1st Corinthians Lesson 3

Introduction, Part 3

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

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Lesson Transcript

Introduction

Welcome to our third class on 1 Corinthians. We are still in the introductory material, but we are zeroing in on the first verse. We may even get there tonight. I’m making no promises, but I will promise we’ll definitely be there next week. We may get there tonight.

Last week, when we ended, we had started looking at the author of 1 Corinthians. You know, if you read the commentaries, particularly the liberal commentaries, they’ll very often claim that someone else wrote various letters in the Bible, other than who the Bible claims wrote the letter. But with 1 Corinthians, I don’t think anyone says that. Everyone, even the most liberal critics, they agree Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. His stamp is so indelibly put on this wonderful letter.

Paul’s Jewish Heritage

And last week we had started looking at the life of Paul, and particularly with regard to why Paul was the perfect person to take God’s word to the Gentiles. And last week, as we ended, we were looking at the Jewishness of Paul. And we had determined that Paul was not just a Jew, an ordinary Jew. Paul was of the aristocracy of the Jews.

He was, as he called himself, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, the tribe of Benjamin, an Israelite, and he was of the aristocracy of the Jews. What that meant was that no one could ever look at Paul and say, “You really don’t understand Judaism. You left because you didn’t understand it. You really weren’t part of the group.” No one could ever say that to Paul. He understood Judaism inside and out.

And that was very important for someone who was going to take it to the Gentiles. Because he had to know Judaism, and he had to be accepted as a Jew to do that, to fulfill that role.

Paul’s Attitude Toward the Jews

But we do need to note here that although Paul went to the Gentiles rather than the Jews primarily, he was never bitter toward the Jews. And in fact, when we look in Romans 9:3, he said he himself would gladly have been accursed if he could have had the Jews obey the gospel. He did not have a bitter hatred toward what he had left behind.

In fact, he never forgot his Jewish origin. In this very letter we’re looking at in 1 Corinthians 9:20, he will say “to the Jews, I became as a Jew.” So he certainly was a Jew to the end of his days.

Paul’s Divine Mission to the Gentiles

But why was Paul so perfectly suited to take the gospel to the Gentiles? Well, first, Paul certainly understood that that was his mission. He understood it was not only his mission, it was his privilege, and he understood it was his responsibility.

In Acts 9:15, God told Ananias that Paul was his chosen vessel to bear his name before the Gentiles. So, this was in God’s mind right from the very start. This is why He chose Paul. This is why He called Paul. And “called” is a word we’re going to look at when we first start looking at verse 1 of this letter.

In Acts 13:47, Paul said that God had commanded him to be a light to the Gentiles. And in fact, in Acts 18:6, which is describing Paul’s sojourn in Corinth. That’s what’s being described in Acts 18. Paul said that when the Jews rejected him in Corinth, that’s when Paul said that from then on he would go to the Gentiles. So, in fact, that happened in Corinth. That’s when he said that.

Paul’s Self-Understanding

And in Romans, Paul called himself an apostle to the Gentiles, Romans 11:13. Galatians 1:16, he said that the very purpose Christ was revealed to him was that he might preach him among the Gentiles. Paul understood why he had been called, and he understood that right from the very beginning. Paul’s purpose was to bring Christianity to the Gentile world. It’s why he was called, and he knew that purpose.

It’s interesting to think that of all the apostles that had lived and spent so much time with Jesus, when it came to choosing someone to take the gospel to the Gentiles, God chose someone else. He went to Paul. He went to Paul for that role. Well, why? What were Paul’s qualifications for that task?

Paul’s Background in Tarsus

Well, first of all, Paul was a citizen of Tarsus. Tarsus, and that’s something of which he was very proud. In Acts 21:39, Paul told the military commander that he was “a Jew of Tarsus, a citizen of no mean city.” This is not an average city, Tarsus, he’s saying.

And in fact, when he addressed the hostile mob in Acts 22, how did he start off? “I am verily a man which am a Jew born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia.” He often told people, “I’m from Tarsus.” Well, why was Tarsus so special?

The History and Importance of Tarsus

Well, first, it had a very special history. Historically, it went all the way back to 860 BC. And 500 years later, Alexander the Great was there, and he nearly died there. He caught a chill while he was bathing in one of the icy rivers in Tarsus. He nearly died. And then 300 years after that, Mark Antony was there. And he summoned Cleopatra to come to him because he thought she was plotting against him. And she came sailing on the barge, on a barge, dressed like the goddess Venus. It had a very special history. A lot of things had happened in Tarsus. A lot of historical figures had spent time in Tarsus.

It was also a great center of trade. In fact, one of its most famous products was goat’s hair felt. Well, how does that relate to Paul? It was used to make tents. Paul was a tent maker, and one of the main products of Tarsus was this goat’s hair felt. It had a big harbor, very commercial city.

It was also a university town. One of its biggest exports was its scholars who went out to various universities all around the world. At one time, its library held 200,000 books, which put it only second to, say, Alexandria or Athens. It had a lot of philosophers that were there.

Tarsus’s Political Status

Tarsus had been a very lucky city. In this sense, that in all the civil wars that had happened, it had nearly always chosen the right side, which means every time the war ended, it came out better and better and better. And so it had been a very lucky city. By the time this happened, it was a free city, self-governing and independent as it could be within the Roman Empire.

So Paul was born in this very cosmopolitan center of learning and trade and Greek culture and history going all the way back to 800 BC. If you think about it, there could be no better training ground for someone to be a missionary to the world than to be born there in Tarsus and see all of that activity in history.

But keep in mind, he’s born in Tarsus, he lives in Tarsus, but he was educated in Jerusalem, right? Because he went and studied under the feet of Gamaliel, Acts 22, verse 3, tells us. Of course, Gamaliel was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin, the court that dealt with religious matters. We looked at the Sanhedrin and we studied Matthew and all that went on there.

Paul’s Roman Citizenship

So we have Paul, who’s born in Tarsus, cosmopolitan trading city, university town. He studies in Jerusalem, with one of the most famous figures in Judaism at the time. And yet, we’re not through listing the qualifications of Paul. Because one of his main qualifications we haven’t even mentioned yet, and that is that Paul was a Roman citizen.

In addition to the Greek and the Judaism, all that combined with a Roman citizen. You know, to be a Roman citizen, and we see that, for example, in Acts 22 and Acts 25, Acts 16, you remember he’s very proud of that. That was not something he hid. He used that. You know, to use that to get out of trouble when he could, to keep from being beaten, to get out of jail if he could. That’s something he knew was an important tool for him, and he used it.

The Value of Roman Citizenship

No Roman citizen could be bound, no Roman citizen could be scourged. If a man claimed Roman citizenship, no matter where he was to the ends of the earth, the might and power of Rome were behind him. Cicero wrote, “How often this exclamation, ‘I am a Roman citizen,’ brought aid and safety even among the barbarians from the remotest parts of the earth.” And Paul was a Roman citizen. And as I mentioned, he was certainly not ashamed of that.

How Paul Received Citizenship

How did Paul receive that citizenship, though? Well, let’s look at the facts. Paul was born in Tarsus. We’ve already said that. Paul was a Pharisee. His father was a Pharisee. Acts 23:6. No Pharisee would live outside the Holy Land unless there was some compelling reason to do so. So something must have happened to cause this Pharisee, Paul’s father, to be living in Tarsus.

Well, we know Roman citizenship could be purchased because Acts 22:28 tells us that, but no Pharisee would ever, ever have done that. Citizenship could be granted to some great service to the empire, but that’s also very unlikely for a Pharisee. But sometimes citizenship was given as a mark of favor to an entire city, to an entire area. In other words, at some point the emperor or the ruler would say, “you know, this area has done such a great service to me. I’m going to make you all citizens.” That happens sometimes.

And in fact, with Tarsus, Julius Caesar came there in 47 BC on his eastern campaign. And the citizens were so enthusiastic to see Julius Caesar that they changed the name of their city to Juliopolis. Well, that didn’t stick, but Caesar granted them citizenship. And I think that is when Paul’s family was granted their Roman citizenship. And I think then Paul was born and became a Roman citizen that way.

God’s Providence in Paul’s Preparation

For Christianity to spread throughout the world, a unique person was needed, and Paul was that unique person. You know, we know Paul was divided in this sense, that he was Saul, and then he became Paul. And I don’t think any of us can think of a more dramatic turnaround than the turnaround that happened between Saul and Paul. I mean, instant, instant, and total turnaround.

So we already know in that sense Paul was divided, but Paul was also divided in the sense that he had a foot in Judaism and he had a foot in Greece, in Greek culture. And he was the perfect person to bridge that gap. He knew the Jews better than all the other Jews, in the sense that he was the aristocracy of the Jews. No one knew Judaism better than Paul did, and he knew Greek culture, too.

The Divine Plan Behind Paul’s Background

And for that to happen, think what God had to do. Before Paul was born, he had to get his family to Tarsus. Well, how did that happen? Well, there were expulsions. We’ve already studied about one on Sunday and expulsion. There were other expulsions where Jews were driven out and various reasons. And I think that’s what happened. And Paul’s family, however God’s providence made it happen, ended up in Tarsus. Before Paul was born, became Roman citizens.

So that Paul then would be born there, educated in Jerusalem, raised up, and the day would come when God would call him for his mission. And Paul answered the call.

The Church in God’s Eternal Plan

You know, some people teach the church as an afterthought. We’ve talked about this. “Oh, well, you know, God meant to do this, that, and the other, and they didn’t know that. Jesus was going to be killed and it happened and so he set up the church and one of these days we’re going to have a great kingdom and it’s not the church but it’s going to…” The church an afterthought.

Look at what we’ve looked at here with God orchestrating the empires of this world, Greece and Rome, getting everything perfect for the coming Christ and for the coming kingdom. And even to the point of getting Jews out of Palestine into the Greek world so that he could one day find the perfect person to take his gospel to the whole world. That had been planned. We know it had been planned before the foundation of the world, but we can see in history how it had been planned for centuries.

The Book of Daniel as God’s Revelation

You know, Daniel, the book of Daniel, it was written to let God’s people know that God had not forgotten them when they were in exile. That God still knew them, He still loved them, He still cared for them. He had not forgotten the people while they were in exile. How did Daniel show them that? Daniel showed them that by lifting up the curtain and letting them see God’s plan.

And they saw, when that’s lifted up in Daniel, they saw the most detailed, prophetic utterances ever. I mean, you can go look at all the prophecies in the Bible. You will not find any more detail than those in Daniel. And what God was saying is, “look what I am doing for you. Look what I am doing for the world. And you think I’ve forgotten you? It’s all a part of the plan. And here’s the plan.” Lifted up the curtain and showed them the plan.

Daniel is such a wonderful book. And we see now the other side of the plan. Daniel’s looking this way down the centuries. And now we’re living, we’re looking at things in the first century, looking this way and seeing the plan as it happened. That’s what we’re studying here. Beautiful plan of God. The church is not an afterthought. It has been in God’s plan since the beginning, and we can see that in history.

Paul’s Ministry in Corinth

Okay, let’s zero in a little bit on Paul and look not at Paul from the wide angle, but look at Paul in a more narrow angle, Paul in Corinth. Well, we can learn a lot about this from Acts. I’ve mentioned Acts chapter 18 a number of times. You might want to flip over there. Acts 18:1 through 18 tells us about Paul’s first trip to Corinth.

This was part of his second missionary journey. It’s probably in the spring of AD 52 when he left Corinth with Priscilla and Aquila and crossed over to Ephesus. And then I think when we know 1 Corinthians was written in Ephesus, 1 Corinthians 16, verse 8, which is about 180 miles away by sea.

Dating Paul’s Letters

But I think it was probably written from Ephesus later in this third missionary journey. You know, we know Paul was in Ephesus about three years. We know that from Acts 20, verse 31. And that three-year period is probably between around AD 53 and AD 57, somewhere in there. And I think it’s somewhere in that period that Paul penned the letter to 1 Corinthians. But he was in Corinth much earlier, say 51, 52.

Paul’s Journey to Corinth

We know that Paul traveled from Athens to Corinth. That’s how he got there. And I think he was probably kind of in a dejected mood when that happened. You know, he’d got the Macedonian call. He’d gone to Macedonia to spread the gospel. And, you know, he’d certainly had some successes there: Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea. But he’d also had a lot of trouble. I mean, he’d been run out of town and had all sorts of persecutions and trouble. And so I think he was probably kind of feeling a little down in the dumps, would be my guess on that.

And he goes to Athens. And then at Athens, what he finds is kind of a polite amusement at what he had said. I mean, it was just like, you know, they were the grand philosophers and they’d listen to him, but it’s just like one other philosopher. They didn’t really, you know, they didn’t persecute him in that sense. They were just kind of politely amused.

And my guess is that for Paul, that was even worse than being persecuted. You know, at least when they’re persecuting you, they’re listening to you, they’re understanding you. But with this in Athens… You know, and then he goes to Corinth.

Paul’s Initial Apprehension

We’ve already talked about Corinth’s reputation. It did not have a good reputation. And Paul probably thought, “You know, this is going to be tough. You know, I may not have any successes here. It’s just a very tough city to teach in.”

And in fact, 1 Corinthians 2, verse 3 says, he came to them in weakness and in fear and in trembling. So, you know, these are not just my thoughts on how he showed up there. We’re told how he felt when he showed up there. There was no real reason for him to think he was going to have any less trouble in Corinth than he’d had elsewhere. In fact, he did have some trouble in Corinth.

Paul’s Success in Corinth

But Paul spent 18 months in Corinth, which is a long time for Paul to spend somewhere. We know he spent three years in Ephesus, but 18 months is also a long time to spend somewhere. And by the time he left, there was a congregation of the Lord’s Church in Corinth, and it was a large congregation. A lot of people were there. And yeah, there were some problems. It was kind of a volatile bunch. We’re going to be studying about them. But he had successes there in Corinth.

God’s Encouragement to Paul

And in fact, in Acts 18, verse 9, he’d had a vision. And God had said, “Do not be afraid, speak, and do not be silent. I am with you. No one shall harm you by any attack. I have many people in this city.” I think I know God knew that Paul was in fear and trembling and distress. And God came to him in the vision in the night, reassured him, encouraged him.

And don’t you know what that meant to Paul, to hear that from God, that he was going to be with him, he was not going to suffer these attacks. And that last phrase, “I have many people in this city.” Don’t you think Paul may have been wondering when he first got there, “is there anybody here on God’s side? Anybody? All this horrible, vile filth, and all these…” And God said, “I have not just a few people, I have many people in this city,” God said.

Paul was reassured, and that promise was fulfilled. We knew it would be. And I think it’s also interesting to note that when Paul came to Corinth, Corinth may not have figured into Paul’s program. He may have thought, “well, I’ll be here a few days, it may not work out.” But Corinth was part of God’s plan. It was part of God’s program. And so you can see what happened there. And we need to look for God’s program and find God’s plan for us and how we need to fulfill His mission. And we can see that in Corinth.

Chronology and Dating

Let’s talk a little bit about dates. Acts 18:2 refers to the expulsion of the Jews from Rome by Claudius, and David preached an excellent lesson on Sunday that mentioned this and talked about this very event. Aquila and Priscilla were two of these refugees that got thrown out of Rome by Claudius. That’s probably around AD 49. That happened.

And as David mentioned, Suetonius talked about that expulsion. He said, “since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus,” Christ, “he expelled them from Rome.” So, in fact, that’s happening around AD 49, and Priscilla and Aquila are two of the people being expelled from Rome. Well, we know it didn’t last very long, because Aquila and Priscilla are back in Rome when Romans 16, verse 3 was written. But they were expelled for a short time.

Gallio’s Significance

We talked last time about Gallio in Acts 18:12 through 17, and how he showed up and how he got Paul out of some trouble there. Well, Gallio showed up in AD 51, and he was there until AD 52, middle of AD 52. So if you put all these dates together, we know he’s there 18 months. He probably came before Gallio early when Gallio showed up, because that’s when the people took that up as an opportunity to make trouble for Paul.

So Paul probably started there around 51 and left sometime in 52. And after he left, he went to Ephesus for a while, then he went off to other missionary journeys. He continued to work with Corinth from afar. That’s when he was writing all these letters. That’s when he was hearing these reports after he had left.

Paul’s Letters to Corinth

Well, how many letters and how many visits did Paul… Right. How many visits did he make? How many letters did he write? Well, we know that Paul wrote possibly as many as four letters to the Corinthians. In fact, some commentators argue he wrote five or more, but all we know about is four. So I think he wrote four.

The Four Letters

The first one, which I’ll call Epistle A, is the letter referred to in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 9. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 9. That’s the letter in which Paul warned them not to associate with fornicators, sexually immoral people. Well, that’s a letter. And he wrote that letter, obviously, before he wrote 1 Corinthians, because he’s referring to it in 1 Corinthians. So we have a letter that he wrote telling them not to associate with sexually immoral people.

I mentioned this before, I’ll mention it again. Is this a lost letter of the Bible? No. There are no lost letters in the Bible. It’s a lost letter. We don’t have it. But it was never intended to be in our Bibles. How do I know that? Because it’s not in our Bibles. We have our Bible through the providence of God. And God has guided us so that we can have His Word. His Word is eternal.

It’s the power of God and the salvation, in the sense that that’s where we read the gospel. That’s where we find out what the gospel is. God makes sure that we have His Word, His complete Word. In fact, the Bible tells us not only does it tell us it’s complete, the Bible tells us it makes us complete. So, there are no lost books in the Bible. But this is a lost letter. It was just never intended to be part of our Bible.

So, that’s Epistle A, the letter telling them not to associate with fornicators. The second epistle, which I’ll call Epistle B, I believe is 1 Corinthians. That’s the one we’re about to study. That’s the one that refers back to Epistle A.

The Sorrowful Letter

Well, there’s a third epistle, I’ll call it epistle C, and that’s the one mentioned in 2 Corinthians 2:3 through 4. 2 Corinthians 2:3 through 4, and that’s the one that’s usually called the sorrowful letter. Written with tears.

Now, some commentators consider the end of 2 Corinthians chapters 10 through 13 to be this sorrowful letter. In other words, they say, “well, we’ve got 1 Corinthians. And then we’ve got the first nine chapters of 2 Corinthians as another letter. And then someone has somehow tacked on this third letter to the end of 2 Corinthians. And now we’ve got it kind of like one letter, but it’s really two letters.”

I completely reject that notion that Second Corinthians is a patchwork of letters. We certainly not have time to talk about that here, but when we get to Second Corinthians, maybe I’ll be able to address that point because there’s it’s a very interesting study. But in any event, we know there’s a third letter because it’s mentioned there in 2 Corinthians 2:3 through 4, and it’s called the sorrowful letter.

The fourth letter is I’ll call Epistle D, and that is 2 Corinthians. We, of course, have that in our Bibles. So there’s four letters.

Is 1 Corinthians the Sorrowful Letter?

Let’s talk about this sorrowful letter a little bit. Some people argue that the sorrowful letter is in fact 1 Corinthians, that there’s only three letters, that the letter referred to in 2 Corinthians about the sorrowful letter is in fact 1 Corinthians, that there’s not a letter in between. I think that has some problems.

Paul describes the letter as having been written “out of much affliction and anguish of heart, and with many tears.” Well, we’re about to study 1 Corinthians, but you’re all familiar with 1 Corinthians. And, you know, 1 Corinthians has some strong language in it, but can you really say it’s been written out of much affliction and anguish of heart with many tears?

I mean, much of 1 Corinthians is addressing questions that the Corinthians ask Paul, and he goes down the list and answers their questions. And then, also in 1 Corinthians, we find this beautiful chapter on love, we find this beautiful chapter on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We find these wonderful salutations at the end. I just don’t see 1 Corinthians as the sorrowful letter. I think there’s another letter that we don’t have that is, in fact, the one being described in 2 Corinthians 2:3 through 4.

Paul’s Visits and Letters to Corinth

Here’s what I think happened, and I’ll give you the evidence why I think it happened. And this when I go through this, I’m going to try to explain the visits and also the letters. If you still have your handout from the very first class, there’s a little chart at the bottom that goes through this. Apologize, I didn’t bring any more handouts, but it’s at the bottom of the handout you got on the first class.

The Chronological Sequence

Okay, Paul goes to Corinth and begins the congregation there, establishes the congregation there as described in Acts chapter 18. That’s kind of the beginning, that’s the first visit. That’s the first visit. He then leaves for Ephesus. That’s also described in Acts chapter 18.

After he leaves for Ephesus, he writes letter A, Epistle A. That’s the one warning them not to associate with immoral people. So he wrote that after he left. That’s the one referenced in 1 Corinthians 5:9.

While he’s in Ephesus, but I think it’s probably later during his return visit to Ephesus, which I’ll explain why in just a moment, he hears a report. And he, in fact, receives a delegation from Corinth. They pay him a visit in Ephesus. We’re going to study about that when we get into 1 Corinthians.

Why Later in the Ephesian Ministry?

And I think that happened then after he went to Ephesus the second time, after leaving Corinth. You know, why do I think that? Well, Apollos arrived in Corinth shortly after Paul left. We find that in Acts 18, verse 27. But Apollos had quite a following by the time First Corinthians was written, right? I mean, look at the first chapter. He already had a group that called themselves the Apollos group.

So I think there had to be some time between when Paul left and Apollos arrived and the Apollos group formed, which makes me think that the letter was written later in the second visit, the extended stay in Ephesus.

The Painful Visit

Okay, in any event, from Ephesus, Paul then sends 1 Corinthians. Why does he write 1 Corinthians? It’s in response to the visit. It’s in response to the reports that he has heard. That happens next. Paul receives additional reports. We read about those in 1 and 2 Corinthians, and he pays them a visit. And we read about that visit in 2 Corinthians, and that visit is a very painful visit. His second visit to Corinth.

Something happens that causes him to quickly return to Ephesus. And that’s described in 2 Corinthians. And again, when we get to that book, maybe we’ll have time to discuss that in more detail. That second visit occurred between his departure from Corinth after being there 18 months and his three-month stay there when he traveled to Jerusalem, which is in Acts 20, verse 3.

He came back to Corinth later, we know from Acts 20, but in between the 18-month stay and the Acts 20, verse 3 stay, there’s a brief painful visit that we read about in 2 Corinthians. So now we’ve got three visits of Paul to Corinth.

The Resolution

Okay, so Paul then sends the sorrowful letter, likely delivered by Titus. And Paul leaves Ephesus and waits for Titus in Troas, waiting to hear the report, finally meets up with Titus in Macedonia. Titus brings him good news. Brings him good news. The sorrowful letter had had its intended effect.

Paul then writes 2 Corinthians, and I think we see some of that joy in 2 Corinthians, that the letter had worked, it had had its intended effect. The problems had turned around to some extent. I mean, 2 Corinthians deals with some issues too, but for much of 2 Corinthians, it’s a joyful, much more joyful letter.

Paul then goes to Corinth. His third visit, that’s the one in Acts 20, verse 3, stays there over the winter before proceeding on to Jerusalem with the collection. Paul refers to this upcoming third visit in 2 Corinthians 12:14 and 2 Corinthians 13, verse 1. And so we know that it happened, and that happened after this painful visit.

Summary

So, I think then Paul wrote four letters, two of which we have, two of which we don’t have, two of which were intended to be in our Bibles and are in our Bibles, and two of which were never intended to be in our Bibles and we don’t have. And then he paid the three visits. It’s a very interesting study. I’m not saying that’s the only way it could have worked out. That’s the way I think it worked out. But there could be some other possibilities there. But having looked at it, that’s the way I think it worked out.

Beginning 1 Corinthians 1:1

We’re about to start chapter one. Before we do that, let me ask if there are any questions over any of the introductory stuff. I realize I’ve been talking a lot. Any questions or comments over the introductory material?

Okay, let’s look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Please open your Bibles. You know, starting 1 Corinthians, what a wonderful letter. Just a short personal note. My favorite chapter in the Bible is in First Corinthians. And it’s not 1 Corinthians 13. It’s 1 Corinthians 15. Absolutely. My favorite chapter in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 15. Love that chapter in 1 Corinthians.

And if you think about, I mean, you think about what would we not have if God had not given us 1 Corinthians? Think about that for a second. 1 Corinthians. Very important part of our Bible. I mean, it’s all important, but boy, 1 Corinthians is an incredible, incredible letter.

Verse 1: Paul’s Calling

Verse 1. “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother.”

When I study the Bible, one thing I often do is I take a different color highlighter, which is pretty easy on an iPad, I’ll tell you, but take a different color highlighter, and I look for words that appear in kind of clusters. You know, you’re looking at a passage and you see a word, see that word again, see it again, see it again, see it again. You’re thinking, okay, there’s something here. This word is important to what’s being said here.

“Called” is one of those words. We see it in verse 1, we see it in verse 2, twice, we see it down in verse 9. Called, called. Paul was called by God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. We just talked about that. We just talked about the call by God of the Apostle Paul.

The Theme of Calling

The call of God is a central theme in Paul’s letters, particularly in this chapter. In fact, particularly for the Corinthians, we talked about the wickedness of Corinth, the situation they were in. They understood the call of God. And in fact, in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 11, we’re going to find where Paul says, “And such were some of you.” Why were they no longer that? Because they had answered the call of God.

In 2 Corinthians 6, verse 7, we’re going to see the command: “come out from among them, and be ye separate. Touch no unclean thing.” That’s a call. They understood this call to come out, to be clean, to be holy, to leave the city of filth they were living in. They understood the call of God. And Paul starts off by saying, Paul was called by God.

1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful by whom you were called.” 1 Corinthians 1:24, “but unto them which are called, Christ, power of God, wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:26, “or see your calling, brethren, how not many wise men of the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.” Are called.

How People Are Called

Of course, we know from 2 Thessalonians 2:14 how they’re called. They’re called by the gospel. They’re called by the gospel. In fact, John 6:44 through 45 tells us how they are drawn. They’re drawn by teaching, by teaching of the gospel.

The Greek word ecclesia, translated church, we all know what that means. The called out. The called out. All of those who hear the call of God and respond in obedience to that call are added by God to the called out, to the church, to the ecclesia.

Universal Call vs. Calvinism

God calls everyone to obey the gospel. But only those who answer and obey the call become part of the called out, become part of the ecclesia, become part of the church. The alternative to that is that God does not call everyone? I mean, that’s pretty simple, right? Either God does call everyone or God does not call everyone. That’s pretty simple. Either one or the other.

And the alternative to that he does call everyone is that he doesn’t call everyone, and that there are some people that are just predestined to hell. That God is not calling them because there’s no need for God to call them because they are predestined to hell. They will be lost. It’s been predetermined. Nothing they can do. That’s the alternative. That’s Calvinism.

And of course, Calvinism flies in the face of the rest of the scriptures. 1 Timothy 2:4, “have all men be saved.” 2 Peter 3:9, “not willing that any should perish.” The Bible is its own best interpreter. And there’s no way you can read the entire New Testament and come away believing in Calvinism. It’s just, it cannot happen.

Paul’s Apostolic Authority

Paul makes it clear also that he was called to be an apostle through the will of God. Why is that important? Paul’s going to deal in this letter and the second letter, particularly the second letter, with people who are questioning his apostolic authority in Corinth. We’ve already looked at where they were saying, “oh, Paul is weak and he doesn’t have a very good presence and he doesn’t talk very well, and you know, I like these other people.” They were questioning his apostolic authority.

And to the church that would often call his apostleship into question, Paul calls himself a called apostle. And it’s interesting that for all the doubts that others may have had about his apostleship, Paul never had any doubts about his apostleship. He knew he had been called to be an apostle. And he’s telling them that right here. He is speaking with the authority granted him from God as an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Authority and Its Rejection

Very often, the first clue to someone who is not operating according to the will of God is to watch how they deal with authority. Do they reject the authority of the Bible? Do they reject the authority of the elders? Do they reject the governmental authorities? Jude 1:8 talks about people who despise or reject authority. Ultimately, a rejection of authority is a rejection of God as the ultimate authority. And we see people in Corinth questioning the authority of Paul.

Sosthenes as Co-Sender

Paul very often mentions co-senders in his salutations, people who are sending it with him. In 2 Corinthians, for example, he mentions Timothy. In this book, he mentions Sosthenes. Who was Sosthenes? Well, whoever he was, he must have been known to the Corinthians because he’s identified as “our brother.”

Some commentators say, well, he’s the scribe that wrote the letter, but you know, Tertius did that in Romans, and he didn’t get mentioned until the end of that book. So I don’t think he’s the scribe.

Identifying Sosthenes

Others have suggested that this Sosthenes is the same Sosthenes mentioned in Acts 18. I think that’s probably the right answer. And in fact, that Sosthenes does not appear to have been a very common name, which supports that view.

In Acts 18, verse 17, we learn that Sosthenes was the chief ruler of the synagogue. In verse 8 of that chapter, we learn that the previous ruler, Crispus, had become a believer, which I guess explains why he lost his job. Apparently, Sosthenes followed him in that.

The Jews in Corinth dragged Paul before Gallio. We’ve talked about that. Gallio responded. We’ve talked about that. And then the Greeks came back, they took Sosthenes and they beat him up before the judgment seat. It’s not clear whether the Greeks beat him up or the Jews beat him up. The transcripts differ a little on that. But you know, if the Jews beat him up, they may have beaten him up because he converted.

An Interesting Theory

One commentator, an interesting story. He said an interesting theory. He said that he thinks Crispus and Sosthenes may be the same person. Crispus, you know, was the ruler that converted, and now he may also be called Sosthenes. The name Crispus can mean “unsteady.” The name Sosthenes can mean “steady.” So maybe Paul changed his name. Maybe when he converted, he went from unsteady to steady. And now he’s called Sosthenes. That’s possible.

But I think the best explanation is probably we have two different people here, each rulers of the synagogue, each converted by the preaching of Paul.

Looking Ahead

Next week, we’re going to start off here looking again at Sosthenes. And we’re going to ask the question: why was it so important that Sosthenes and Crispus are mentioned here as being converted? And was it part of Paul’s plan, perhaps, to try to convert first such leading people as Sosthenes and Crispus? And if so, why? And if so, perhaps we can learn a lesson about our own missionary efforts. A lot of questions there. We’ll start there next week.

We made it all the way to verse one. We didn’t make it to verse two, though. So I think I’m following the pace that has been set for me. All right. Thank you very much. And I think we now have our closing prayer.