• A highly celebrated metropolis of New Testament times, second in the empire only to Rome.
• Less than 100 years old at the time of Paul.
• A planned city rebuilt from ashes by the Roman emperors.
• A transportation hub for both land and sea travel, located on an isthmus that linked two seaports and two bays. Shippers saved time and avoided the dangers of sailing around Greece by moving passengers and goods across the isthmus and reloading them onto ships on the other side.
• Greece’s leading commercial center for trade, agriculture, and industry.
• Host city to athletic events, gladiatorial contests, theater productions, and the Isthmian Games, one of four major athletic festivals of the Greeks.
• A center for pagan religions. More than a dozen temples have been excavated at Corinth, including the magnificent temple of Apollo, with more than three dozen 24-foot high Doric columns. The temple of Aphrodite employed at least 1,000 religious prostitutes. The city had such an infamous reputation that “to Corinthianize” meant to engage in gross immorality.
• Home to diverse peoples and cultures, including Greeks, Roman colonists (mostly retired army veterans and freedmen), and Jews.
Go to the Place Profiles Index.
• A peninsula—also called Anatolia—situated at the extreme western end of the continent of Asia.
• Bounded on the north by the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles; on the west by the Aegean Sea; and on the south by Syria and the Mediterranean Sea.
• Roughly matches the boundaries of modern-day Turkey.
• A high plateau crossed by mountains, most notably the Taurus Mountains near the southern coast.
• New Testament use of the term “Asia” is ambiguous, sometimes referring to the Asia Minor peninsula as a whole (Acts 19:26, 27) but more often meaning proconsular Asia in the western part of the peninsula (2:9; 6:9).
More: The explosive impact of the gospel at Ephesus reverberated throughout Asia Minor, so that “all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:10). See “The Ephesus Approach: How the Gospel Transformed a Community” at Acts 19:8–41.
Go to the Place Profiles Index.
The discipline that the Corinthian church exercised toward one of its members is an example of an essential function of all Christian communities—holding each other accountable.
Accountability is easy to talk about but difficult to practice. No one likes feeling judged or controlled by others. In modern society especially, it is easy to believe that how one person chooses to live is nobody else’s business. But Scripture upholds the righteous principles of accountability.
• Accountability applies to both actions and attitudes. The modern world is often concerned only with results, not methods—even if those methods cause harm to others. But God looks at each step along a journey, not just a final destination—and He is concerned not only with our decisions but also the motivations behind them. As God told Samuel, “The LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
• Accountability depends on trust. Allowing others to hold us accountable requires us to trust their judgment and believe that they are committed to the same truths and values we are. We want to know that they have our best interests at heart. Thus Paul pleaded with the Corinthians to end their divisions and “be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10).
• Accountability requires submission. Everyone battles a natural tendency to rebel against God. Accountability allows others to enter into that struggle with us. That means we must at times defer to the judgment or counsel of others, especially when they confront us with clear-cut scriptural truth or the wisdom of personal experience. Paul told the Ephesians that part of living the Lord’s will involves “submitting to one another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:21).
It should not surprise us that being part of the body of Christ involves accountability. Throughout our lives we are kept in check by parents, teachers, employers—and we usually recognize their expectations and requirements as healthy necessities. Our openness to correction in human relationships ultimately reflects our willingness to accept God’s accountability. If we are totally unable to submit to other people, we will likely have an even bigger problem submitting to God.
Go to the Focus Index.
Do you care what people see when they look at you? What image do you project to family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and strangers? As Paul traversed the Roman empire, he cared intensely about how others perceived him. But the core of his concern was not for himself but whether people would see Jesus when they looked at him.
Paul reminded the Corinthians of an Old Testament scene in which Moses received the Law. As Israel wandered through the wilderness, God revealed Himself to the people in what looked like flames (Ex. 24:17). With Moses, however, He spoke face-to-face (33:11). This encounter with the living God left such a mark on Moses that his face glowed when he returned to the people. To ease their fears he veiled his face, hiding the glory that had rubbed off from being close to God (34:29–35).
Christians enjoy a proximity to God closer than Moses ever did, because God now lives inside us (Gal. 2:20). As others observe us, they should see God’s glory shining out (2 Cor. 3:9–11, 18). If we do not let them see Jesus’ love, integrity, and power, then we are not, like Moses, committing an act of kindness. We are veiling the Light of the World (John 8:12; 9:5)—meant for all the world to see.
More: God makes Himself known through people dedicated to Him, meaning that it matters how we act in public. See “Faithful Witnesses” at Ezek. 20:9.
Go to the Focus Index.
A Code of Ethics for Christian Witness
When we present the message of Jesus, we need to be like Paul, absolutely above board in our motives and methods. We need to respect those who hear us and refuse to do anything that violates their integrity. To do anything less cheapens the gospel and turns us into salespeople rather than sincere sharers of truth (2 Cor. 2:17). Here are some suggested statutes (from material developed by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship) to guide our witness:
1. We are Christians, called by God to honor Jesus Christ with our lives, abiding by biblically defined ethical standards in every area of life, public and private. This includes our efforts to persuade others to believe in Jesus.
2. Wherever we live and work, we seek to follow the mandate, motives, message, and model of Jesus, who still pursues and reclaims those lost in sin and rebelling against Him.
3. We believe all people are created in God’s image with the capacity to relate to their Creator and Redeemer. We disdain any effort to influence people which depersonalizes them or deprives them of their inherent value as persons.
4. Since we respect the value of persons, we believe all are worthy of hearing about Jesus Christ. We also affirm the right of every person to survey other religious options. People are free to choose a different belief system than Christianity.
5. We affirm the role and right of Christians to share the gospel of Christ in the marketplace of ideas. However, this does not justify any means to fulfill that end. We reject coercive techniques or manipulative appeals, especially those that play on emotions and discount or contradict reason or evidence. We will not bypass a person’s critical faculties, prey upon psychological weaknesses, undermine a relationship with one’s family or religious institution, or mask the true nature of Christian conversion. We will not intentionally mislead.
6. We respect the individual integrity, intellectual honesty, and academic freedom of others, both believers and skeptics, and so we proclaim Christ without hidden agendas. We reveal our own identity, purpose, theological positions, and sources of information. We will use no false advertising and seek no material gain from presenting the gospel.
7. We invite people of other religious persuasions to join us in true dialogue. We acknowledge our humanness—that we Christians are just as sinful, needy, and dependent on the grace of God as anyone else. We seek to listen sensitively in order to understand, and thus rid our witness of any stereotypes or fixed formulae which block honest communication.
8. As our “brothers’ keepers,” we accept our responsibility to admonish any Christian brother or sister who presents the message of Christ in a way that violates these ethical guidelines.
Go to the Focus Index.
We may wrap our human frame in stunning clothes, surround it with gleaming possessions, or transport it in wheeled luxury. But in the end we are still mere human beings. Yet in spite of this, God protects us and has invested each of us with dignity and value. And as Christians, moreover, we hold something of incomparably high value—the treasure of Christ’s excellent glory.
Go to the Focus Index.
Daily Renewal
George Washington Carver (1864–1943) conducted some of his most brilliant work while developing an agricultural model built exclusively on cotton-depleted soil across the American South. The spread of boll weevils and lack of systematic crop rotation had decimated fields and led to countless families losing their farms. But Carver’s meticulous research introduced alternative crops that revitalized the soil and created new sources of income. Carver discovered hundreds of useful properties of peanuts and other plants, including medicinal, cosmetic, and adhesive properties.
Carver was born to Mary and Giles, slaves of a Missouri farmer named Moses Carver. George was just one week old when he was kidnapped along with his mother and one of his sisters. Only George could be located and returned home, and when slavery was ended, Moses and Susan Carver raised George and his brother James as their own children. Local schools did not admit black students, so Susan taught the boys to read and write at home. At age ten, George was enrolled in a school ten miles away. After spending a night in a barn, he was taken in by a woman named Mariah Watkins, who deeply impressed him with her charge, “You must learn all you can, then go back out into the world and give your learning back to the people.”
Denied a place at a Kansas college because of his race, Carver began biological experiments on his own. Later, his skill at drawing botanical samples led to a suggestion that he attend Iowa State Agricultural College, where he became the school’s first black student. Carver earned a master’s degree and went to work teaching at the Tuskegee Institute, where he had been recruited by the school’s first principal and president, Booker T. Washington (see here for an article on his life).
At Tuskegee, Carver studied crop rotation in order to restore soil and increase crop yields. He explored new uses for peanuts, soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes. In time he and his inventions grew famous, and he was consulted by Congress and three presidents on agricultural affairs. He toured white colleges and spoke on racial reconciliation.
Fame did not exempt Carver from attacks. When he arrived to testify as an expert witness at Congress, he was mocked by Southern representatives. Scientists sometimes questioned his methods out of mere prejudice. And Carver was attacked in the media for his expressions of faith. But when faced with discrimination, Carver tended to hold faster to his beliefs, relying on his Creator for renewal of spirit much like the physical renewal of creation each year.
Carver had become a Christian at age ten, and he openly credited his work to divine inspiration. He counted on God to give him insights and to show him the rules by which the universe was governed. “All my life,” he said, “I have risen regularly at four o’clock and have gone into the woods and talked with God. There he gives me my orders for the day. Alone there with things I love most, I gather specimens and study the great lessons nature is so eager to teach us all. When people are still asleep, I hear God best and learn my plan.”
Go to the Life Studies Index.
In much of the world, evil flourishes. Christians continue to suffer acute and chronic calamities. Yet modern Christians often assume that health, prosperity, and every brand of external success should be the norm. They expect these things as a God-given right, as if the Lord owes them rewards for their faith or virtue.
These misguided illusions could not be further from the realities of today or of the New Testament era. “Groaning” is and was a daily experience for both Christians and non-Christians. Paul did acclaim the “new creation” that God brings about (2 Cor. 5:17). But after celebrating that undeniable fact, he went on to say that Christian life involves trouble and pain (6:4–10). Only when we put on our glorified bodies will God spare us from all suffering (5:1).
This doesn’t mean that no believers will enjoy health and wealth in this life, but the experience of Christians throughout history and around the world shows material and physical comfort as the exception rather than the rule. So if we find ourselves wondering what we did wrong to deserve adversity, we should remember that struggle is simply a part of life for believers and non-believers, and not necessarily a punishment. In fact, the Bible forewarns us that we enter the kingdom of God “through many tribulations” (Acts 14:22), and we should “count it all joy” when we find ourselves in hard times, for it is through hardship that we develop patience (James 1:2, 3).
More: Paul directly confronted the idea that God rewards godliness with material blessing. See “Giving to Get” at 1 Tim. 6:3–6.
Go to the Focus Index.
Scripture assures us that one day all of us will stand before the judgment seat (Greek: bēma) of Christ.
Paul’s Corinthian readers were no doubt familiar with the concept of a bēma. As in most cities of Greece, a large, richly decorated platform called the bēma stood in the middle of the marketplace at Corinth. It was used by officials for public proclamation, commendation, and condemnation.
Paul had been brought to the Corinthian bēma by Jews who opposed his message. His case was heard by Gallio, the Roman proconsul (governor) of the region, who dismissed the complaint (Acts 18:12–17). But the bēma was used for more than tribunals. At the bēma, winners of Corinth’s prestigious athletic contests were announced (see “The Games” at 1 Cor. 9:24–27).
Paul’s statement that believers will appear before the bēma of Christ is as much a reason for joy and hope as it is for fear. The judgment rendered at the bēma will be fair, because Christ will be the judge. He once stood before Pontius Pilate’s bēma (Matt. 27:19; John 19:10) and knows how it feels to be unfairly judged.
The Lord will not be deciding the eternal fate of Christians as He sits on His bēma; this was settled for us at the moment of salvation (5:24). The bēma of Christ will instead be our chance to understand our lives according to Christ’s perfect assessment. As we stand before Him, we will experience honest evaluation and true justice.
Go to the Focus Index.
Paul used several metaphors of what it means to become “a new creation” in Christ. See “New Creatures with New Character” at Galatians 5:22, 23.
Go to the Insight Index.
Tension, conflict, weariness, and suffering are commonplace in our world, but some hold out hope that God will bring life’s troubles to an end. They assume that a relationship with Christ ushers us into peace, ease, even prosperity.
That was not the experience or teaching of early Christians such as Paul, James, or Peter—and certainly not of Jesus. Paul described his life of serving God with the words “tribulations,” “distresses,” “imprisonments,” “tumult,” and “sleeplessness,” among others. But he also linked these stresses with treasures that money cannot buy: “purity,” “kindness,” “sincere love,” “honor,” “rejoicing,” and “having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”
As long as we live on this earth, we will experience the unbreakable connection between trouble and hope. It may not be pleasant but it brings lasting benefits.
• Jesus said that if we want to follow Him, we must deny ourselves and take up our own cross. If we try to save our lives, we will lose them. If we lose our lives for His sake, we will find them (Matt. 16:24, 25).
• The author of the Book of Hebrews encourages us to remember that our troubles signal that we are legitimate children of God, who lovingly disciplines us to train us in righteousness (Heb. 12:8–11).
• James challenges us to find joy in our various trials because they produce patience, which in the end makes us mature (James 1:2–4).
• Peter knew firsthand that pressure can cause one’s allegiance to Christ to waver. He warns us that “fiery trials” are nothing out of the ordinary. But they can produce extraordinary results in that they allow us to experience Christ’s sufferings, so that we can also experience His glory (1 Pet. 4:12, 13).
As long as we attempt to obey Christ, we can count on having to deal with stress. But whatever strain we feel today reaps riches to enjoy for eternity.
Go to the Focus Index.
Not to be confused with: The Roman general Titus who destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (see “Jerusalem Surrounded” at Luke 21:20).
Background: Raised as a Greek-speaking Gentile.
Occupation: Diplomat, public relations officer, project manager, and fundraiser. Tradition holds that he was also the first bishop of Crete.
Best known for: His work with Paul as a traveling companion and coworker in planting churches throughout the Roman world.
Go to the Person Profiles Index.
Paul noted that Titus was dependable (2 Cor. 8:17), reliable (7:6), and diligent (8:17). Titus combined that stick-with-it character with an enormous capacity for friendship and affection (7:13–15). Possessing both strength and tact, Titus brought calm to desperate situations.
Titus also brought an ethnic background that proved useful in the early church. As an uncircumcised Gentile, he accompanied Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, where Jewish Christians were debating whether non-Jews could be saved. Paul introduced Titus as a living example of the monumental truth that Gentiles need not be circumcised—that is, become Jews—in order to receive God’s grace (Gal. 2:1–3).
Paul later selected Titus to help manage a church established among the wayward population of the island of Crete. Paul encouraged Titus to teach “sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9; 2:1) knowing that correct living results from correct belief. For more on that challenging situation, see the introduction to Titus.
Go to the Focus Index.
Almost anyone can love people in the abstract. But it is through concrete expressions of love—lending a hand or sharing resources—that we may determine the sincerity of someone’s care. To illustrate this point, Paul turned to Jesus, the ultimate model of demonstrated love. Consider what our Lord gave up when He left heaven and took on a human body:
• He left His Father, whose immediate presence Jesus would not experience again for more than thirty years. Would you willingly endure separation from a father who loves you so that you could help people who would treat you as a stranger and a lunatic?
• He left a joyful crowd that included the patriarchs, redeemed saints, and the angelic hosts—created beings who surrounded Him with worship and fellowship prior to His incarnation. Would you leave a place of adoration to help people who would despise and reject you?
• He left His pre-incarnate existence, taking on a physical body plagued by pain and limitations. Would you endure hunger, thirst, and physical agony to help people who would eventually torture and kill you?
Christ’s willingness to became poor puts into perspective His command to the rich young ruler to sell all he had and give the proceeds to the poor (Mark 10:21). It drives home His instruction that His disciples sell their possessions and give alms, providing themselves not with earthly riches but with treasure in heaven (Luke 12:33). Jesus asks us to put others first through actions as well as words—something He has already done for us beyond all measure.
More: Francis of Assisi was born wealthy but chose to live a life of poverty. The Franciscan Order, which he founded, stressed the importance of humble, Christlike living. See here for an article on the life of Francis of Assisi.
Go to the Focus Index.
When Paul asked the Corinthians to give generously to help needy Christians, he linked generosity with spiritual benefits, saying that the more we give, the more we will receive.
This principle goes beyond financial giving. It means making time to help coworkers talk through problems. It means making ourselves available to our spouses and children. It means doing our part in our schools and communities. Every arena of life offers opportunities to give generously—or grudgingly.
We are constant recipients of God’s generosity. He promises that if we will give of ourselves, He will supply us with whatever it takes to do the work He calls us to do.
More: Giving generously to gain spiritual benefits does not mean that God rewards godliness with material blessings. See “Giving to Get” at 1 Tim. 6:3–6.
Go to the Focus Index.
Standing next to most modern Christians, the Corinthian believers would look dreadfully poor. Yet Paul described the Christians of Macedonia as living in “deep poverty” (2 Cor. 8:2), even poorer than the Corinthians. Yet Scripture announces that God “has given to the poor” (9:9). What does that mean?
The word used here for poor referred to day laborers who toiled for a living. They were distinct from the truly destitute. Many workers had a rough life, but their survival was not at risk. The truly poor faced an immediate danger of dying if no one helped them.
Paul described God as dispersing help to the day laborers, giving not food for survival but seed to raise a crop (9:9, 10). God would aid the Corinthians so that they could in turn aid the truly destitute Christians in Jerusalem.
Many Christians today work at well-paid jobs, own their homes, and manage to put away money for retirement. Paul would doubtless call us rich. We may work hard, but we have a disposable income that most first-century Christians could not have imagined. God did not give us these resources solely for ourselves but to share with those who need both immediate and long-term aid in order to survive and thrive in this world.
Go to the Focus Index.
Integrity in the Face of Competition
Paul faced severe competition at Corinth—the kind that tempts us to do whatever it takes to win. In 2 Corinthians 10–12, he described real threats to his hard work in Corinth:
• Opposing leaders and teachers were making headway. Paul’s people were tempted to cross over to them (2 Cor. 10:15; 11:3, 4, 12–15).
• Paul felt this loss deeply (10:2, 3; 11:2, 3, 29).
• He felt threatened (10:8–11, 13–15; 11:5, 6, 16–21).
• He loved the Corinthians and feared losing them so much that he became angry (11:11–15).
Paul defended himself as a faithful servant who had suffered for the Corinthians and the message of Christ (10:13–18; 11:20–30; 12:11). As he wrestled with mixed feelings and sketchy information, he relied on proven principles of godliness and clear communication:
• Paul was passionate about the problem. He wrote extensively to the Corinthians (see the introductions to 1 and 2 Corinthians).
• He attempted to visit Corinth to discuss matters in person (2 Cor. 10:2, 11; 12:14; 13:1).
• He pushed through his awkwardness at defending himself (11:21, 23; 12:7–10) and encouraged the Corinthians to examine his work among them in order to gauge his loyalty and integrity (10:13, 15; 11:22–27).
• He clearly disclosed the finances of his previous work in Corinth (11:7–9; 1 Cor. 16:1–4, 16).
• He appealed for a method of negotiation that would honor Christ (2 Cor. 10:3, 4; 13:8–10).
• He urged in-depth analysis of the situation (10:7; 13:1, 5, 8).
Paul faced a real temptation to use any means necessary to prevent losing his converts in Corinth, a tension we can feel as we read his letters to them. But Paul went to battle against his internal struggles so that he could rise above underhanded tactics. He avoided viciousness, choosing to act with Christlike values.
Go to the Focus Index.
Paul was counted among a group of early church leaders known as “apostles.” Each was chosen by Jesus and given authority to carry out specific tasks, especially the job of making disciples of every nation (Matt. 28:19).
The word apostle means “messenger.” The term was first used of the twelve disciples sent by Jesus two by two into Galilee to expand His ministry (Mark 3:14; 6:30). With the exception of Judas, these same disciples were recommissioned as apostles after Jesus’ resurrection to be His witnesses throughout the world (Acts 1:8). After Jesus’ ascension, the group again brought their number to twelve by choosing Matthias (1:23–26).
Over time the term apostle came to apply to others besides the Twelve, including people such as Paul who had seen the risen Christ and received special commissions from Him (1 Cor. 15:10). The Lord’s brother James was also counted as an apostle (Gal. 1:19; see also his profile at James 1:1). And when Paul wrote that Jesus had been seen not only by James but also by “all the apostles” (1 Cor. 15:7), he seemed to describe a wider group than the Twelve, who had already met the risen Christ (15:5).
Jesus committed to the apostles a unique foundational authority (12:28; Eph. 4:11) allowing them to install elders or other leaders and teachers, and authorize individual Christians to assume special responsibilities.
Go to the Insight Index.
The modern world worships the physical power of athletes, the financial invincibility of companies, the political stamina of office-holders, and the military potency of armies. But Paul put a different twist on the idea of strength when he said that weakness can make a person strong.
Most of us have no problem with God using our natural strengths. But we often balk when He pushes us to do something that makes us feel our weaknesses. Moses claimed to be a poor speaker, yet God picked him to address the pharaoh of Egypt (Ex. 4:10). Peter was impulsive and even hot-headed, yet God chose him as one of the chief builders of the early church.
Paul’s own weakness, or “thorn,” could have been anything—a physical pain or sickness, an emotional instability, a doubt, a struggle with temptation, or some other type of problem. Whatever it was, persistent prayer did not bring relief. But through the apostle’s struggle, God taught him about the sufficiency of His grace, and Paul learned that his weakness made him rely on God far more than his strengths did.
Go to the Focus Index.
All of us who exercise leadership among other Christians should take note of Paul’s comment about his authority. Paul liked to be in charge, and he felt frustrated when people rejected his lead, as the Corinthians had. As an apostle, he was appointed to a position of spiritual authority over them. At times that led him to deal severely with them (1 Cor. 4:21; 5:5; Titus 1:13).
But Paul matured in how he exercised authority, especially as he grew up in the faith. He did not lord his power over others or leverage his authority for personal advantage. He did not use his position as an excuse to let his anger fly. He instead recognized that spiritual authority is given “for edification and not for destruction” (2 Cor. 13:10; compare 10:8). God gives us authority so that we can build others up, not tear them down.
More: Paul’s method of leadership reflected the unique style of authority encouraged by Jesus. See “Servant-Leaders” at Matt. 20:25–28.
Go to the Focus Index.