The big picture
The church in Corinth, a Greek city, receives this letter from Paul and Sosthenes, a fellow believer. Paul is an apostle, a messenger called by Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. He thanks God for the gifts among these believers before addressing their quarrels. They have begun gathering around favoured teachers as rival groups. Paul takes them back to the crucified Christ and the source of their calling. Human status cannot explain God's choice or supply a reason to boast over others.
In this chapter
- Thanks for Grace and Shared Calling 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Paul greets God's church as people made holy in Christ and called to belong to him.
- Teachers Have Become Rival Labels 1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Reports from Chloe's household, people connected to a woman known to the church, tell Paul of quarrels.
- The Cross Overturns Expected Wisdom 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The message of the cross looks foolish to those headed for ruin, but to those being saved it is God's power.
- God’s Choice Leaves Pride Without Ground 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
The believers can see the point in their own calling.
Central truth
The cross reveals God's saving wisdom and removes the grounds for rival groups built around teachers, status, or human achievement.
Scripture beside the summary
1 Corinthians · King James Version · 311 Corinthians 1:1-9
Thanks for Grace and Shared Calling
Paul greets God's church as people made holy in Christ and called to belong to him. Their Lord is also the Lord of believers everywhere, so their local group is not a private possession. Paul asks grace and peace for them and thanks God for gifts in speech and knowledge. The testimony about Christ has taken root among them. They lack no gift as they await Jesus' return. God will sustain them to the end because he is faithful. Their hope rests on the one who called them into fellowship with his Son.
In everyday life
A music tutor thanks a new ensemble for the skills already present before addressing its poor cooperation. She reminds the players that the grant and rehearsal space were given for a shared purpose, not for rival ownership. Gratitude names real gifts without denying real faults. Paul's assurance rests on God's faithfulness through Christ to the end.
Notice
1 Corinthians 1:9 God's faithfulness grounds the call into fellowship with his Son. Paul begins correction from what God has given, not from a claim that the church has nothing good.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
King James Version1Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2Unto 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:
3Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
4I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
5That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
6Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
7So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
8Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Teachers Have Become Rival Labels
Reports from Chloe's household, people connected to a woman known to the church, tell Paul of quarrels. Some claim Paul, others Apollos or Cephas, two other teachers, and others Christ as their group label. Paul asks whether Christ is divided or whether Paul died for them. Their baptism did not place them under Paul's name. He recalls baptizing only a few people and one household, glad that no one can use his part to claim private allegiance. His main commission is to preach the good news. Clever display must not empty the cross of its force.
In everyday life
A rescue-course participant claims higher standing because the head instructor signed his certificate. Others form groups around different trainers, forgetting the common skill the course exists to teach. The instructor refuses to let her signature become a badge of personal ownership. Paul points to Christ crucified and baptism into his name, not a shared qualification.
Notice
1 Corinthians 1:13 Paul asks who was crucified for them. The decisive bond comes from Christ's death, not from the identity of the human teacher they admire.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
King James Version10Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
14I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
16And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
17For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The Cross Overturns Expected Wisdom
The message of the cross looks foolish to those headed for ruin, but to those being saved it is God's power. Paul recalls Scripture that overturns the wise person's pride. Human wisdom did not bring the world to know God; God saves believers through the message people dismiss. Jews seek signs, while Greeks prize wisdom. A crucified Christ offends the expectations of both. Yet those God calls find in him God's power and wisdom. What people call divine foolishness surpasses their knowledge, and what they call weakness exceeds their strength.
In everyday life
A sailing trainee dismisses the plain life ring beside a yacht's polished control panel. When the engine fails, the object he treated as crude is what keeps him afloat. His measure of impressive equipment did not match his need for rescue. The cross is God's saving action through an executed Christ, not merely an overlooked useful object.
Notice
1 Corinthians 1:24 The same crucified Christ is named as both power and wisdom for those called. Paul does not replace the cross with a more impressive message to gain approval.
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
King James Version18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
19For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
24But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
God’s Choice Leaves Pride Without Ground
The believers can see the point in their own calling. Not many came with elite learning, great power, or noble birth. God chose what the world calls foolish, weak, low, and worthless to overturn its rankings. No person can boast before him on that basis. Their life in Christ comes from God. Christ supplies wisdom, right standing, holiness, and release from sin. Paul ends by directing every legitimate boast toward the Lord. Their lack of worldly rank is not a defect the church must hide by imitating the same competition within itself.
In everyday life
A fire crew looks at a rescue photograph and sees a cleaner, a cook, and an apprentice carrying the stretcher together. The city's prestige rankings did not decide whose help mattered at the ravine. None can claim the rescue as proof of noble birth. God's choice gives life in Christ and excludes boasting before him.
Notice
1 Corinthians 1:30 What the believers need is located in Christ as God's gift. Paul gathers several benefits into that one source rather than giving each faction its own claim.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
King James Version26For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
1 Corinthians 1:1 begins with “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,”
Where the chapter turns
1 Corinthians 1:13 forms a natural hinge: “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?”
The final note
1 Corinthians 1:31 leaves the reader with “That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Christ, Jesus, wisdom, Lord, world, baptized help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- sanctified
- Set apart for God through belonging to Jesus Christ.
- utterance
- Speech or the ability to express a message.
- contentions
- Quarrels or disputes that divide people from one another.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
