1 Corinthians 1 Footnotes

1:1-17 Here Paul identified three issues that dominate 1 Corinthians. (1) With his reference to the church as “sanctified in Christ Jesus” (v. 2), he anticipated the Corinthians’ ongoing involvement with cult prostitutes. (2) His thanks to God for their gifts of speech and knowledge sent an early signal for an issue to be addressed later (vv. 4-9). (3) His rebuke over divisions—both among them and against him—introduced a theme repeated throughout the letter (vv. 10-17).

The items mentioned—being desensitized in sexual matters, preoccupation with their gifts of knowing and speaking, and remaining myopically focused on their favored leaders—were symptoms of a deep malaise among the Corinthian Christians. They were fascinated with themselves to the exclusion of one another and, more importantly, to God and his rule in their lives.

1:14-17 That Paul baptized only a few in Corinth does not imply he had a low view of baptism or was somehow disobedient to the Great Commission—“Make disciples … baptizing them” (Mt 28:19). The gospel was Paul’s priority, without which there can be no baptism. Paul did not say the Corinthians were not baptized, only that he himself did not baptize many. Presumably local elders baptized new converts.

1:18-25 Paul’s theological response to the Corinthians’ self-absorption (vv. 1-17) was as offensive to religious people (“Jews”) and to intellectuals (“Greeks”) then as it is now. The former seek miraculous signs in the heavens, and the latter demand proof. God accommodates neither expression of self-centeredness. Rather, God has displayed his wisdom and power in the most unlikely place—in the terrible crucifixion of the Messiah. In the message of the cross, God has reached down and dirtied his hands, revealing his love, mercy, and forgiveness and in the process humbling the proud and overturning human opinion about greatness. Ironically, God’s greatness is evidenced by the depths to which he is willing to go to rescue humans from sin. To use John’s language, the “lift[ing] up” of Jesus (Jn 3:14; 12:32) in the literal sense (on the cross—a place of public shame and God’s curse) is also the exaltation or “glorify[ing]” of Jesus (Jn 12:23) in a spiritual sense (the cross magnificently displaying God’s love).

1:26-27 God’s unimaginable humility in identifying himself with a crucified outcast Jew was reflected in the generally ordinary character of those who received this message and who assembled in the name of Jesus. “Not many were wise … powerful … [or] of noble birth.” Yet in the Lord they boasted due to their “righteousness, sanctification, and redemption” in him (v. 30).