why was Paul correcting the Corinthian church so much?
Paul corrected the Corinthian church because it remained carnal and had not grown spiritually. He addressed divisions over leaders, lawsuits among believers in pagan courts, gross immorality, and the tongues phenomena that disrupted local church order. His corrections aimed to restore proper function and maturity.
Les explains that as Paul came this far in the letter to the Corinthians, he had been addressing problems because the church was still so carnal and had not grown spiritually. Les walks through the issues Paul dealt with from chapter 1 onward: divisions over whether they followed Peter, Apollos, or Christ; believers suing one another in pagan courts; gross immorality in the church; and the tongues phenomena, which Paul did not treat as an aspect of their spirituality but as a problem that upset the function of the local church and caused disorder.