1 Corinthians 1 - 2

The Corinthians

Paul greets the Corinthians in his first epistle to them as "the called and holy people." (1:2).  This epistle is primarily a lesson on Christian conduct.  While the Corinthian church "had eloquent words" and "knowledge" (1:5) and "every spiritual gift" (1:7) they also had divisions and disputes among themselves (1:11-12) proclaiming that they "follow Paul" or "I am of Apollos" or "I only follow Christ." (1:12-13).  Thus a cult of personality had infiltrated their thinking and was drawing them away from true worship.

This condition is prevalent in the modern-day church. Often times, believers latch onto the latest, hottest, "most spiritual" preacher or televangelist and ignore the pastor and ministry the Lord has given to the local assembly. This leads to differences of opinion and grandstanding with people thinking their own private revelation is greater than everyone else's opinion.  Of course, the truth is that our opinions mean nothing to the Lord - he is only pleased by our faith in Him.

So while the Corinthians had begun to rely on human wisdom, Paul rebukes them in chapter 2 and reminds them that he, though qualified, did not preach to them an intellectual gospel, rather he preached the crucified Christ.   He did not use enticing words, but relied on the Holy Spirit to convict the believer and turn their faith back to Jesus Christ and not man's wisdom.