"Be United Not Divided" 1 Cor. Pt 1 Series

“Be united not divided!”

Thesis: We need to united in Christ not divided in Christ! The church was formed by Christ to serve one another and not to focus on ourselves. The church is not about me but about the message of Jesus and about service to the Kingdom of God!

Introduction to the book of 1 Corinthian’s series:

The following outline was adapted from Sermon Outlines on 1 Corinthians

Original work copyright © 1995 The Standard Publishing Company in Quick Verse 2007.

This letter was sent to the church at Corinth. Everything about this letter is relevant to the church today and the struggles we face. This “Born Again” Acts NT Christian church had many problems even though it seemed to have all the spiritual gifts (v. 7). The majority of the attitudes and problems that cause trouble in all churches of today are addressed in this letter. There was dissension, division, disagreements, immorality, arguments, prideful people, critical spirits, gossip, people unwilling to repent of their sins, church discipline issues and a real lack of love for one another in the Body.

Paul is the author of this book and it was written in 55 Ad from Ephesus.

Paul’s background and conversion are recorded in Acts 9:1:31, Acts 22:1-21

and Acts 26:1-29. Paul was an apostle. He met the resurrected Christ as revealed in his conversion experience in the book of Acts. The word “apostle” means “one sent.” Paul was sent, or commissioned, by Christ in Acts 9:15. In writing this letter to the Corinthians Paul was fulfilling His divine call. The book of Acts is a historical record of a lot of Paul’s missionary journey’s and church planting activities. Paul wrote a major part of our New Testament and was used by the Lord to bring correction and sound teaching to the Acts New Testament Church.

The Corinthian Church: A record of the establishment of this church is found in Acts 18.

Ryrie notes the following about this church: “The gospel was first preached in Corinth by Paul on his second missionary journey (A.D. 50). While living and working with Aquila and Priscilla, he preached in the synagogue until opposition forced him to move next door, to the house of Titius Justus. The Jews accused him before the Roman governor Gallio, but the charge was dismissed, and Paul remained 18 months in the city (Acts 18:1-17; 1 Cor. 2:3). After leaving, Paul wrote the church a letter, which has been lost (5:9), but disturbing news about the believers and questions they asked Paul in a letter they sent to him (7:1) prompted the writing of 1 Corinthians. Problems there included divisions in the church (1:11), immorality (chap. 5; 6:9-20), and the questions concerning marriage, food, worship, and the resurrection. Aberrant beliefs and practices of an astonishing variety characterized this church.”

Parsons notes the following about this churches present struggle:

“In spite of their problems, Paul said they were “called to be holy” (v. 2). There is positional holiness. We are set apart and positioned in Christ when we accept him as Savior. The Corinthians had this positional holiness. There is practical holiness. This applies to our Christian growth and lifestyle. The Corinthian’s were not doing well with this aspect of holiness. Positional holiness must come first. We must be in Christ before we can grow in Christ. This phrase, “called to be holy,” is translated “saints” in other translations. A Christian is a saint, one set apart to one. It originally referred to a committed marriage relationship.’

The letter addresses the many interpersonal problems the church was struggling with. The Christians in this church were tearing the church apart because of self-centeredness, pride, and disunity. They were actually killing their own church and dishonoring the Lord Jesus in the process. In a sense they were making God and Jesus look bad not good! Paul writes to correct the people and call the leaders to step up to the plate and deal with the Spirit of offense and the flaunting of sin!

The City of Corinth is described by Ryrie as follows: “Located on the narrow isthmus between the Aegean and Adriatic Seas, Corinth was a port city and wealthy commercial center. Ships wanting to avoid the dangerous trip around the southern tip of Greece were dragged across that isthmus. The city boasted an outdoor theater that accommodated 20,000 people, athletic games second only to the Olympics, a Greek, Roman, and Oriental population, and the great temple of Aphrodite with its 1,000 prostitutes. The immoral condition of Corinth is vividly seen in the fact that the Greek term Korinthiazomai (lit., to act the Corinthian) came to mean “to practice fornication.” There were taverns on the south side of the marketplace, and many drinking vessels have been dug up from those liquor lockers. Corinth was noted for everything sinful.”