The first letter to the Corinthian church addresses a plethora of issues. The church at Corinth, plagued by “division (1-4), sexual immorality (5-7), and disordered worship (8-10),”¹ is having a difficult time shaking off Greco-Roman values. However, this is not the first time that Paul writes to the Corinthian church. He has previously written a letter addressing the issues of sexual immorality, but it was received with confusion.² Some of this confusion involved the notion that “it is good for a man not to have sex with a woman, but Paul says it is a gift to married couples.”³ After hearing of this news of confusion through a letter and various oral reports (I Cor. 1:11; 7:1; 16:15-18), Paul writes a second letter with a threefold purpose. He desires to clarify the first letter's position on sexual immorality, to call the Corinthians to repentance, and to encourage the Corinthians to continue in the life in which they have been called.

Paul's authorship of 1 Corinthians is accepted widely by scholars. While there have been challenges that the letter has been edited by writers other than Paul, all of these accusations have failed to gain prominence within the opinions of New Testament scholars.⁴ The reliability and authenticity of Paul's authorship is confirmed by theologians such as Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch shortly after I Corinthians was written.⁵

As for the location and date of writing, Paul states that “[he] will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost” (I Cor. 16:8).⁶ Therefore, it can be assumed that Ephesus is the location of the writing of I Corinthians. The Delphi Inscription speaks of Paul meeting Gallio in Corinth in late AD 51 during his second missionary journey. According to Acts 18, this was when Paul planted the church in Corinth. Afterward, he traveled to Ephesus and then to Antioch, where he began the third and final missionary journey that eventually led him to Ephesus, where he received the Corinthian letter and oral reports. Therefore, Paul probably wrote I Corinthians before Pentecost in late AD 53 or early AD 54 during his two and a half year stay in Ephesus on his third missionary journey.⁷

As mentioned previously, Paul wrote the letter of I Corinthians to address the issues of division, sexual immorality, and disordered worship, and Paul has a unified solution and message for the Corinthian church. He posits that the Gospel is central to the entirety of life. Food, clothing, sexual partners, and leadership are all subject to the Gospel.⁸ In short, Paul’s solution for the Corinthian church is for them to set aside Greco-Roman values and embrace the Gospel in which God has saved them. The Gospel truths should and will lead them to repentance and genuine faith. He writes the letter as a series of short essays on various topics: “ecclesiology (1-4), morality (5-7), liturgy (8-14), and theology (15).”⁹ These sections are followed by a conclusion that reminds the church of their duty to financially provide for their brothers and sisters in Christ in Jerusalem who are suffering due to famine.¹⁰

Chapters 1-4 compose an essay on the ecclesiastical division within the Corinthian church. He reminds the struggling members of various factions that God’s power and wisdom in the Gospel is foolishness (I Cor. 1:18-25), that God makes the weak, ignoble, and insignificant vessels of His purpose (I Cor. 1:26-31), and that the Gospel is best communicated in weakness, not skill (I Cor. 2:1-4).¹¹ Paul further explains that he came to the Corinthians in such a way so that “[their] faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (I Cor. 2:5). He, therefore, implores them to follow God, to imitate him as he imitates God, and to “boast in God, not His servants” (I Cor. 3:1-4:21).¹² This conduct is Gospel-centered.

Chapters 5-7 address moral relationships and sexual immorality. Throughout the time that Corinth has been established as a church, it has become evident that there is a particular man adultering his mother-in-law (I Cor. 1:1-21). Paul deplores this man and calls for his removal from the covenant community until he is “deliver[ed] to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (I Cor. 1:5). Paul then moves on to speak of morality in a different sense. He implores that it is moral and proper to handle quarrels through the church and not through lawsuits. Simultaneously, he reminds the Corinthians that all of them are sinners; “but [they] were washed, but [they] were sanctified, but [they] were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of [their] God” (I Cor. 6:11). Further speaking of morality, Paul addresses the proper notions and grounds for Biblical marriage and singleness (I Cor. 7:1-39). He states that “the body is for the Lord and the Lord cares so much about [the] body that He will raise it up” (I Cor 6:13-14).¹³ This points to Gospel-centrality regarding sexual immorality and marriage. The Gospel is the means by which proper moral conduct in relationships, “even the most intimate of relationships,” is accomplished.¹⁴

Chapters 8-10 address the problem of disordered worship. The main emphasis of the issue involves the temple food sacrificed to idols. Paul's main point is everything the Corinthian church does should be done in love while maintaining integrity and obedience to God. Specifically, they should not be stumbling blocks to anyone regarding the Gospel. The Corinthians and indeed all Christians are to “only do what is helpful, edifying, and beneficial to other believers.”¹⁵ No matter what they do, they are to do it to the glory of God, seeking the profit of the many so that many may be saved (I Cor. 10:31). 

Chapters 11-14 display Christian liturgy, worship structure, and devotional practices. Paul states that gender roles are to be embraced and even celebrated as there had been some confusion and distractions within the assembly of Corinth (I Cor. 11:1-22).¹⁶ Secondly, Paul addresses the partiality of the Lord's table being for the rich over the poor (I Cor. 11:23-34). He reminds the Corinthian congregation that the table serves as a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice for a united church, not a divided one.¹⁷ The following three chapters speak of the spiritual gifts and love. Of emphasis is the spiritual gift of prophecy, which is the Gospel teaching of the church. Remembering and focusing on the Gospel is the solution to this further division problem, just as it was for the ecclesiastical divisions discussed previously.

Chapter 15 is the climax of the letter. It demonstrates Paul’s thesis of Gospel centrality for all of life and addresses specific theological issues. One of these issues is the denial of the resurrection of the dead. Paul exclaims that since Christ rose from the dead, so too will everyone who believes and trusts in Him. He is the hope of the present age and life and also of the life to come. Since Christ conquered death, “His victory is [the Corinthians] victory. [The Corinthians] future is full of hope.”¹⁸

The main theme of I Corinthians is that the Gospel is central and necessary for all aspects of the Christian life and walk. Without it, Christians are not able to change their ways, truly love one another, mature in their relationships, and certainly not be raised to heaven. Therefore, the greatest application taken from I Corinthians is to embrace the Gospel and to allow it to take over and transform all areas of life. Just as the Corinthians struggled with division, sexual immorality, and theological error in worship, devotion, and doctrine, so too do Christians struggle with such today. The Gospel is always the answer. 

The Gospel cures divisions. No matter how different Christians may be regarding ethnicity, culture, denominational beliefs,  sinful inclinations, and other differences, the Gospel is the common ground. It unites Christians as one body under one head: Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is the solution to sexual immorality. When believers struggle with their bodies, whether physically in terms of sexual immorality or mentally in terms of physical insecurity, their solution is the same. Christ, who has a body, laid down His life and took it up again to redeem His people. His redemption will give Christians glorified bodies when they join Him in heaven. Therefore, they ought to honor Him with their bodies as their bodies do not belong to themselves. They belong to God. 

The Gospel is the emphasis of Christian theology. If a specific doctrine or practice of the church is not saturated with the Gospel and derived from Scripture, it can be concluded that it is a false teaching. Right doctrine is always Gospel-focused, and Christians' lives should remain the same.