[Read the Bible Together Series]
Read 1 Corinthians 1-4 Together
Read 1 Corinthians 1-4 by yourself or in a group. Use the following questions to guide your reading:
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What are your initial observations of this passage?
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Did you find anything confusing? Exciting? Challenging?
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What are some of the most important words and themes? Why?
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What are some of the key verses or paragraphs in this section? Why?
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How would you outline this section of 1 Corinthians?
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What do you think is the author’s intent for this passage—what was his point exactly?
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What would you say is the expected response(s) to this passage?
“Be Made Complete” (1 Corinthians 1-4)
“Spiritual?” “Wisdom”?
People tend to throw around a lot of words without clearly defining them—words like “spiritual.” What is that? Someone who thinks deep thoughts? Someone who chants or meditates or burns incense? And what about the word “wisdom”? Is wisdom personal? Is it subjective? Is wisdom localized—what’s wise in India may not be wise in Indiana? Is there a place we can go for a definition that applies to all humans?
In the book known as 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul tells us there is such a place. There is such a thing as a “spiritual” person—and he provides us with a definition and an example. There is such a thing as “wisdom” and we can trust that it applies to us all because it transcends us all.
Overview of 1 Corinthians 1-4
1 Corinthians 1: Paul had gotten a bad report about the church in Corinth, so he wrote to challenge them to be “made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment”—in other words, stop fighting and be united around “the word of the cross.”
1 Corinthians 2: When Paul first preached in Corinth, he preached a single, clear message: “Christ and Him crucified.” But, among the “mature” Paul spoke “the hidden wisdom” of God—the teaching later contained in the New Testament. He longed for the Corinthians to be mature enough to hear it.
1 Corinthians 3: Paul was tough on these Corinthians. He said they were “men of flesh… infants in Christ… walking like mere men” when they should have been “spiritual,” mature believers. He warned them that all who have the “foundation” of Christ (i.e., have been saved), will be held accountable for how they build on that foundation (i.e., lived their lives, including ministry).
1 Corinthians 4: Paul called himself a “servant… steward… and trustworthy.” Earlier, he had asserted his authority as the “wise master builder” (3:10) of their church, but he was not boastful. Paul was not the Lord. He was a servant who was imitating his Lord—a “spiritual man” who was simply a trustworthy manager (steward) of God’s household.
