The Corinthian Church

The Corinthian Church

Justin

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.  And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.  And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.  And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”  And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue.  Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.  And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”  And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Acts 18:1-11 (ESV)

Paul probably had a special place in his heart for the Corinthian church.  He planted the church with influential Christian couple, Aquila and Priscilla, after his visit to Athens.  His vision was to preach a simple Gospel to a culture that was plagued by worldly foolishness and corruption.  His audience was very diverse for its time, the congregation in Corinth had both Jews and Gentiles, and it grew rapidly.  Paul spent a year and half there, invested in a church that was in position to make an impact on a culture that desperately needed Jesus.

Spending such an amount of time with a powerful figure of the Christian faith, you would think that the Corinthian Church would be mature and an example of what a healthy congregation looks like; sadly, this was not the case.  Paul had heard of the immorality and corruption that was happening.  He kept in frequent contact with them and made two more visits.  Scholars think that the apostle wrote to this church five times (see the chart below).  The letter we know as 1 Corinthians was written while Paul was in Ephesus during his third missionary journey.  He received word that all was not well in Corinth, they also had questions on how to deal with certain issues.  Paul touches on division, abuse of sacraments, disruption during service, issues in theology, among other issues.  Mark Driscoll had a sermon series called “Christians Gone Wild” when he preached through 1 Corinthians.  One letter and one visit later, 2 Corinthians (which may be two letters in one) has a much different tone.  It is personal and full of emotion.  He rejoices in the repentance and renewed obedience.  In this encouraging letter we see Paul defend his apostolic ministry and experience God’s strength manifested in his weakness.  Words that still hit home today.

As we go through this series for the next several weeks, one major theme should be God’s sovereignty.  If not for the love Paul had for the Corinthian church, and their lapse in conduct, who knows how we (the current Church) would have received this information on how to live life.  It shows how God uses situations, good or bad, to show His glory.  It also shows how we appear in the eyes of our Father.  Despite their appalling behavior, Paul (instructed by the Holy Spirit) still addresses them as saints in 1 Corinthians 1:2.  Assuring that whatever we may do, if we are Christians, our identity is firmly planted in Jesus.

Event	Crisis/Reason	Date	From	People	Scripture
First Visit	Planted the church in Corinth during Paul's second missionary journey	50-52	Antioch	Aquila, Priscilla, Silas, Timothy	Acts 18
Wrote 1 & 2 Thessalonians	Encourage persecuted saints with the anticipation of Jesus' return	50	Corinth	Silvanus, Timothy	1 Thess 1:1
"previous letter" or "Corinthians A"	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown		1 Cor 5:9
Corinthians write to Paul	Questions for Paul as well as reports of immorality in the church	Unknown	Corinth	Chloe	1 Cor 1:11; 7:1
Wrote 1 Corinthians or "Corinthians B"	Address issues or morality in the church, as well as provide theological insight to salvation and the resurrection	53/54	Ephesus		1 Cor 16:8
Wrote the "severe letter" or "Corinthians C"	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown		2 Cor 2:4; 7:8
Second visit	During Paul's third missionary journey	Unknown	Antioch		2 Cor 2:1
Wrote 2 Corinthians or "Corinthians D & E"	Paul defends his apostleship, explains the nature of the new covenant, and encourages sacrificial giving	54/55	Macedonia		2 Cor 7:5
Third visit	Possibly during Paul's fourth missionary journey	Unknown			Acts 20:2; 2 Cor 13:1