Paul wrote to the Corinthians because they had written to him with a batch of questions about serious problems in their carnal young church.
Les Feldick teaches that the Corinthian congregation, just out of paganism, sent Paul a letter asking how to handle things like marriage, meat offered to idols, divisions, lawsuits, gross immorality, and disorderly tongues. Paul answered their questions one by one, and because of the problems, the letter contains reproof as well as instruction.
1 Corinthians 7:1 — This verse explicitly tells us the Corinthians had written to Paul and that his instruction on marriage answers their questions.
1 Corinthians 1:11-12 — This passage shows one of the problems Paul was prompted to address: divisions over which leader to follow.
The Bible itself shows that Paul was not writing without an occasion. In 1 Corinthians 7:1 Paul says, "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me..." Immediately after that he begins answering questions about marriage. Scripture also records the specific problems Paul confronted: contentions and party spirit in 1 Corinthians 1:11-12, gross fornication in 1 Corinthians 5:1, and believers taking one another to court before the unjust in 1 Corinthians 6:1. These passages reveal the practical issues that were troubling the Corinthian assembly.
Les Feldick explains that the Corinthian congregation had actually sent Paul a letter while he was across the Aegean Sea at Ephesus, with a whole series of questions about problems they were facing. He ties this directly to 1 Corinthians 7:1: "Now concerning the things that you wrote unto me" (Clip 5). The church was made up of believers who had just come out of a pagan background, and they had not grown spiritually (Clip 6). Les says the Corinthian church was the most carnal and least spiritual of all the churches Paul had anything to do with (Clip 1). According to Les, those questions were resting on problems. Among the things Paul had to answer were how to handle the marriage relationship and how to handle meat offered to idols (Clip 4). There was also gross immorality in the church that the church was not addressing (Clip 3), divisions over whether believers followed Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ (Clip 7), believers suing one another in pagan courts (Clip 7), and the tongues phenomenon causing disorder in the church (Clip 7).
The believers had real questions because they were just out of paganism and ignorant. Paul was over the Aegean Sea at Ephesus, and they wrote a letter with a whole series of questions. He answers them one by one (Clip 6). The letter of questions is referred to in 1 Corinthians 7:1 (Clip 5).
Les lists several problems: divisions over which leader to follow (Paul, Apollos, Cephas, Christ), believers taking one another to court in pagan courts, gross immorality, and the tongues phenomenon causing disorder. He also dealt with the marriage relationship and meat offered to idols.
The Corinthians were genuine believers — in the Body of Christ — but they were carnal. They came right out of paganism, had no Bible background, no Sunday school or catechism, and did not grow spiritually. That is why they had so many problems.
Les says the human race doesn't change. The things that were a problem in Corinth in A.D. 60 are still the same problems in our churches and personal lives.
Corinthians as the Epistle of Reproof
Les notes that in the divinely arranged order of Scripture, Corinthians is the epistle profitable for reproof, which fits the problems Paul addresses.
The Most Carnal Church
Les says everything in 1 Corinthians responds to the congregation's questions, and the Corinthian church was the most carnal and least spiritual of Paul's churches.
A Letter of Questions
Paul was answering the Corinthians' letter, and the same problems still exist today because human nature doesn't change.
Gross Immorality
There was gross immorality in the church, and the church wasn't addressing it, prompting Paul's reproof.
Marriage and Meat Offered to Idols
The Corinthians asked how to handle the marriage relationship and how to handle meat offered to idols; these issues showed their carnality.
Chapter 7:1 as the Key
Les points to "Now concerning the things that you wrote unto me" as evidence the letter was prompted by the Corinthians' questions.
Questions From New Pagan Believers
Paul was at Ephesus when he wrote, and he answered the Corinthians' questions one by one after they had just come out of paganism.
Divisions, Lawsuits, Immorality, Tongues
Les lists divisions over leaders, believers suing one another in pagan courts, gross immorality, and tongues causing disorder as problems Paul addressed.
1 Corinthians 7:1: Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
Paul explicitly acknowledges the Corinthians had written to him with questions, which is the occasion for the letter.
1 Corinthians 1:11: For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
This verse shows one of the problems the Corinthians were facing: contentions and divisions.
1 Corinthians 1:12: Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
It reveals the party divisions Paul was prompted to address.
1 Corinthians 5:1: It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
It shows the gross immorality in the Corinthian assembly that Paul had to confront.
1 Corinthians 6:1: Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
It addresses the problem of believers suing one another in pagan courts.
1 Corinthians 14:40: Let all things be done decently and in order.
It gives Paul's corrective instruction concerning the disorder caused by the tongues phenomena at Corinth.
Yes. Les says they were in the Body of Christ, but they were carnal and had a long way to go. Their problems did not mean they were not believers.
They had just come out of paganism. They had no Sunday school or catechism when they were children, and they were as ignorant as they could be, so as new believers they had many questions.
Yes, 1 Corinthians 7:1 says "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me." Les points to this as evidence that the whole letter answers their questions.
Les says this was one of the big questions they evidently had, and Paul addresses it in chapter 8. It was one of the hang-ups of these carnal believers.
Watch the Teaching: What Most Christians Miss About Grace — 1 Corinthians Explained