1 CORINTHIANS
Chapter 1, Verses 1-18
“The Gospel And Baptism!”
[2-22-22]
This Week’s Lesson: “The Gospel And Baptism!”
1 Corinthians 1:1-18) [NAS] Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
QUESTION: Who called Paul to be an apostle?
ANSWER: God! His authority came from God, Himself.
Acts 18:12-17) [NAS] But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,
13) saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”
14) But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you;
15) but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.”
16) And he drove them away from the judgment seat.
17) And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.
QUESTION: Who was “Sosthenes, our brother”?
**ANSWER: It appears that he was the leader of a group of Jews who took Paul before a ruler to have him punished for preaching the Gospel. If this is the same “Sosthenes,” then he accepted Christ at some point after he was beaten. In other words, he went from being Paul’s enemy to being someone who accompanied him in ministry.
“began to beat him, even if they could not beat Paul. Sosthenes succeeded Crispus (Act 18:8) when he went over to Paul. The beating did Sosthenes good for he too finally is a Christian (1Co 1:1), a co-worker with Paul whom he had sought to persecute” [Robertson].
“The name Sosthenes was a very common one, and we need not identify this man with the Sosthenes mentioned in 1Co 1:1” [Cambridge].
2) to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
3) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
QUESTION: How did Paul view these Corinthian believers that he was writing to?
ANSWER: He viewed them as sanctified; he viewed them as saints.
4) I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,
5) that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge,
6) even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,
7) so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8) who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[NLT] He will keep you strong right up to the end, and he will keep you free from all blame on the great day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
9) God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
NOTE: Paul begins this letter by encouraging his readers:
- He tells them they have received the grace of God [vs. 4].
- He tells them that God had enriched them by giving them spiritual gifts [vs. 5].
- He tells them they are not lacking in any of the gifts [vs. 6-7].
- He tells them that Jesus will present them blameless when He returns [ve. 7-8].
- He tells them that God is faithful and will complete what He began in them [vs. 9].
10) Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11) For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.
“In naming his informers, Paul lays down an important principle of Christian conduct. We should not pass on news about our fellow believers unless we are willing to be quoted in the matter” [BBC].
12) Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”
13) Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
NOTE: Paul wants his readers to walk in Christian unity.
QUESTION: Why was this a concern to Paul?
ANSWER: He received word that there was disunity among them.
NOTE: His readers were divided over which preacher to follow.
NOTE: These days we argue about which denomination is the best. In other words, we argue about rather we should be a Baptist, or an Assembly of God follower, or rather, or not, we should attend an independent church.
QUESTION: Is it a sin to attend a denominational church?
ANSWER: Of course not! The sin involved in this passage is the sin of division!
NOTE: We should attend a church whose doctrine we agree with, but we should not think that we are more spiritual than a believer who attends another church.
NOTE: Christ isn’t divided! The Baptist denomination didn’t send someone to be crucified for you! You weren’t baptized into the Baptist church! You were baptized into Christ!
14) I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15) that no man should say you were baptized in my name.
- Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other.
NOTE: Paul remembered baptizing “Crispus and Gaius,” and “also the household of Stephanas.”
QUESTION: Why was he glad he hadn’t baptized anyone else in Corinth?
ANSWER: He didn’t want anyone claiming they were baptized in his name.
17) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.
18) For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
QUESTION: What odd statement does Paul make here?
ANSWER: He said, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.”
QUESTION: What does that statement do?
**ANSWER: It separates baptism from the gospel.
NOTE: Baptism is New Testament doctrine. Water baptism must therefore be taught to the Christian church everywhere. But, it is not part of the gospel.
NOTE: Note the following verse:
Romans 1:16-17) [NLT] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
QUESTION: Why is this important?
ANSWER: If baptism isn’t a part of the gospel then it isn’t a part of salvation!
QUESTION: Why else does this verse point to that realization?
ANSWER: If someone must be baptized in order to be saved then Paul, the great soul winner, would have never said, “I thank God that I baptized none of you.”
QUESTION: What is the gospel?
ANSWER: This means that the gospel is that part of New Testament doctrine that tells us how the cross impacts our lives. Prior to our salvation the gospel tells us we must look to the crucified One as our Savior; and after our salvation we discover that “the righteousness of God is revealed” in the message of the cross. In other words, the gospel instructs sinners to come to Jesus; and it instructs believers that we find out how to live right in the message of the gospel, not the message of the law.
1 CORINTHIANS
Chapter 1, Verses 18-31
“Lord, Help Me Not Be A Wise Guy!”
[2-27-22]
Review: “The Gospel And Baptism!”
1 Corinthians 1:17-18) [NAS] For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.
18) For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
QUESTION: What odd statement does Paul make here?
ANSWER: He said, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.”
QUESTION: What does that statement do?
***ANSWER: It separates baptism from the gospel.
NOTE: Baptism is New Testament doctrine. Water baptism must therefore be taught to the Christian church everywhere. But, it is not part of the gospel.
QUESTION: Why is this important?
ANSWER: Note the following verse:
Romans 1:16-17) [NAS] For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
QUESTION: Again, why is this important?
ANSWER: If baptism isn’t a part of the gospel then it isn’t a part of salvation!
QUESTION: Why else does this verse point to that realization?
***ANSWER: If someone must be baptized in order to be saved then Paul, the great soul winner, would have never said, “I thank God that I baptized none of you.”
QUESTION: What is the gospel?
ANSWER: It is, according to verse 18, “the word of the cross.”
QUESTION: What does that mean to you and me?
ANSWER: It means that the gospel is that part of New Testament doctrine that tells us how the cross impacts our lives. Prior to our salvation the gospel tells us we must look to the crucified One as our Savior; and after our salvation we discover that “the righteousness of God is revealed” in the message of the cross. In other words, the gospel instructs sinners to come to Jesus; and it instructs believers that we find out how to live right in the message of the gospel, not the message of the law.
This Week’s Lesson: “Lord, Help Me Not Be A Wise Guy!”
1 Corinthians 1:18-31) [NAS] For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19) For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
QUESTION: What do many of the unsaved think of the Gospel?
ANSWER: They think it is utter foolishness!
QUESTION: Who are some of those who think the Gospel message is foolishness?
**ANSWER: The list would include, but not be limited to, the following: atheists, agnostics, evolutionists, most intellectuals, those who aren’t all that smart but think they are, many who go to mainline Christian churches that teach we’re all going to Heaven, Hindus, the practitioners of the Islam faith, Buddhists, and members of many other faiths around the world.
QUESTION: What does verse 19 tell us?
ANSWER: God will have the last word on what is “wise,” and what is “clever.”
- Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
Isaiah 33:18 [NAS] Your heart will meditate on terror: “Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”
QUESTION: Paul is talking about salvation so why is he quoting Isaiah 33:18?
ANSWER: Just as God delivered Judah from an Assyria invasion He saves those who come to Him!
QUESTION: So, in Paul’s discussion with the Corinthians how does the deliverance of Israel tie in to what the skeptics think about the Gospel?
ANSWER: The Assyrians had just conquered the nation of Israel [northern 10 tribes] and thought they were in control and they were skeptical about Judah’s God, but God delivered Judah from the invasion of King Sennacherib of Assyria in spite of the Assyrians’ skeptism; and He will save those who come to Him in spite of the skeptism of the “wise” and “clever.”
21) For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
QUESTION: What is this verse telling us?
ANSWER: The world thinks it’s so smart. They’re so wise that they rejected the God Who created them, so God decreed that salvation would come in a way that the wise would deem foolish.
QUESTION: What is this foolish way to salvation?
ANSWER: Salvation comes to those who simply believe the Gospel message.
22) For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom;
(CEV) Jews ask for miracles, and Greeks want something that sounds wise.
QUESTION: Why did the Jews always want to see signs?
ANSWER: Signs and wonders accompanied the giving of the O.T. Law. The Jews believed, therefore, that signs should accompany the coming of the Messiah. Where were they when the blind saw, the deaf heard, the dead were raised, and the sick were healed?
QUESTION: Why did the Greeks seek for a message of wisdom?
ANSWER: They thought they were the smartest people on earth. The message of salvation, according to the Gospel, did not satisfy their criteria as being wise.
23) but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness,
24) but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
QUESTION: What do we learn here?
**ANSWER: The Jews crucified Christ, so they hardly believed Him to be the Messiah; the Gentiles simply thought then, as many do now, that the Gospel message doesn’t cut it.
**25) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26) For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
27) but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
28) and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are,
29) that no man should boast before God.
QUESTION: What is this passage telling us?
ANSWER: God didn’t save you because you’re so smart; He saved you because He “has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.”
30) But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
31) that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
QUESTION: How do we sum this up?
ANSWER: I’d rather be someone this world considers to be a fool than someone that God considers to be a fool.
QUESTION: What does it all mean?
ANSWER: I may not be wise according to the standards of this world, but God counts me as wise because I believe the Gospel message, and I have placed my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.