1 Corinthians Part 2
Continuity
Paul’s correspondence with Corinth is about learning to be the Church in a Pagan Society. Would it help to recap what you have seen so far? For us, the issue is:
Question – Is it possible for the Church of Jesus to be too permissive?
Underlying Theme
Throughout I & II Corinthians, there is a recurring theme about leadership. “What is an Apostle?” How do we recognise one amid so many ‘career conscious personalities’? Watch out for this recurring question.
Input
Remember that the second part of this letter, the agenda, is the questions put to Paul by the church at Corinth. Their first questions centred on sex and the Christian.
Chapter 7-The range of questions can be seen in Paul’s answers.
Specific issues of being Christian in a Pagan society raise these issues:
Chapter 8
Question – In accommodating non-Christian friends and colleagues,
how far ought Christians to go?
(The answer given is “As far as the Love of Christ”.)
Chapter 9
Question – Recognising a Christian Apostle is a way of asking the question
“How free are liberated Christians”?
(The answer given is “As free as God allows”.)
Chapter 10
Beneath all the issues is the question:
Question – How safe are saved Christians?
In answering this, Paul recalls:
A lesson from Hebrew history (verses 1 to 13)
A warning against being over-permissive (verses 14 to 22) and
The underlying principle (verse 23 to Chapter 11 verse 1) from which the answer seems to be that Christians are saved to serve God and others, not to serve themselves.
If you have time:
Chapter 11 is Paul dealing with the chaotic worship at Corinth where every tradition was liable to be trashed, and even the Lord’s Supper an excuse for a party.
Our Agenda for Prayer ranges right across truly Christian behaviour in a world where anything goes, but avoiding any satanic smugness.

Optional Reading for Next Session read I Corinthians, Chapters 12 to 14.

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