1 Corinthians: A Pastoral Commentary

By J. Ayodeji Adewuya and Dr. Daniel K. Darko

New Testament scholars have widely recognized and acknowledged the occasional nature of Paul's first canonical letter to the Corinthians. In the letter, Paul addresses real problems that were faced by real people in a real world. This commentary shows how the church in the twenty-first century mirrors the Corinthian Church in many ways. It goes further to show how the church in the present day, particularly its leaders, could benefit from how Paul addressed the situations that the church faced.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Apr 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781532674020

J. Ayodeji Adewuya

J. Ayodeji Adewuya is professor of Greek and New Testament at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary, Cleveland Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including Holiness in the Letters of Paul: A Necessary Response to the Gospel (2016) and 1 Corinthians: A Pastoral Commentary (2019).

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1 Corinthians

A Pastoral Commentary

J. Ayodeji Adewuya

Foreword by Daniel K. Darko

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1 Corinthians

A Pastoral Commentary

Copyright ©

2019

J. Ayodeji Adewuya. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-7400-6

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-7401-3

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-7402-0

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®. Copyright ©

1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995

by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

June 7, 2019

Table of Contents

Title Page

Foreword

Preface

Introduction to 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:1–31: The Cross: God’s Means of Salvation

1 Corinthians 2:1–16: Human Wisdom versus God’s Wisdom

1 Corinthians 3:1–23: The Nature of Christian Leadership

1 Corinthians 4:1–13: The Nature of Christian Leadership Part 2

1 Corinthians 5:1–13: Discipline in the Church

I Corinthians 6:1–20: Christians in Pagan Courts

1 Corinthians 7:1–40: Marriage and Sexual Relations

1 Corinthians 8:1–13: Christian Liberty and the Common Good

1 Corinthians 9:1–27: Christian Privileges: Use and Abuse

1 Corinthians 10:1–33: Flee from Idolatry

1 Corinthians 11:1–34: Your Supper or the Lord’s Supper?

1 Corinthians 12:1–31: One Body, Many Members

1 Corinthians 13:1–13: Love: The More Excellent Way

1 Corinthians 14:1–40: Spiritual Gifts and Edification

1 Corinthians 15:1–58: The Resurrection

1 Corinthians 16:1–24: Finance and Farewell

Further Reading

Foreword

Christianity in the twenty-first century suffers from the amnesia of abundance to its own demise: abundance of books, scholars, moral problems, social stigmas, and leadership crises. Growing churches and Christian movements seem to have found no use for voluminous academic resources and erudite arguments by scholars on a wide range of Christian topics—often geared towards impressing peers in the guild. As if this is not enough, the blessings of technology have also led to information overload and engendered Biblical illiteracy simultaneously. PowerPoint presentations and creative endeavors of media departments in churches have inadvertently cultivated a sense of no need for physical Bible in the church or at home. Most Christians in the West have Bible apps, but know little about how the Bible may be applied to their lives. Professor Adewuya takes on his pastoral hat to make 1 Corinthians come alive to the Christian who desires to study the letter in its context, be edified, and engage in learning experience for better Christian living. The interface of the author’s academic acumen and pastoral passion draws the reader into a deep understanding and pragmatic learning experience on the multifaceted issues faced by the charismatic Christians in Roman Corinth. No footnotes. No Greek jargons. No big words. He seems to get what the average Christian needs. He writes as a pastor-scholar walking through the text with you and pointing to the way Paul addressed prevailing issues in the first century that resonate with ours today.

1 Corinthians: A Pastoral Commentary combines genres of commentary and devotion to foster a deeper understanding of God’s word and Christian maturity. The book opens with biographical details of Paul and his ministry to set the tone and disposition with which Paul admonishes the urban Christians in Corinth. Identifying with the pastoral aims of Paul, Professor Adewuya articulates the sociohistorical background information concisely in non-scholarly parlance for the reader to grasp and relate to the commercial, religious, political, and even the backdrop of moral bankruptcy in the social location of Corinth. He aptly integrates up-to-date, scholarly findings in layman’s terms—all with the aim to make the material accessible. Pastors and Bible study leaders would find salient, stimulating, and spiritually edifying discussions that meet the level of people at various social and education levels in the church. The commentary addresses division and its causes, partisan politics, sex and marital issues, orderly use of spiritual gifts and central doctrines such as the resurrection, clearly addressed with attention to how modern churches may engage and apply these admonitions.

Structurally, the book is invaluable in how it is organized, with a small number of pages allotted to each chapter. The subdivisions and comments are very engaging. The reflection or discussion questions at the end of the commentary on each of the sixteen chapters of 1 Corinthians makes it a useful resource for Bible studies or home groups whose members are too busy to read many pages but desire to grow in their knowledge of God’s word. Adewuya’s creative use of popular sayings, proverbs, and hymns appeal to relatable sensibilities and impress upon the heart the relevance of what Paul meant and what that would mean to the reader—that is how Paul’s letter speaks to Christians today, personally and communally.

This is an excellent book bridging the gap between Biblical scholarship and church needs to grow in maturity and in numbers—providing useful insights, resources, and training in support of church ministries. The rare combination of brilliant scholarship and the unapologetic urge of an African pastor comes through the pages as a gift to the global church. I appreciate the depth and breadth, and the challenge it offers for spiritual maturity. It is spiritually edifying and refreshing to journey along with Professor Adewuya on tour, exploring what is going on in 1 Corinthians and how that may inform how we live as Christians. I commend him for this timely book and recommend the book for churches and home groups. It is an excellent resource.

Daniel K. Darko, PhD

Professor of New Testament

Gordon College, MA

Preface

My interest in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians was kindled and grew during my graduate studies while serving as a missionary, pastor, and church-planter in the Philippines. A commentary of any sort was not in my dream at that time. That came about when I received an invitation to contribute a volume on 1 and 2 Corinthians to the International Study Guide Series by SPCK in London. That effort culminated in the publication of my book, A Commentary on 1 & 2 Corinthians in 2009. However, because of the constraint on the length of the book and other requirements by the publishers, especially format and style, I could not publish a commentary on 1 Corinthians as I would have wished¾a commentary that serves as a short historical and theological introduction for a non-academician, and that can be utilized as a devotional study guide both individually and corporately. This commentary is a realization of my desire.

Introduction to 1 Corinthians

Acts 18:1–18 provides the account of Paul’s first visit to the Corinthians. His first canonical letter to the Corinthians offers a variety and wealth of material touching on Christian conduct, both for the individual and for the local church. Many of the problems in this book are rooted in the background and surrounding of the Corinthian believers. They needed to be established and grounded in God’s word and, consequently, to live as befits their calling as God’s people. The book is unique in its content, for beyond any other letter of Paul, one might say that it deals with an array and complexity of problems which might well find their parallel in today’s world and churches.

The Writer

Paul’s authorship of 1 Corinthians is hardly contested. In a manner typical of epistolary writing in antiquity, the writer identified himself at the beginning of the letter. At the time this letter was written, it was customary for the name of the writer to be placed at the beginning of the letter. The writer, Paul, was known among the early Christians as Saul the persecutor, whose name struck fear into the heart of believers. His conversion experience is narrated in Acts 9:1–6 and 15–16, and it is repeated in testimonies later (Acts 22:1–16). From the time Paul surrendered his life to Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, his whole life was given to proclaiming the gospel, traveling as a missionary and establishing churches in many of the great cultural centers of the Greco-Roman world. Men and women who build, whether monuments or movements, are those who usually move under the force of great convictions. Paul was such a person. His life may be summed up in Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel (1 Cor 9:16).¹ It was such an inner urge and compulsion that brought him to the city of Corinth. Paul’s ministry in Corinth was not underwritten, and such was his attitude toward money that he refused to take anything from them while he was in Corinth. Given the various problems at Corinth, ministers of lesser conviction would have quit. Not Paul. He was a man of passion who had a deep and abiding concern for the ones he had led to Christ. He wanted the best for them.

The City of Corinth: Its Location and History

A. Location

Corinth was a cosmopolitan city, a principal city of Greece and the capital of the province of Achaia. It was strategically located on the isthmus—that is, the narrow strip of land which connected northern and southern Greece and separated the Saronic and Corinthian gulf. It was the crossroad of East-West trade. It boasted of two major harbors; Cenchreae in the East and Lechaeum in the West. It controlled the north-south overland commercial traffic and the West-East sea route between Italy and Asia. Merchants preferred to unload their ships and transport their goods across the isthmus, while the empty ship went around the Pelopponese, the southern part of Greece, to avoid getting caught by one of the frequent dangerous storms and risking the loss of both their ships and cargoes. Corinth was a natural shipping and trading center.

B. History

The history of the city of Corinth has two parts. First, it was a city-state in the golden years of Athens. It flourished until the Romans destroyed it in 146 BC because of its refusal to submit to the demands of the Romans to dissolve the Achaean league, of which Corinth was a member. Second, in 44 BC, Julius Caesar rebuilt it as a Roman colony as part of Rome’s plan to establish colonies to address overcrowding in cities and extend Roman civilization across the world. From 29 BC onward, it was the capital of the senatorial province of Achaia and seat of the proconsul. The city retained this status until Paul’s initial visit years later. Several things stand out about the city, as follows.

1. Major Commercial Center. Corinth was one of the busiest international ports of the ancient world.

2. Political Center. As the seat of the proconsul of Achaia, Corinth was a mini-Rome.

3. Cultural Diversity. Prosperity returned to the new Corinth almost immediately after it was rebuilt, attracting many people from both East and West. However, the Romans were dominant.

4. Religious Diversity. The Romans brought with them their culture and religions. Since Corinth was traditionally Greek, it maintained many ties with Greek religion, philosophy, and the arts. The mystery cults were brought from Egypt and Asia in the East, while the Jews worshiped in their synagogues and continued their unique belief in one God.

Corinth: A City of Religion and Vice

The city of Corinth was famous in two areas: for its culture, trade, and wealth, and for its wickedness. Corinth was one of the least likely places for church planting. Religion, it has been noted, was as diverse as Corinth’s population. There were as many as twenty-six sacred places devoted to the many gods—that is, the Greco-Roman pantheon—and many lords—the mystery cults (cf. 1 Cor 8:3)—and the center of worship was Aphrodite, the goddess of love, to whom many immoral priestesses were consecrated.

The city became a byword for its moral corruption, synonymous with immorality. To live like a Corinthian meant to have extremely low moral standards and loose conduct. The city was so morally perverse that its name was finally given to describe a immoral, perverted lifestyle. The good news is that, as bad as Corinth was, God had a church there. Many modern cities do not fare better than Corinth and, oftentimes, ministers find themselves facing the same challenges that confronted Paul and his converts. Believers should take heart in knowing that God is as much concerned about the cities today as was he was for the people of Corinth.

The Christian Community: Ethnic and Social Diversity

Based on the facts from Acts, 1 Corinthians, and Romans, the Corinthian community was in many ways a reflection of the city (Acts 18:1–8; 1 Cor 1:10–17; 16:15–17; Rom 16:23). It was an ethnically and socially diverse community comprising of Jews, gentiles, slaves, and free men (1 Cor 1:28–30; 12:13). There were, of course, wealthy people in the community. But according to 1:26, not many citizens came from the upper strata of society, and 7:20–24 suggests that some were slaves. Some of the tensions in the community were between the rich and the poor (1 Cor 11:17–34). Although there were some Jews in the community (Acts 18:6), passages such as 1 Corinthians 6:10–11, 8:7, and 12:2 clearly indicate that the community was primarily gentile. 1 Corinthians was primarily written to readers with a pagan past, who were once led astray by dumb idols (1 Cor 12:2; cf. 8:1—10:22) and needed a reminder to avoid typically pagan sexual vices (6:9–20). The same is implied in the discussion about litigation before gentile magistrates in 1 Corinthians 6:1–11 and the attitude towards marriage in 1 Corinthians 7, issues that were naturally at odds with the Judaism of the day.

Why did Paul write 1 Corinthians?

As commonly agreed, 1 Corinthians is an occasional letter—that is, a real letter to a real people facing real problems that developed between the time Paul left the city at the end of an eighteen-month stay (cf. Acts 18) and the time of the writing of the letter, approximately three years later. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians due to three major factors. First, it was a response to reports from Chloe’s household about divisions, as well other reports about sexual immorality (1 Cor 1:11; 5:1; 11:18), and to a letter sent by the Corinthians (1 Cor 7:1). Second, it was written in response to a delegation sent from Corinth to Paul (1 Cor 16). The letter shows that Paul addressed different, somewhat disparate issues, all of which (with the exception of 1 Corinthians 15) are behavioral. Even in the case of the latter, Paul’s discussion on the resurrection is interspersed with ethical warnings and imperatives (1 Cor 15:33–34, 58).

Major themes in 1 Corinthians

1. Divisions. The presence of internal divisions within the Corinthian congregation is clear as one reads 1 Corinthians 1:10–12, 3:4–5, and 11:18–19. The division appears to be along socioeconomic lines as shown by Paul’s response in 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 (see also 1 Cor 1:26; 7:20–24; 12:13). Perhaps at the core of the problems that plagued the Corinthian Church is how members should relate to one another. There was much selfishness and individualism. Moreover, the members of the Corinthian Church were divided because they were pledging their loyalty to human leaders rather than God. It is against the backdrop of internal dissension within the Christian community at Corinth that Paul introduces the imagery of the church as a building and a temple.

2. Holy Living. There were serious ethical problems in this church. A Hellenistic worldview and attitude toward moral behavior considerably influenced their Christian faith. They were the Christian community in Corinth, but in many things, their attitude was