![]() ![]() God’s Faithfulnessĭespite the prevalent problems in the church at Corinth, Paul still opens his letter to them by calling them “saints.” This identity transcends what we do-it is a matter of our position in Christ. He dealt firmly with their problems in order to help the Corinthians see that the “foolishness of God“-the power of the gospel-is better than the world. ![]() The way of the world was a constant temptation to them, so Paul’s letter is more disciplinary in nature than some of his others. But it was also morally degraded and idolatrous, known for its sexual immorality and pagan practices.īecause of the church’s location, Paul found it difficult to keep these practices out of the Corinthian church. The city of Corinth was perhaps the most important city in Paul’s day because it was a hub of worldwide trade. In order to understand the issues Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians, it is helpful to look at the culture that surrounded the Corinthian church. But Paul makes the case in 1 Corinthians that the “foolishness of God” is more powerful than any human wisdom ( 1 Corinthians 1:25). These things seem like foolishness to the world. That powerful message should not require dazzling packaging to make an impact.Finding your life by losing it. Instead, he wanted to present the gospel as clearly as possible and allow his listeners to be persuaded by the simple, compelling fact that the Son of God died to pay the penalty for their own sin. Though Paul was clearly skillful in his use of words, he did not want to persuade anyone to come to faith in Christ because of dazzling wordplay. We still use that term, today, in reference to the use of words intended to elicit certain responses. One of the values of this era was rhetoric, speeches that were recognized for their brilliant use of words and phrasing to wow an audience and overwhelm a debate opponent on a given topic. To preach in this way, Paul says, risks emptying the cross of Christ of its power.Īs a writer of course, Paul was often quite eloquent and certainly wise in his presentation of the gospel. Paul adds that Christ did not send him to preach the gospel with words of eloquent wisdom. Baptism is a step of obedience and a public declaration that a believer belongs to Christ. He expected that all who came to Christ would be baptized, and Christ commanded His followers to both make disciples and baptize all who believed (Matthew 28:19). Second, Paul is not dismissing baptism as unnecessary. Paul's teaching of the gospel is utterly clear that faith in Christ is the only path to God's grace and eternal salvation from sin (Ephesians 2:8–9). In other words, baptism is not required for a person to be saved. First, Paul makes it crystal clear that baptism is not the gospel. We can take two things from this statement. He relied on others to baptize new believers and to participate directly in pastoring and teaching them. He was not called to baptize those who had believed the gospel. Holding clearly to this mission meant that Paul also understood what Christ had not sent him to do. Christ sent Paul to preach the gospel, especially to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15 22:21). Paul was in the unique position as an apostle of having been sent by Christ Himself to complete a specific mission with his life.
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