Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

1:17b words of eloquent wisdom. The art of rhetorical persuasion was highly valued in the Greco-Roman world, and professional orators frequented large cities like Corinth, giving impressive displays of their ability to entertain and instruct. Paul's proclamation of the gospel failed to measure up to these standards. This failure, however, served to place the spotlight on the power of the message itself (see also 2:1-5), for the Holy Spirit so empowered Paul's words that they awakened faith in Christ (cf. James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23-25) and changed people's very hearts and lives.

1:18 cross. See note on the crucifixion at Matt. 27:35. folly. Paul's preaching in Corinth focused on the saving fact of Christ's crucifixion, a method of execution considered so crude it was not even mentioned in polite company. The Corinthians' fascination with the rhetorical ability of the ministers rather than their message demonstrated that they were living contrary to the power of the cross.

1:22-25 Jesus' hostile opponents had kept demanding more miraculous signs to prove his claims (Matt. 16:1-4; Mark 8:11-12; Luke 11:16; John 2:18-20; 4:48), but they were doing this just to manipulate him, for the signs he had already given were sufficient to leave them without excuse for their unbelief (John 3:2; 12:9-11, 37; 14:11). Greeks were viewed in antiquity, in contrast to barbarians, as a cultured people and therefore interested in wisdom (Acts 17:21; Rom. 1:14). A crucified Messiah was offensive to an unbelieving Jew (Matt. 16:22; Gal. 3:13; 5:11), and nonsensical to an unbelieving Greek. God's power to call forth his people, however, works through a deeper wisdom than human beings can recognize (unless God grants them faith). Paul writes that the gospel is preached to all (1 Cor. 1:23), but God calls some effectively to salvation from among both Jews and Greeks (v. 24). On Christ as a stumbling block (v. 23), see notes on Isa. 8:11-15; 28:16.

1:26-31 Just as the message and its messenger (Paul) were foolish by the world's standards, so most of those in Corinth who believed the message were foolish by those same standards. God's transformation of them into his people (by choosing them to be saved) in spite of their humanly unimpressive pedigree excludes all boasting in ancestry, accomplishment, or affiliation with one preacher or another (see also 3:21-22).

1:27 God chose what is weak . . . to shame the strong. The themes of the lifting up of the downtrodden and the reversal of human status are prophesied in the OT (e.g., 1 Sam. 2:1-8; Isa. 61:1; cf. Luke 1:52; John 9:39).

2:1-5 not . . . with lofty speech or wisdom. Paul avoided Greek rhetoric and focused on the message of the cross, so that the Corinthians would put their faith in Christ who was crucified rather than in the ability of human messengers.

2:5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men. Mere intellectual persuasion does not save people. Saving faith is produced by the heart-changing power of the Holy Spirit as the gospel is proclaimed.

2:6-10 The rulers who executed Jesus did not understand what they were doing (cf. Luke 23:34). Paul and the Corinthians would also have failed to understand Christ's death apart from the Spirit's revelation to them about its meaning. In Rom. 8:27 the Spirit searches (Gk. eraunaō) the human heart, but here the Spirit searches (eraunaō) the depths of God. God's Spirit bridges the chasm between the deep things of God and the human heart, graciously enabling human beings to understand the message of the cross, which would otherwise be incomprehensible. See also 1 Cor. 2:4.

2:6 rulers of this age. Probably a reference to such earthly rulers as the Jewish chief priests and the Roman procurator Pilate who sentenced Jesus to die (see v. 8), but by analogy it also includes all rulers who do not believe in Jesus.

2:7 secret and hidden wisdom of God. This "wisdom of God" is centered in Christ and includes all of God's plans for the history of salvation from before the ages ("before the foundation of the world," Eph. 1:4) to the unending future of eternity (1 Cor. 2:9; Rev. 11:15; 22:5). It includes everything Paul preaches, "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27).

2:11 comprehends. Understands fully.

2:12 the Spirit who is from God. Both the substance and the verbal expression of the apostles' witness to Christ are from God.

2:13 those who are spiritual. Although the adjective "spiritual" (Gk. pneumatikos) could refer to things or words rather than to people (see ESV footnote), Paul seems to be turning now to the subject of spiritual people (see v. 15; 3:1). As Paul has just made clear, only the Spirit can render the message of the cross truly comprehensible to someone, so every Christian is a "spiritual" (led and empowered by the Holy Spirit) person; see also Rom. 8:9; 2 Cor. 3:6, 8, 16-18; Eph. 1:13. Unbelievers, on the other hand, do not have the spiritual capacity to understand the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14).

3:1-3 of the flesh. The first instance of this phrase (v. 1) represents a Greek word (sarkinos) that means "characterized by the flesh" (cf. Rom. 7:14). The second instance (1 Cor. 3:3) represents a slightly different word (sarkikos) that means "made of flesh, fleshly" (cf. 2 Cor. 1:17; 10:4). Paul uses both terms here in the same way to express his disappointment in the Corinthians' behavior. "Flesh" takes different meanings in Scripture, but in Paul's letters it often refers to "unredeemed human nature" with all of its desires and characteristic behavior. Although the Corinthians are Christians indwelt by the Spirit, their divisive behavior shows that they are acting like the unbelieving world around them.

3:2 not ready. Paul thinks it is unhelpful and dangerous to give advanced teaching to Christians who were morally and spiritually immature and proud.

3:8 wages according to his labor. See note on vv. 14-15. God's blessing and reward in the lives of Christians varies according to their faithfulness to the tasks he entrusts to them.

3:12 gold, silver, precious stones. Materials used in the construction of Solomon's temple (1 Chron. 29:2), and here an image for what will survive the judgment, in contrast to wood, hay, and straw. Work that Christians do in Christlike faith and obedience (1 Cor. 3:10-11) will survive and be rewarded; work done in the power of the "flesh" (v. 1) or in disobedience to Scripture (4:6) will not.

3:14-15 reward . . . loss . . . saved . . . as through fire. See also v. 8 and 4:4-5. Although those who have believed in Jesus have already been justified by faith (Rom. 5:1) and will not face condemnation on the final day (John 5:24; Rom. 8:1, 33), God will still judge their works (Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10) and reward them accordingly (Matt. 6:1-6, 16, 18; 10:41-42). Paul's point applies not just to church leaders but to anyone who contributes in any way to building up the church (1 Cor. 12:7, 12-31; 14:12).

3:16 On the temple and God's dwelling, see note on Ex. 25:8.

3:17 God will destroy him. The one who destroys God's temple (in this context, the church) is not part of God's people and so faces eternal destruction on the final day, just as God eventually destroyed the Babylonians who had destroyed Solomon's temple.

3:21-23 let no one boast in men. Arrogance is at the root of the divisiveness in Corinth (4:6, 18). The Corinthians need to learn that they ultimately belong to God, not to the leader who baptized them (1:13-17), who was himself only fulfilling God's purposes (3:7, 11; 4:1). They should, therefore, boast only in God (1:29, 31).

3:21 All things are yours means that they are given by God for the benefit of his people.

4:1 mysteries. Since Paul uses the plural here (see also 13:2; 14:2), he probably has in mind not only the gospel itself (see also Eph. 6:19) but also other truths that God has revealed. See, e.g., Rom. 11:25; 1 Cor. 15:51; Eph. 3:4, 6; 5:32; Col. 2:2. A "mystery" (Gk. mystērion) in Paul's letters is something that people, in their human weakness, could not understand unless God graciously revealed it to them (Dan. 2:18-19, 28; Eph. 1:7-9), but now Paul does explain these mysteries.

4:3 judged by you. Some of the Corinthians, perhaps followers of Apollos or Cephas, probably spoke disparagingly of Paul, especially of his speaking ability (1:17; 2:3-4; 4:18-21; 2 Cor. 10:9), thinking they were able to judge his spiritual effectiveness.

4:6 Paul emphasizes the importance of not going beyond what is written in Scripture, as exemplified by his five quotations up to this point: Isa. 29:14 (1 Cor. 1:19); Jer. 9:22-23 (1 Cor. 1:31); Isa. 64:4 (1 Cor. 2:9); Job 5:13 (1 Cor. 3:19); and Ps. 94:11 (1 Cor. 3:20).

4:7 This set of rhetorical questions expresses in a nutshell the central theological truth that the Corinthians, in their divisiveness, seem to have forgotten: all their abilities, opportunities, and blessings are from God, so they should not boast. What do you have that you did not receive? If Christians repeatedly ask this of themselves, it will produce deep humility and thanksgiving. See also 1:4, 30-31; 3:6-7, 21-23.

4:8 you have become kings. Paul is speaking colorfully and ironically of the Corinthians' haughtiness.

4:9 exhibited . . . like men sentenced to death. Paul is probably thinking of the Roman triumphal procession in which captured enemy soldiers were paraded through the streets before being publicly executed. Or he may be thinking of gladiators condemned to die in an arena. See also 2 Cor. 2:14 and, for the image used in a different way, Col. 2:15.

4:10-13 We are fools for Christ's sake. Measured by the "royal" standards of the Corinthians (v. 8), Paul's apostolic calling has involved foolishness, weakness, and suffering. See 2 Cor. 2:14-17; 4:7-12, 16-18; 11:22-33; 12:9; 13:4; Phil. 1:12-18. when slandered, we entreat. Paul answers false accusations (cf. Acts 16:37) lest falsehood be established as truth in the public mind and the reputation of the gospel be damaged.

4:15 countless guides. Apollos and Cephas, among others. father. See v. 17; Gal. 4:19; Phil. 2:22; 1 Thess. 2:7, 11; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Philem. 10.

4:16 be imitators of me. God has designed the Christian life so that much of one's progress comes through imitating other Christians, imperfect though they be (cf. 11:1; Phil. 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:7; 1 Tim. 4:12; Titus 2:7; 1 Pet. 5:3).

4:19 I will find out . . . their power. Apparently Paul expected a confrontation in which the power of the Holy Spirit would manifest some kind of disciplinary force against those who were harming the church (see Acts 5:1-11; 13:9-11; 2 Cor. 10:3-4).

4:20 On the kingdom of God, see note on Matt. 3:2.

4:21 rod. A thin stick used for discipline. Paul is speaking metaphorically of the kind of church discipline he is about to describe in 5:3-5.