No church is perfect! Why? Because they are made up of people who are sinners that need to be forgiven by God. We see that clearly when we study the book of 1 Corinthians.

The church in Corinth was established by Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1-11). The city of Corinth was an extremely wealthy city in the first century. It was a city of trade and commerce. It was also a very immoral city. It actually housed the temple of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. This temple served thousands of prostitutes.

After Paul left the brethren in Corinth, eventually word got back to him about how they were doing. The word was not good! These Christians had a lot of problems and Paul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians to rebuke and help them get back on the right track.

The Troubles in Corinth:

  • Division (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)
  • Spiritual immaturity (1 Corinthians 3:1-4)
  • Indifference towards sin (1 Corinthians 5)
  • Suing one another (1 Corinthians 6)
  • Confusion over marriage, divorce, and sexual intimacy (1 Corinthians 7)
  • Confusion over eating meats used in idol worship (1 Corinthians 8-10)
  • Abusing the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11)
  • Problems with spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14)
  • Wrong thinking about the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15)

What can we learn?

  • Sometimes we will have problems.
    • Anytime you have a group of people working together to achieve a common goal, you can expect some problems.
    • What was going on in Corinth is not unique in the New Testament (Acts 5:1-11; 6:1-7; 15:1-35; Philippians 4:2).
  • Despite our problems, we are still God’s family.
    • Paul emphasizes this point several times to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:1-4, 9; 6:9-11)
    • This is a very encouraging thing to know and remember!
  • God wants us to work through our problems.
    • We must strive for unity and peace (1 Corinthians 1:10).
    • We must strive to love and consider one another (1 Corinthians 1:4-6).
    • We must edify one another (1 Corinthians 14:12).
    • We must exalt Jesus and not ourselves (1 Corinthians 3:5-7).
    • We must discipline those who practice sin (1 Corinthians 5:2-13).

Conclusion: Have you done what those in Corinth did to become a child of God (Acts 18:8).