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1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 1
1Cor 1-1
· (248b) Priorities Ø
God’s priorities Ø The will of God Ø
God exercises His will
1Cor 1-2
· (91l) Thy kingdom come Ø
The called Ø Titles of His calling Ø
Called as saints
· (135n) Temple Ø
Your spirit is the temple of God Ø The body of
Christ Ø Similarity in the body Ø
The things we have in common Ø Common Lord
· (191h) Die to self (Process of substitution) Ø
Result of putting off the old man Ø Set apart Ø
God sanctifies us through His calling
1Cor 1-3 -- No Entries
1Cor 1,4-8
· (122d) Thy kingdom come Ø
Manifestations of faith Ø Confidence in God to
keep you
1Cor 1,4-7
· (34g) Gift of God Ø
God is willing to Give Ø He is generous with
His spiritual blessings
1Cor 1-4
· (81k) Thy kingdom come Ø
Pray without ceasing Ø For the church Ø
Giving thanks
1Cor 1-5
· (80i) Thy kingdom come Ø
Know the word to minister to God Ø To know Him
· (85h) Thy kingdom come Ø
Words that are spoken in faith Ø Verbalize your
faith
· (249h) Priorities Ø
God’ s preeminence Ø Wealth Ø
True perception of wealth Ø The infinite and
eternal wealth of God Ø Being rich in Jesus
1Cor 1,7-9
· (254k)
Trinity Ø Holy Spirit’s relationship between
Father and Son Ø Jesus is equal with the Holy
Spirit Ø Power of Jesus’ Spirit –
Although the apostle Paul doesn’t speak extensively about the Holy Spirit, he
often refers to Him without using His name. For example in this passage, it is
not actually Jesus who confirms the saints. Jesus can’t; He is in heaven.
Rather, the confirmation of the saints is the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the
person of the trinity who has direct access to us in that He lives in our
hearts. Again, it says we are “called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord.” We are not actually fellowshipping with Jesus, but with the
Holy Spirit. However, the fact that the Holy Spirit and Christ are virtually one
and the same suggests that Paul knew exactly what he was saying. In other words,
Jesus has all the experiences of the Holy Spirit, and reports them to His
Father, who thus has all the experiences of Christ. There is nothing lost in
translation in that these transitions within the trinity are seamless. The
members of the trinity are all one, making their differences irrelevant in that
fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit is equivalent with fellowshipping with
Christ. Since Christ and the Holy Spirit are one and the same, to be one with
the Spirit is in fact being one with Christ. In this way Paul is right in saying
that we are in fellowship with His Son, but to be most accurate, we have
fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
1Cor 1-7,8
· (236l) Kingdom of God Ø
Pursuing the kingdom Ø Transferring the kingdom
Ø The church is transferred to the kingdom Ø
The rapture Ø The day of Christ – The Book of Revelation is not really about
endtimes, but is about the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the climax of the
revelation of Christ is the rapture. The Book of Revelation is about endtimes
only in that Jesus is returning at the end of the age. So, when Paul says that
he wants the Corinthian church to be waiting eagerly the revelation of Jesus
Christ, he is talking about looking for the things that are in the book of
Revelation to be fulfilled, up to and especially the rapture. Jesus promised
His disciples that he would return, but never told them when. He especially
didn’t want the early church to know that it would be thousands of years
later, because they would have never waited for Him. The Corinthian church
probably would have become more fleshly and carnal than they already were.
1Cor 1-7
· (24e) Sin Ø
Poverty (Forms of fear) Ø Waiting creates
anxiety
· (44g) Judgment Ø
Satan destroyed Ø Transformed Ø
Complete Ø Lacking in nothing
· (108h) Thy kingdom come Ø
Revelations of God Ø Revelation of Jesus Christ
Ø Spiritual revelation
· (126k) Thy kingdom come Ø
Manifestations of faith Ø Patience Ø
Have patience for God
1Cor 1-8
· (42a) Judgment Ø
Satan destroyed Ø Be like Jesus Ø
Blameless before God Ø Prepare for His return
· (228h) Kingdom of God Ø
God’s kingdom is a living organism Ø God
working in you Ø God works in you to keep you
in His will
1Cor 1-9
· (91f) Thy kingdom come Ø
The called Ø Walking along the narrow way Ø
Walking in God’s calling is to fulfill His purpose
· (102b) Faithfulness (Love that does not
betray) (Key
verse)
· (102d) Thy kingdom come Ø
Faithfulness (Loyalty) Ø Faithfulness is
dependable Ø God is dependable
· (208i) Salvation Ø
The salvation of God Ø Personal relationship Ø
Being the friend of God Ø Having fellowship with
God
1Cor 1-10
· (44f) Judgment Ø
Satan destroyed Ø Transformed Ø
Completing the will of God
· (69f) Authority Ø
Righteous judgment Ø Meditate on discernment Ø
Judging what is true
· (78h) Thy kingdom come Ø
Renewing your mind by the word of God Ø Be of
one mind, His mind
· (129n) Thy kingdom come Ø
Manifestations of faith Ø Unity Ø
Being in one accord Ø Having one mind –
Paul encourages the church to agree with one another, suggesting that a
contentious spirit is unprofitable. Another term that applies is argumentative
under the pretext of debating. Nothing good ever comes of it, because it is
done in the wrong spirit. The Spirit of God is not argumentative or
competitive but seeks peace, but at the same time He does not compromise the
truth. Paul wants God’s church to agree on the truth. The question is how to
do that without arguing about it. If we start with the word of God and end
with the word of God, continually praying that God will reveal to us His word
by actually taking the Scriptures into prayer with us, God will reveal
whatever we want to know, but when we allow subjectivity to invade our beliefs,
arguments spring up and the truth is lost. The human element is mostly
interjected through secular hedonism, devotion to pleasure rather than
devotion to Christ. God wants us to agree on the truth, and the ultimate goal
is unity, which can only be realized through the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit of
truth dwells in each believer, and if the saints all seek the truth
independently, then how could we not all arrive at the truth together? The
fact is we would, which proves we’re not all seeking the truth! Through this
agreement on the truth our knowledge and obedience will be made complete in
one mind and one judgment.
· (138i) Temple Ø
Building the temple (with hands) Ø Exhortation Ø
Exhorting the people to work together
· (158d) Works of the devil Ø
Essential characteristics Ø Divide and conquer Ø
Strife Ø Disagreements
1Cor 1,11-13
· (169l) Works of the devil Ø
Manifestations of the devil Ø Seeking the glory
of man Ø Stepping on people to get to the
bottom Ø Those who seek their own glory idolize
men
1Cor 1,11-16
· (9d)
Responsible to prevent false doctrine –
The Corinthian church was very worldly and hedonistic, and Paul had to harshly
rebuke them for their fleshly ways. For them to argue with one another about
whether they had been baptized in the name of Paul gives the impression just how
off the mark they had already become, and the were still the early church. They
were basically making up the truth and stationed Paul as the centerpiece of
their new religion, but he would have none of it. They were not going to make up
a religion about him so long as he was still alive and could do something about
it. The church never did build a religion around Paul throughout the millennia,
because he was not exactly an adorable fellow. There are some in the church
today based on his letters who despise Paul, but that was probably his intension
to inhibit people from worshipping him. To speak evil against Paul is about as
stupid as arguing whether you should have been baptized in his name. For someone
to not like him is similar to not liking your own father, because that is what
he was to the church, and his influence is with us to this day through his
writings. He probably had the greatest zeal of anyone and loved God with all his
heart and the church just about as much, but to build a religion around Paul
never happened, because he virtually offended everyone. He knew the truth, not
only about God, but also about man, that people have a tendency to worship
anything that breaths, and especially those who quit breathing.
1Cor 1,17-25
· (166f) Works of the devil Ø
Manifestations of the devil Ø Wisdom of the
world Ø Nature Of Man’s Wisdom Ø
Man’s wisdom does not know God – The goal of the world is to make God as small
as possible, just as astrophysicists have done to His universe with their math
wizardry. They develop their mathematical formulas that explain the universe
prior to the “Big Bang,” saying that all matter was gathered into a single
point, small enough to fit on the head of a pin. Once they did this to His
universe, which is His “star” witness, they believe in their foolish
little hearts that in the process they have somehow minimized God. The next
step is to take that tiny spec, which they call God and throw Him in the
wastebasket, but the only thing that plinked inside the trash can was their
future.
1Cor 1-17,18
· (149f) Witness Ø
Validity of Jesus Christ Ø Works of the church
bear witness to Jesus Ø Evangelism Ø
Preaching the word to the world Ø The gospel of
the kingdom
1Cor 1-17
· (75c)
Thy kingdom come Ø Motives of the heart Ø
Being motivated to do the will of God –
Paul explains his deliberate manner of preaching, not in cleverness of speech
that the gospel of Christ might be maligned, but in simplicity of the truth.
However, there are a lot of cleaver preachers who are doing just that,
nullifying the gospel and voiding the cross of Christ. Their ministry and their
personalities are outweighing the gospel that they are preaching in many
instances. Paul, however, deliberately made sure not to do this, so that no one
could accuse him of ulterior motives. He had the sort of personality that people
do not have an affinity to worship. People are not tempted to worship a person
they don’t particularly like. The way to get people to not like you is to tell
them the truth. Tell them even in love and they will still hate you. People may
not have liked Paul, but they respected him, which is far more important.
1Cor 1,18-31
· (151i)
Witness Ø Validity of the Father Ø
Witnesses of the father Ø Creation is evidence
of God Ø No other source but God can explain
the creation – Jesus started with the scribes and Pharisees,
who controlled the interpretation of God’s word, and has since nullified the
wisdom of the world to the present day. There is one obstacle the world will
never be able to hurtle, the creation itself, which is not just evidence of
God’s existence, but literal, solid proof that He does indeed exist. There
are no other writings that even come close to explaining God and describing
His works throughout the ages. The Bible was written long before science was
established. Science is the world’s alternative to religion and its
mouthpiece in condemning the need for faith. Science is unwilling to believe
anything. Rather, its aim is to prove its assertions, and if it can’t, then
it discards them. So, science looks at the stars and sees no need for a
creator, but develops it own theories about its existence. The fact that
science needs a theory about the origins of the universe speaks volumes about
the importance of answering that question. Man must have an answer for it. We
have learned from infants that everything has a cause; hence everything has an
origin. The nature of that question has been virtually sown into the very
fabric of our being. God has stuck it in man’s craw and is forcing him to
answer it as concisely and definitively as possible. Nevertheless, man’s
wisdom is leading him astray and causing him to come to all the wrong
conclusions. Man’s wisdom has not led him to know God, and it never will,
because he is in control of it, suggesting he is not nearly as objective as he
boasts, suggesting further that man’s wisdom has an agenda to exclude God
from his world through his wisdom.
· (154d) Witness Ø
Validity of the Father Ø God bears witness
against the world Ø Witness that the world is
godless Ø Witness that the world does not know
God
1Cor 1,18-29
· (16l)
Continuing in sin to avoid the light Ø
Pretending God is not here Ø Deny the
evidence of God – The world doesn’t understand faith, hence
it does not feel the need to believe in God. Some people, such as atheists,
think God should reveal Himself in order to eliminate the need for faith,
but would it change anything? No! Meanwhile, the church not only believes in
God’s existence, but also believes He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him. The world would continue in its disobedience fueled by
unbelief, because God does not abide in their hearts. Doesn’t God have a
right to do what He wants with what is His own? There are many good reasons
God does not reveal Himself to the world. God values faith because He is the
very substance of faith. God exists, and for this reason so does everything
else through God’s faith. Therefore, it is necessary that His children
also share in the composition of God’s essence, by living and walking by
faith.
· (19g) Sin Ø
Having the mental disease of the world Ø Man’s
twisted understanding
· (56c) Paradox Ø
Opposites Ø Humble yourself to be chosen of
God
· (62a) Paradox Ø
Anomalies Ø Responding cleverly to your
enemies Ø Outwit them – Those who believe in Jesus, find it very easy
to do so, and those who don’t find it impossible. God has undermined the
wisdom of the world through the simplicity of the gospel, through the
weakness of Jesus’ flesh, being nailed to a cross by wicked men, who
thought they had power over Him, but were merely doing what God had
predestined to occur before the foundation of the earth. This is the
foolishness of the world, that they have undermined themselves in the
crucifixion of Christ. Their judge will one day sentence them to eternal
darkness, unless they repent. Man thinks He can play checkers with God, but
man is too predictable to make it a contest.
· (159m) Works of the devil Ø
Essential characteristics Ø Counterfeit Ø
Counterfeit God Ø Counterfeit truth
· (199i) Denying Christ Ø
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God Ø
Rejecting Christ Ø The world rejects God Ø
World rejects God because it does not know Him
· (202g) Denying Christ Ø
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God Ø
Running from God Ø Running from the word of
God Ø Running from the gospel
· (216j) Sovereignty Ø
God overrides the will of man Ø God’s will
over man Ø God Is Independent Of His Creation
Ø You cannot control God’s desire for you Ø
man is not in control of his own destiny
· (221d) Kingdom of God Ø
The elusive kingdom of heaven Ø Kingdom
hidden behind the veil from the world Ø God
hides from the mind of man Ø He hides behind
man’s intellect
· (223f) Kingdom of God Ø
The elusive kingdom of heaven Ø Miss God Ø
Missing the point Ø Miss the meaning of the
truth
1Cor 1,18-27
· (64j) Paradox Ø
Anomalies Ø Weaknesses of God Ø
Foolishness of God – Since man seems set on excluding God from the
world, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save
those who believe. In other words the foolishness of the gospel preached is to
the world a lowly and inferior substitute to their faith in unbelief, yet it
has the power to undermine their wisdom. All we have to do is look to the
heavens and see there is a God. From this we know the world is wrong, nor do
we have any signs to blind our eyes, so these stumbling blocks and their
foolish wisdom are not impediments to our understanding of the
truth.
1Cor 1,18-25
· (178d)
Works of the devil Ø The religion of witchcraft
Ø Presumption Ø
Presuming the facts about the circumstances Ø
Philosophy
· (212e) Sovereignty Ø
God is infinite Ø He is the creator Ø
Evolution (Defaming God) Ø The scientific mind
cannot know God
1Cor 1,18-24
· (20f)
Nature of sin Ø Seeking a sign – The Jews look for signs, and gentiles they
search for wisdom, but the word of God provides neither. The wisdom of God is a
different kind of wisdom than the wisdom of the world. God has His wisdom, and
He grants it to His saints, but the world’s wisdom, consisting of the
scientific mind, does not accept God and His method of faith. The Jews asked
Jesus for a sign to point them in the right direction, but the signs they wanted
had to be of a certain type, or they would reject Christ and the signs He
performed. He healed the sick; He raised the dead; He performed many miracles
and had a wisdom that was uncanny to both the Jews and the gentiles, yet they
rejected all these things and consequently missed Him. What good, then, is a
sign if they are searching for the wrong ones? These signs became stumbling
blocks to the Jews, which blinded their eyes to Jesus Christ, just like man’s
wisdom does to the gentiles. This may have applications to Jesus’ second
coming. The mainstream people of the church have a certain criteria of signs
that they are waiting to manifest to point them in the right direction, but
their signs are skewed. One of the greatest signs is the rapture itself, when
God takes His people to heaven prior to judging the world for its unbelief.
There are other signs, and they may happen, but probably not in the order of
their expectations; therefore, they will not understand what is happening. There
is nothing wrong with a sign; the problem with signs is they require us to know
a little about the future. For this reason signs are as much misleading as they
are useful, which is what happened to the Jews, and what will probably happen to
the church in the last days. The true church does not look for signs, nor does
it value the wisdom of the world.
1Cor 1,18-23
· (198b) Denying Christ Ø
Man exercises his will against God Ø Man
withers when he is in control Ø Unteachable Ø
Too busy being a teacher to learn anything
1Cor 1,18-21
· (71b) Authority Ø
Believer’s authority Ø We have authority in
the wisdom of God -- These verses go with verses 25-29
1Cor 1-18
· (37j) Judgment Ø
Jesus emptied Himself of all His blood
· (38b) Judgment Ø
Blood of Jesus Ø God judged man through the
blood of His son
· (47j) God judges the world Ø
Eternal judgment against unbelief toward Christ
· (66h) Jesus’ authority Ø
His cross is the power of God -- This verse goes with verses 25-29
· (87m) Thy kingdom come Ø
Obedience Ø Be committed to the word of God – We hear the word of God and believe it is the
truth, since there are no competitive writings that come close to explaining
God the way the Scriptures do. We believe God is the kind of person who would
leave a written record of His works and words for us to follow. His written
record is a high quality, rational testimony of God’s dealings with man
through the ages, proving that these things are from God.
· (94f) Thy kingdom come Ø
God’s perspective Ø His perspective on the
gift of God -- This verse goes with verse 25
· (96e) Thy kingdom come Ø
Attitude Ø Positive attitude toward God Ø
Good attitude toward Jesus
· (111f) Thy kingdom come Ø
Spirit and the word Ø Word and the power
(meaning) of God Ø Word in obedience cannot
evade the power of God – The word of the cross is the power of God,
not just the word and not just the cross but the word of the cross, not
inkblots forming letters on a page but the voice of the Holy Spirit, speaking
of the cross.
· (201f) Denying Christ Ø
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God Ø
Jesus is an offense Ø Jesus offends the world Ø
The cross offends the world -- This verse goes with verse 23
· (208a) Salvation Ø
The salvation of God Ø Salvation verses Ø
The kindness of God Ø The cross
1Cor 1,19-31
· (84g) Thy kingdom come Ø
Words of your mouth Ø Boasting in men is not
needed
1Cor 1,19-29
· (22k) Sin Ø
Pride glorifies self Ø Being wise in your own
eyes – God made a written record in the Scriptures
of all His words and deeds, detailing the manner in which He has related to
mankind through Israel. That record is foolishness to the world. Nevertheless,
the word of God makes it that much easier for those who love God to believe in
Him. We not only have evidence of God in His word, but we also have proof in
the creation. We have everything we need to believe in Jesus, so that the
world is without excuse. Paul condemned the world and mocked their unbelief,
bringing up the point that God has made foolish the wisdom of the world,
starting with the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day. These put themselves
in charge of interpreting the word of God, and accordingly missed the coming
of their own messiah. Jesus completely destroyed the Pharisees and the scribes
and their wisdom, undermining everything they said, thought and believed,
showing them in countless ways how wrong they were, and how they had come to
the wrong conclusions about virtually everything. Would He do the same to the
church today if He came to us as He came to them, or are we wiser than the
Pharisees? Maybe we too are wise only in our own eyes?
· (207f) Salvation Ø
The salvation of God Ø Salvation verses Ø
The kingdom of God Ø Children of God’s
kingdom
1Cor 1,19-24
· (95a) Thy kingdom come Ø
Perspective Ø False perspective in the world
1Cor 1,19-23
· (167g) Works of the devil Ø
Manifestations of the devil Ø Carnality Ø
The carnal mind does not receive the things of God Ø
It does not understand the word of God
· (195f) Denying Christ Ø
Man exercises his will against God Ø Idolatry Ø
Worshipping men Ø Idolizing men
1Cor 1,19-21
· (246i) Kingdom of God Ø
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm Ø
Demonstration of God’s kingdom Ø God
demonstrates His glory Ø Demonstration of His
words
1Cor 1,21-31
· (77h) Thy kingdom come Ø
Tapping into the power of God through humility Ø
The high position of a humble servant – Not many important or otherwise talented
people come to the Lord, for their talents become an impediment to faith.
Those who consider themselves wise think they are above believing in Jesus.
Instead, God has chosen the weak and foolish people of the world to shame the
“wise” and the “strong.”
1Cor 1,21-24
· (89j) Thy kingdom come Ø
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom Ø Jesus
is the wisdom of God -- These verses go with verse 30
1Cor 1,21-23
· (156l) Witness Ø
Validity of the believer Ø Evidence of being
hell-bound Ø Living an ungodly lifestyle Ø
Associating with the world
· (168f) Works of the devil Ø
Manifestations of the devil Ø The world listens
to itself Ø The world receives itself
1Cor 1-21
· (165l) Wisdom Of The World
(Key verse)
· (217i) Sovereignty Ø
God overrides the will of man Ø God’s will over
man Ø I never knew you Ø
Because you never knew Him
· (247j) Priorities Ø
God’s priorities Ø God’s interests Ø
God’s interests are not man’s interests
1Cor 1-22
· (132f) Temple Ø
Your body is the temple of God Ø Holy Spirit is
in God’s people Ø God gives his spirit as a
pledge Ø God pledges His Spirit
1Cor 1-23
· (201f) Denying Christ Ø
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God Ø
Jesus is an offense Ø Jesus offends the world Ø
The cross offends the world -- This verse goes with verse 18
1Cor 1,24-29
· (91i) Thy kingdom come Ø
The called Ø God’s calling transcends the
will of man Ø We are called by God through His
choice of us
1Cor 1,25-31
· (64h) Paradox Ø
Anomalies Ø Weaknesses of God Ø
God subjects himself to human frailty Ø His
weakness is stronger than men
1Cor 1,25-29
· (66h) Jesus’ authority Ø
His cross is the power of God -- These verses go with verse 18. Jesus is an example of someone weak and foolish
in the eyes of the world, hanging on a cross waiting for the last drop of
blood to leave His body and expire as though from a lack of fortitude, as
though natural selection had weeded Him out. The Pharisees especially despised
Jesus. He could have sold His miracles and made a fortune. The people would
have formed a line down the street and around the corner, giving their money
to Him to be free from their infirmities, just like the doctors do today. The
Pharisees may have been jealous, but they would have respected Him as one of
their own. To give it away for free, though, is how He found Himself on the
cross.
· (71b) Authority Ø
Believer’s authority Ø We have authority in
the wisdom of God -- These verses go with verses 18-21
· (112d) Thy kingdom come Ø
Light Ø Jesus light in us overcomes darkness Ø
The light of His power
1Cor 1,25-28
· (37i) Judgment Ø
Blood of Jesus Ø He emptied Himself Ø
From equality with God to human frailty
· (96h) Thy kingdom come Ø
Attitude Ø Having an attitude of humility
1Cor 1-25
· (64g) Weakness Of God
(Key verse)
· (94f) Thy kingdom come Ø
God’s perspective Ø His perspective on the gift
of God -- This verse goes with verse 18
1Cor 1,26-31
· (56k)
Paradox Ø Opposites Ø
Least are greatest–
The Pharisees considered Jesus a fool for not converting His abilities into a
money making scam, which is what they would have done. They had to get rid of
Him, for He was decidedly dangerous. God has chosen the foolish things of the
world to shame the wise. He has chosen people like Jesus, the weak things of the
world, those who get nailed to crosses in order to shame those who are strong.
Historically, God has used martyrdom, the wholesale slaughtering of His saints
to shame the wise into believing the foolishness of the gospel. “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.” In the end His kingdom will reign
forever, and we will be with Him in glory, but those who glorify themselves will
be slain in His presence. No one can boast before God, neither the contrite, for
they have no interest, nor the proud, for their opportunity has been removed.
1Cor 1,26-29
· (62o) Paradox Ø
Anomalies Ø Righteous deception Ø
God deceives the world
· (94a) Thy kingdom come Ø
Perspective on this life Ø It
is our investment in the kingdom of God
· (219b) Sovereignty Ø
God overrides the will of man Ø The elect Ø
Man is a spectator of his own salvation Ø Man
is not in control of God’s calling
1Cor 1-27
· (153k) Witness Ø
Validity of the Father Ø God bears witness
against the world Ø Shame Ø
Living for Jesus exposes sin Ø Your walk with
God puts others to shame
1Cor 1-30
· (41g) Judgment Ø
Satan destroyed Ø Be like Jesus Ø
God’s righteousness is His doing
· (89j) Thy kingdom come Ø
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom Ø Jesus
is the wisdom of God -- This verse goes with verses 21-24
· (117e) Thy kingdom come Ø Rest in Jesus Ø
Let Jesus do the work Ø Let Him work on you
· (191g) Die to self (Process of substitution) Ø
Result of putting off the old man Ø Set apart Ø
God sanctifies us by His doing
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