The Troubled Church Excerpt One

Corinth held a strategic location on a narrow piece of land between two seas. Instead of traveling the long way around the ocean, ships came to Corinth to be picked up and moved over land the few miles to the other sea. If the ship could not be moved, they unloaded the cargo and transported it to another vessel on the other side. As such an important port for commerce, Corinth became quite prosperous.

But it also became known for its debauchery, so much that the phrases “to Corinthianize” or “act like a Corinthian” became synonymous in local language with debauchery (quite a feat in pagan Greek culture worshiping many gods).

Corinth contained temples of Aphrodite, Poseidon, and others, where ritual temple prostitution was the norm. It wasn’t an area you wanted to be in if high moral character was your goal (think of San Francisco and Las Vegas combined). Today, some use San Francisco similarly as a representation of an area pushing the limits of acceptable behavior—and proud of it, as Isaiah warns.

“Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope” (Isaiah 5:18)

They’re proud of their debauchery and want everyone to know about it, so have a parade and celebrate it! That’s the attitude of Corinth; the same attitude makes a comeback today. The idea sin is no longer sin, and everyone does what is right for themselves (that idea didn’t work out too well in the time of the judges, what makes us think it will work better today?).

It’s in this cesspool the church at Corinth existed.

Paul’s first visit to Corinth appears in Acts 18. As usual he went first to the Synagogue, but they were less than receptive, so he set up shop literally next door. After 2 years Paul leaves for Ephesus, where he writes his first letter to the church at Corinth; a letter we don’t have.

Scholars call this the “previous letter”, as it’s alluded to in a few places in the letters we do have. But Paul gets bad news, prompting a second letter in AD 56 (what we know as 1 Corinthians). Paul visits Corinth again, writes a third letter (the “severe letter”) which we don’t have, and then a fourth letter we call 2 Corinthians. He then pays the church a final visit; Paul invested a lot of time in these people.

Why don’t we have the missing letters? Many people debate on why this book or that book is or is not included in the Bible. But those arguments waste time—God preserved everything He wanted us to have. It’s just that simple. Arguments over why some just-discovered book isn’t included are unproductive, as God collected what He wanted to preserve for us; nothing more is needed, nothing needed is missing.

Paul reprimands them as they became a bit too much like the environment they found themselves in. As we journey through the letter, you’ll see they had problems in just about every area—spiritual gifts, marriage, divorce, legal matters, communion and more.

Christians should change the world, not the other way around; be very careful about melding Christian ideas with the world’s philosophy. A popular theme today calls for the church to change to remain relevant. Huh? If God is God, don’t you think He knew what circumstances would exist today when He inspired the authors to write? God’s Word doesn’t change, because it doesn’t need to.

The Church at Corinth existed as a troubled and carnal church, but this letter contains practical information, covering spiritual gifts, communion, marriage, divorce, legal issues, Christian liberty and more. It’s not heavy with theology, it’s practical counsel designed to put out fires. It’s not hard like theology (Romans) and prophecy (Daniel), it’s hard (and uncomfortable) because it’s quite clear; severe problems require severe correction.

Yet through all this Paul doesn’t challenge their salvation. He corrects and gives new instruction, but never says their salvation is in danger. Some groups make the case if you’re not living a “pure” life (whatever that means) you’re not saved (a form of legalism). But it’s not for us to judge, and even in troubled churches like Corinth, Paul doesn’t imply they’ve lost their salvation.

People frequently ask what about my child living a carnal life? Have they backslidden? Just like the church at Corinth, it’s possible to be carnal, worldly, and unproductive—but still saved. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can live any way you want (see 1 John). The point is, while outward indications may be a sign of the inner condition, they are not always a sign. We hope the distinction is clear.

Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother (1 Corinthians 1:1)

The “to be” isn’t in the original, it’s added by the translators. It really reads “Paul, called an apostle”. Who did the calling? God.

What are you called to be? We’ll talk of spiritual gifts later in the book, so for now what you need to know is God called you to something. If you’re trying to force something God didn’t call you to it won’t work out very well. Lots of opportunities for service exist. Dig in—Christianity isn’t a spectator sport.

Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours (1 Corinthians 1:2)

To the church at Corinth, not the Corinthian church. Only one church exists—we’ll talk about unity soon, but understand only one church exists. It may have many manifestations, but no church exists in a vacuum.

Paul starts with an introduction before getting to the problems.

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:3)

Paul’s standard greeting appearing in most of his letters, a combination of Greek and Hebrew (charis and shalom). You have to know the grace before you experience peace.

I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; (1 Corinthians 1:4)

Paul doesn’t have much commendation as the church had lots of problems—Paul doesn’t thank God for their devotion, living or example. But he does thank God for grace. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve—if you’ve earned it, it’s not grace.

Grace cannot be earned through works. It’s not Jesus plus, it’s Jesus. If it’s Jesus plus anything, it’s no longer grace, but works. You didn’t do anything to earn your salvation. Some may ask if I don’t do anything for salvation, why go through all this? Some people receive comfort by works—I have a list of things to do and I can check off items to see how I’m doing; if this life gives a chance to prove themselves this would make sense.

But not to God. So why go through all the world stuff? Paul tells you in Ephesians 2:7 “That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” We don’t deserve it, don’t merit it, did nothing to earn it and for all eternity we’ll try to understand it.

Paul says God gives His grace—grace is getting what you don’t deserve, mercy is not getting what you do (Corinth needed lots of both).

That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you; So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:5–7)

This church possessed all the spiritual gifts. They weren’t using them correctly, and Paul issues corrective instruction, but they had them all. The church needs all the gifts, and all should be in operation. We’ll deal with it more later, but if you don’t know what your gift is it’s simple: ask the Lord to show it to you, and give you something to do.

The Lord will provide something for you to do, and it will be so natural you’ll likely miss it’s your gift until someone else points it out. Then you’ll say, that’s not a gift, it’s too easy—and then the light bulb should come on.

Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:8)

Who’s job is it to keep sheep? “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). It’s back to grace—you did nothing to earn it, thus it’s not your job to keep it. The shepherd keeps the sheep, not the sheep themselves.

Blameless means unaccused and unaccusable, not sinless. Just recall back to Daniel 6 with Daniel in the lions den as his adversaries desired to eliminate him, but couldn’t find any reason to accuse him. The only way comes from creating a conflict between man’s law and God’s—Daniel certainly would follow God’s law. That’s blameless (Daniel obviously wasn’t sinless).

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)

Who is faithful? The pastor, elders? This isn’t Paul saying I’m going to stick it out, and we’ll get through it together. No, it’s Jesus—He’s the answer to all the problems the Corinthian church had, and He’s also the answer to all the problems any church has.

Too many people look everywhere but Jesus for answers. Don’t depend on your pastor—he’ll let you down as he’s not infallible and makes mistakes. The pastor’s instruction should confirm what the Bible already says and motivate you to do what you already know is right. But if you look for answers from your pastor you’ll be sorely disappointed, as Paul reminds us it’s God who is faithful, not man.

Now Paul dispenses with the polite introduction and gets down to problems. First up, divisions.

Get your copy of The Troubled Church for $12.95 from Amazon.com or other bookstores. (ISBN 9781452823980)