1 Corinthians 1:17a For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel…            Though Paul readily admits to baptizing some Corinthians, namely Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanus (1 Cor. 1:14, 16), he did not recall baptizing anyone else. With so many conversions in Corinth during his 18 months there (Acts 18:11), one wonders why Paul did not baptize more. Clearly he i...

1 Corinthians 1:14-16 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. 16 Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made ...

1 Corinthians 1:13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?            Obviously Paul was quite displeased with the divided church in Corinth. Whether they were rallying around him, Apollos, or Peter, it was divided. Yet Christ’s church is to be united! Paul therefore begins a series of questions that work to show the absurdity of t...

1 Corinthians 1:11-12 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”            The information Paul had received about the Corinthian church from Chloe’s household while he was away from Corinth was that they wer...

1 Corinthians 1:10-11 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.            I “exhort” (parakaleo) you in v. 10 is Paul “calling” th...

1 Corinthians 1:4, 7-9 …the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus… 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Paul list...

1 Corinthians 1:4-6 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you…            When Paul first arrived in Corinth sometime in AD 51, he came to a bustling city full of debauchery and paganism—seemingly void of...

1 Corinthians 1:2-3 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.The Epistle of 1 Corinthians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul specifically “to the church of God w...

1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother…The writer of 1 Corinthians is “Paul,” originally known as “Saul” (Acts 7:58; 13:9). If anyone has ever had a radical transformation of their lives, it was Paul. His own testimony of his life prior to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ in Acts 22:3 speaks for itself, for he was “a Jew, born ...

Acts 18:1, 11 After these things, [Paul] left Athens and went to Corinth… And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.Corinth was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia on NW end of the Peloponnese peninsula next to Greece. Situated on an isthmus overlooking the sea routes east and west, it was an affluent commercial center, famous for its multinational character...

Galatians 6:1-2 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.           In 6:1 Paul imagines a situation in which a Christian is “caught in any trespass.” To be “caught” is to be “overtaken...

James 5:19-20 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.            There are some in our churches today like the Sadducees whom Jesus denounced, saying, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Mat...

James 5:17-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.Previously James spoke of the prophets and Job (vv.10-11) to illustrate suffering and endurance. Now he reminds of Israel’s most popular prophet, Eli...

James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.Perhaps what James means in v. 16 is that Christians ought never allow themselves to backslide to the point that they actually need to call church elders for prayer. If Christians would simply “confess…sins to one another, and pray ...

1 Corinthians 11:26-30 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eat...