What the Bible says about Corinthian Church
(From Forerunner Commentary)

1 Corinthians 3:2 It is unclear how old the Corinthian congregation was. As the epistle was written sometime around the early AD 50s, it is entirely possible that the congregation had been established by Paul some seven to ten years before. John W. Ritenbaugh The Wisdom of Men and Faith Related Topics: Corinth | Corinthian Church | Corinthian Congregation | Spiritual Immaturity | Spiritual Maturity

1 Corinthians 3:4 The division and confusion taking place in the Corinth church was proof to Paul that they were still following and submitting to their old nature, formed under the influence of Satan and his world. They were doing what comes naturally. They were therefore disloyal to the values of the God Family and to the Head of the church of God. John W. Ritenbaugh Revelation 2-3 and Works Related Topics: Carnal Mind | Carnal Nature | Confusion | Corinth | Corinthian Church | Division | Human Nature | Satan's Influence | Satan's Nature

1 Corinthians 5:1-6 The Corinthian church's coddling of this perversion gave the people of Corinth the appearance that God's people would allow this sin—a sin even unbelievers would never tolerate! Inside the church it gave the appearance that one could continue in sin and still remain part of the body. The apostle warns them that, just as a pinch of leaven will puff up a whole loaf of bread—or as one rotten apple will corrupt a whole barrel of them—so this sin, if allowed to continue, would ruin the entire church. John O. Reid Abstaining From Evil Related Topics: Corinthian Church | Corruption | Corruption of the Human Heart | Leaven | Leaven as a Type of Sin | Leaven as Analogy | Leaven as Metaphor | Leaven as Symbol | Leavening | Leavening Process | Sin | Sin as Corruption | Sin, Malignant Power of | Sin, tolerating | Tolerance of sin | Tolerating Evil

1 Corinthians 5:2 The Corinthian congregation had serious problems with sexual sins, but instead of feeling terrible, people were "glorying" in it. They did not comprehend the slavery imposed by profligate lifestyles: broken marriages, ruined health, and alienation from God and man. They did not realize true liberty is in keeping the law. Staff Holy Days: Unleavened Bread Related Topics: Alienation from God | Corinthian Church | Estrangement from God | Liberty | Liberty in Law | Profligate Lifestyles | Sexual Immorality | Sexual Sins | Sin, Slavery to | Sin, tolerating | Slavery to Sin | Spiritual Liberty | Tolerance of sin | Tolerating Evil

1 Corinthians 15:34 Because of their fellowship or association, with evil company, they were becoming involved in sin. Paul is suggesting that the people with whom the Corinthians were fellowshipping did not have the knowledge of God, and the Corinthians were being pulled down to their level. The apostle is saying in effect, "Break it off with those people. Get away from them. They are pulling you down. Repent." He says, "I speak this to your shame." The people to whom he was writing had friendships primarily with people in the world. He is advising these people to consciously choose better companions. John W. Ritenbaugh What Is Prayer? Related Topics: Corinthian Church | Fellowship with World | Friends, Choosing our | Friendship with the World | Peer pressure

2 Corinthians 3:1-2 Paul boasts that the church at Corinth displayed such a fine example that their behavior worked like a letter of commendation for him, the apostle who started the congregation and served it. Earl L. Henn Have the Ten Commandments Passed Away? Related Topics: Apostle Paul's Credentials | Corinthian Church | Paul the Apostle | Paul's Credentials | Paul's Defense of his Message

2 Corinthians 6:11 Understanding II Corinthians as a whole requires knowledge of the often-strained relationship between the apostle Paul and the church in Corinth. The city was a crossroads of the pagan Mediterranean culture of the day, and every kind of philosophy, religion, and activity was available there. Thus, the people who responded to Paul's evangelism, mostly Gentiles, had to unlearn a great deal of worldliness—to put it lightly. They often went to extremes and were easily convinced one way or another. If we did not know that the apostle Paul's “thorn in the flesh” (II Corinthians 12:7-10) was an actual bodily ailment, the Corinthian church would have been a good candidate for it! Many Corinthians appear not to have had a good opinion of Paul, especially when they compared him to Peter and Apollos (I Corinthians 1:12; 3:4). He was not to their stature, they thought, not as bold and powerful as Peter or as eloquent and dynamic as Apollos (II Corinthians 10:10). They suspected him of impure motives, and his demanding, corrective style (as they saw it) often rubbed them the wrong way. Besides, he said things that confused and constrained them, though he also spoke about freedom, and perhaps he was just a mite too intellectual for them. In addition, he had written to them of his plan to spend some time with them (see I Corinthians 16:5-7), but due to a crisis in the Corinthian congregation (see II Corinthians 12:21; 13:2), he changed his plans, deciding that the crisis warranted an emergency visit, a year earlier than planned. But that visit was a painful disaster, a source of “sorrow” (II Corinthians 2:1-2) because, when Paul sought to correct the situation, it led to the “contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults” mentioned in II Corinthians 12:20. He made plans to visit them twice more before returning to Judea (see II Corinthians 1:15-16). After returning to Ephesus, however, he changed his mind about his plans (reverting to his original one) and sent them another epistle (lost to history), which has come to be known in scholarly circles as the “Severe Letter” (see II Corinthians 2:3-4; 7:8-12). He seems to have decided another face-to-face visit would cause further grief, and a letter would be less confrontational. But his new plan backfired on him, as the Corinthians were offended by his vacillation, thinking him “fleshly” (see II Corinthians 1:12, 17), that is, carnal, not spiritually minded. Even so—wonder of wonders!—they responded positively to his correction in the “Severe Letter” and repented (see II Corinthians 7:7-16). Finally, also undermining Paul's reputation, a group of false apostles, probably of a Jewish bent, had infiltrated the Corinthian church (see II Corinthians 2:17-3:2; 5:11-13; 10:12-12:13). They accused him of peddling God's Word and commending himself, and they claimed he was not an apostle at all. These false teachers had shattered the Corinthians' confidence in Paul and his teaching. Such is the setting of Paul's exclamation in II Corinthians 6:11. His solution to his problems with the Corinthian members was to be completely open with them about everything. He would hold nothing back. In Greek, the sentence reads more literally, “Our mouth has been opened to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened to you!” He lays his thinking and emotions bare to their scrutiny, telling them plainly, hoping they would see he had dealt with them genuinely and righteously. He loves them and wants to help them “come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). He has done everything for their spiritual good. In the next verses, he tells them he has not restrained his affection for them, as they probably thought he did not love them. But he does not hold back that their attitude toward him restricted them, stating that they needed to reciprocate, to be open with him (II Corinthians 6:13). In essence, he says, “For my part, I've cleared the air and spoken the truth. Now you do the same.” We can take it as a lesson in interpersonal relations: Honesty and openness, with humility, are the best policy. But how hard it is to do! Richard T. Ritenbaugh Related Topics: Corinthian Church | Corinthianize | False Apostles | False Teachers | Thorn in the Flesh

2 Corinthians 7:3 Are the Corinthians actually inside of Paul's beating heart? Of course not. Paul is saying that the Corinthians were in union within him, that he felt in union with them. Why? Because Paul raised up the church there. Paul knew them. He had preached to them the gospel by which they were converted. He had probably counseled them for baptism, though he baptized only the household of Stephanas and a few others. He had pastored that congregation from the very beginning and was familiar with the people as personalities. He had eaten with them in their homes. He had likely conducted some wedding ceremonies, maybe even some funerals as well. He had preached countless sermons and Bible studies to those people. He had experienced walking in the marketplace with them. Perhaps he had even experienced some persecution with them. He had sung with them, maybe cried with them. He had laid hands on them when they were sick. Thus, Paul was in union with these Corinthians because he had experienced life with them. So whether he was in Jerusalem or in Spain—even if he had gone to Britain—wherever Paul went, he carried with him the memories of those associations and experiences. When one of their names came to mind because it was mentioned in a letter that somebody sent to him, he immediately thought of the person, and it was almost as if they were right there with them. It was probably so real that Paul said to himself, "I wish I could reach out and touch them and help them." Are we beginning to understand how God can be, as it were, everywhere at once? We can grasp it because we carry Him wherever we are. And it does not matter where He is either; He carries us with Him wherever He is. The seed of this remarkable, intimate union has been conceived within us because God initiated it, and we responded to it. Of course, His powers are much greater than ours, and He can focus those powers on us as an individual personality if He so desires. Even as we can be aware of what is going on inside a small, contained area, the powers of His eyes and ears, of His mind, of His creative force and energy are so great that He is aware of anything at any time regardless of distance. However, what He is really striving for in our lives is for us to be able to be aware of His presence wherever we go, because that is what is vital to our salvation and to our lives right now and the character that is being built in us. John W. Ritenbaugh Image and Likeness of God (Part Four) Related Topics: Corinthian Church | Corinthian Congregation | God's Awareness of Us | God's Characteristics in Us | God's Omnipresence | God's Presence in Us | Omnipresence of God

2 Corinthians 11:1-4 Paul had to deal with the Corinthian congregation because they had fallen under the sway of false apostles (see II Corinthians 11:13). These false ministers had convinced many of the brethren that they knew more and better than the apostle through whom they had heard, believed, learned, and been converted to the gospel. They were in the process of throwing aside what they had learned from Paul in favor of what they were hearing from these new "apostles." John W. Ritenbaugh Damnable Heresies Related Topics: Apostasy | Apostasy, Process of | Corinthian Church | Damnable Heresies | False Apostles | False Doctrine | False Ministers/Prophets | False Teachers | False Teaching | Heresies, Damnable | Heresy | Heresy, Smuggling in

 

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