SATURDAY September 2, 2017
A Unified Church
To the church of God which is at Corinth…
The city of Corinth, at this particular time, was the most important city in Greece, especially for trade, it was the center of commerce. Corinth was the capital of the Roman providence of Achaia. It was ideally located on the empire’s most important travel route that went from east to west.
When Paul arrived he was amazed at what he saw, there were at least 400,000 people who lived in the city, including Greeks, Italians, Jews, and some from different places such as Africa and Europe. Corinth was fourth in size among the great cities of the Roman Empire and was noted for its culture and corruption. In this time period, people had a saying “to live like a Corinthian” which meant to live like the worst of all sinners.
The Apostle Paul was a person that loved God with all his heart. He had a heart for the Gospel and for people. The Lord used him to bring this tremendous letter of 1 Corinthians to the people who needed it the most––the people in the city of Corinth. Paul wrote to a church that had a lot of carnal Christians; those who were serving with the wrong motives. Paul spent about a year and a half in Corinth (Acts 18:1-11).
We can learn so much from what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, because their problems are the same problems in our churches today. His letter deals with one of the greatest dilemmas in the Church, the issue of not getting along with other people. We are supposed to be united, but so often we are divided.
Unity is of the essence of the body of Christ.
~R. B. Kuiper~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit Somebodylovesyouradio.org!
