Paul's first letter to the Corinthians confronted their carnality and corrected a range of problems, including divisions, lawsuits, immorality, and disorder in the church.
The evidence shows the Corinthians had sent Paul a letter with a list of questions, and 1 Corinthians is his Spirit-inspired answer. Les Feldick describes the church as the most carnal and least spiritual congregation Paul knew, and he lists the major problems Paul had to address: factions, believers suing each other in pagan courts, gross immorality, and tongues that were causing disorder.
1 Corinthians 3:1 — This verse summarizes why the letter is so corrective — Paul had to write to the Corinthians as carnal babes in Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:12 — This verse records the party divisions in the church that Paul had to correct.
1 Corinthians 7:1 — This verse shows that Paul's first letter was written in response to the Corinthians' written questions.
The Bible shows Paul writing to a congregation that was still behaving like 'carnal' believers. In 1 Corinthians 3:1 he tells them, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." The opening chapters also record party divisions in the assembly. In 1 Corinthians 1:12 Paul writes, "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." Paul also had to confront behavior that needed correction. He asked in 1 Corinthians 6:1, "Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?" He dealt with gross immorality in chapter 5, where he reports, "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." Paul's letter itself tells the reader why it was written. In 1 Corinthians 7:1 he says, "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman." The Bible therefore presents the letter as a Spirit-inspired reply to the questions and problems that were troubling the Corinthian believers.
Les Feldick teaches that Paul's first letter to the Corinthians was written to a congregation that was the most carnal and the least spiritual of all the churches Paul had anything to do with. The whole letter, he says, has to be read in that light — it is addressed to a small group of believers, probably only a few dozen people, who had recently come out of a pagan background and were as ignorant as they could be spiritually. According to Les, the congregation had actually sent Paul a letter with a whole series of questions about how to handle their problems, and Paul answers them one by one. Their problems included divisions — some saying they followed Peter, Apollos, Paul, or Christ — believers suing one another in pagan courts, gross immorality in the congregation, and a tongues phenomenon that had become a problem and was causing disorder in the local church. Les sums up the situation by pointing to 1 Corinthians 3:1, where Paul says he has to write to them as carnal babes. He stresses that despite all their problems they were still believers, and that the same problems are still present in churches and personal lives today.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:1, "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me," and Les explains that the Corinthian congregation had sent Paul a letter with a whole batch of questions plaguing them. They asked what they were supposed to do and how they were supposed to handle the problems, so Paul, by Holy Spirit inspiration, answered them one by one.
Les says that from very chapter 1 Paul had to deal with divisions over whom the believers were following. Some said they listened to Peter, some said Apollos, others said they followed Christ, and some lifted up Paul as the only man to listen to. In 1 Corinthians 1:12 Paul names the slogans: "I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ." Paul corrected this party spirit, just as he corrected those who said they would not go by what Paul said but by what Jesus said.
Les points to believers going into pagan courts to sue one another, gross immorality in the church that had not been dealt with, and a tongues phenomenon that had become a problem and upset the function of the local church because it caused disorder. Paul had to correct all of these, along with the general carnality and lack of spiritual growth that made the Corinthians 'babes' in Christ.
Les describes the believers as probably a few dozen people at the most, just recently come out of paganism, who did not have the background of Sunday school or catechism. They were as ignorant as they could be, but still believers. Paul had to write to them as carnal, fleshly believers because they had not grown spiritually. Corinth itself, Les notes, was the most lascivious, immoral, and morally corrupt city in the Roman Empire, and the church was beset with problems as a result.
Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen? — 2 Corinthians 1 Explained
Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick.
Corinthians' Questions and Carnality
Les explains that the whole letter of 1 Corinthians is Paul's response to the Corinthian congregation's written questions, and those questions all rested on real problems — the church was the most carnal and least spiritual of the churches Paul knew.
Divisions, Lawsuits, Immorality, and Tongues
Les lists the problems Paul had to address: followers divided over Peter, Apollos, and Christ; believers suing each other in pagan courts; gross immorality in the church; and the tongues phenomenon that was causing disorder.
A Small Church Just Out of Paganism
Les stresses that the congregation was probably only a few dozen people, recently converted from paganism, and that they wrote Paul a letter with a series of questions which he answers one by one in 1 Corinthians.
Same Problems Today
Les says Paul was writing under Holy Spirit inspiration in response to the Corinthians' questions about how to deal with their problems, and that these same problems still exist today.
A Letter Full of Questions
Les points to 1 Corinthians 7:1 — 'Now concerning the things that you wrote unto me' — as evidence that a whole batch of questions from recently converted, spiritually ignorant believers prompted the letter.
Carnal Believers Who Picked Favorites
Les highlights 1 Corinthians 3:1 where Paul calls them carnal babes, and explains that the letter is written to weak, carnal, fleshly believers who were even divided over whether to follow Paul or Jesus.
A Morally Corrupt City
Les describes Corinth as the most morally corrupt city in the Roman Empire and says the church there was beset with all kinds of problems, including gross immorality, which is why they wrote Paul for help.
1 Corinthians 3:1: And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
This verse identifies why Paul had to correct the Corinthians so firmly — they were still carnal believers.
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.
This verse records the actual party divisions Paul had to correct in the Corinthian church.
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.
This is the gross immorality Paul confronted in the Corinthian congregation.
1 Corinthians 6:1: Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
Paul asks whether believers should take their disputes to pagan courts instead of handling them among the saints.
1 Corinthians 7:1: Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
This opening phrase shows that the Corinthians had written Paul a letter with questions he was answering.
The Corinthians had written Paul a letter with a whole series of questions about how to handle problems in their small congregation. In 1 Corinthians 7:1 he begins "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me," and Les Feldick explains that Paul answered those questions one by one.
Les lists divisions over which leader to follow, believers suing one another in pagan courts, gross immorality in the church, and a tongues phenomenon that was causing disorder. Paul wrote to the Corinthians as carnal babes who had not grown spiritually.
Yes. Les emphasizes that although Paul calls them carnal, fleshly believers, they were still believers. The problem was that they were recently out of paganism, small in number, and had not yet grown into the deeper truths of Paul's teaching.
Watch the Teaching: Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen? — 2 Corinthians 1 Explained