be attained by constant Faith in the Cross of Christ).

⁹God is Faithful (was a favorite expression of the integrity of God among Jews [II Cor. 1:18; I Thess. 5:24; II Thess. 3:3]), by Whom you were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord (called refers to Predestination, but of the Plan and not the person).

DIVISIONS

¹⁰Now (implies the transition from thanksgiving to reproof) I beseech you (I beg you), Brethren, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ (proclaims the Lord as the Head of the Church), that you all speak the same thing (demands unity with respect to the Person of Christ, and what He has done to Redeem us through the Cross), and that there be no divisions among you (as it regards Christ and the Cross); but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (presents that which can only be done by the Cross ever being the Object of ones Faith, which then gives the Holy Spirit the latitude to bring about these things in our lives).

¹¹For it has been declared unto me of you, my Brethren, by them which are of the House of Chloe (Paul wisely and kindly mentions his authority for these reports), that there are contentions among you. (We will see that these contentions centered on disagreements concerning the Cross.)

¹²Now this I say, that every one of you says (refers to a self-assertive manner), I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas (Simon Peter); and I of Christ. (In effect, this latter group was saying they didnt need any preachers at all, which is wrong.)

¹³Is Christ divided? (Is there a Baptist Christ, a Pentecostal Christ, or a Holiness Christ? The answer is a solid No.) was Paul crucified for you? (The Apostle rebukes the partisanship, which attached itself to his own name.) or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (This proclaims the idea that he had never attempted to draw away Disciples after himself, but rather to Christ.)

¹⁴I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius (if Water Baptism were essential to Salvation, as some claim, I hardly think Paul would have blatantly announced that he had only baptized these few, as he did here);

¹⁵Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name (nothing must be done to draw away allegiance from Christ).

¹⁶And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other (informs us that the inspiration of the Apostles in writing the Scriptures involved none of the mechanical infallibility ascribed to them by popular dogma).

¹⁷For Christ sent me not to baptize (presents to us a Cardinal Truth), but to preach the Gospel (the manner in which one may be Saved from sin): not with wisdom of words (intellectualism is not the Gospel), lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect. (This tells us in no uncertain terms that the Cross of Christ must always be the emphasis of the Message.)

WISDOM

¹⁸For the preaching (Message) of the Cross is to them who perish foolishness (Spiritual things cannot be discerned by unredeemed people, but that doesnt matter; the Cross must be preached just the same, even as we shall see); but unto us who are Saved it is the Power of God. (The Cross is the Power of God simply because it was there that the total sin debt was paid, giving the Holy Spirit, in Whom the Power resides, latitude to work mightily within our lives.)

¹⁹For it is written (Isa. 29:14), I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent (speaks to those who are wise in their own eyes, in effect, having forsaken the Ways of the Lord).

²⁰Where is the wise? (This presents the first of three classes of learned people who lived in that day.) where is the Scribe? (This pertained to the Jewish Theologians of that day.) where is the disputer of this world? (This speaks of the Greeks, who were seekers of mystical and metaphysical interpretations.) has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? (This pertains to what God did in sending His Son to Redeem humanity, which He did by the Cross. All the wisdom of the world couldnt do this!)

²¹For after that in the Wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God (mans puny wisdom, even the best he has to offer, cannot come to know God in any manner), it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching (preaching the Cross) to save them who believe. (Paul is not dealing with the art of preaching here, but with what is preached.)

²²For the Jews require a sign (the sign of the Messiah taking the Throne and making Israel a great Nation once again), and the Greeks seek after wisdom (they thought that such solved the human problem; however, if it did, why were they ever seeking after more wisdom?):

²³But we preach Christ Crucified (this is the Foundation of the Word of God and, thereby, of Salvation), unto the Jews a stumblingblock (the Cross was the stumblingblock), and unto the Greeks foolishness (both found it difficult to accept as God a dead Man hanging on a Cross, for such Christ was to them);

²⁴But unto them which are called (refers to those who accept the Call, for the entirety of mankind is invited [Jn. 3:16; Rev. 22:17]), both Jews and Greeks (actually stands for both Jews and Gentiles), Christ the Power of God (what He did at the Cross Atoned for all sin, thereby, making it possible for the Holy Spirit to exhibit His Power within our lives), and the Wisdom of God. (This Wisdom devised a Plan of Salvation which pardoned guilty men and at the same time vindicated and glorified the Justice of God, which stands out as the wisest and most remarkable Plan of all time.)

²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men (God achieves the mightiest ends by the humblest means); and the weakness of God is stronger than men (refers to that which men take to be weak, but actually is not the Cross).

²⁶For you see your calling, Brethren (refers to the nature and method of their Heavenly Calling), how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are Called(are Called and accept):

²⁷But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (the Preaching of the Cross confounds the wise because it falls out to changed lives, which nothing man has can do); and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty (the Cross is looked at as weakness, but it brings about great strength and power, regarding those who accept the Finished Work of Christ);

²⁸And base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen (it is God working in the base things and the despised things which brings about miraculous things), yes, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are (God can use that which is nothing within itself, but with Him all things become possible):

²⁹That no flesh (human effort) should glory in His Presence.

³⁰But of Him are you in Christ Jesus (pertains to this great Plan of God which is far beyond all wisdom of the world; we are in Christ Jesus, by virtue of the Cross what He did there), Who of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption (we have all of this by the Holy Spirit, through Christ and what He did at the Cross; this means the Cross must ever be the Object of our Faith):

³¹That, according as it is written (Jer. 9:23), he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. (He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord, and not in particular Preachers.)