“1 Corinthians 1–7,” Scripture Helps: New Testament (2024)
Scripture Helps
1 Corinthians 1–7
The Apostle Paul sought to strengthen recent converts in Corinth. They struggled to let go of past beliefs and practices. Paul cautioned them against divisions within the congregations of the Church. He emphasized the need for unity. Paul warned against sexual immorality. He taught that the body is a temple for the Holy Spirit. He focused their attention on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His promised return. He also addressed specific questions about marriage.
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Background and Context
To whom was 1 Corinthians written and why?
This letter was written by the Apostle Paul to Saints living in Corinth, the capital city of the Roman province Achaia. Corinth was a wealthy trade center and attracted people from all over the Roman Empire.
Paul had spent many months in Corinth during his second missionary journey, a few years before writing this letter. He organized a branch of the Church there around AD 50–51. Sometime after he left, Paul learned that problems had arisen in the Corinthian branch. The original message Paul received, along with Paul’s response, has been lost. Paul again heard of challenges in Corinth while he was preaching in Ephesus. He wrote another letter—one that would become known as 1 Corinthians—sometime between AD 55 and 57.
New converts in Corinth faced many challenges. They confronted a society filled with secular philosophies, rampant immorality, and wickedness.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul encouraged struggling converts not to return to past beliefs and practices. The following are some of the major topics that Paul addressed in this letter:
While Paul’s writings to the Romans and Galatians clearly teach that salvation is not gained through obedience to the law, Paul goes a step further in 1 Corinthians. To the Corinthians, he emphasized the importance of “keeping of the commandments of God” and the law of Christ.
Why were there divisions among the Saints in Corinth?
In Paul’s day, Corinth experienced economic prosperity. This led to social and economic divisions. Greek philosophy and culture permeated the city. The influence of Greek culture may have also fostered a spirit of competition and striving for superiority. This cultural influence may have contributed to the pride and division Paul addressed in his letter.
Paul received a report of problems in the Church at Corinth. The news came from a congregation that met in the house of Chloe. Chloe was a prominent woman among the Corinthian Saints. Paul learned that Church members were dividing into factions. Some of these divisions appear to have arisen over economic differences. Divisions also arose over loyalty to different Church leaders. Some members boasted about who had baptized them. Paul told them that members were to be unified with Christ at their head.
What is meant by “the wisdom of this world”?
It appears that in Corinth, well-educated converts were influenced by the ideas of Greek philosophy. These ideas would have been part of what Paul called the “wisdom of this world.” This type of worldly wisdom led some to pridefully think they were above the laws of God. In 1 Corinthians, Paul addressed the following doctrinal and behavioral problems that were influenced by Greek ideas:
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Some viewed the physical body and its desires as evil. Others took the opposite view and felt it was okay to satisfy whatever “lust the body craved.”
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Some believed it was acceptable to participate in pagan cults.
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Some struggled to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah because He died on the cross.
Paul spoke against “the wisdom of this world” and was warning against worldly philosophies that diverted members from understanding and living the pure gospel of Jesus Christ.
What is the “natural man”?
The Greek word psychikos is translated as “natural” or “unspiritual” in the New Testament. The natural man, then, is “a person who chooses to be influenced by the passions, desires, appetites, and senses of the flesh rather than by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Such a person can comprehend physical things but not spiritual things.”
How can a congregation represent the temple of God?
In these verses, God’s temple refers to the Corinthian congregation as well as to the Church as a whole. The Spirit of God can dwell among the members of the Lord’s Church. Paul warned that a heavy price would be paid by those who seek to defile or destroy God’s people. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul compared a person’s physical body to a temple.
How are the Apostles a spectacle to the world?
The word spectacle is related to the idea of a theater. It “evokes the image of prisoners of war being publicly vilified in an outdoor theater.” Here Paul indicates that the Apostles would face persecution and even death.
Why did Paul counsel the Saints to remove a member from their congregation?
A member of the Corinthian congregation was having a sexual relationship with his stepmother. When Paul learned of it, he condemned this gross sexual sin. He also reproved the Church for failing to deal with this sinful behavior. He advised that the individual be removed from the Church. He explained that if the transgressor were left in the Church, the influence of wickedness would spread among the members.
In a prior letter, Paul advised the Corinthian Saints to not keep company with sexually immoral persons. In these verses, Paul expanded this prohibition to include other sins.
What did Paul teach about legal disputes between fellow members?
Some Corinthian members had brought lawsuits against fellow members. This was one of the reasons there was division in the congregations. Paul counseled them to resolve differences among themselves. The Savior taught similar principles.
Are all things really permissible in God’s eyes?
(compare to 1 Corinthians 10:23)
Although this verse states that Paul wrote that all things were lawful or permissible for him, the Joseph Smith Translation adds the following clarification: “All these things are not lawful unto me, and all these things are not expedient. All things are not lawful for me, therefore I will not be brought under the power of any.”
What did Paul have to say about sexual immorality?
Fornication, or sexual immorality, was a significant problem among the Corinthian saints. Paul rejected the Corinthian argument that just as physical hunger is properly satisfied with food, so our sexual desires are properly satisfied by fornication. To the contrary, Paul warned that sexual immorality is a sin against our own bodies. He reasoned that when a person has a sexual relationship with a harlot (prostitute), the two people become one body. This union defiles the whole body.
President Jeffrey R. Holland said of this passage: “Our soul is what’s at stake here—our spirit and our body. Paul understood that doctrine of the soul. … The purchase price for our fullness of joy—body and spirit eternally united—is the pure and innocent blood of the Savior of this world. We cannot then say in ignorance or defiance, ‘Well, it’s my life,’ or worse yet, ‘It’s my body.’ It is not. ‘Ye are not your own,’ Paul said. ‘Ye are bought with a price.’ So in answer to the question, ‘Why does God care so much about sexual transgression?’ it is partly because of the precious gift offered by and through his Only Begotten Son to redeem the souls—bodies and spirits—we too often share and abuse in cheap and tawdry ways.”
What did Paul teach about marriage?
The Joseph Smith Translation makes it clear that Paul is responding to questions from the Corinthians in this chapter. We do not know all the questions Paul was answering. But there are clues in the text that can help us put Paul’s teachings in context. For example, it seems that some held the belief that it was “good for a man not to touch [have sex with] a woman.” In response, Paul affirmed that sexual relations are appropriate in marriage between a man and a woman.
Other members in Corinth believed that abstinence should be practiced even by married people. In response, Paul taught that sexual intimacy in marriage was an important way for husbands and wives to give “due benevolence,” or provide each other their “conjugal rights.”
“Some mistakenly interpret that Paul spoke only of common courtesy in this verse [1 Corinthians 7:3]. In this context he speaks of the contractual agreement between husband and wife, including the role of intimacy. To paraphrase the verse: As a married couple, part of you now belongs to each other. Don’t defraud or keep back what you promised to give. Grant your spouse your sexual monopoly and do not deny that access, because if a couple spends too much time apart, Satan will gain leverage.”
It is important that Paul’s teachings about marital intimacy are not misused. President Howard W. Hunter explained: “Tenderness and respect—never selfishness—must be the guiding principles in the intimate relationship between husband and wife. Each partner must be considerate and sensitive to the other’s needs and desires. Any domineering, indecent, or uncontrolled behavior in the intimate relationship between husband and wife is condemned by the Lord.”
Was Paul married?
Some statements in this chapter have led some to believe that Paul was not married. Here, and in other letters, Paul clearly taught the importance of marriage and family life. Many of Paul’s instructions in this chapter were likely meant to help Church members understand that marriage was appropriately delayed for full-time missionary service.
Some scholars suggest that Paul was probably married because of his association with the Sanhedrin. To comply with the Sanhedrin’s membership requirements, Paul would have had to be married. Even if Paul was not part of the Sanhedrin, he would have been expected to be married to be in harmony with all accepted Jewish customs.
What counsel did Paul give to Church members who were married to an unbelieving spouse?
Paul counseled members who were married to unbelievers not to divorce their spouses on the grounds of their unbelief. He encouraged the members to remain married and live as faithful followers of Christ. In doing so, a marriage partner can become the means of sanctifying the unbelieving spouse.
What was Paul teaching about children of marriages between a believer and an unbeliever?
In this passage, Paul addressed marriages in which one spouse converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the other did not covert but remained committed to the law of Moses. Doctrine and Covenants 74 provides important insight into this passage. According to Doctrine and Covenants 74:3, conflicts arose when unbelieving fathers desired to have their male children circumcised and become subject to the law of Moses. These fathers believed their children were unholy unless they had been circumcised. Apparently, when these children grew up, many chose to live “the traditions of their fathers” and did not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul was not teaching that these or any children are born unclean or sinful. Rather, he taught that a believing spouse could have a righteous influence on their unbelieving spouse and children. Their influence could lead children, when they reached the age of accountability, to obey the gospel and become “holy” through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Learn More
Cultural Setting in Corinth
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Eric D. Huntsman, “Christians in Corinth” [digital-only article], Liahona, Sept. 2023, Gospel Library
Physical Body Is a Temple of the Holy Ghost
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Russell M. Nelson, “Decisions for Eternity,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 106–9
Applying Paul’s Teachings on Marriage
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Matthew O. Richardson, “Three Principles of Marriage,” Ensign, Apr. 2005, 20–24
Media
Videos
“Ye Are the Temple of God” (1:07)
“Our Body Is Bought with a Price” (1:29)
Images
Paul writing an epistle
The Temple of Apollo at Corinth