Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
1 CORINTHIANS 1:1-31
1 CORINTHIANS SUMMARY: IMPLEMENTATION OF NORMAL CHURCH LIFE
I. 1:1-4:21 TRUE MINISTRY: UNDERCUTS THE FLESH
A. 1:1-3 PAUL GREETS THE CHURCH OF GOD AT CORINTH
Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ through God's will,
kai SosTHEnes ho a-delPHOS,
and Sosthenes the brother,
te ek-kleSIa tou TheOU te OUse en KoRINtho,
2to the church of :God which is at Corinth,
he-gi-asMEnois [37] en ChrisTO 'IeSOU, kleTOIS haGIois [40],
thosesanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints,
sun PAsin tois e-pi-ka-louMEnois [1941] to Ono-ma [3686]
with all that call in every place upon the name
tou KuRIou heMON 'IeSOU ChrisTOU en PANti TOpo, auTON kai heMON:
of our :Lord Jesus Christ, theirs and ours:
CHAris huMIN kai eiREneaPO TheOU paTROS heMON
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father
kai KuRIou 'IeSOU ChrisTOU.
and theLord Jesus Christ.
B. 1:4-9 GOD: ALWAYS A GOD OF GRACE
a. 1:4-8 GRACE ENRICHES
Eu-cha-risTO[2168]toTheOPANto-te peRI huMON,
I thank :God alway concerning you,
ePI teCHAri-ti tou TheOU tedoTHEIse[1325]huMIN en ChrisTO'IeSOU;
for the grace of :God :given you in Christ Jesus;
HOti en panTI e-plouTISthe-te [4148]en auTO,
5that in everything you were enriched in him,
en panTI LOgokai PAseGNOsei [1108];
in all utterance and all knowledge;
kaTHOS to marTUri-on [3142]tou ChristTOU e-be-baiOthe[950]en huMIN:
6even as the testimony of the Christ was confirmed in you:
HOSte huMAS mehus-teREISthai [5302]en me-deNI chaRISma-ti [5485];
7so that you are behind in no gift;
a-pek-de-choMEnous [553]ten a-poKAlu-psin [602]tou KuRIou heMON 'IeSOU ChrisTOU;
awaiting the revelation of our :Lord Jesus Christ;
hos kai be-baiOsei huMAS HEos TElous [5056]
8who shall also confirm you unto theend
a-negKLEtous [410]en teheMEra tou KuRIou heMON 'IeSOU ChrisTOU.
unreprovable in the day of our :Lord Jesus Christ.
b. 1:9 GOD OF GRACE: CALLS US INTO CHRIST'S FELLOWSHIP
pisTOS ho TheOS, di' hou ek-LEthe-te [2563]
Faithful the God, through whom you were called
eis koi-noNIan [2842]tou huiOU auTOU 'IeSOU ChrisTOU tou KuRIou heMON.
into the fellowship of his :Son Jesus Christ our :Lord.
C. 1:10-17 STRONG PLEA FOR UNITY WHEN CONTENTIONS
a. 1:10 A STRONG PLEA
Pa-ra-kaLO[3870]de huMAS, a-delPHOI,
Now I beseech you, brethren,
diA tou oNOma-tos tou KuRIou heMON 'IeSOU ChrisTOU,
through the name of our :Lord Jesus Christ,
HIna to auTO LEge-te PANtes, kai meeen huMIN SCHISma-ta [4978];
that you all speak the same, and no divisions be among you;
Ete de ka-ter-tisMEnoi [2675]
but thatyou be perfected together
en toauTOnoI kai en teauTEGNOme.
in the same mind and in the same judgment.
b. 1:11 PAUL: RECEIVES A REPORT OF CONTENTIONS
e-deLOthe[1213]gar moi peRI huMON, a-delPHOI mou,
For it has been shown me concerning you, my brethren,
huPO ton CHLOes HOti Eri-des [2054]en huMIN eiSIN.
by themof Chloe's housethat contentions are among you.
c. 1:12 PAUL SPELLS IT OUT
LEgode TOUto, HOti HEkas-tos huMON LEgei, E-GO men ei-mi PAUlou;
Now this I say, that each of you says, I indeed am of Paul;
E-GOde A-polLO; E-GOde KePHA, E-GOde ChrisTOU.
and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.
d. 1:13 AND AMPLIFIES IT
meMEris-tai [3307] ho ChrisTOS: me PAUlos es-tauROthe [4717] huPER huMON?
Christ is divided: was Paul crucified for you?
eeis to Ono-ma PAUlou e-bapTISthe-te [907]?
or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
e. 1:14-15 PAUL: DID LITTLE BAPTIZING
eu-cha-risTOHOti ouDEna huMON eBAPti-sa,
I givethanks that I baptized none of you,
ei me KRISpon kai GAIon;
save Crispus and Gaius;
HIna me tis EIpeHOti eis to eMON Ono-ma e-bapTISthe-te.
15lest any onesay that you were baptized into my :name.
f. 1:16 HE DID ONE HOUSEHOLD
eBAPti-sa de kai ton Ste-phaNA OIkon:
And I baptized also the house of Stephanas:
loiPON, ouk OIda ei ti-na ALlon eBAPti-sa.
for therest, I know not whether I baptized any other.
g. 1:17 CHRIST'S MANDATE TO PAUL
ou gar aPEsteiLEN me ChrisTOS bapTIzein, alLA eu-ag-geLIzes-thai [2097]:
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel:
ouk en soPHIa LOgou, HIna meke-noTHE[2758]ho stauROS [4716]tou ChrisTOU.
not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of theChrist be made void.
D. 1:18-31 FLESH UNDERCUT BY THE CROSS
1. 1:18-25 THE WISDOM OF THE CROSS AND ITS MESSAGE
a. 1:18 GOD'S POWER IN THE CROSS
Ho LOgos gar ho tou stauROU tois men a-pol-luMEnois [622]moRIa [3472]esTIN;
For the word :of the cross is to the perishing foolishness;
tois de so-zoMEnois [4982]heMIN DUna-mis TheOU es-tin.
but to us who are being saved it is God's power.
b. 1:19 GOD DESTROYS MAN'S WISDOM
GEgrap-tai gar,
For it is written,
A-poLO[522]ten soPHIan ton soPHON,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
kai ten SUne-sin ton su-neTON a-theTEso.
And annul the discernment of the discerning.
c. 1:20 WISDOM OF THE WORLD BECOMES FOOLISHNESS
pou soPHOS? pou gram-maTEUS [1122]?
Where is thewise? where the scribe?
pou sun-ze-teTES [4804]tou aiOnos TOUtou?
where thedisputer of this :age?
ouCHI eMOra-nen [3471]ho TheOS ten soPHIan tou KOSmou?
has not :God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
d. 1:21 GOD'S USE OF THE FOOLISHNESS OF PREACHING
e-peiDEgar en te soPHIa tou TheOU
For since in the wisdom of :God
ouk EGno ho KOSmos diA tes soPHIas ton TheON,
the world through :wisdom knew not :God,
euDOkesen [2106]ho TheOS diA tes moRIas [3472]
it was :God's good pleasure through the foolishness
tou keRUGma-tos [2782]SOsai tous pisTEUon-tas.
of the preachment to save them that believe.
e. 1:22-24 CHRIST: GOD'S POWER DEFEATING SIGNS AND WISDOM
e-peiDEkai 'I-ouDAIoi seMEIa [4592]aiTOUsin, kai HEL-lenes soPHIan zeTOUsin:
Since both Jews ask signs, and Greeks seek wisdom:
heMEIS de keRUSso-men [2784]ChrisTON es-tau-roMEnon [4717],
23 but WE preach Christ crucified,
'I-ouDAIois men SKANda-lon [4625], ETHne-sin de moRIan [3472];
a stumbling-block to Jews indeed, but to thenations foolishness;
auTOIS de tois kleTOIS, 'I-ouDAIois te kai HELle-sin,
24but to the called themselves, both Jews and Greeks,
ChrisTON TheOU DUna-min kai TheOU soPHIan.
Christ God's power and God's wisdom.
f. 1:25 AN AMAZING CONTRAST
HOti to moRON [3472]tou TheOU soPHOte-ron [4680]ton anTHROpon es-tin;
Because the foolishness of :God is wiser than :men;
kai to as-theNES [772]tou TheOU is-chuROte-ron [2478]ton anTHROpon.
and the weakness of :God is stronger than :men.
2. 1:26-31 PURPOSE OF THE CROSS: PUT FLESH TO DEATH
a. 1:26-29 GOD'S CHOICE: TO CONFOUND THE GREAT
BLEpe-te gar ten KLEsin [2821]huMON, a-delPHOI,
For look at your :calling, brethren,
HOti ou polLOI soPHOI kaTA SARka [4561], ou polLOI du-naTOI,
that not many wise after theflesh, not many mighty,
ou poLOI eu-geNEIS [2104];
not many noble are chosen;
alLA ta moRA tou KOSmou e-xeLExa-to ho TheOS,
27but :God chose the foolish thingsof the world,
HIna ka-taiSCHUne[2617]tous soPHOUS;
that he put to shame the wise;
kai ta as-theNE[772]tou KOSmou e-xeLExa-to [1586]ho TheOS,
and :God chose the weak thingsof the world,
HIna ka-taiSCHUne[2617]ta is-cuRA [2478];
that he put to shame the strong;
kai ta a-geNE[36]tou KOSmou, kai ta e-xou-the-neMEna [1848[,
28 and the ignoble thingsof the world, and the despised,
e-xe-LExa-to ho TheOS, kai ta meONta,
did :God choose, and the thingsthat are not,
HIna ta ONta ka-tarGEse[2673]:
that he bring to nought those that are:
HOpos mekauCHEse-tai [2744]PAsa sarx eNOpi-on tou TheOU.
29that no flesh should glory before :God.
b. 1:30-31 GOD'S SALVATION: TO MAKE US ALL DEPENDENT ON CHRIST
ex auTOU de huMEIS es-te en ChrisTO'IeSOU, hos e-geNEthe
But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who became to us
soPHIa [4678] heMIN aPO TheOU, di-kai-oSUne [1343] te
both wisdom from God, and righteousness
kai ha-gi-asMOS [38] kai a-poLUtro-sis [629]:
and sanctification and redemption:
HIna, kaTHOS GEgrap-tai,
31 that, according as itis written,
Ho kauCHOme-nos [2605] en KuRIokauCHAStho[2744].
Who glories in theLord let him glory.
NOTE: In 1971 Marie and I pastored a church in Seattle called “Ebenezer - Hitherto the Lord has helped us.” We read through the Bible together each year, following a Reading Guide based on that of Dr. J. Vernon McGee, alternating an Old Testament book with a New - e.g. Genesis-Matthew; Exodus-Mark, etc. We used the Hebrew order of Old Testament books, and the Bible Numeric order for the New Testament. We also followed J. Sidlow Baxter's “Explore the Book” for added insights.
Each week we chose a key verse for the reading for that week, and someone from the church put it to music. The Sunday School children rehearsed it, and taught the whole church to sing it together. 1 Corinthians 1:10 was the verse we learned to sing together at that time, and by the end of the year the church , especially the children, could sing 52 verses high lighting the 52 weeks of reading for the year.
Notice the importance of this verse. Paul not too often adjures the believers of his letters through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! The Holy Spirit is here admonishing all believers of all places and all times - that God highly values unityin His people, with the removal of all divisions. Not too often does the Holy Spirit lead Paul to use the word “ka-tarTIzo- to be perfectly joined together,” like a chiropractic adjustment. Ephesians 4:11-12 shows how this same analogy is used for the 5-fold ministry in adjusting believers corporately together for the work of the ministry!
Note too the close of this chapter, and how God has made Christ Jesus unto us a 4-fold blessing: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. These 4 flow from His Finished Work on the Cross - and empowered by the HolySpirit following His Resurrection and Ascension - on the Day of Pentecost. No wonder the Spirit emphasizes that because of this magnificent 4-fold gift of the Son of God, there is noroom left for glorying by man! - Jim Watt
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