1 Corinthians 1

Introduction

• What is something you own? How does your interest in something change if you own it?

• Ownership tends to be a big deal, people treat what they own with a lot of respect. People have a vested interest in what they own. Similarly, God has a vested interest in His church.

Lesson

Greetings

Paul: God’s man (V1)

• What aspects of his own life does Paul choose to highlight in his greeting?

The Corinthians: God’s church (V2)

• What characteristics of the church does Paul highlight in his introduction?

-Of God -Sanctified in Christ -Called saints -Part of a larger body

Thanksgiving

• The object of thanks: God (V4)

-Specifically, God’s abundant grace

Paul’s Response to Reports

A Church Divided

• The Plea (V10)
• What plea does Paul make in verse 10?

The problem (V11-13)

• What problem does Paul describe in verse 11?
• What specific problem is brought up in verse 12?

The Solution: the gospel

• The wisdom of the gospel and the world
• The gospel contradicts worldly wisdom because of the foolishness of the cross.

How is the gospel described in verses 18-25?

• “The message of the Cross” is the message of self-renunciation, of obedience to God which may lead as it did in Jesus’ case to humiliation and death, but which ultimately leads not to self-destruction but to preservation (Mark 8:34–35) and exaltation (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 22:5).
• The gospel contradicts world wisdom because of the foolish followers. (V26-31)

Why do you suppose God chooses to work through the foolish and weak?

• The gospel contracts worldly wisdom because of its foolish preaching (2:1-5)
• Why is it important that we recognize the human imperfections of our spiritual leaders?

Application

How would we score in each of the following?

• The church is all about God, not about us.
• The message must be about the Cross, not about us.
• Out boasting must be in the Lord, not in us.

David K. Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 509.