1 Corinthians: Purpose

It seems that we should speak of Paul's several purposes in writing this letter to the Corinthians, all of which fall under his major concern: Christian conduct in this age. Their drastic misconceptions of the Spirit, gifts, knowledge, and Christian liberty had perverted the church in their ignorance. Many among them believed that the fullness of the Kingdom of God had come, which contributed to some of these radical tendencies among them that endangered the freedom found in Christ and the unity of the church.

The confusion that was among the Corinthian church was mostly due to a misunderstanding of the gospel and the Lordship of Christ. The Corinthians were living as though the reign of Christ had already fully come, and Paul knew that he needed to stress the importance of living in anticipation of the return of Christ and the resurrection of believers. Paul lays out for the church guidelines for its nature, unity, diversity, conduct, and disciplinary action. In addition, he condemns selfish living in an effort to stress the exaltation of Christ and love as the way of the Christian life.