Paul wrote 1 Corinthians as a letter, or epistle, to the church in Corinth. Corinth was a wicked city and the church had many problems as members sought to serve God when people who lived around them worshipped idols.
In this epistle, Paul tried to fix several problems within the church. Since Paul used the phrase “concerning the things of which you wrote,” we can assume that Paul was answering questions sent to him from Corinth.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul told them to not to divide into little groups but to join together. He also urged them to learn more of God’s wisdom though many people in the world thought it was foolish. Even in our day many people do not see the wisdom in God’s word.
During the time Paul wrote, the Holy Spirit gave some Christians the ability to talk in languages they had not studied, heal sick people, and preach things revealed directly from God. We do not have this ability now since we have the Bible—the Corinthians did not have the Bible. Paul told them how to use these gifts of the Holy Spirit in their service and urged them not to think they were better than some who did not get the spiritual gifts.
While traveling throughout the region of Asia, Paul was gathering money from Christians to help Christians who lived in Judea who had no food because there was no rain for a couple of years. Paul told them they were doing a good work and that they should make sure to have the money ready when he visited. The Christians took up their collection on the first day of the week—Sunday—and so do we.
Since Corinth was such a wicked city, Paul had to teach the Christians how to be pure. He also told them to change several things they were doing that displeased God and did not make the church look good to their neighbors.
Though they lived in difficult circumstances, and had many problems within, Paul urged them to be faithful to God and to live pure lives. He told them that he might have to be stern with them in order to solve some issues if they did not resolve them by his arrival.
Lessons from 1 Corinthians
