I Corinthians

I Corinthians was written by Paul to the church at Corinth in 55 AD.  Paul writes this book to deal with the people in Corinth about divisions that have apparently broken up the church.  Paul talks about how the gospel seems to be foolishness to those who are perishing.  Paul does make clear that your faith should rest on and in God's power but that man should use his own isdom to speak among the mature.  This is God's secret wisdom.  Paul talks about those who are called to be servants of Christ and how the believers at Corinth apparently compromised their faith as they allowed an immoral brother who was having sex with his mother-in-law to serve in the church. Paul also addresses the lawsuits among believers.  He discusses the element of judging.  Many Christians use Matthew 7:1 as a verse which does not give us the right to judge.  However, that is contradictory interpretation when compared to I Corinthians 6:2.  Christians are to judge those who are in the realm of the church because there are always outsiders trying to get in and gain authority to promote their false doctrines.  Paul speaks of how sexual immorality is the only sin against the body.  Now in modern terms do sins against the body include smoking and drinking.  Some would say that the reason Paul does not address smoking as asin against the body is because there were no cigarettes in those days.  Others say that sexual immorality is the only sin against the body.  In this passage Paul refers to the body as the temple.  Paul then talks about marriage and says that it is better for a man not to marry, but because of the issue of sexual immorality each person should have their own mate.  Yet the one who does not marry does not do wrong either but has more time to serve the Lord.  Paul talks about the importance of love over knowledge.  He also addresses the rights of an apostle.  He states that he makes himself conform as a slvae to every man that he might win as many for Christ as possible.  What Paul menas is that when among the Jews he may adhere the customs of the Jews.  Basically, this could be applied in modern day terms to mean that you should not witness to a Hindu while you are trampling on an ant that the Hindu thinks is their cousin Donovan.  Paul talks about the permissibilityfor the believer.  He states that everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.  Once a believer is truly saved, they can not lose that salvation.  However, twhen they become entangled with sin they benefit less both on this earth and in the world to come.  Paul talks about customs of covering the head of females and males not having long hair.  He does so in relation to this though that each church community should decide upon this themselves.  Paul then talks about the importance of communion and a right relationship with God as you partake of the cup.  He also talks about spiritual gifts.  He refers to nine of these.  Some say that the gifts died out with the apostles.  Others say that exist and should be an active part of the church today.  To say the gifts die out is synonymous with saying that no one is called by God to be an apostle because that is one of the gifts.  The gifts do apply but not in the sense that they should be the basis of faith.  The speaking in tongues issue at Corinth is a highly controversial one. Some argue that speaking in tongues was a regular practice in Corinth because people from different cultures and languages were coming into the church at Corinth and thus they needed to hear the gospel in their own language so God enabled people to speak in tongues.  Other argue that speaking in tongues was in a language unknown to anyone and that it is  a regular practice that should occur among Christians today.  In chapter 15, Paul deals with matters of the resurrection and presents a well reasoned account of the resurrection.  Apparently some people at Corinth believed that there was no resurrection of the dead.  Paul refutes this by pointing to the meaning of the resurrection of Christ.  Paul talks about the resurrection body  and the coming of Christ at the last trumpet.  The last trumpet presents a huge problem for those who believe in dispensational premillenialism aka the pre-trib rapture of the church.  This passage can be interpreted as referring to the last of the trumpets in Revelation, or it could be interpreted as referring to the last trumoet at the festival of Rosh Hashanah where seven trumpets were blown or both.  Either way, it is a bullet straight through the heart of the pre-trib rapture theory.  If Christ returns after the resurrection for Christians, then the dispensational premillenial interpretation of the rapture is flawed.  If he returns at the last trumpet at the festival of Rosh Hashanah, then you have the problem of answering the question of if Christianity is not basically Judaism redefined, then why does Paul use Jewish distinctions.  This is because those who believe in dispensatinal premillenialism have to hide the Jewishness of Christianity as much as possible in order to justify their views.  So this passage is a bullet of two sorts to the pre-trib rapture theory.  Paul concludes the book by organizing collections and collection dates for God's apostles, and then gives out personal requests and final greetings.