HARRIET BURNS

While Paul was certainly concerned about the Corinthians as far as their behavior was concerned, he was also profoundly concerned about their faith, specifically in what, in whom, and by whom their faith was placed. Paul had lived among them and as he did so he taught them the Gospel of Christ in its truth. After he left them, they lost no time embracing false teachers and false ideas which pulled them off course in terms of their beliefs and, therefore, their actions.

The First Epistle to The Corinthians speaks to the difficulties of maintaining a Christian community in a degenerate culture including instruction on how to be “in the world” but “not of the world.” The apostle prays that we are led by the Spirit and not be conformed to the practices of this world however enticing they may be.