1 Corinthians Bible Study

Corinth, perhaps the most important city in Greece during Paul’s day, was a bustling hub of worldwide commerce, degraded culture, and idolatrous religion. Yet in that vibrant metropolis of perhaps 250,000 free persons and 400,000 slaves, Paul founded a church (Acts 18:1–17). He also addressed two of his letters “to the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1).

First Corinthians reveals the difficulties, pressures, and struggles of a young church called out of a pagan society. Paul addressed a variety of problems in the lifestyle of the Corinthian church: factions, lawsuits, immorality, questionable practices, and abuse of the Lord’s Supper and spiritual gifts. In addition to words of discipline, Paul shared words of counsel in answer to questions raised by the Corinthian believers.

How did Paul learn of these problems? For one thing, he tells us that some members of “Chloe’s household” had informed him about the divisiveness that existed in the church (1 Cor. 1:11). A few members of the Corinthian church itself had also visited Paul to deliver a letter asking about several areas of confusion (7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1). Once before Paul had written to this church to warn its members against immorality (5:9, 10)—a letter no longer available—but he found it necessary to expand his counsel and try to get the church on a more solid spiritual footing. He also informed them that he planned to visit the church in person in order to straighten out any problems that persisted (4:19, 21; 16:5).

The oldest recorded title of this epistle is Pros Korinthious A—in effect, the “first to the Corinthians.” The “A” was added later to distinguish this book from Second Corinthians.

Theme: How God wants believers in Christ to live in the midst of a corrupt culture.

Author: The apostle Paul.

Date: Paul probably wrote 1 Corinthians toward the end of his three-year stay in Ephesus, sometime around A.D. 55–56 (1 Cor. 16:5–9; Acts 20:31).

Structure: In the first section (chapters 1–11), Paul addresses various problems within the Corinthian church, including sectarianism (1–4), immorality (5), Christians taking one another to secular courts (6), marital questions (7), idolatry (8–10), and the improper administration of the Lord’s Supper (11). The second section (chapters 12–14) offers instruction on the proper use of spiritual gifts. The final section (chapters 15, 16) reviews the doctrine of resurrection and includes Paul’s parting comments.

Charles F. Stanley, The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles, 2005), 1 Co.