Although Corinth was not a university town like Athens, it was characterized nevertheless by typical Greek culture. Its people were interested in Greek philosophy and placed a high premium on wisdom. Its religion. Corinth contained at least 12 temples. Whether they were all in use during Paul's time is not known for certain. One of the most infamous was the temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, whose worshipers practiced religious prostitution.
About a fourth of a mile north of the theater stood the temple of Asclepius, the god of healing, and in the middle of the city the sixth-century b.
In addition, the Jews had established a synagogue; the inscribed lintel of it has been found and placed in the museum at old Corinth. Its immorality. Like any large commercial city, Corinth was a center for open and unbridled immorality. The worship of Aphrodite fostered prostitution in the name of religion.
At one time 1, sacred priestess prostitutes served her temple. So widely known did the immorality of Corinth become that the Greek verb "to Corinthianize" came to mean "to practice sexual immorality. Occasion and Purpose Paul had received information from several sources concerning the conditions existing in the church at Corinth.
Relevance This letter continues to be timely for the church today, both to instruct and to inspire. Bryan Chapell. Gary Habermas. What's the Message of the Book of 1 Corinthians? Philip Nation. What is Unique about the Book of 1 Corinthians?
Raymond Goodlett. What is 1 Corinthians About? Shai Linne. Sandra Hamer Smith. Emma Danzey. How Long Should a Pastor Preach? Clarence L. The Corinthian church was corroded with sin on a variety of fronts, so Paul provided an important model for how the church should handle the problem of sin in its midst. Rather than turn a blind eye toward relational division and all kinds of immorality, he addressed the problems head on. In his bold call to purity within the Corinthian church, Paul made it clear that he was willing to risk the good opinion of some in order to help cleanse the sin that tainted the church.
Corinth was a large, international metropolis, filled with people from different backgrounds. Idol worship to gods such as Aphrodite was particularly prominent in the city, though Corinth contained numerous temptations far beyond her temples. In this sense, Corinth was very much like a modern urban area, containing unending opportunities to engage in sinful behavior without any apparent consequences.
Such a community clearly had a negative influence on the Corinthian church. Instead, he directed us to live out our commitment to Christ ever more faithfully in the midst of nonbelievers. Paul expected that we Christians would shine our light into the dark places of their world by worshiping in a unified community that was accountable to one another. He expected that we would settle our problems internally, that we would encourage one another in the pursuit of purity, and that we would strive together by holding tightly to the hope of our bodily resurrection to come.
His first purpose was to deal with moral problems and the divisions that had formed, as people had divided themselves into followers of Paul, Apollos, Peter or Christ His second reason was to deal with several questions that had been asked in a letter the Corinthians had sent to him This letter from Paul to the church at Corinth has astonishing parallels for us today, in that we continue to struggle with many of the same issues as they did.
The Corinthians experienced trouble with division amongst themselves, sexual sin, church discipline, application of spiritual gifts, interactions with the idol worship going on around them, and general disorder in the church. These issues continue to be seen in the church and deter our effectiveness in serving one another and the world around us.
We are to always live in a way that brings glory to Christ. It presents us with a faith grounded and expressed in love and commends Christian love as greater than any other spiritual gift we could possess. We are reminded that our spiritual knowledge, without love, amounts to little.
In a world filled with hate and selfishness, the sacrificial love of Christ should be clearly evident in us. Live in Unity From the earliest days of the Church, believers in Christ have fallen into the dangerous trap of splintering into competing groups.
We continue to do this today, judging one group of Christians over another. This is the exact opposite of what Jesus prayed for us. Flee Sexual Sin Corinth was a city steeped in idolatry and sexual sin. Likewise, our world is inundated with all types of pornography and sexual deviation.
Society in general sees no issue with sex outside of marriage, in direct contradiction to the Gospel and extraordinarily relevant to us. Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church, and this is where sex is designed to be experienced.
Sex outside of marriage not only dishonors Christ but leads to personal pain and ruin.
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