1 Corinthians 1:1-9 Sermon Outline

1 Corinthians 1:1-9


1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Introduction

Paul's Situation:

Paul preached in the Jewish synagogue and supported himself financially as a tentmaker or leatherworker.

He soon faced opposition from local Jewish leaders. After being banished from the synagogue, Paul preached and taught next door at the house of the Gentile convert Gaius. When the new Roman proconsul Gallo arrived in Corinth in A.D. 51 or 52, the Jewish leaders went before Gallo and accused Paul of “propagating illegal religion.” Gallo reasoned the complaint was over differences of Jewish law interpretation—an area he was not responsible to pronounce judgment. This ruling provided a legal precedent for other Roman magistrates, allowing Paul to continue his apostolic mission for several years.

Paul stayed in Corinth for approximately 18 months before journeying to Ephesus and Jerusalem, and then returning to Ephesus for another two years. It is believed Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians while in Ephesus sometime between A.D. 53-55. This letter exhorts the church to seek Christian wisdom and unity of church life, addresses specific problems in the Corinthian church life, and responds to questions posed to him in a letter from the Corinthians.

Position and situation of City of Corinth

The city of Corinth was at the heart of an important trade route in the ancient world. This served to bring together several different cultures under Roman rule to include Jews & Gentiles from all over the known world.

Corinth had a reputation for sexual immorality, besides the prostitution, homosexuality was rampant, and incest & pedophilia was a common occurrence.

Corinth had a reputation for religious diversity (a roman trading and merchant city, housing well over 20 different forms of worship to pagan gods), to include Emperor Worship. Main form of worship = prostitution

Corinth had a reputation for corruption. A place where "money is king" and the ability to obtain wealth is seen as a form of worship in itself.



Illustration: Comparison of the new Christian and the fire that they hold for Christ, to the believer who's fire has dwindled. The story of Charles Templeton (youth for Christ co-founder & friend of Billy Graham). Announced his "loss of faith" after failing to foster a relationship with God, he had many gifts but a lacking of faith.



Church's situation

The church that Paul planted there (Acts 18) floundered under all of these influences and began to divide over various issues.

First Corinthians addresses many practical questions dividing the church—questions concerning such things as spiritual gifts, marriage, food offered to idols, and the resurrection.

Paul urged the Corinthians to be unified and to give themselves fully to “the work of the Lord” (15:58).



I. Commendation: Their Standing in Christ (1:1–9)

In a most tactful way, Paul opened his letter by reminding the believers of the wonderful blessings they had in Christ. He does this before he disciplines them for their grievous sin, for they were living beneath their privileges as Christians.

They were not walking in a manner worthy of their calling in Christ (Eph. 4:1ff), causing division and dis-unity in the church.

Paul lists some of their spiritual blessings that they were ignoring and thus depriving themselves of.



A. Their particular privilege of being "Called by God " (v. 2).

This means they were sanctified (set apart) and members of that elect group, the church! They were not living like saints, but they were saints!

The key word here is Sanctified, the very fact that they have been separated and then elevated as "saints," for the sake of Christ and the spreading of His Gospel.



B. Grace of God (vv. 3–4).

Grace means that God gives us what we don’tdeserve; mercy means He doesn’tgive us what we do deserve.

This grace came through Christ by faith.

It is only proper to give thanks to God for fellow believers and the gifts of faith & grace He has bestowed on them. Their particular actions did not stop Paul from praising the Lord for them.

Paul reminds them that these gifts only came through Jesus Christ, and no other, setting the backdrop for what their mindset should be.



C. Gifts from God (vv. 5 and 7).

Paul mentions their blessing of spiritual gifts in v.5 and then discusses some in length in chapters 12–14, but it is evident that the Corinthians were wonderfully blessed with spiritual gifts.

They were enriched with knowledge, yet with all their gifts and knowledge, they lacked love (13:1–3) and could not get along with each other.

Spiritual gifts do not take the place of spiritual action, nor will their presence cause unity if they are not used properly.



D. Testimony for God (v. 6).

Everything Paul said that Christ could do for them came to pass in their lives. God’s Word came true in their lives.

How often do we see blatant evidence of God's hand and yet we simply forget moments later.



E. Hope from God (vv. 7–9).

They were waiting for Christ to return but were not living in the light of His coming (1 John 2:28).

Though the Corinthians were sinful on earth, God would be able to present them as blameless in heaven.

We should not use this passage as an excuse for sin; rather it should be seen as an encouragement that God is faithful even though we may fail Him.


Where are we on that scale of believers, is our fire still a potent flame or have we allowed the world to encroach on out faith?


Yes, we are to thank the Lord for the wonderful gift of faith He has bestowed upon us, but we can not forget or fail to put that faith into action and take part in that process of sanctification.