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1 Corinthians 1:1. Paul, called by the will of God to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ. Here is the beginning, directly exposing the false teachers. I, he says, was called, and did not invent it myself, did not comprehend it with my own wisdom, and was sent by Christ, and did not ordain myself, like your teachers. "Jesus Christ". Teacher Christ: how do you appoint people as teachers for yourself? "By the will" (δια θελήματος) "God's will." He saved and called us not because we were worthy, but because it pleased Him. Therefore, now He wants me to be your apostle. How do you wish for other teachers? Aren't you enemies of God? Notice the preposition δια (through), which here refers to the Father. 1 Corinthians 1:1. And Sosthenes brother. Out of modesty, he places alongside himself a man who was much smaller than him; but he does this in order to shame the highly intelligent Corinthians, who despised everyone. 1 Corinthians 1:2. Church of God located in Corinth. The Church is not of one or the other, but of God. How do you have people as leaders? If, again, you are the Church, then you must be in perfect unity. 1 Corinthians 1:2. Sanctified in Christ Jesus. You are not sanctified in any man, but in Christ, that is, through baptism, and not through wisdom or wealth, which you are proud of. 1 Corinthians 1:2. Called saints. And the same thing, he says, is that you believed, not from you, but you obeyed and believed because you were called by God. Therefore, faith has its origin from God; for if He had not called, you would not have believed. 1 Corinthians 1:2. With all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace, he says, and peace be not only with you, Corinthians, but also with everyone who calls on the name of Christ and not so-and-so. 1 Corinthians 1:2. Everywhere, with them and with us. Mentions believers in every place to show that all believers constitute one Church, wherever they are. How did you, living in the same city, become separated? On the other hand, he added “ours”. For, having said: “Our Lord Jesus Christ” and placing in the middle: “in every place,” he repeated and said: “The Lord is with them and with us,” in order to show that the Lord is one for all. Some, however, understand these words as they stand: in every place, with them and with us, that is, in which we live and they. 1 Corinthians 1:3. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace from God. Even before, when we were at enmity against Him, by His grace we received peace, and I pray that from God you will always have both, so that, that is, you will not be deprived of either His grace or peace; because you live in disagreement with each other. How then do you apply yourself to people and seek from them, as teachers, grace and favor? 1 Corinthians 1:4. I thank you forever. Teaches us to be grateful. He does this in almost every message; but now he speaks especially opportunely of gratitude. For gratitude comes for a good deed, and a good deed is neither a duty nor a reward. Consequently, this also destroys the pride of the Corinthians. Through great love, God, common to all, assimilates to himself. 1 Corinthians 1:4. For you, for the grace of God. This teaches the Corinthians to always have grateful feelings towards God and not towards their own works, for he says: I give thanks “for the sake of the grace of God”, and not for the sake of your works. 1 Corinthians 1:4. Given to you in Christ Jesus. That is, through Christ Jesus, and not through such and such. Why do you listen to people? 1 Corinthians 1:5. Because in Him (εν αύτω) you have been enriched in everything. The expression “in Him” is again used instead of: “through Him (δι ’ αυτού).” So, when you have wealth, and the wealth of God, both in everything, and through the Only Begotten Himself, then how do you, ungrateful ones, appoint people as teachers for yourself? 1 Corinthians 1:5. With every word and with every knowledge. There is also a word without reason, when, for example, someone speaks empty words, without any thought. There is also a mind without words, when someone thinks about lofty objects, but does not find words to express them. But you have both the word and the divine mind, so that you can both think and speak. 1 Corinthians 1:6. For (καθώς) the testimony of Christ is established in you. The word for stands instead: “through which” (δι᾿ ων). Through the word, he says, and the mind with which you have been enriched, “testimony” has been established in you, that is, preaching about Christ; for you received this preaching not through external wisdom, but through the signs and gifts that you were worthy of. 1 Corinthians 1:7. So you are not lacking in any talent. If they had no lack of talents, then how does he further call them (1 Cor. 3:1) carnal? To this we say: not all were spiritual, and not all were carnal; therefore, everything that he speaks about now speaks to the spiritual, and what follows speaks to the carnal. Or: maybe at the beginning they received all sorts of gifts, but later they became careless and began to live according to the flesh. 1 Corinthians 1:7. Waiting for the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here it frightens them, reminding them of the second coming of Christ. For if Christ appears, then how can you have alien leaders? It also shows that with gifts, virtues are also necessary. For on that day gifts will not help one who has not lived virtuously (Matthew 7:21-23). Finally, the word “appearance” expresses the idea that Christ is still present, but hidden, and then He will appear. 1 Corinthians 1:8. Who will also establish you to the end, so that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word “affirm” shows that they are hesitating, and the word “innocent” expresses that they are now subject to accusation. In this letter, more often than in others, he mentions the Lord Jesus Christ in order to remind the Corinthians by whom they were saved and whose name they bear. For Christians are called so from Christ, and not from the name of any person. 1 Corinthians 1:9. God is faithful, by whom (δι᾿ ου) you were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. That is, God is true. If He is true, and has called us into the communion of His Son, that is, in order to glorify us together with the Son in His Kingdom, then it is obvious that He will fulfill what He promised. “You are called,” he says, and did not come of your own accord. How proud are you of your own deeds? Notice here that the word "by whom" directly refers to the Father. 1 Corinthians 1:10. I beseech you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Intending to speak more strictly to them, he first announces that he is pleading with them by Christ. I, he says, cannot ask you alone, but I take for my help the name of the Lord, in whose name you are called Christians and which you offended by wanting to be called by the names of people. Let this bring you shame! 1 Corinthians 1:10. So that you all say the same thing, and there are no divisions between you. What am I begging of you for? That you all agree and are not divided. For what is divided, although it would seem to become many instead of one, is in fact not made many (for what is the use of a body cut into many parts?): unity is lost in it. So, he very expressively called “divisions” what happened between them; this word clearly shows how miserable their condition was. 1 Corinthians 1:10. But so that you are united in the same spirit and in the same thoughts. Above I said: “so that you all say the same thing.” Therefore, so as not to think that agreement consists only in words, he adds: “in one spirit,” that is, I beg you to agree in thoughts. But many people think alike about one subject and differently about another; therefore he added: “united in one spirit.” Further, many agree in the way of thinking, but differ in the disposition of the will (thus, when we have the same faith, but are not united by love: then, although we think alike, we diverge in the disposition of the will). Therefore, having said: “in the same spirit,” he added: “and in the same thoughts,” that is, so that they would not disagree either regarding faith or regarding the disposition of the will. 1 Corinthians 1:11. For from the household of Chloe it became known to me about you, my brethren. So that they don’t shut him out, he brings witnesses, and so that it doesn’t seem like he’s inventing them, he names them, saying: “from the household of Chloe” (there was a house in Corinth called Chloe). He also calls them “brothers”: for although their sin was obvious, nothing prevented them from being called brothers. However, he did not say who exactly informed him, but pointed to the whole house in general, so as not to arm them against those who informed him. 1 Corinthians 1:11. That there are disputes between you. When revealing what he has heard from others, he uses a softer expression - “disputes,” but when he speaks on his own behalf, he calls the same thing “divisions” (1 Cor. 1:10), which is much worse than “disputes.” 1 Corinthians 1:12. I mean what you say: “I am Pavlov”; “I am Apollosov”; “I am Kifin”; “And I am Christ’s.” Not some people say this, but "you" do. However, the Corinthians did not speak like that, but the apostle gives such a turn of phrase, wanting to show that if it is unforgivable to be called Paul and Cephas, then even more so in the names of others. "I am Kifin." He mentioned Peter after himself, not in order to exalt himself, but to show him greater preference, just as he mentioned Christ after. In general, in matters that should not happen, he first mentions his face. “And I am Christ’s.” He reproaches not for the fact that they say: “but I am Christ’s,” but for the fact that not everyone says so: or, better, he added this on his own, wanting to make the reproof stronger and to show that in this case Christ is assimilated into one part, although the Corinthians did not do this. 1 Corinthians 1:13. Was Christ divided? Why did you divide Christ? Why did they destroy His body? Speech filled with anger. Some of the words “Is Christ divided?” understood this way: did Christ divide the Church with people and take one part for himself and give the other to them? 1 Corinthians 1:13. Was Paul crucified for you? This refutes their unreasonable behavior, and mentions his name, so that they would not think that he mentioned the names of others out of envy. He did not say: Did Paul create or bring you from non-existence into being? but, what is much more, showing the inexpressible love of Christ, he speaks of the cross. He also did not say: “Did Paul die,” but: “was crucified,” thereby indicating the imaginary dishonesty of death. 1 Corinthians 1:13. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? And I, he says, baptized many, but in the name of Christ. He talks about baptism because the reason for the division was that they called themselves by the names of those who baptized. But the point is not who baptized, but in whose name he baptized; for Christ forgives sins, and not he who baptizes. 1 Corinthians 1:14. I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. Why, he says, are you proud of the fact that you baptize, when I thank God for not baptizing? He says this not in order to diminish the importance of baptism, but in order to curb the Corinthians who boasted of baptism. For baptism is an important matter, but baptism is unimportant. 1 Corinthians 1:15. So that no one says that I baptized in my name. I say this not because it really happened, but out of fear that the disease would not reach such a degree. For if, when baptism was performed by insignificant people, there was a division, then if I, who preached baptism, baptized, some, of course, would agree to attribute the baptism to me. 1 Corinthians 1:16. I also baptized Stephen's house. That is, everyone who was in Stefan's house. This was a great and famous man in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 1:16. I don’t know if I baptized anyone else. For me, he says, it is so unflattering to baptize that I don’t even remember if I baptized anyone else. How proud are you of baptism? 1 Corinthians 1:17. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Evangelism is much more difficult and required a particularly strong soul; for to convince a person and persuade him from the traditions of his fathers, and, moreover, in the midst of danger, is the work of a great and courageous soul. And anyone who had the priesthood could accept and baptize someone prepared for baptism. But if he was not sent to baptize, then how did he baptize? He was not sent for this purpose primarily; but he was not forbidden to baptize. He was sent for a most important matter; however, he was not forbidden to perform less important tasks. 1 Corinthians 1:17. Not in wisdom of speech, lest the cross of Christ should be made void. Having brought down the arrogance of those who were proud of baptism, he now moves on to those who were puffed up by external wisdom, and says: (Christ) sent me to preach the gospel “not in the wisdom of speech,” that is, not with eloquence and graceful speech, so that the cross or the preaching of the cross would not suffer harm and humiliation; for what does it mean: “so as not to be abolished,” that is, lest it prove useless and futile. In fact, if the apostles preached with the wisdom of the word, then others could say that they convinced by the power of the word, and not by the power of what was preached; and this would be humiliation and harm to the Crucified One. But now, preaching with simplicity, they show that everything is accomplished by the power of the Crucified One. The cross is also abolished in another way. For example, a Hellene asks me about something divine that exceeds our understanding. If I prove to him through inference and external wisdom, I will turn out to be weak; for no mind can imagine divine objects. In this way, my weakness will seem like the weakness of the sermon, and this will abolish the cross itself, because it will turn out to be vain and futile. 1 Corinthians 1:18. For the word about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. There were infidels in Corinth who ridiculed the cross and said: it is truly foolish to preach a crucified God, for if He were God, He would not have allowed Himself to be crucified; and since He could not escape death, how could He rise from the dead? The faithful, it seems, opposed them with their wisdom, indignant that they slandered the cross. That’s why he says: don’t consider this strange; for what God has given for salvation seems foolishness to those who are perishing. “The Word of the Cross” refers to a sermon about the cross, or Christ crucified. 1 Corinthians 1:18. And for us, those who are being saved, it is the power of God. For us, he says, who are not lost, but who are saved, it is the power of God. But the cross also shows wisdom. He shows his strength in the fact that by death he destroyed death, for if the fallen one wins, then this is a sign of the greatest strength; and wisdom lies in the fact that in this way he saved those who were perishing. 1 Corinthians 1:19. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and destroy the understanding of the prudent. Having said that unfaithful wise men perish, he confirms this with Scripture: for it says: “the wisdom of his wise men will perish” (Is. 29:14), of course, external ones, that is, in the wisdom of this world there is no understanding (this is no longer wisdom), and the understanding of those who consider themselves wise and knowledgeable is rejected. 1 Corinthians 1:20. Where is the sage? where is the scribe? where is the questioner of this century? Has not God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness? Having brought evidence from Scripture, he then proves his thought by deeds, and denounces both the Greeks with the words “where is the wise man,” that is, the philosopher, and the Jews with the words “where is the scribe?” And he called “co-questionnaires” those who base everything on inferences and research. None of them saved us; but the fishermen brought us out of our delusion. The expression “has not God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness?” stands instead: showed that she was mad because she could not find the truth. 1 Corinthians 1:21. For when the world through its wisdom did not know God in the wisdom of God, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe. Gives the reason why outer wisdom turned into madness. Since in the wisdom revealed in creatures (for heaven and earth and all creation preach about the Creator: (see Ps. 18:2; Rom. 1:20), “the world,” that is, those who mind worldly things, did not know God (obviously because the wisdom that was seen in eloquence prevented him from doing this), then it was pleasing to God to save the believers by the simplicity of preaching (which only seemed madness, but was not really such). So, the Greeks had as their teacher the wisdom of God, that is, seen in creatures, but they did not know God, because they were guided by wisdom, which consists of eloquence, which is not wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:22–23. For both the Jews demand miracles, and the Greeks seek wisdom; and we preach Christ crucified, Paul wants to show how God, by opposite means, produced opposite actions, and says: when I say to the Jew: believe, he will immediately demand signs to confirm the preaching, but we preach Christ crucified; and this not only does not show signs, on the contrary, it seems to be weakness, and yet this very thing, which seems weak and the opposite of what the Jew demands, leads him to faith, which shows the great power of God. Again: the Hellenes seek wisdom in us; but we preach to them the cross, which is to preach God crucified; It would seem crazy, but they are convinced of this. So, is this not a proof of the greatest power when they are convinced of the opposite of what they themselves demand? 1 Corinthians 1:23. For the Jews it is a temptation, and for the Greeks it is madness. For the Jews, he says, the Crucified One serves as a temptation; for they stumble over Him, saying: How can He be God who ate and drank with publicans and sinners and was crucified with thieves? And the Greeks mock this sacrament as if it were madness when they hear that only by faith alone, and not by conclusions to which they are so attached, can one understand that God was crucified and that the sermon about the cross is not decorated with eloquence. 1 Corinthians 1:24. For those who are called, Jews and Greeks, Christ, God's power and God's wisdom. For unfaithful Jews, he says, Christ serves as a temptation, but for unfaithful Hellenes it seems madness, because both do not find in Him the signs and wisdom that they are looking for. To the “called” Jews and Greeks, that is, those called by God as worthy, Christ reveals in Himself both what they are looking for. Why, indeed, are you, a Jew, looking for signs? Here is Christ - God's power, which creates signs. And you, Hellene, what are you saying? Are you looking for wisdom? Here you have Christ, who is the wisdom of the Father. 1 Corinthians 1:25. Because the foolish things of God are wiser than men, and the weak things of God are stronger than men. He calls the cross madness because that is what they thought of it; meanwhile he is wiser than men. For philosophers occupied themselves with empty and useless subjects, but the cross saved the world. Further, he also seems weak, as if the crucified Christ is weak, but in fact He is stronger than men, not only because He prospers more and more, despite the efforts of countless people to extinguish this Name, but also because the strong devil is bound by this seemingly weak instrument. You can, however, understand it this way: what is wise in God is called unwise, that is, foolish, and everything powerful is called weak, just as His highest light is called darkness and darkness. 1 Corinthians 1:26. Look, brethren, who you are who are called: not many of you are wise according to the flesh, not many of you are strong, not many of you are noble. Consider, he says, and examine those called to faith, and you will find that “not many of you are wise according to the flesh,” that is, at a simple glance, adapted to this life. He did not say: there is not one wise, but: “not many,” because there were believers and among the wise, for example, the Areopagite, the proconsul and others, whose names are now unknown; some of the strong and noble also believed. Therefore, about everyone he said: “not a lot.” So, see the power of preaching, how it taught uneducated people such wise dogmas and how external wisdom turned out to be useless. 1 Corinthians 1:27. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong things; Indeed, it is a great shame for the Hellenes to see that a common artisan surpasses them in wisdom, and that the weak and despised humiliate the strong and rich. 1 Corinthians 1:28. And God chose the base things of the world and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are. He calls those who were considered to be nothing insignificant, and those who seemed to be something significant. So, in order to show these people as vain and useless, God chose those who were considered as nothing. When you hear: “He chose,” do not think that He necessarily wanted to choose the despised and reject the famous; no, but since the famous were proud of their wisdom and therefore did not accept the sermon, God found those most capable of accepting it who were not proud of anything. 1 Corinthians 1:29. So that no flesh should boast before God. For this purpose, he says, God acted in such a way as to overthrow the pride and boasting of those who thought about worldly things, and to convince them that they should attribute everything they received from Him to Him and not be vain before Him. How proud are you Corinthians of this? Note, by the way, that we were not foolish in saying that the outcasts are not worthy of preaching because of their pride. 1 Corinthians 1:30. From Him you are also in Christ Jesus. The word “from Him” means bringing not into being in general, but into a better being. The meaning of the words is this: you became children of God, and “of Him,” becoming His sons “in Christ,” that is, through Christ. By the words “he chose base things” he shows that they are nobler than all others, because they have God as their Father. 1 Corinthians 1:30. who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. That is, He made us wise, and righteous, and holy, and free; for this means “redemption,” that is, liberation from captivity. Further, just as, having chosen the ignoble, He made them noble, because He adopted them as sons of God, so He made the uneducated wise, Himself becoming wisdom for us. Why did he not say: he made us wise, but: “he became wisdom for us”? To express the abundance of the gift. It’s as if He said this: He gave Himself to us. Having used lofty expressions about the Son, he adds: “from God,” so that you would not consider Him (the Son) unborn, but would turn to His cause, to the Father. And notice the order: first, He made them wise, freeing them from error and teaching them the knowledge of God, then righteous, granting them remission of sins, then He sanctified them with the Holy Spirit, and thus gave us complete freedom and “redemption” from all evils, so that we belong only to Him and are in His power. 1 Corinthians 1:31. So that it may be as it is written: He who boasts, boast in the Lord (Jer. 9:24). All this, he says, was done so that no one would consider himself to be anything and would not boast either of himself or of anyone else, but only of God, Who has given us such great blessings. How proud are you of both yourself and your teachers - people? You might be interested in: