1 and 2 Corinthians

1. 1 and 2 Corinthians

2. Corinth a byword for sensuality: “To Corinthianize” • “The Paris of antiquity” (Barnes)

3. Poseidon

4. Aphrodite

5. Temple of Apollo

6. “Now, concerning what you wrote about food offered to idols…” (1 Corinthians 8:1 – GN)

7. “By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ I appeal to all of you, my friends, to agree in what you say, so that there will be no divisions among you. Be completely united, with only one thought and one purpose. For some people from Chloe's family have told me quite plainly, my friends, that there are quarrels among you. Let me put it this way: each one of you says something different. One says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Peter"; and another, "I follow Christ." Christ has been divided into groups! Was it Paul who died on the cross for you? Were you baptized as Paul's disciples? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. No one can say, then, that you were baptized as my disciples. (Oh yes, I also baptized Stephanas and his family; but I can't remember whether I baptized anyone else.)” (1 Corinthians 1:10-16 – GN)

8. “But for right now, friends, I’m completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You’re acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I’ll nurse you since you don’t seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything’s going your way? When one of you says, “I’m on Paul’s side,” and another says, “I’m for Apollos,” aren’t you being totally infantile?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-4 – The Message)

9. “I know there are some among you who are so full of themselves they never listen to anyone, let alone me. They don’t think I’ll ever show up in person. But I’ll be there sooner than you think, God willing, and then we’ll see if they’re full of anything but hot air. God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life. So how should I prepare to come to you? As a severe disciplinarian who makes you toe the mark? Or as a good friend and counselor who wants to share heart-to-heart with you? You decide. • I also received a report of scandalous sex within your church family, a kind that wouldn’t be tolerated even outside the church: One of your men is sleeping with his stepmother. And you’re so above it all that it doesn’t even faze you! Shouldn’t this break your hearts? Shouldn’t it bring you to your knees in tears? Shouldn’t this person and his conduct be confronted and dealt with?” (1 Corinthians 4:18 – 5:2 – The Message)

10. “And now a personal but most urgent matter; I write in the gentle but firm spirit of Christ. I hear that I’m being painted as cringing and wishy-washy when I’m with you, but harsh and demanding when at a safe distance writing letters. Please don’t force me to take a hard line when I’m present with you. Don’t think that I’ll hesitate a single minute to stand up to those who say I’m an unprincipled opportunist. Then they’ll have to eat their words…And what’s this talk about me bullying you with my letters? ‘His letters are brawny and potent, but in person he’s a weakling and mumbles when he talks.’ Such talk won’t survive scrutiny. What we write when away, we do when present. We’re the exact same people, absent or present, in letter or in person.” (2 Corinthians 10:1,2,9,10 – The Message)

11. “So then, my dear friends, keep away from the worship of idols.” (1 Corinthians 10:14 – GN) • “You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols.” (1 Corinthians 12:2 – GN)

12. “Regarding this next item, I’m not at all pleased. I am getting the picture that when you meet together it brings out your worst side instead of your best! First, I get this report on your divisiveness, competing with and criticizing each other. I’m reluctant to believe it, but there it is. The best that can be said for it is that the testing process will bring truth into the open and confirm it.” And then I find that you bring your divisions to worship—you come together, and instead of eating the Lord’s Supper, you bring in a lot of food from the outside and make pigs of yourselves. Some are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too drunk to walk. I can’t believe it! Don’t you have your own homes to eat and drink in? Why would you stoop to desecrating God’s church? Why would you actually shame God’s poor? I never would have believed you would stoop to this. And I’m not going to stand by and say nothing.” (1 Corinthians 11:17 – 22 – The Message)

13. “Now, what about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead?...Do not be fooled. ‘Bad companions ruin good character.’ Come back to your right senses and stop your sinful ways. I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God. (1 Corinthians 15:29-34 – GN)

14. “For even if that letter of mine made you sad, I am not sorry I wrote it. I could have been sorry when I saw that it made you sad for a while. But now I am happy---not because I made you sad, but because your sadness made you change your ways. That sadness was used by God, and so we caused you no harm. For the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation---and there is no regret in that!” (2 Corinthians 7:8-10 – GN)

15. “Now, concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit. I want you to know the truth about them, my friends. You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols.” (1 Corinthians 12:1-2 – GN)

16. “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues*. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues?* Do all interpret?” (1 Corinthians 12:27-30 – NIV) • *other languages

17. “Set your hearts, then, on the more important gifts. Best of all, however, is the following way. I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell.” (1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1 – GN)

18. “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially the gift of speaking what God has revealed. When a person speaks in another language, he doesn't speak to people but to God. No one understands him. His spirit is speaking mysteries. But when a person speaks what God has revealed, he speaks to people to help them grow, to encourage them, and to comfort them. When a person speaks in another language, he helps himself grow. But when a person speaks what God has revealed, he helps the church grow.

19. I wish that all of you could speak in other languages, but especially that you could speak what God has revealed. The person who speaks what God has revealed is more important than the person who speaks in other languages. This is true unless he can interpret what he says to help the church grow. Brothers and sisters, it wouldn't do you any good if I came to you speaking in other languages, unless I explained revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or doctrine to you.” (1 Corinthians 14:1-6 – GODS WORD)

20. “In the same way, since you're eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in them so that you help the church grow. So the person who speaks in another language should pray for an interpretation of what he says. If I pray in another language, my spirit prays, but my mind is not productive. So what does this mean? It means that I will pray with my spirit, and I will pray with my mind. I will sing psalms with my spirit, and I will sing psalms with my mind. Otherwise, if you praise God only with your spirit, how can outsiders say "Amen!" to your prayer of thanksgiving? They don't know what you're saying. Your prayer of thanksgiving may be very good, but it doesn't help other people grow. I thank God that I speak in other languages more than any of you. Yet, in order to teach others in church, I would rather say five words that can be understood than ten thousand words in another language.” (1 Corinthians 14:12-19 – GODS WORD)

21. “If, then, the whole church meets together and everyone starts speaking in strange tongues---and if some ordinary people or unbelievers come in, won't they say that you are all crazy? But if everyone is proclaiming God's message when some unbelievers or ordinary people come in, they will be convinced of their sin by what they hear. They will be judged by all they hear, their secret thoughts will be brought into the open, and they will bow down and worship God, confessing, ‘Truly God is here among you!’” (1 Corinthians 14:23-25 – GN)

22. “If someone is going to speak in strange tongues, two or three at the most should speak, one after the other, and someone else must explain what is being said. But if no one is there who can explain, then the one who speaks in strange tongues must be quiet and speak only to himself and to God….The gift of proclaiming God's message should be under the speaker's control, because God does not want us to be in disorder but in harmony and peace….So then, my friends, set your heart on proclaiming God's message, but do not forbid the speaking in strange tongues. Everything must be done in a proper and orderly way.” (1 Corinthians 14:27-40 – GN)

23. “But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) • “The LORD says, ‘Here is my servant, whom I strengthen--- the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased. I have filled him with my Spirit…’” (Isaiah 42:1 – GN)

24. “If I speak with the eloquence of men and of angels, but have no love, I become no more than blaring brass or crashing cymbal. If I have the gift of foretelling the future and hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but the very secrets of God, and if I also have that absolute faith which can move mountains, but have no love, I amount to nothing at all. If I dispose of all that I possess, yes, even if I give my own body to be burned, but have no love, I achieve precisely nothing. This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience - it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails. Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything.

25. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen. For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are ‘tongues’ the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete. When I was a little child I talked and felt and thought like a little child. Now that I am a man my childish speech and feeling and thought have no further significance for me. At present we are men looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a little fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God now knows me! In this life we have three great lasting qualities - faith, hope and love. But the greatest of them is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-13, JB Phillips)

26. “God is love” (1 John 4:8 – GN)

27. God is patient • God is kind • God does not sing his own praises • God is not touchy • God is not rude • God is not selfish; God is not self seeking • God does not keep track of wrongs; God does not store up grievances • God never insists on having his own way; God doesn’t force ‘himself’ on others • God never stops being patient • God knows no limits to his endurance • God takes pleasure in the flowering of truth • God is the one thing that stands when all else has fallen

28. “A man dishonors Christ if he covers his head while praying or prophesying. But a woman dishonors her husband if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head. Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair. And since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, then she should wear a covering.” (1 Corinthians 11:4-6 – NLT) • “But if anyone wants to argue about it, all I have to say is that neither we nor the churches of God have any other custom in worship.” (1 Corinthians 11:16 – GN)

29. “…God does not want us to be in disorder but in harmony and peace. As in all the churches of God’s people, the women should keep quiet in the meetings. They are not allowed to speak; as the Jewish Law says, they must not be in charge. If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home. It is a disgraceful thing for a woman to speak in a church meeting.” (1 Corinthians 14:33-35 – GN)

30. “It is good for a man not to marry.” (1 Corinthians 7:1 – NIV) • “I don't know of anything else the Lord said about marriage. All I can do is to give you my own advice.” (1 Corinthians 7:12 – CEV) • “I don't know of anything that the Lord said about people who have never been married. But I will tell you what I think.” (1 Corinthians 7:25 – CEV) • “That is my opinion, and I think that I too have God’s Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 7:40 – GN)

31. “What I mean, my friends, is this: there is not much time left, and from now on married people should live as though they were not married; those who weep, as though they were not sad; those who laugh, as though they were not happy; those who buy, as though they did not own what they bought; those who deal in material goods, as though they were not fully occupied with them. For this world, as it is now, will not last much longer. (1 Corinthians 7:29-31 – GN)

32. “You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’…”(Matthew 5:38 – GN) • “Whoever questions your authority or disobeys any of your orders will be put to death.” (Joshua 1:18 – GN) • “I did his, because they had rejected my commands, broken my laws, profaned the Sabbath, and worshiped the same idols their ancestors had served. Then I gave them laws that are not good and commands that do not bring life.” (Ezekiel 20:24,25 – GN)

33. “[The Bible] is the book that reveals the character of God” (ST, March 3, 1898)

34. “But thanks be to God! For in union with Christ we are always led by God as prisoners in Christ’s victory procession. God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance. For we are like a sweet-smelling incense offered by Christ to God, which spreads among those who are being saved and those who are being lost. For those who are being lost, it is a deadly stench that kills; but for those who are being saved, it is a fragrance that brings life.” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16 – GN)

35. “But the people’s minds were hardened, and even to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, a veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, then the veil is taken away. Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom. And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.” (2 Corinthians 3:14-18 – NLT)

37. “For if the gospel we preach is hidden, it is hidden only from those who are being lost. They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. For it is not ourselves that we preach; we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. The God who said, ‘Out of darkness the light shall shine!’ is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God’s glory shining in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:2-6 – GN)

38. “In the past God spoke to our ancestors at many different times and in many different ways through the prophets. In these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. God made his Son responsible for everything. His Son is the one through whom God made the universe. His Son is the reflection of God's glory and the exact likeness of God's being. He holds everything together through his powerful words.” (Hebrews 1:1-3 – GODS WORD)

39. “And now, my friends, good-bye! Strive for perfection; listen to my appeals; agree with one another; live in peace.” (2 Corinthians 13:11 – GN) • “Aim for perfection” (NIV) • “Become complete” (NKJV) • “Make sure that you improve.” (GODS WORD) • “Do better and pay attention to what I have said.” (CEV) • “Change your ways” (NLT)