Corinthians Spiritual Condition
The fellowship of the Corinthians epitomized
the characteristics of many first century
fellowships. The following verses Paul
penned to the Corinthians provide a glimpse into
the actual lifestyles of the Corinthian
believers as they came to Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Do you not know that the wicked will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor
adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual
offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor
drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will
inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is
what some of you were. But you were washed,
you were sanctified, you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit
of our God. NIV
Paul doesn’t blush when he writes, “And that
is what some of you were.” Paul doesn’t
hesitate to mention the sins of the pagan world
and remind the Corinthians that is what they
were before they came to Christ.
Ray Stedman recalled an occasion when he read
these verses before an assembly. Following
the reading of the verses he asked, “Has anyone
in this assembly ever lived like these
Corinthians were living before you came to
Christ?” Initially the assembly became very
uncomfortable. Then a little old lady down front
stood up and admitted she had. Then numerous
people throughout the assembly stood up with
her. There was a young visitor there for his
first time to ever visit that congregation. He
stood up and said, “This is my kind of people.”
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you
were called. Not many of you were wise by human
standards; not many were influential; not many
were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the
foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the world to shame
the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this
world and the despised things — and the things
that are not — to nullify the things that are,
29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is
because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who
has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our
righteousness, holiness and redemption.
31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who
boasts boast in the Lord." NIV
Initially, there was only one difference in
the Christian assembly in Corinth and the pagan
temples. It was the ONE whom they sought to
worship. They brought many of their pagan
practices and attitudes into the assembly.
Initially revelry reigned in the fellowships.
Some even continued to visit the temple
prostitutes. Their egos reigned in their
fellowships. Paul sought to place Christ in the
center of every issue. He became the center of
every discussion of the Corinthian believers.
Eventually HE made all the difference.
Corinth had a broad range of members from the
halls of the elite philosophical orators to the
male and female prostitutes who worked in the
pagan temples. The fellowship was made up of
those living between every extreme—from the
noble to the ignoble.
Romans chapter one describes the world from
which the Corinthian believers were emerging.
It was a self-absorbed world. No passage gives a
better backdrop of the environment and the
circumstances of their lives. No passage gives
us a better understanding of the attitudes and
difficulties of the Corinthians as they came to
Christ.
Romans 1:21-32
21 For although they knew God, they neither
glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but
their thinking became futile and their foolish
hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed
to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged
the glory of the immortal God for images made to
look like mortal man and birds and animals and
reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful
desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for
the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,
and worshiped and served created things rather
than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to
shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged
natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the
same way the men also abandoned natural
relations with women and were inflamed with lust
for one another. Men committed indecent acts
with other men, and received in themselves the
due penalty for their perversion.
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it
worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he
gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what
ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled
with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and
depravity. They are full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30
slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and
boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they
disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless,
faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they
know God's righteous decree that those who do
such things deserve death, they not only
continue to do these very things but also
approve of those who practice them. NIV
When the Corinthian believers came to Christ
they brought their religious practices and
attitudes from the pagan temples into their
fellowship. Initially, they met religiously
to partake of communion, but Paul had no praise
for them.
1 Corinthians 11:17-22
17 In the following directives I have no praise
for you, for your meetings do more harm than
good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when
you come together as a church, there are
divisions among you, and to some extent I
believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be
differences among you to show which of you have
God's approval. 20 When you come together, it is
not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21 for as you
eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for
anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets
drunk. 22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink
in? Or do you despise the church of God and
humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I
say to you? Shall I praise you for this?
Certainly not! NIV
According to Paul they continued to eat meat
offered to idols, to get drunk and embrace the
revelry of the pagan temples. All of this
was happening in the midst of their Christian
fellowships. Some continued to live in the
sexual immorality, which they had practiced in
worship to their idol gods. There was at least
one man enthralled in immorality even the pagans
condemned.
I remember asking a question in a Bible
class, “If there is anyone here who has never
sinned raise your hand?” One young lady in
her thirties raised her hand. I really wasn’t
expecting it. She actually made many of us
church members uncomfortable. No one else raised
his or her hand. The lady who raised her hand
had only visited the congregation a couple of
times. It was the only times she had ever
been to church in her life. She had three kids
attending our Christian preschool. They all had
different fathers. None to whom she was married.
She was living with another man at the time. As
for the young lady who raised her hand, she
honestly didn’t know what sin was.
It would be exciting to be a part of such a
fellowship. Imagine witnessing the power of
the gospel on a fellowship so powerfully
influenced by the pagan world. Imagine seeing
problems resolved with the advice Paul gave them
in the Corinthian letters. Imagine, witnessing
God through his Holy Spirit working upon their
hearts to impact them with the life of Christ.
Image, experiencing the raw impact of the life
of Christ on their attitudes and actions in that
pristine fellowship.
Spiritual Standing of Corinthians
Walking into a group of believers straight
out of this environment would be paramount to
walking into Egypt to deliver the Hebrews from
slavery. You would expect to encounter all
the problems Moses faced in the wilderness. The
only difference would be the number of people
involved.
The Corinthians were sold on Christ but
didn’t understand the impact Christ was to have
on their lives. They were sanctified in
Christ—set apart for God’s holy calling. Paul
speaks of them in the highest terms.
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ
Jesus by the will of God, and our brother
Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those
sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be
holy, together with all those everywhere who
call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ —
their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank God for you because of his
grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him
you have been enriched in every way — in all
your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6
because our testimony about Christ was confirmed
in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any
spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord
Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you
strong to the end, so that you will be blameless
on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who
has called you into fellowship with his Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. NIV
Placing these verses along side all the
problems of the Corinthian fellowship is eye
opening. They were enriched in
knowledge—lacked no spiritual gift. Christ had
been confirmed in them. Their knowledge and
spiritual gifts were evidence of God’s presence.
But the fellowships were anything but cohesive
and peaceful.
1 Corinthians 3:1-4
3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as
spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in
Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for
you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are
still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For
since there is jealousy and quarreling among
you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting
like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I follow
Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you
not mere men? NIV
There is a beautiful thing about the
believers in Corinth. They came to Jesus
just as they were. Ignobility and all. They came
to Christ completely ignorant of many of their
personal problems. Yet, they were
sanctified—they were justified through the blood
of Christ. God through Christ accepted them
without reservation. They didn’t have to waste
time or energy worrying about their standing
before God. Although their past continued to
impact their relationships, God continued to
reconcile them to himself. They stood on solid
ground with Christ.
I was talking to a fellow Christian from
Honduras. He asked me how many years I had been
preaching. I responded, “35 years.” He
responded, “Your account in heaven must be full
because of all your work for God.” I
simply said, “The only thing in my account is
Jesus Christ. Your heavenly account has the same
amount in it, Jesus Christ. He is all we need.”
He seemed to smile with relief.
In reality every person living today had
Jesus Christ placed into his or her account—yea,
their personal trust fund--before they were
born. The account has unlimited funds. But
only those who trust in him can draw upon his
benefits.
It is the message of the life, death, burial
and resurrection of Christ provides the
foundation for our lives. It is secure. It is
eternal.
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the
gospel I preached to you, which you received and
on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this
gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the
word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have
believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of
first importance: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was
buried, that he was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he
appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6
After that, he appeared to more than five
hundred of the brothers at the same time, most
of whom are still living, though some have
fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then
to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he
appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
NIV
The death, burial and resurrection of Christ
are the foundational principles of Christianity.
His eternality provides the foundation for
building a life. You can’t build a life
without a solid foundation. There is no
foundation more solid than Christ upon which to
build a life—a fellowship. Christ’s life
withstood the assaults of hell and death. He is
still standing. He is the Rock of our salvation.
It’s only natural for believers to have
problems. We should expect problems.
Problems are a natural outcome of bringing
sinful people together out of a sinful world. It
is no wonder that we read about the problems of
the first century believers throughout the New
Testament.
The believers in Rome were seeking to
continue to live in sin. Paul points them to
the purpose of the death burial and resurrection
of Christ.
Romans 6:1-14
6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on
sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no
means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any
longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who
were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with
him through baptism into death in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead through
the glory of the Father, we too may live a new
life.
5 If we have been united with him like this in
his death, we will certainly also be united with
him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our
old self was crucified with him so that the body
of sin might be done away with, that we should
no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who
has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we
will also live with him. 9 For we know that
since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot
die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
10 The death he died, he died to sin once for
all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin
but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore
do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that
you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the
parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God,
as those who have been brought from death to
life; and offer the parts of your body to him as
instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall
not be your master, because you are not under
law, but under grace. NIV
The death, burial and resurrection don’t just
provide a foundation for our lives. The
death, burial and resurrection of Christ
challenges how we live. The Corinthians
met this challenge as they turned to Christ to
solve their internal conflict. Knowing
they had a solid relationship with God through
Christ gave them the courage and confidence
needed to solve their problems.
CONCLUSION:
Paul assured the Corinthians of their
sanctification and justification. Paul’s
instruction to the believers at Corinth teaches
us that God does not abandon us because of our
sinfulness. We stand on solid ground with God as
he works to salvage our lives. We are encouraged
knowing we are sanctified, justified—accepted by
God just as we are.
A few months ago I baptized a very base
person into Christ. He was reared in a bar
room atmosphere—Hells Angel’s type of fellow. He
had a foul mouth. My family was praying
earnestly for him to be saved. We prayed for
him, but often discussed whether we would ever
reach him. Several times I went to work early
before my scheduled time just so I could talk to
him. I knew he always arrived very early. As we
were working with him, he discovered he had
advanced liver cancer, which was complicated
even more by his advanced stage of diabetes. We
prayed for his health, but most of all for his
salvation.
One morning, as I was visiting with him at
work, he told me that wherever he went after he
died would have to be a lot better than what he
had here. I simply told him, “If we miss
heaven we will miss everything this life was
meant to be—so much more than we can ever
imagine.” I gave him scriptures to study and he
began searching on his own. His emails changed
from off colored emails to emails with spiritual
messages. One afternoon while we were at work we
ask him if he was ready to become a Christian.
He responded with such joy—it was unbelievable.
It was as if he didn’t think we would ever ask
him. We left work that afternoon and baptized
him into Christ.
Although he was seeking to change, his old
lifestyle still had a grip on him. As he
stepped down into the baptistery he retorted
“Damn this water is cold.” By this time we were
great friends and I simply ask him, “Do you know
what you just said.” He replied, “NO.” I simply
repeated it for him. He said emphatically, “I
didn’t say that, did I?” I turned to my
son-in-law who was present and ask him to
confirm it. He did. He shook his head and said I
can’t believe I said that, and then we baptized him into
Christ.
As I stood there in the water with him, I
simply thought “Lord, if he has to stop cursing
before he is baptized he will never be saved.
It was not something he could accomplish
without the help of God’s Spirit. Even with His
presence it wouldn’t happen over night.
He was baptized just as he was; there was no
other way to do it.
He was baptized on a Friday afternoon.
Over the weekend he suddenly took a turn for the
worse. I only had a chance to see him once more
before he died. We went to see him at the
hospital on a Sunday afternoon a week later. It
was the only time he had been lucid enough to
carry on a conversation since he was baptized.
He was happy—was he ever. We had a prayer with
him. He died in less than two weeks after he
came to Christ.
God used this person to bless our lives
beyond measure. He reminded us that God can
save the worst of us not because of anything we
bring to the table. He was saved because God’s
Spirit brought him to life in Christ as he
worked through our prayers and our efforts with
him. We mourned at his funeral, but it was the
most joyful mourning we’ve ever done.
We often laugh about our friend—saying—just
think he is already enjoying heaven while we are
still down here working. He is probably laughing
about it as well—it is a laughter of
unbelievable joy—he is not laughing at us—well
on second thought, he might be. We prayed for a
person we thought may have been the most
unlikely person to be saved. We worried about
how we could fit him into the fellowship of
Christians in a meaningful way—if he were saved.
Undoubtedly, God didn’t have any trouble fitting
him into heaven just the way he was.
I mention this experience because my friend’s
life before becoming a Christian reminds me of
the kind of lives the Corinthians were living as
God saved them. They brought nothing to the
fellowship. In fact, God had to give them
spiritual gifts to make them useful.
I don’t have anything to offer God for my
redemption. God is the one offering his Son.
He also offers his Spirit who desires to live in
me to guide and empower God’s efforts through
me. What else do I need?
