Why did the Corinthians write to Paul in the first place?
The Corinthian church was beset with all kinds of problems, so they wrote to the apostle asking what they were supposed to do with them and how to handle them. They also faced gross immorality, prompting their request for apostolic guidance.
Les teaches that the Corinthian church was beset with all kinds of problems, which is why they wrote the letter to the apostle asking, "what are we supposed to do with this? How are we supposed to handle it?" He notes they were a church, as later seen in chapter 5, that was beset with gross immorality. Les explains that Corinth was probably the most lascivious, immoral, and morally corrupt city in the Roman Empire. It was a double seaport on an isthmus jutting into the Mediterranean, handling eastern and western trade, with a population of perhaps 30,000 to 40,000. The city was rampant with commerce, sailors from all parts of the world, and pagan worship, including a great temple to a Greek goddess. The whole society was programmed to this. So their many problems and immoral setting drove them to seek the apostle's guidance.