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Paul uses a pair of interesting and significant contrasts in chapter 2:14-17 to compare himself and his ministry among the Corinthians with some who were troubling the church there. The comparisons here highlight the distinctive character that should set the genuine Christian apart from the rest of the religious world. Paul begins with an image of Jesus as the victorious general of His army, displaying His conquest and success in a triumphal parade (vs. 14). This image was very familiar…

The church at Corinth was established by the apostle Paul when he arrived in that ancient city in Acts 18. The environment he encountered there was actually very similar to modern western society; Corinth was an unusually wealthy city, and the people there were very focused on the trappings of luxury and decadence. Corinth was famous throughout the ancient world for both religious diversity and for flagrant immorality. For most people in that era, to be called a “Corinthian” was…

Perhaps THE most important “key” to understanding what the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write about miracles is to recognize that 1 Corinthians 12-14 is actually one long, complete context. It was NOT divided into chapters by Paul, and dividing it has led many to miss the continuity of thought here. Paul introduces the subject of “spiritual gifts” (miraculous abilities) in chapter 12 and explains that, while each miraculous gift had its own purpose, all came from the same source…

First Corinthians 11 is probably familiar to most Christians for Paul’s instructions about the Lord’s Supper (vv. 23-32). There are several significant points every Christian should recognize in these verses. Notice first that Paul expressly says that he taught the Corinthian saints to observe the memorial of the Lord’s death exactly as Jesus delivered it to him, verse 23. (In verses 23b-25 he describes exactly what the Lord told him – and this record agrees perfectly with the accounts in…