1 Corinthians
Chapter 1
Greeting
St Paul was called by God’s will Acts to be an apostle.
St Sosthenes coauthor of 1 Corinthians.
St Paul calls his readers sanctified, and calls them to be saints. That is they are holy and called to be holy. “Become what you are in Christ.” Theosis is growing in Christ according to his calling. Note St Paul says this to the church of Corinth, even tho they have quite a bit of issues (like the man sleeping with his step-mother)(5.1, Leviticus 18.8).
Grace and peace come from God and Jesus Christ. An identification of Christ with God.
Thanksgiving
St Paul thanks God for his time with the Corinthians. He encourages them to wait for the revealing of Christ which will sustain them until the end.
God who is faithful calls the faithful into fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ
Division
Yet this division is broken by factions. Some say I am of Paul or Apollos, or Cephas (or Calvin or Luther). And some say I am of Christ alone (Restorationism?)
Yet Christ is not divided (much made in the Church Fathers of Christ’s seemless robe at the Crucifixion).
The Cross is power, not eloquent words.
Christ and the Wisdom of God
But this power of God is folly to the world.
Quoting Isaiah 29.14 (with references to Job 5.12–13 Jeremiah 8.9 and Matthew 11.25 this is quite the theme in Scriptures.) St Paul says God has made foolish the wisdom of this world.
Jesus a stumbling block to the Jews (who should have known from the Scriptures) and folly to Gentiles (who sought wisdom after the powers of the age). But to both of those called by God (theme of unity) Christ’s Cross is the Power and Wisdom of God.
Therefore, although not many of the Corinthian brethren were wise, powerful, or wealthy, noble, God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wisdom of the world. Cf. Christ born to poor parents in a stable.
Because of this, we cannot boast of ourselves. Our boasting must be in the Lord. (Jeremiah 9.23–24) He is our wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification.
Chapter 2
vv. 6 ff. The Spirit of God understands God. The rules of this age (the devils) do not understand the wisdom of God, for if they had, they “would not have crucified the Lord of Glory”.
Great things have been revealed in Christ, and greater things still will be revealed. (v9, Isaiah 64.4 LXX)
We who are united to Christ, have the mind of Christ.
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Love (αγάπη)
Whatever other gifts (even miraculous) one might possess without love, they are worthless.
Martyrdom without love is of no avail.
True love is selfless (kind, unboasting), other oriented (doesn’t insist on its own way) and sacrificial (bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things.)
Love endures, other gifts fade in eternity.
While we know God partially, dimly through a glass Apophasis, in the age to come we ‘shall know as we are known’ (cf Chapter 2. (What does this mean? Surely we’ll know truly, but we can’t understand on this side of the veil how thesois will be accomplish. Perhaps the saints on earth know, but it is beyond me.)
Of the gifts that endure, faith, hope, and love, love is the greatest. Cf 1 John “God is Love”.