Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

I Corinthians 1

• Paul is describing why the gospel message he preaches seems so foolish to so many people. “Foolish,” or “folly,” in this case, comes from the same Greek word used to form terms such as moron. It’s not merely that the world sees the gospel as odd, or unusual.
  ~Bible Ref

Greeting

I Corinthians 1:¹ Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

• Sosthenes means “Safe in Strength”.

• He is a Christian brother (not a literal brother) which means he believes Jesus was crucified for the sins of the world, that Jesus was buried and rose again on the third day for the sins of the world.

I Corinthians 1:² To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified (set apart) in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

• Sanctified, or set apart, is the definition of “Holy”. God is “Holy” because He is set apart from sin.

I Corinthians 1:³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

• What is Grace?
  • Even though you cheated me, I’m still going to care about your best interests.
  • God’s Grace: God’s Grace is the opposite of karma. Karma is about getting what you deserve. God’s Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
  • “Grace is God reaching downward to (aid) people who are in rebellion against Him.” ~Jerry Bridges
  • Grace is unmerited divine assistance.
  • Grace is kindness, favor, esteem when the receiver doesn’t deserve it.
  • Grace is all the Gifts God gives you at your birth and at your re-birth. I believe God gives a part of His own Genius to every human born, a gift no one else has or ever has had to use according to his free will. At one’s re-birth, when one is “born again” God gives each one a gift of being a party of the body of believers. Each one a piece of the puzzle of God’s agenda, a picture to be revealed at the unveiling.

• What is Peace?
  • Peace: Knowing and believing Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
  • Peace believes that every bad circumstance, handled correctly, is an opportunity for a spiritual promotion. Handled incorrectly, it is the door to another “Groundhog Day” which repeats itself.
  • Peace is like flying on the wings of an eagle to soar over the devastation below.
  • Peace is living by still waters knowing that the battle belongs to the Lord.
  • Peace is recognizing that when everything bad happens, God will drop an arrow out of heaven and when it lands He shows you where to step next.
  • Peace is the absence of Fear.

Spiritual Gifts at Corinth

I Corinthians 1:⁴ I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,

I Corinthians 1:⁵ that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance (speech) and all knowledge,

I Corinthians 1:⁶ even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in (Or: among) you,

I Corinthians 1:⁷ so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I Corinthians 1:⁸ who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (at His coming and appearance).

I Corinthians 1:⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sectarianism Is Sin

I Corinthians 1:¹⁰ Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing (Have a uniform testimony), and that there be no divisions (schisms or dissensions) among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

• Even as the Trinity is ONE (Root of ‘eḥāḏ= ‘āḥaḏ H258 to unify) in character, mind, and purpose.

I Corinthians 1:¹¹ For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions (quarrels) among you.

I Corinthians 1:¹² Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”

I Corinthians 1:¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

I Corinthians 1:¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

• Other verses on Crispus:
  
  • Acts 18:8 Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.

• Other verses on Gaius:
  
  • Acts 19:29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions.
    
  • Acts 20:4 And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.
    
  • Romans 16:23 Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother.
    
  • III John 1:1 [Greeting to Gaius] The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth:
    
  • III John 1:5 [Gaius Commended for Generosity] Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers,

I Corinthians 1:¹⁵ lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.

I Corinthians 1:¹⁶ Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.

I Corinthians 1:¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

I Corinthians 1:¹⁸ For the message (literally: “word”) of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

I Corinthians 1:¹⁹ For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent (sensible).”

I Corinthians 1:²⁰ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer (debater) of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

• Wisdom is defined by discerning those things of the most value over things of lesser value.
• The world believes Christ has no value therefore they are actually foolish not knowing He is the most priceless gift of all having no understanding of God’s priorities and man’s needs.

I Corinthians 1:²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

I Corinthians 1:²² For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;

I Corinthians 1:²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block (stone) (Gr. skandalon, offense) and to the Greeks (Gentiles) foolishness,

• Reference verses:
  
• Isaiah 8:14
  He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
  
• Romans 9:32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.
  
• Romans 9:33 As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
  
• 1 Peter 2:8 “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

I Corinthians 1:²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

I Corinthians 1:²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

• 

Glory Only in the Lord

I Corinthians 1:²⁶ For (consider) you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many (well-born) noble, are called.

I Corinthians 1:²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

I Corinthians 1:²⁸ and the (insignificant or lowly) base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,

I Corinthians 1:²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence.

I Corinthians 1:³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

I Corinthians 1:³¹ that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”