Corinth was a tempestuous city, this fact seems to replicate in Paul’s relationship with the church Christ had founded through him; the life between the congregation and their apostle was far from smooth sailing. It is intriguing to note that the Lord had spoken to Paul in a vision very early on in his first visit to the city saying, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are My people.” (Acts 18v9&10) The Lord never wastes words and we can learn from those He spoke to His servant as He ministered to his troubled soul for there must have been some kind of anxiety within.
Perhaps he was wearied by the overt opposition that had come his way from the Jews as he preached earlier in their synagogue, the Lord, His gospel and His servant had been rejected and Paul needed encouragement. It seems likely that he had been tempted to cease from continuing there in Corinth and to accept a path of silence, perhaps moving on to some other place, for the Lord instructed him to go on with his speaking and not to allow anything to silence him. This positive counsel and command was grounded in the reminder that the Lord Himself was with him, he would not be harmed and the assurance is given that the Lord had many in the city who were His people. If we bring together some verses from chapter eighteen of Acts we get a more complete picture of Paul’s ministry, verse five is interesting because some manuscripts say that “ he was constrained in spirit” to testify that the Christ was Jesus and some say “he was occupied with the word.” What is most important is for us to note the heart of his message, his burden was to declare not a ‘what’ but a “Who.” Then, as we have noted, that “Who,” the Lord Jesus, spoke to His apostle in a vision most reassuringly that HE had people in the city that were HIS. It is all intensely personal. After his quite lengthy stay in Corinth Paul moved on and the church was left to hold to its Head, the Lord Jesus and to receive HIS ministry through the various gifts HE had given to it.
Obviously there were other teachers traveling around and they brought certain emphases with them one of whom was Apollos who had been helped greatly by Paul’s friends Priscilla and Aquila. (Acts 18v24 through 19v1) We gain further insights concerning the (at times) stormy church life in Corinth in the two letters Paul wrote to them. It is probably only about six years after the beginning of the church that Paul hears disturbing news of their condition and his response is what we call the first epistle of Corinthians. He answers their questions, adds certain commands and offers counsel when he feels he does not have the mind of the Lord on a certain matter. In various ways he refers them back to their beginnings, mentioning His own exemplary presence and ministry amongst them, he is very bold in so doing. Chapter fifteen verses one to eleven is just such a place of reminder where he spells out what he delivered to them. In verses three to eight we find the things that were of first importance, CHRIST died, HE was buried, HE was raised, HE appeared, HE appeared, HE appeared, HE appeared and HE appeared. The repetition is important, firstly the gospel Paul preached was Christ and secondly HE was real and alive from the dead and HE was well known as the One risen from the dead, the apostles and others had seen Him alive. It is clear that for Paul, the gospel was indeed the “gospel of Christ” and this alone is the gospel that saves. It is not a gospel of doctrinal propositions based in the Bible.
The Bible is firstly a book about God, the ineffable God revealing Who He is and what He has done and what His purposes are. It is firstly the story about Him, in which He makes known His nature. It is God’s story and the story of His loving ways with men and women. It takes us a long while to learn this, to really find God there, for we live in the tail end of what has been called the ‘enlightenment’ and the principles of enlightenment thinking have spilled over into the church. We come to the Bible as though it was a textbook, even a book of do’s and don’ts, presenting a moral code that is acceptable to God. This presentation of ideas and propositional teaching has developed in our day into numerous seminars on a vast array of topics and although these sometimes help a little they do not answer the deep needs of the human heart. There are so many voices that cry in the church market place, that some of them are way off track is certain, that some are slightly adrift is also certain, that some are downright devilish is certain too.
Yet, it was the same in the days of Paul, many voices and emphases disturbing the Corinthian church and threatening to dislodge it from its foundational simplicity. Paul alludes to these many voices, some from within and some from outside when he writes of the fact that he had laid the foundation but others were now building upon that foundation. (1 Cor 3v10-15) Paul is certain about two things, first, the foundation is Jesus Christ and second, his ministry had founded their lives upon Him, however, he was not so certain about what they were being built upon now. Meeting and relationship with the Person of the Lord Jesus is the basis of everything, Paul had brought Christ to these people and they had come to Him. He expresses the early days of his ministry there in a beautiful way in the second letter chapter eleven verse two. “I betrothed you to one Husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” We need to note the context of this verse, set as it is in the heart of one of the most autobiographical parts in any of Paul’s letters.
He and his ministry was being belittled in the church of Corinth, and elsewhere too, there were so-called ‘super apostles’ peddling various ideas and notions and assuming positions of authority in and over churches, Paul obviously regards these teachers as dubious at best and says that the Corinthians must judge whether they are bringing another Jesus, another gospel and another spirit rather than corroborating and confirming the Jesus, gospel and Spirit that Paul himself had brought to them. (2 Cor 11v4-6) Paul was jealous for this beloved church in Corinth, he knew that if they rejected him, they rejected Him who sent him and were in dreadful peril. If they accepted a religious system instead of Christ it would mean deathly states growing amongst them and not life. What were these other ministries bringing and where were the people of God being led? Paul had brought the church face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ as their husband, he had introduced the bride to the Heavenly Groom, she had been purified and was virginal in her love for her espoused husband Christ, a definite meeting had taken place known and recognized by all, they had not been espoused to a mass of propositions and religious ideas, nor to a life pursuing a moral code.
Of the many expressions that could be used to describe what constitutes the Christian ministry this one expresses its heart, it is “betrothing people to one husband, to present them as a pure virgin to Christ.” Paul writes to this church that although they have many guides he is a father to them, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (1 Cor 4v15) He had brought their Heavenly Husband to claim them as His beloved bride for in those days it was the husband that came for the bride, Paul had brought Christ to them and this is the heart of the Christian ministry.
