Slides accompanying YouTube video class

1. SESSION 2 – LET’S TALK ABOUT 1ST CORINTHIANS

2. Review
Written by the apostle Paul from
Ephesus to the church at Corinth
~54 CE
Roman colony
House churches
Addressing disputes

3. Review: Chapters 1-3
 begins with typical greeting
 addresses divisions – “I belong to Paul; I belong to
Apollos; I belong to Cephas; I belong to Christ”
 true wisdom and power – Christ crucified

4. 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Paul indicates that the Corinthians have been passing judgment on their leaders – including
himself

5. Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s
mysteries. 2Moreover, it is required of stewards that they should be found
trustworthy.
3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any
human court. I do not even judge myself. 4I am not aware of anything
against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.
It is the Lord who judges me.
5Therefore do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord
comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will
disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation
from God.

6.  “think of us…as servants of Christ…and stewards of God’s mysteries…” (v.4)
Steward: a person whose job is to manage the land and property of
another person

7.  Paul: do not judge us (me) – I am a servant and steward of God – the Lord judges me.
What could be a danger in a church leader declaring that they are above human judgment?

8. 1 Corinthians 4:6-7
I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and
sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, ‘Nothing
beyond what is written’, so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one
against another. 7For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that
you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a
gift?

9.  “puffed up” – theme in 1 Corinthians
 Why not puffed up?
 All, even life itself, is gift
 “If you received it, why do you boast
as if it were not a gift?” (v. 7)

10. 1 Corinthians 4:8-13
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart
from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so
that we might be kings with you! 9For I think that God has exhibited us apostles
as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a
spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. 10We are fools for the sake of
Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held
in honor, but we in disrepute. 11To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty,
we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, 12and we grow weary from the
work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we
endure;13when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of
the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.

11.  “we have become a spectacle to the world…”
 Roman victory parades were notoriously long and slow
Parade of
Emperor Titus in
71 CE

12. 1 Corinthians 4:14-21
14 I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my
beloved children. 15For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ,
you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father
through the gospel. 16I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me. 17For this reason
I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind
you of my ways in Christ Jesus, as I teach them everywhere in every
church. 18But some of you, thinking that I am not coming to you, have become
arrogant. 19But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not
the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20For the kingdom of God
depends not on talk but on power. 21What would you prefer? Am I to come to
you with a stick, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?

13.  Paul as their spiritual father: “…be imitators of me.”
Who has been your spiritual mentor?
What traits would you look for in a spiritual mentor?
Johann von
Staupitz
Benjamin Mays

14. 1 Corinthians 5:1-8
Paul addresses immoral behavior of an individual church member.
Note to whom he addresses his concern.
Do you agree with his advice about how to handle it?

15. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind
that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s
wife. 2And you are arrogant! Should you not rather have mourned, so that he
who has done this would have been removed from among you?
3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present I have
already pronounced judgement 4in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who
has done such a thing. When you are assembled, and my spirit is present with
the power of our Lord Jesus, 5you are to hand this man over to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

16. 6 Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens
the whole batch of dough? 7Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new
batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been
sacrificed. 8Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the
yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

17. Paul addresses immoral behavior of an individual church member.
Note to whom he addresses his concern.
Do you agree with his advice about how to handle it?

19. 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
Note the list of vices Paul mentions..
How does Paul distinguish between greater or lesser vices?

20. I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons—
10not at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or
idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world.
11But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name
of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler,
drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one. 12For what have I to do
with judging those outside? Is it not those who are inside that you are to
judge? 13God will judge those outside. ‘Drive out the wicked person from among
you.’

21. 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
Note the list of vices Paul mentions..
How does Paul distinguish between greater or lesser vices?
sexually immoral
greedy
idolator
reviler
drunkard
robber

22. 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
Taking another believer to court
Context:
only wealthy/powerful individuals could initiate civil action
Paul’s churches were small house churches – meeting in homes where people
knew each other

23. When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court
before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? 2Do you not know
that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are
you incompetent to try trivial cases?3Do you not know that we are to judge
angels—to say nothing of ordinary matters? 4If you have ordinary cases, then, do
you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? 5I say this to
your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide
between one believer and another, 6but a believer goes to court against a
believer—and before unbelievers at that?
7 In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you.
Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves
wrong and defraud—and believers at that.

24. Does this admonition against suing other believers apply today do you think?
Does the context of Paul’s time make a difference?

25. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Once again we have a list of vices from Paul…

26. 9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not
be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes,
sodomites, 10thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these
will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And this is what some of you used to be. But
you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

27.  Paul’s vice lists:
 common in Paul letters (Romans 1:29-32; Rom 13:13-14; 2 Cor 12:20-21; Galatians 5:19-21)
 contents of lists vary somewhat and seem to be tailored to the recipients of the letter
 “defraud” – one of the commandments according to Jesus in conversation with the rich man
(Mark 10:9)
 “male prostitutes”: malakoi (Gr.)
 means “soft” when describing cloth – in general use, to describe a man who was not ‘manly’
 adolescent boys who sold sexual favors to older men
 “sodomites”: arsenokoital (Gr.)
 men engaged in pederasty; more active partner in male homosexual relationship

28. Context:
 in Greco-Roman times, heterosexual married males might keep a boy for their pleasure –
sometimes the person was a slave and sometimes the boy solicited sex with elders for money
 around Paul’s time, people started to take note of the sexual exploitation and to object:
 Seneca’s “On Master and Slave”; Plutarch’s “Dialogue on Love”, Dio Chrysostom’s “Envy” and “The Hunter”
 none of the texts concerned relationships which were without exploitation
 Corinthian vices: defrauders, fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes,
sodomites, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers – acting like nonbelievers

29. Closing Blessing
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you wherever he may send you;
May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm;
May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you;
May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.
Amen.