Pauline Epistles · New Testament
1 Corinthians
c. AD 55
- Section
- Pauline Epistles · New Testament
- Events span
- c. AD 55
- Written
- c. AD 55, from Ephesus (near modern-day Selçuk, Turkey)
- Author
- Paul the Apostle
Paul writes to a gifted but divided and immoral church in Corinth, addressing their factions, a case of incest, lawsuits, sexual ethics, marriage, food offered to idols, order in worship, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection, anchoring it all in the cross and in love.
Historical setting: A Gentile-majority church in Roman Corinth; the Second Temple still standing, Judea under Roman rule.
Key themes
- Unity in the church
- The cross and true wisdom
- Sexual purity
- Love (1 Corinthians 13)
- The resurrection of the dead
The letter's message
- Paul pleads for unity and boasts only in Christ crucified, not human wisdom
- He rebukes their tolerance of sexual immorality and lawsuits among believers
- Guidance on marriage, singleness, and food offered to idols
- Order in worship and the right practice of the Lord's Supper
- Spiritual gifts are given to serve the one body of Christ
- "The greatest of these is charity" — the supremacy of love
- The reality of the resurrection: "in Christ shall all be made alive"
Key lessons
- Church divisions dishonor the cross; believers are to find their unity in Christ crucified, not in rallying around favorite leaders or human wisdom. 1 Cor 1:10–13
- The body belongs to God, so holiness matters; freedom in Christ is never a license for sexual immorality. 1 Cor 6:18–20
- Spiritual gifts are given to build up the one body, and without love even the most impressive gifts are worthless. 1 Cor 13:1–3
- The resurrection is the ground of Christian hope; because Christ is risen, death is defeated and no labor for him is ever in vain. 1 Cor 15:20–22, 58
“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”