Audience: The Corinthian church of AD 55 (primarily Gentile believers)
Paul's contact with the Corinthians
Problems in Corinth
Themes • Pagan roots of a young church immersed in sophia and gnosis (wisdom and knowledge) • Rebellion of a young church against its founder (and against the Gospel) • “Overrealized eschatology”—trying to bring the experience of the Spirit in the Eschaton into the present • Recovering this recalcitrant flock!
Our God is faithful. In spite of our recalcitrance…. • He gives us His grace (4) • He enriches us with all speech and all knowledge (5-7) • He strengthens us to the end (8) • He calls us into fellowship with Jesus Christ (9)
Applications:
• We should never give up on any Christian—ourselves or anyone else—because it is God who will faithfully hold them blameless until the last day. • We should glory in the spiritual gifts that God has provided for us—they are the testimony of Christ in us to others—evidencing who we are! • We need to glorify God for His eternal faithfulness, in the midst of our unfaithfulness, and we need to be driven to more faithfulness toward Him, because we are in fellowship with His Son.
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