Immersion Bible Studies: 1 & 2 Corinthians

by James L. Evans

Overview

Journey inside the pages of Scripture to meet a personal God who enters individual lives and begins a creative work from the inside out. Shaped with the individual in mind, Immersion encourages simultaneous engagement both with the Word of God and with the God of the Word to become a new creation in Christ.

Immersion, inspired by a fresh translation--the Common English Bible--stands firmly on Scripture and helps readers explore the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual needs of their personal faith. More importantly, they’ll be able to discover God’s revelation through readings and reflections.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426744297
Publisher:	Abingdon Press
Publication date:	05/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
File size:	995 KB

About the Author

James L. Evans has been pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church in Auburn, Alabama since 2004. Prior to moving to Auburn Jim served other Alabama churches in Atmore, Selma, Montevallo, and most recently Crosscreek Baptist in Pelham.
A 1970 graduate of W.S. Neal High School in East Brewton, Alabama, Jim received a BA in Religion and History from the University of Mobile, the Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, and the Doctor of Ministry from Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham.
Jim has many varied interests and involvements. He has served on the Board of Regents at the University of Mobile and was the founding president of the Interfaith Alliance of Alabama.
For six years he wrote a weekly religion column for the Birmingham Post-Herald called Faith Matters. Since the Post-Herald folded, Jim s column now appears regularly in the Decatur Daily, the Anniston Star, the Montgomery Advertiser, the Blount Countian, the

Read an Excerpt

1 & 2 Corinthians

Immersion Bible Studies

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By James L. Evans, Stan Purdum

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2011 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4267-4429-7

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CHAPTER 1

Partnership in the Wisdom of God

1 Corinthians 1–4

Claim Your Story

"Who tells you who you are?"

The question was posed by a visiting preacher during a chapel service my freshman year in college. He went on to say, "Initially, it is your family that tells you who you are: son, daughter, brother, sister. Then you start school, and that institution enters your world: first-grader, second-grader, high-school graduate. The region of the world where you grow up also tells you who you are: Southerner, Easterner, Westerner, or American. Culture also chimes in: baby-boomer, middle-class, white-collar, blue-collar. Then you get a job or go into the military, and they tell you who you are.

"Then one day you join the church; and from that moment on, everything that you have been told about who you are becomes subject to a new authority. Everything we think about ourselves or know about who we are must be held up to the light of our new relationship in Christ. Ultimately, as followers of Jesus, if Jesus is in fact the center of our lives as he should be, it's the Lord who tells us who we are."

So, there are many voices telling you who you are; but which one are you listening to when claiming your identity?

Enter the Bible Story

Introduction

The 2000 film Remember the Titans tells the story of the members of a football team struggling with the new reality of desegregation in their school. In an effort to deal with the challenges the young men on the team and people in the community are facing, the local school board hires Herman Boone, an African American, as head coach. Coach Boone works his players hard, not only to be good players individually but also to be true team players. The coach understands that unless there is unity on the team there will never be success on the field.

The apostle Paul, while never playing football, certainly understood the importance of unity. Our effectiveness as followers of Jesus is seriously hindered if we lack unity of purpose and identity. If anything of substance is going to be accomplished by the church, we must act together.

Paul also knew the danger of factions. Dividing ourselves up among competing loyalties, whether they be racial as it was for the Titans, or theological and sociological as it was for Paul's friends in Corinth, divisions mean defeat for the church. Paul's correspondence to the church in Corinth was his effort to bring unity and peace to a congregation wracked with factions and competing loyalties.

The City of Corinth

We should not be surprised that the church in Corinth was having difficulty with unity. The city of Corinth around the year A.D. 50 could be a case study in diversity. A bustling seaport teeming with people from around the world left an indelible mark on the city. This was no rural backwater town.

The urbanity of Corinth manifested itself in many ways, including great diversity in commerce. Paul was able to sustain himself, perhaps as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3), while establishing the church in Corinth. There was enough demand to support himself without any assistance from the new converts (2 Corinthians 11:7). The city also harbored pagan religions, some having been in operation in Corinth for centuries, which influenced the lives of the Corinthians. These deep-seated religions created one of Paul's major challenges in uniting the church around the worship of God in the name of Jesus.

However, these same challenges also became Paul's opportunities. There was a lively spiritual inquisitiveness in the ancient world, a hunger for a spiritual connection beyond this life. Paul's promise of a dawning new age would have appealed greatly to those who were seeking something better, something more satisfying than the repetitive offerings in the temples.

Paul's epistles to the church in Corinth reveal that he understood these matters clearly. He knew how the challenges and opportunities were stressing the Corinthian congregation, and he knew exactly what they needed to hear to get back on track.

The Three Letters to the Corinthians

The New Testament includes two letters to the Corinthian church, normally dubbed 1 and 2 Corinthians. However, it's likely that instead of having only two letters that there were actually three or more. For this study, we will assume that 1 Corinthians is an intact letter but that 2 Corinthians contains fragments of two other letters.

We will further assume that the current order of the letters in 2 Corinthians does not reflect the actual order in which the letters were written. Therefore, as we go through the study we will consider 1 Corinthians first, then move on to 2 Corinthians 10–13, and conclude the study with 2 Corinthians 1–9. We will explain this in more detail when we get to those sessions.

Letters in the Ancient World (1 Corinthians 1:1-9)

Letter-writing was a common practice in the ancient world; and Paul's first letter to the Corinthian church follows the usual pattern, except for his announcing the theme of his letter within the standard greeting. He gets to it in the first line: "From Paul, called by God's will to be an apostle of Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:1).

Throughout 1 Corinthians, Paul deals with problems in Corinth and responds to questions from members of the church. He called for unity of purpose and identity. He worked against factions. He reminded believers that they were "called to be God's people. / Together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place— / he's their Lord and ours!" (verse 2). Just as Paul was called to be an apostle, the Corinthians Christians were called by their faith to all other Christians. By putting this idea at the beginning of the letter, Paul established a basis for encouraging unity. The Corinthians already had much in common with believers everywhere.

In the second and third letter to the Corinthians (our 2 Corinthians), we will learn that Paul was also being forced to defend the legitimacy of his status as an apostle. Opponents of Paul had come to Corinth to undermine his message and his standing. So, again, he began immediately by asserting his call to be an apostle.

Paul concluded his greeting with a prayer in which he gave thanks for the believers in Corinth. He touched on additional themes he would deal with later in the letter when he thanked God that his friends in Corinth weren't "missing any spiritual gift" (verse 7). Apparently, squabbling over who had the best gifts had created a contentious spirit in the Corinthian church.

The prayer concludes with a return to the theme of calling and the introduction of the idea of fellowship, or as the Common English Bible (CEB) translates it, "partnership" (Greek koinonia, verse 9). Paul left little doubt about his expectations for the health of the fellowship in Corinth. Part of their calling was to be in partnership with God's Son.

Naming the Divisions in the Church (1 Corinthians 1:10-17)

Paul launched into the heart of his message to the church. A group Paul called "Chloe's people" (1 Corinthians 1:11) had brought him troubling news about life in the church. We don't know who Chloe was, though most likely she was a key leader or a prominent member. However, her message about divisions in the church prompted a strong, though pastoral, reply from Paul.

The first cause of divisions seems to center on which preacher's version of the message about Jesus was the most effective. Groups in the Corinthian church had aligned themselves around certain individuals. There seems to have been a Paul group, an Apollos group, a Cephas group, and a Christ group (verse 12). What nuances of preaching caused factions to choose one preacher over another we don't know. What we do know from church history and practice is that it doesn't take much to splinter agroup. The differences between the preachers could have been small and perhaps not even concerning content.

There is nothing quite as painful as church schisms. Many people have suffered through the agony of seeing their church divided, and church divisions have a long-lasting effect. The pain of forcefully dividing a church can stay with a person for a lifetime.

In an effort to close the fracture in the Corinthian congregation, Paul posed three rhetorical questions: "Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paul's name?" (verse 13).

Having posed these three questions, Paul proceeded to answer them in reverse order. First, Paul expressed thanks that he did not engage in extensive baptizing. In fact, he named only two people that he had baptized. Baptism was practiced widely in the ancient world and not just among Christians and Jews. Participating in the rite often occurred only after a lengthy orientation period and called for deep loyalty. Paul's point was that he baptized for loyalty to Christ, not to himself; he was not trying to start a religion in his own name.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)

Paul answered the second question in more detail. In doing so, he moved toward the central solution to the problems in Corinth. At present, they were allowing the patterns of social life that existed prior to receiving Christ to dictate their behavior. In the competitive world of urban life, it was common to align with an orator or a politician or a local hero; but the new world created by the death and resurrection of Jesus called for a new way of being together in the world. The basis for that new way was the wisdom of God.

This remains the central challenge for Christians today. It's the question we started with: Who tells us who we are? If we are going to be Christians, then that entails being followers of Jesus. We don't tack Jesus onto a life we are already comfortable with, as if he were an accessory to our life. Following Jesus means he becomes our life. Paul challenged the conventional wisdom of the current age with devastating questions. "Where are the wise? Where are the legal experts? Where are today's debaters? Hasn't God made the wisdom of the world foolish?" (1 Corinthians 1:20).

For Paul, the foolishness of God—that which seems foolish to the world—was in fact great wisdom. The idea that a new world may be possible because someone died on a cross was not only foolishness (to the Greeks) but also a stumbling block to Jews.

However, this so-called foolishness is the heart of God's wisdom. The cross as the means of our salvation makes perfect sense because we are not strong; we are weak. "Look at your situation when you were called, brothers and sisters!" writes Paul. "By ordinary human standards not many were wise, not many were powerful, not many were from the upper class" (verse 26). God comes to the world in weakness, just like our own weakness, and saves us by means of the cross.

As Paul put it, "But God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong. And God chose what the world considers low-class and low-life—what is considered to be nothing—to reduce what is considered to be something to nothing" (verses 27-28).

Paul's appeal to God's wisdom overrode the competitive spirit that pits one group of loyalists against another. A competitive spirit that asserts, "My gift is better than your gift" is silenced by the command, "The one who brags should brag in the Lord!" (verse 31).

Proclaiming Christ Crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Having demolished any basis for competitive boasting, Paul refined his reflections on the cross of Christ and the wisdom of God. He also laid the foundation for refuting one of the claims of his opponents. In later sessions, we will discuss what Paul called "super- apostles" (2 Corinthians 11:5). Apparently, some critics claimed that Paul was not a true apostle because he was ineffective as a preacher (2 Corinthians 11:5-6).

However, Paul never claimed special abilities. "When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I didn't come preaching God's secrets to you like I was an expert in speech or wisdom" (1 Corinthians 2:1). Paul's message was simple and consistent, not just in Corinth but everywhere he preached. "I had made up my mind not to think about anything while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and to preach him as crucified" (verse 2).

Not that Paul preached without persuasive power. Though he may have shared in the weakness that he claimed for Corinthians, his message was powered by the Spirit. The faith born among the Corinthians was the result of the power of God working through Paul's limited abilities (verses 4-5).

Admitting our weaknesses and living with them is not easy, especially in our culture that highly values winning and success. In fact, our sense of ambition and competition may be our best tool for understanding the forces at work in the Corinthian congregation.

The Wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 2:6-16)

Paul's point about wisdom, not so subtly made, is that the powers that operate in this world, in fact, that run this world, are not guided by God's wisdom. God's wisdom is hidden from these powerbrokers. Paul's proof? Had the rulers of this world understood the wisdom of God, "they would never have crucified the Lord of glory!" (1 Corinthians 2:8).

So how do we appropriate this wisdom? According to Paul, the wisdom of God is a gift that comes to us from the Spirit. We cannot learn it; we can only receive it. In this sense, Paul was describing divine wisdom as part of the revelation of God given to us in the life and death of Jesus.

Paul then asked—rhetorically—how is it possible to know the wisdom of God if no one is going to teach us? Or in Paul's phrasing, "For who has known the mind of the Lord, who will advise him?" (verse 16). Paul's answer: "We have the mind of Christ" (verse 16), but what does that mean?

In the Letter to the Philippians, Paul encouraged ethical behavior with these words: "Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). Paul went on to describe how Jesus, though in a place of privilege, emptied himself, became a human being, and died on the cross. Because of this, God has exalted Jesus and given him a name that is above every name.

Many scholars believe Philippians 2:5-11 is actually an ancient hymn that Paul composed himself or knew from another source. It is entirely possible that Paul taught that hymn to his friends in Corinth. As they quarreled and bickered over status, Paul reminded them of Christ's example highlighted in the hymn by saying, "We have the mind of Christ." The similarity of the phrasing in the Corinthian letter compared to the Philippians usage is striking.

The Danger of Divisions (1 Corinthians 3)

Paul took on the third of the rhetorical questions he had been answering in reverse order. He began by explaining the connection between the divisions in the Corinthian church and God's wisdom. He told them, in so many words, that they were acting like children. Because the wisdom of God had not taken hold among them, they had resorted to the wisdom of the world. Instead of becoming mature and united around their common faith, they had chosen sides to have what amounted to a "my favorite preacher" contest (1 Corinthians 3:1-4).

Paul acknowledged that there were differences in abilities and maybe even differences in the content of the messages the Corinthians had heard. However, that did not mean that one preacher was right and another was wrong. Rather the differences pointed to different functions.

Paul, who founded the church, compared himself to a farmer whose job it was to plant the seed. Apollos, a preacher who came after Paul, added his own take on the gospel message. Paul compared him to one who watered the plants. With the combined efforts, God gave the harvest (verses 5-7).

Paul then shifted metaphors from farming to building to illustrate the positive significance of diversity. A building requires several parts, and one worker may not do all the work. Not all builders possess the same skill or work with the same materials. However, if the foundation is good, the building will be successful (verses 10-15).

In all of this, Paul continued to call for his friends in Corinth to embrace the wisdom of God. Fighting over who had the best preacher is the way the world works; it is not the way God's wisdom works (verses 18-23).

It is sad that even today many divisions in our churches have to do with quarrels over leadership. Churches in the grip of dysfunctional pastoral leadership, or leaders whose egos are placed ahead of the needs of the people, can face painful decisions.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from 1 & 2 Corinthians by James L. Evans, Stan Purdum. Copyright © 2011 Abingdon Press. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

IMMERSION BIBLE STUDIES,
1. Partnership in the Wisdom of God,
2. Where the World Stops and the Church Begins,
3. The Gifts of the Spirit,
4. Hope Really Does Float,
5. When a Tough but Truthful Word Is Needed,
6. Mending Our Relationships,
Leader Guide,