I decided this year rather than read through the Bible, I would pick a book and take it verse by verse until I had studied the whole thing. I read a book in which a character read 1 Corinthians and decided to live out three principles she gathered. I didn’t even realize her three principles were in 1 Corinthians!! And I’ve read this book many times.

So obviously I picked 1 Corinthians. When and if I get through it this year, I plan on starting 2 Corinthians. I thought this morning I would share my thoughts on this wonderful book here. This post will be quite long, because I’m going to bring you up to speed.

1 Corinthians 1:1

Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Sosthenes our brother.

Paul was called to be an apostle of Jesus by the will of God. What has the will of God called me to be?
Sosthenes was a leader of the synagogue who was taken out and was beaten in front of the judgment seat in Achaia.

Will
Micah 6:8
        ~To do justice
       ~To love mercy
       ~ To walk humbly with your God

Romans 12:1-2
         ~to present body as a living sacrifice
         ~to worship HIM through my living sacricfice
         ~to NOT be conformed to this world
         ~to be transformed
         ~to renew my mind
         ~to prove the will of God.
                (How do you prove the will of God?
                 How are you not conformed to the world?
                How do you transform  your mind?)

Isaiah 53:10
           ~to crush us so we can be used.
           ~ to cause us pain at times.
           ~to use us.

1 Thessalonians 4:3
            ~My sanctification

1 Thessalonians 5:18
            ~that I give thanks in all things.

1 Corinthians 1:2
 Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. The church–group of believers–have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.
The believers were called to be saints. All believers who call on the name of the LORD Jesus Christ are called to be saints.
     What does a saint do?

Saints
Galations 5:1
             ~Are not subject again to a yoke of slaver
            
2 Timothy 2:4
              ~does not entangle himself in the affairs of every day life.

John 10:1
               ~Enters through the door
               ~goes in and out to find pasture
               ~knows Jesus
               ~lead by Jesus
               ~knows Jesus’ voice.

1 Corinthians 1:3
Paul is giving grace to the Corinthians from God. The peace he also gives comes from God. The only true peace comes from God. Paul did not have the power to bring or give them peace himself, it has to come from God.

Peace

John 14:27
                ~Jesus left His peace
                ~ His peace is different than the world’s peace.
                ~ Because of His peace our heart should not be troubled
                ~ We should not be afraid.

John 16:33
               ~In Jesus we have peace.

Romans 5:1
                 ~ We have peace with God because of Jesus.

All peace comes from God and is because of Jesus.

Grace
We extend grace to others only because grace first came to us through Jesus Christ. 

1 Corinthians 1:4
Paul personalizes God. He isn’t just any God. He is MY God.
Paul gives thanks to His God for the grace given to the believers there in Corinth. He gives thanks always concerning them.

Give Thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 
                        ~I am also to give thanks in everything/always.
                      
1 Chronicles 16:7
                         ~ David assigned men specifically to give thanks.
Psalm 92:1
                        ~It is a good thing to give thanks.
                          Why? Is there a health benefit to giving thanks? Not giving thanks shows a discontentment.         Are there physical ailments that arise from being discontented? Are there emotional benefits to giving thanks? What are they?

Matthew 15:36
                        ~Jesus demonstrates the giving of thanks for the mundane daily needs of life. Do I remember to give thanks for those? This goes beyond praying at meals.

Romans 6:17
                     ~Thanks goes to God for being released from slavery.
                     ~Thanks also goes to God for my obedience. I can’t obey on my own. My very obedience comes from God.
                     ~Obedience is a heart issue.

Always.
Genesis 6:3
                      ~God will not always strive with man.
                      ~Man has an appointed end.

Matthew 25:1
                      ~The fire was to burn always
                      ~The 10 virgins were to keep their lamps lit. Half of them did not get to enter the wedding because their lamps were out of oil.
                       ~I am to always keep my light visible (Matthew 5:14-16

1 Peter 3:15
                      ~I am to always be ready to give an answer for my light and hope.

1 Corinthians 1:5
The believers had been enriched in Him in all knowledge and speech. How? What does it mean to be enriched? You enrich things to add what is lacking. Vitamin-enriched cereal means they have added vitamins. So Paul thanks God for enriching the believers with speech and knowlege. He added what they lacked in those areas.

2 Peter 1:3
                     ~Peter states that God has given us all we need for life and godliness. God has enriched our lives–filling in what we lack in those areas.

Speech

Colossians 4:6
                      ~God has already enriched my speech with grace.
                         How do I appropriate this? How do I season my speech with grace?

1 Corinthians 1:6
This verse goes back and includes the previous two verses. Paul thanked God:
verse 4: for the grace of God.
verse 5: that in everything they were enriched.
verse 6: that the testimony of Christ was confirmed in them.
Was the testimony of Christ confirmed in them because God had enriched them in all speech and knowledge?

1 Corinthians 1:7
If no one has all the spiritual gifts, what gift is Paul talking about? He states that because of the previous verses we are not lacking in any gift.

1Corinthians 1:8
Jesus will confirm us to the end. He will be revealed according to verse 7. He will confirm us blameless in His day. Is that the day He is revealed or when we get to heaven?

1 Corinthians 1:9
God through His faithfulness called us into fellowship with Jesus Christ. God is faithful. Faithfulness is an attribute of God. He is characterized by His faithfulness. It is an intergal  part of Him. You can’t separate God from faithfulness.

Faithful
Deuteronomy 7:9
                    ~We are told to know our God.
                    ~He is God.
                   ~He is THE Faithful God.

1 Corinthians 1:10
We all can agree and be made complete. We can have the same mind and judgment. Paul exhorts us in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is only through Him that we can all agree. We are to be in unity. We are to be unified–not splintered apart.

Mind
Philippians 2:5
                    ~We are to chose to have the mind of Christ.
                    ~We CAN have it.

1 Corinthians 2:16b
                     ~We HAVE the mind of Christ.

Romans 12:2
                      ~We renew our minds
                      ~That transforms us.
                      ~We can then prove God’s will.

1 Corinthians 1:11
Who is Chloe? Who are her people?
Arguments show a lack of unity.

Arguments
James 4:1
                         ~Quarrels start because of lust.
                         ~The source of arguments is our pleasures.

1 Corinthians 1:12-14
Why did Paul not baptize? Did he not baptize period or just did not baptize in Corinth?
Why were there factions in the church? Was it a matter of too many chiefs? Did Paul say one thing, Apollos another and Christ something altogether different? I highly doubt that. I can see how maybe Paul and Apollos differed on some issues, but I don’t think they would differ in message content with Christ.
Apparently some thought Paul was better than Apollos and vice versa.  Some “one-up-manship” was at play. “My Paul can beat up your Apollos.” “Yeah well, my Apollos can beat up your Paul.” Oh yeah? My Christ can beat up both your Paul and you Apollos!”
We know from reading in Acts (18:24-28) that Apollos did not immediately know the full gospel. So Priscilla and Aquilla took him aside and brought him up to speed. This was in Ephesus, I am not sure when Apollow went to Corinth. If he had gone there first, it would be understandable to have the factions. Some might have heard a partial gospel before from Apollow and understood that gospel.