When You Come Together: 8 Studies in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians

We know more about the church of God in Corinth than any other New Testament church. The apostle Paul had lived and worked with them in AD 51 and knew them well. The new believers had different social backgrounds and strong opinions. A few years later Paul heard reports about their disunity, low moral standards and the selfish and hurtful way some behaved when they came together. What do you write in a letter to such a church? Paul wrote words we use at funerals to describe our hope of resurrection; words we use at weddings to describe love; words we often use when we take the bread and wine together.

We can tell they had asked practical questions about marriage, social life in the Roman Empire and gifts of the Holy Spirit but we don’t know what their questions were. Paul answered their queries about marriage and singleness, and social relationships which involved food offered to the Roman gods and goddesses. He told the believers how to behave when they met together and about God’s plan for them to build each other up, each contributing the gifts the Holy Spirit gave them to a growing body. He wrote in a direct style, sometimes confrontational, sometimes controversial. We can learn much.

These studies are written for people who have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and can be used by individuals or groups. Each study should take about an hour. An Introduction gives the background to Paul’s relationship with the Corinthian believers. Each study has an introductory review, explanatory notes and suggestions for prayer, thanksgiving and personal action. The Appendix and References sections have more information on Paul’s Old Testament quotations and helpful further reading.

There are many things in this letter which are controversial or difficult to understand. But there is much more that we do understand clearly, many beautiful passages, and practical information about meeting together with details found nowhere else in the bible. Paul’s letter encourages us to see that a church with faults is still Christ’s body and God’s church. So what happened to the church of God at Corinth next? You will want to read 2 Corinthians.