Bethel Baptist Church Fergus. Living the Christian Life in a Pagan World Introduction to 1 Corinthians Pastor Paul Hudson

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1 Bethel Baptist Church Fergus Living the Christian Life in a Pagan World Introduction to 1 Corinthians Pastor Paul Hudson 20 February 2011

2 LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IN A PAGAN WORLD: INTRODUCTION TO 1 CORINTHIANS. Acts 18:1-17 "After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth... And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized... And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them (Acts 18:1, 8, 11). I. INTRODUCTION We begin this morning our study of the letter of Paul, addressed To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours (1 Cor 1:2). I have mentioned before, particularly when we look to the passage in 1 Corinthians 11 during our Lord s Table service, that the church in Corinth had significant issues, which we benefit from, as have all Christians since that time. The corrections that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write to the believers in Corinth are as necessary in this age as they were in the first century. Biblical scholars have attempted to piece together Paul s communications with the church in Corinth. We know from the passage in Acts 18 that Paul spent about 18 months in Corinth, and the reference to Gallio being proconsul of Achaia at the time dates Paul s stay in Corinth to 51 or 52 A.D, during his second missionary journey. This letter is labelled, 1 Corinthians in our Bibles, but we know that it wasn t the first letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth after his time of ministry there. 1 Cor 5:9 tells us that there was at least one previous letter: I wrote to you in my letter..., and we know from 1 Cor 7:1 that the church in Corinth had written to Paul: Now concerning the matters about which you wrote. There may have been another letter before that which we have preserved as 2 Corinthians, as the language that Paul uses to describe a letter that he mentions in 2 Cor 2:4 and 7:8 seems extreme if it is a description of 1 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 1:23-2:3 also suggest to us that Paul made a brief, painful visit to Corinth between the writing of the two letters. Piecing it all together, Craig Blomberg has suggested the following sequence of communications between Paul and the people of Corinth: Page 1 of 10

3 THE APOSTLE PAUL AND THE CHURCH IN CORINTH 1 EVENT REFERENCE DATE Paul s first visit to Corinth Acts 18:1-17 A.D Paul s first letter to Corinth 1 Corinthians 5:9 Corinthian letter to Paul 1 Corinthians 7:1 Paul s second letter to Corinth Paul s third letter to Corinth Paul s second, painful visit to Corinth Paul s fourth letter to Corinth 1 Corinthians Written from Ephesus, late winter or early spring of A.D Corinthians 2:4; 7:8 2 Corinthians 1:23-2:3; 13:1 2 Corinthians Written from Macedonia, about A.D. 56. Two things seem to have prompted Paul s writing of this letter. First of all, beginning at chapter 1, verse 10, Paul addresses a number of concerns arising a report that he has received from Chloe s people. Secondly, beginning at chapter 7, verse 1, Paul is responding to questions that the leaders of the church at Corinth have addressed to Paul in their letter. A number of very serious concerns are addressed in the letter, including a lack of unity in the church, sexual immorality, greed, idolatry and disarray in their worship. What seems to be at the heart of all of the issues, however, is a lack of understanding on the part of the young believers in Corinth, of the implications of the Gospel. Most of the new believers in Corinth had been Gentiles, rather than Jews, although we know from Acts 18 that some Jews, and indeed, some very important figures in the Jewish community, had come 1 Adapted from Craig L. Blomberg, From Pentecost to Patmos: An Introduction to Acts Through Revelation (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2006), pp Page 2 of 10

4 to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Acts 18:8 tells us that Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. The new believers were not steeped in Jewish culture, with understanding of God s command, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy (Leviticus 19:2). Their attitudes and behaviours were shaped by the pagan culture of Corinth. Lyle D. Vander Broek summarized the situation in these words: Each of the community problems Paul needed to address grew out of the Corinthians inability to let the gospel message fully reshape their gentile, Greco-Roman lives, whether because they misunderstood that message or because they rejected it outright. They were Hellenists through and through, and this eschatological, cross-centered, body-affirming Jewish sect called Christianity demanded that they enter another theological and ethical world.... The Corinthians were simply trying to be Christians with a minimum amount of social and theological disturbance. 2 Did you hear what Vander Broek said? The Corinthian believers were either unable or unwilling to let the Gospel fully reshape their gentile, Greco-Roman lives. The Gospel, the Good News of new life in Jesus Christ demanded a significant change in the lives of believers. The focus was on the consummation of all things, the end of time, eschatology, the return of Jesus Christ. The whole of life was to be cross-centered. Rather than individualism, Christianity focused on the body the church. The Corinthians were simply trying to be Christians with a minimum amount of social and theological disturbance. What time and what place do these words remind you of? What time and what place do these words remind you of? Most of us in this church have come from families that have always been part of churches. We have been steeped in the Judeo-Christian culture with concepts of separation from the world, holiness, ethical and moral standards, but the culture around us is very different. There is less and less familiarity with the Bible, with Christianity in our culture today. I think that we can see that there are many similarities between the culture of Corinth in the first century and the culture of the west in the 21 st century. 2 Lyle D. Vander Broek, Breaking Barriers: The Possibilities of Christian Community in a Lonely World (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2002), 27-28, quoted in Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, The First Letter to the Corinthians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2010), p.5. Page 3 of 10

5 II. We ll look at first century Corinth in just a moment, but this last sentence of the quotation from Vander Broek is also significant. The Corinthians were simply trying to be Christians with a minimum amount of social and theological disturbance. The Corinthians wanted their Christianity to have the minimum impact on who they were, on what they did, on what they said, on where they went, on who they associated with. They did not understand, and they did not want the Gospel to impact their lives, to change them, to transform them. And sadly, I think that there are very many Christians today, who are just the same as the believers in Corinth, to whom Paul wrote. We have much to learn from 1 Corinthians. WHAT WAS CORINTH LIKE? So what was Corinthian culture like? Most Study Bibles, Commentaries and Bible Dictionaries will give you background information about the various places and peoples that we encounter in the Bible. If you don t have a Bible (Old Testament or New Testament) Dictionary, I would encourage you to get one for your home library. Here is a summary about Corinth from Craig Blomberg s book, From Pentecost to Patmos: An Introduction to Acts Through Revelation: Corinth was a key Greek urban center under Roman rule, already eclipsing Athens in size and importance when Rome destroyed a large portion of it by fire in 146 B.C. Julius Caesar rebuilt the city in 44 B.C. as a Roman colony, with perhaps 100,000 inhabitants. In Paul s day Corinth had become the wealthiest city in Greece. Tucked between the two port towns of Cenchrea and Lechaeum, it formed a major center of trade. The narrow isthmus, on which Corinth was located, contained a path, the diolkos, across which mariners would drag their unloaded boats, between the Adriatic and the Aegean Seas, rather than sail over a hundred miles out of their way around the southern tip of Achaia. Every other year Corinth hosted the Isthmian games, second only to the Olympics in prominence among athletic competition in Greece. The city housed an eighteen thousandseat theatre, a three thousand-seat concert hall, and a large central market for farmers. A huge stone mountain known as the Acrocorinth, with its temple to Aphrodite perched atop it, towered over the city, and symbolized the dominance of pagan cults. In pre-christian times it was said to have employed as many as one thousand sacred priests or priestesses who doubled as prostitutes. Still more prostitutes plied their wares at ground level for the many visitor to the town, as well as the local populace. And though their numbers may have been considerably smaller in Paul s day, we are scarcely surprised that Paul has to deal with as many topics of sexual sin in his epistle as he does. Nor is it unusual that the Greek word to Corinthianize came to mean to play the harlot, just as a Corinthian girl became a slang term equivalent to our whore. But the ruins of a small Jewish synagogue in Corinth have been discovered as well, so Paul could appeal to some knowledge of God s Page 4 of 10

6 law when he arrived in town. Gordon Fee aptly likens the city to the New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas of the ancient world all wrapped up into one. 3 So, here s the deal about Corinth. It was a Roman colony, and, though a relatively new city, it had gained prominence over the old capitol of the Greek empire, Athens. The majority of the population were not Greeks, but Roman freedmen, who had been relocated to Corinth from the Italian countryside, both to relieve pressure on the growing towns and cities of the heartland, and to extend Roman influence in the Empire. Freedmen had no significant social standing in Roman society back home, but in Corinth, a person could rise in wealth and social standing by hard work and good connections. Wealthy residents of Corinth very often looked after poorer people, in exchange for which the poorer people worked as household servants or other workers for the rich. They would go ahead of their patrons on the busy streets and in the market and announce their arrival. Prestige was built by the size of one s entourage. And the wealthier Corinthians were all about prestige, ostentatious displays of wealth, luxurious homes, lavish parties, gorgeous clothing, etc., etc., etc. Prestige was also built by putting others down. This could be done through public debates, where the style of speaking and the wit of the putdown were much more important that the factual content of the debate. To use terms from American culture [as David Garland writes]: schmoozing, massaging a superior s ego, rubbing shoulders with the powerful, pulling strings, scratching each other s back, and dragging rival s names through the mud all describe what was required to attain success in this society. 4 Some of the problems within the church at Corinth can probably be attributed to some of the wealthier members gathering followers to them as they selected between Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas as the preacher/leader that they preferred. It may be that the wealthier members of the church hosted home groups in their villas, and that the church as a whole only gathered together on certain occasions, where these rivalries would be played out. 3 Craig L. Blomberg, From Pentecost to Patmos: An Introduction to Acts Through Revelation (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2006), pp David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), p. 5. Page 5 of 10

7 Corinth was also a centre of pagan worship. The quote from Blomberg s book noted the prominent position of the temple to Aphrodite, overlooking the city, but there were temples, shrines and statues to many, many different deities in Corinth. One could never have too many gods, in the thinking of many of the people of Corinth. If one didn t save you or provide for you, perhaps another would. And being a centre of both maritime and land travel and trade, influences of other cultures, gods of many other nations were celebrated in Corinth. It may be that the new Christians in Corinth took different approaches to the multiplicity of gods being worshiped in the city. Some may have decided that the best approach was to withdraw completely from these pagan influences, shunning all of the trappings of the pagan religions, while others, thinking of themselves as immune from these influences, would freely participate in banquets and ceremonies where food that had been sacrificed to idols would be served. Blomberg also discussed the rampant sexual immorality that characterized Corinth, both in the temples to pagan gods and in the culture at large. Apparently some of the members of the Corinthian church found it difficult, or thought it unnecessary to separate themselves from this aspect of Corinthian society, causing more conflict, more factionalism in the church. So these are the issues that Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians. Worldly wisdom versus Godly wisdom, sexuality immorality versus glorifying God with your bodies, idolatry versus glorifying God in your worship. What time and what place do these words remind you of? Again, we should ask ourselves, what time and what place do these things remind us of? We live in a culture that is very much like that in first century Corinth. Power, prestige, catching up with, being better than the people around us is the constant cry of the commercialism, the materialism of our society. The one who dies with the most toys, wins, is the way that much of the world lives. Some parents are seeking to achieve fame and fortune through their kids. I wasn t good enough to make it into the NHL, but maybe my son (or daughter!) will. Page 6 of 10

8 III. Idolatry, in many diverse forms, permeates our culture. We worship all sorts of things that are not God. We worship material possessions, comfort, health, fitness, peace and quiet, nature, endangered species. All sorts of things. Calvin said that the human heart is an idol factory. We were created to worship God, but in our sinful state we will worship anything and everything that is not God. Sexual immorality is celebrated in 21 st century North America even as it was in Corinth. Just about every television show, every movie, every advertisement that we see in the media celebrates sex outside of marriage. Pre-marital sex, extramarital sex are the norms in our society where monogamy and celibacy once were. There are even dating services which specialize in arranging extramarital affairs. Same-sex marriages are now legal across Canada and becoming commonplace. Once the fundamental definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman was thrown out, there will be more and more barriers broken. There is currently a court case in British Columbia challenging Canada s law against polygamy. The challenge of living a Christian life now is, if anything, even more difficult than it was then. We (and our children) are bombarded with idolatry and sexual immorality unremittingly, from all sides, 24 hours a day and every day of the year. HOW DOES PAUL ADDRESS THESE ISSUES IN 1 CORINTHIANS As we study through 1 Corinthians, we will find that Paul, in issue after issue, brings the attention to the new believers in Corinth to key themes that should be transforming their hearts, their attitudes, their understanding, and their behaviours; and our hearts, our attitudes, our understanding and our behaviours. They are the lordship of Christ,... the eschatological temple, and the glory of God. 5 study of 1 Corinthians. These are the themes that we are going to be looking for in our A. The Lordship of Christ Paul tells the Corinthians that everything is now changed by their identification with the crucified Christ. As Ciampa and Rosner write: [Paul] appeals for unity in the name of Christ (1:10), who is the power and wisdom of God (2:23-24) and the foundation of the church (3:11). The church must be cleansed of 5 Ciampa and Rosner, pp Page 7 of 10

9 the incestuous man because of Christ s sacrifice (5:7). To have relations with a prostitute is to violate Christ (6:15). Eating food sacrificed to idols must be avoided for the sake of one for whom Christ died (8:11) and in imitation of Christ (11:1). With respect to head coverings, he notes that Christ is the head of every man (11:3). The Lord s Supper must be celebrated by discerning the body of Christ (11:29). Spiritual gifts are to be exercised in order to build up the body of Christ (12:27). The resurrection of believers is grounded in the resurrection of Christ (15:3-23). Finally, all of history is about the subjection of all things under Christ s feet and his presentation of the fully redeemed kingdom/creation to God the Father (15:24-28). 6 B. The Eschatological Focus Which points us to another key theme in the letter, an eschatological focus, a constant focus on the end, the consummation, God s ultimate plan and purpose to bring all things to their perfect completion in the return of His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. In almost every correction, Paul points forward to the end and says that these sins must be dealt with, these distractions must be ended, because none of them have eternal value, eternal significance. Factionalism is to be ended. 1 Cor 2:6-8; 3:10-15, o 1 Corinthians 3: He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. The sin of incest must be dealt with. 1 Cor 5:5 o 1 Corinthians 5:5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Lawsuits between Christians must be ended. 6:2-3, 9-10 o 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?... 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! Flee Sexual immorality 6:14 6 Ciampa and Rosner, p. 33. Page 8 of 10

10 o 1 Corinthians 6:13-14 The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. The issues around marriage are not ultimately important 7:29-31 o 1 Corinthians 7: This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. In the discussion of food offered to idols, Paul refers to athletes 9:25; 10:11-13 o 1 Corinthians 9:25 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. In the discussion of the Lord s Supper, Paul writes 11:26, 32 o 1 Corinthians 11:26 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. The discussion of Spiritual gifts is related to the end: 13:8, 12 o 1 Corinthians 13:12 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. Chapter 15, which my professor William Cook referred to as perhaps the most important chapter in the Bible, is all about the resurrection. Finally, in Paul s conclusion, o 1 Corinthians 16:22 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! Throughout this letter, Paul seeks to remind the believers in Corinth that it is all about God, and not about them. It is all about God s perfect plan to bring all things together in His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our focus should be on His coming, on things that have eternal significance in the light of His coming. C. The Glory of God Ultimately, it is all about the Glory of God, that His name would be lifted high, that He would be made known, honoured and worshiped above all things. In the discussion about God s wisdom in contrast to the wisdom of the world, Paul writes, we impart a secret and Page 9 of 10

11 IV. hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:7-8). Ending his discussion about fleeing sexual immorality, he writes, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Ending his discussion about food sacrificed to idols, Paul writes, So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). CONCLUSION Here is the central message and challenge of 1 Corinthians, Now that you have made a profession of faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and the only One in Whom there is salvation, are you going to turn from the world and live a life that testifies to your salvation, or are you going to continue living as a pagan? How are we to live? How can we remain united in the face of all of these pressures? How can we individually, and we, Bethel Baptist Church, remain and shine as a testimony of the love and holiness of God in our culture, in our day? How healthy is your Christian walk in the midst of this pagan culture? Page 10 of 10