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Slogans like, “She’ll be right”, are just part of our everyday speech. But some slogans like “my body my choice” are deeper than just catchphrases, they capture secular creeds, deeply held beliefs in society. When adopted uncritically, such creeds can shape our lives in ways that are inconsistent with our Christian faith. As Paul gets to this part of his letter, he begins to expose some of the secular creeds of the Corinthian society captured in catchy slogans, that Christians there had adopted uncritically and which drove their behaviour, perhaps even unknowingly. Specifically, he challenges them on the secular view of their bodies, showing that for Christians, our bodies belong to Christ because he has bought us at a price and therefore, we must use them to glorify God rather than gratify bodily desires.

This section of 1 Corinthians can be hard to define around a single idea. As Corinth comes back into God’s mob, Paul certainly exposes the prevalence of sexual immorality amongst God’s mob. And underlying this is an exposure of their ‘judgement’ – their faulty judgement (in chapter 5), their swiftness to judgement in today’s passage, and their inability to judge clearly as we finish chapter 6. As Paul writes to them, he wants to confront them with the reality of their eschatological identity: they are God’s mob, grabbed by God, to reflect God to the world, to call the world back to God through the Lord of all things, Jesus. And so, their judgement must reflect this! Their forever identity must be expressed in their today living – and this is critical because it is God’s means to declare to the world the need to return to Jesus.

Paul has described himself as a father to the Corinthians and perhaps to us, given his writings in the New Testament. There are some great things about being a father. There’s fun like playing games, singing, running, holidays, gelato hunting, cooking and enjoying a great meal together. There’s also the part of fatherhood that is rewarding. Seeing children grow and learn. To teach them, to instruct them, to see the lights come on as they learn to love the Lord their God with their whole heart, soul, mind and strength and love their neighbour as themselves. That’s rewarding. But there’s the not-so-fun category. There are times that discipline is necessary and it’s not fun, it’s hard, it’s painful, it tears you up inside. But it is essential. It’s just the same in the church. There’s fun times, there’s rewarding times. Sadly, sometimes there are times where discipline is essential and hard. We’ll see today why Paul says it is essential in removing the old leaven. Praise God that if we are in Christ the old leaven has been thrown out because our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us.

Talk 3 - 30 Aug 2026

Talk 2 - 29 Aug 2026

Talk 1 - 29 Aug 2026

Arrogance. I don’t know anybody who likes an arrogant person. Two things stand out about arrogance: it is so self-serving and it is so corrosive of unity within a group of people. Adam and Eve were tremendously arrogant toward their creator when they did not listen to his warning, disobeyed and committed that first sin. They put themselves over God and it resulted in broken fellowship. As Paul has responded to the report of division among believers in the Corinthian church, he has reminded them of their humble beginnings. He has reminded them of the contrast between God’s way and the world’s way. He has reminded them of the absolute centrality of Christ crucified for sins. His goal – to unite them in Christ. They are one household built on one foundation and they have let other worldly things, and their own desire for self-promotion, pull them apart. Their arrogance has been a big part of creating this division. Paul knows these folk well and would be greatly grieved by the damage done to their unity and their witness. Today’s passage wraps up Paul’s initial response to this division. He will turn to a different problem in Chapter 5.

Paul’s argument – that the Corinthians have let Corinth back into God’s church, and so undermined the message (‘Christ crucified’) and job (‘proclaim him to the world’) given them by God – is being examined in the context of God’s mob becoming divided by buying back into the culture of personality leadership (‘I follow Apollos…’). His dealing with this first manifestation of ‘Corinth back in’ goes all the way to the end of chapter 4. In this section – 1 Corinthians 3 – Paul wants God’s mob to get a right view of their leadership. Their unwillingness to grow in maturity as God’s mob (vs.1-4) and their self-deception about true wisdom (vs.18-23) bookend his examination of their understanding of leadership in God’s mob: true leadership in God’s mob is not about personality or influence or a power-base or which leader you might like or identify with; true leadership is serving God, with the role God has given, so ‘Christ crucified’ is proclaimed and practiced. Anything else is leadership that poaches from God, empties the proclamation of ‘Christ crucified’, and fails to enable God’s mob to be who he has made them.

In the first chapters of his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul locates the source of their ungodly behaviour in their failure to marvel at the wisdom and power of God displayed in the cross of Christ. For as long as they continue to be impressed by human wisdom and power instead, they will remain immature in their faith and persist in worldly living. It’s by the grace of God through his gift of the Spirit that anyone comes to truly see the glory of God displayed in the crucified Christ.

Corinth is the place you came to, to make your name, to disappear, to gain your fame. It was a town built on commerce, on the deal, on being connected to the right people. It was a town renowned for its cosmopolitan life, for its ability to make you, for its connections. Paul came to this town with a message which was none of these. As a travelling tentmaker, who was an eyewitness of Jesus, there was not much to recommend Paul. And his message didn’t help: that Jesus is THE Christ, that he died and rose again, and this can restore any person who trusts in him to God, bringing them into God’s mob. In a world where reputations made or broke people, where wit and wealth got you ahead, where your connections made you, such a message seemed stupid, foolish, hopeless. But such a message was actually the display of God’s nature – his power, his wisdom, his grace. And when God’s mob didn’t live this message, the power of God’s work was tarnished, emptied, undermined.

There is a certain particularity about winning the World Cup – it is an exclusive club, with not many members. It makes you a part of human history in a pretty special way. It changes your life, your identity. But, let me be blunt, it is one of many particular and ‘unique’ clubs in this world. Being a Christian – one of God’s mob, part of the eternal community called the ‘church’ – well, that is particular in a truly unique way. It means that you describe God as ‘Father’. It means that Jesus is your ‘Lord’. It means that you are set aside to relate rightly to God. It means that you can relate rightly with God. It means that you are joined to a global and eternal community that will never disappear. It means that your life reflects the community you are now part of, solely and completely and uniquely. Church – being one of God’s mob – is not one of a series of clubs or loyalties that shape you – it is the fundamental identity that shapes everything! And Paul wants God’s mob in Corinth to know – and live – this.

In Philippians 4:11-13, Paul says it is by learning the secret of contentment ie. that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us because, through a relationship with Christ, Christians learn to have confidence in God and in his promise of salvation. In Philippians 1:12-30, Paul says that the purpose of learning this secret of contentment is that we might follow in the example of our Lord Jesus and suffer all things for the sake of the gospel, to the glory of God.

Paul’s secret to contentment is that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. Because through Christ, Christians have been given access to the riches of the glory of God, the fullness of his character that makes him worthy of praise. However, life’s hardships and opposition to the gospel undermine our confidence in God and in his promise to share his glory fully with us on the day when Jesus returns. In Philippians 3, Paul shares his testimony of finding this confidence in his relationship with Jesus and therefore pursuing the glory of God instead of the passing glory of earthly things.

How do Christians endure opposition and hardship in the service of God? Christians are commissioned to proclaim the gospel to all nations and to do so in the face of opposition and hardship. The apostle Paul endured strong opposition and hardship in his gospel ministry and in his letter to the Philippian church offers tips for endurance. In Phil 4:11-13, Paul shares with the church the secret of being content in all circumstances that has allowed him to persevere in gospel ministry. Paul is able to do all things through Christ who strengthens him. We examine the rest of Paul’s letter to understand what he means by contentment in Christ Jesus.

The question of the future of humanity has occupied the minds of both the religious and non-religious alike throughout history. Both camps envision a utopian future for humanity but disagree on what it will look like or even how to get there. However, both camps agree that key to unlocking that future is overcoming the problem of death. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul argues that the resurrection of Jesus guarantees bodily resurrection for all Christians because it solves the cause of death and sin. Jesus’s resurrection also guarantees the condemnation of all God’s enemies and ushers in an eternal reign of his righteous rule over humanity.