Around A.D. 54 the apostle Paul received news of Corinth from two sources. An oral report reached him through “Chloe’s people” (1 Cor. 1:11), and a letter of inquiry from Christians in Corinth. This raised questions about marriage and celibacy (7:1), about food offered to idols (8:1), about the gifts of the Holy Spirit (12:1), and other issues. Our “1 Corinthians” combines responses from Paul to both sources. His response to the oral report is more clear-cut and at times stern (1:10–6:20). His replies to questions from Corinth recognize the complexity of sensitive areas where often something has to be said on both sides, especially in chapters 7–10. Paul sets everything in the light of the cross and of a crucified Christ, and toward the end he expounds the resurrection.

Throughout the epistle Paul needs to redefine terms that Christians in Corinth had begun to distort or to use in “Corinthian” ways, in effect to deconstruct and reconstruct “spirituality” on their own terms.

Throughout the epistle love is a unifying theme. Love builds (8:1). Every quality attributed to love in chapter 13 applies to the church in Corinth. Even the supposed constraints governing the conduct of public worship are to promote respect for “the other,” to build the whole church, and to spread the gospel to others. All the same Paul does not want the Christians in Corinth to live with inhibitions and moralistic rules. His concern is that their grounds for joy, glory, and “boasting” should not lie in claims about achievements and “success” judged in terms of competitive human comparisons. If they glory, they are to glory in God (1:29-31; 3:21).

The invitation to glory solely in God and in what God has given as sheer gift is another way of expressing the truth of salvation by grace. In this letter grace is seen not as an abstract doctrine, but as the root of Christian identity that applies to every aspect of Christian life and is lived out in the rough-and-tumble of the everyday church and world.*

*Developed from insights and perspectives found in 1 Corinthians: A Shorter Pastoral Commentary by Anthony Thiselton.