Pelagius

In his own words on 1 Corinthians

• 1 Corinthians 1:1

  By calling Sosthenes his brother, Paul is both demonstrating his own humility and pointing out that Sosthenes is a fellow worker in the gospel.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

• 1 Corinthians 1:2

  Paul is writing to those who have preserved their sanctity, not to those who have lost it. The former he honors with his letter; the latter he admonishes with his authority.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

• 1 Corinthians 1:5

  When the Corinthians came to faith in Christ they were blessed with all grace. But now that they were no longer living according to their faith, they had made void the grace which they had received.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

• 1 Corinthians 1:7

  Christ's second coming is described as a revelation, because now it is hidden from us.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

• 1 Corinthians 1:17

  Paul did not usurp the functions of the lower offices when he was able to exercise the higher ones. It would be as if nowadays a bishop or even a priest were to do the work of a deacon.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

• 1 Corinthians 1:22

  The Jews want signs, because that is what the prophets gave them, but even then they do not believe. The Greeks, on the other hand, want clever academic arguments.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

• 1 Corinthians 1:24

  Note that Paul does not say that the divinity of Christ is God's power and wisdom, but rather the pattern of the cross.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

• 1 Corinthians 2:5

  Human wisdom is temporal. The power of God is eternal.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 2

• 1 Corinthians 2:8

  Pilate, Caiaphas and the rest were condemned by their ignorance, because they should have known the truth. There are two kinds of heretics who misinterpret this passage. The first are the Apollinarians, and the second are the Arians. The Apollinarians are wrong because they do not accept that Christ's human nature was perfect. The Arians err because they claim that the Word of God can suffer. Arius did not believe that it was the Lord of glory who took on a human nature, and therefore he thought that the Word, being only human, could suffer.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 2

• 1 Corinthians 2:16

  We have the mind of Christ because we have the Holy Spirit.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 2

• 1 Corinthians 3:5

  If Paul and Apollos counted for nothing, what can we say about those who glory in the flesh?

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

• 1 Corinthians 3:8

  Paul points out that he and Apollos are merely hired hands on someone else's farm. They have nothing apart from the payment they get for their labor.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

• 1 Corinthians 3:12

  The house does not build itself; somebody has to put the walls up. This is the role of teachers in the church. The gold, silver, etc., represent six different types of hearers. Gold stands for good respondents, silver for better ones (because silver is stronger than gold) and precious stones for the best of all. Similarly, wood stands for bad people, hay for those who are worse and straw for the worst of all.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

• 1 Corinthians 3:13

  Gold, silver and precious stones will survive the fire of judgment, but wood, hay and straw will be burned up.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

• 1 Corinthians 3:20

  The thoughts of the wise contribute nothing to a person's salvation.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

• 1 Corinthians 4:17

  Paul's behavior was completely consistent with his teaching.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 4

• 1 Corinthians 6:1

  This proves that there were no Christian judges at that time, because Paul refers to them all as "unrighteous."

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 6

• 1 Corinthians 6:6

  There is a double sin here. First, they were taking each other to court, and secondly, they were going to court before unbelievers.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 6

• 1 Corinthians 6:11

  The Corinthians were not to bother about the sins they committed before baptism. All that should concern them now was that they should not sin again in the future.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 6

• 1 Corinthians 6:18

  Fornication multiplies sins because two people are involved, and both perish together.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 6

• 1 Corinthians 7:2

  People who want to be promiscuous argue that God commanded us to have sexual relations, so that the earth would be filled with human beings. But God is quite capable of making humans out of the earth, as he did at the beginning, so this is no excuse.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 7

• 1 Corinthians 7:15

  The Lord must come before a husband or a wife.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 7

• 1 Corinthians 7:18

  Someone who has been circumcised should not think that this is going too far, or regret it, because in its own day it was necessary. But neither should he seek to convert the uncircumcised to that practice.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 7

• 1 Corinthians 7:20

  God does not care about our social status but about our will and mind.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 7

• 1 Corinthians 7:40

  Happy is the woman who has a husband. Happier still is the widow who can remain chaste with little effort on her part. But happiest of all is the virgin, who can attain to the highest prize without struggling.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 7

• 1 Corinthians 10:8

  Note that it was not just idolatry which led to death [but their immorality as well].

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 10

• 1 Corinthians 11:3

  The man is head of the woman in the natural order but not in Christ, in whom there is neither male nor female. Nevertheless, Paul wanted women to be subject to their husbands. God is the head of Christ's humanity, because the divinity which was in the human Jesus controlled his doings.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 11

• 1 Corinthians 11:4

  Paul was complaining because men were fussing about their hair and women were flaunting their locks in church. Not only was this dishonoring to them, but it was also an incitement to fornication.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 11

• 1 Corinthians 11:24

  In blessing the bread even before his suffering, Jesus left behind a last commemoration, or memorial. This is rather like someone who, when about to go on a journey, leaves some token of himself with his loved one, so that whenever she looks at it she will be reminded of his goodness and love toward her.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 11

• 1 Corinthians 13:12

  The dim mirror is the law of Moses, which contains everything in types and shadows.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 13

• 1 Corinthians 14:8

  If it is uncertain whether the bugle is sounding for relaxation or for war, nobody will get ready for battle. The latter is how your own words should be understood, for they are meant to prepare soldiers for spiritual warfare.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 14

• 1 Corinthians 14:11

  Any language we cannot understand we look down on as barbaric.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 14

• 1 Corinthians 14:16

  Paul is thinking here of laypeople, who do not hold office in the church.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 14

• 1 Corinthians 14:17

  Here Paul explains what he said above, which is that a believer should be a blessing to everyone.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 14

• 1 Corinthians 14:23

  On the day of Pentecost the Jews said that the apostles were full of new wine. It is more or less the same thing here.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 14

• 1 Corinthians 14:24

  The unbeliever is convicted when his conscience is struck by the teaching being given.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 14

• 1 Corinthians 15:2

  The resurrection of the body is the whole point of our gospel message. Without it, all the works of prayer and fasting which we do are meaningless.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:4

  Hosea [6:2] says: "He will revive us after two days; he will raise us up on the third day."

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:13

  The one depends on the other. Either you believe both, or you believe neither.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:14

  Some heretics claim that there is a resurrection of the soul but not of the body, though this makes no sense. How can there be a resurrection of something which has not fallen into the ground and died?

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:15

  Our preaching would not just be pointless, it would be downright false, if this were the case.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:16

  In other words, if you accept that Christ rose from the dead, believe that we shall rise again also.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:17

  If Christ lied about his resurrection, then he lied about his claim to forgive our sins also.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:18

  Paul has the martyrs in mind above all. They would have lost their lives in vain if there was no other life to look forward to.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:20

  If the head has risen, then the rest of the body will follow in due course.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:35

  Everything wrong with our bodies in this life will be healed in the resurrection.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 15:40

  If God could make the sun, moon and stars, what problem will he have in making new bodies for us?

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 15

• 1 Corinthians 16:16

  Paul says this, because the people he is referring to dwell among the Corinthians, who can profit greatly from their presence.

  COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 16