1Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, 2by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. 9For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.
12Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. 14If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain. 15Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised. 17If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. 18Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
20But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep. 21For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming. 24Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God the Father, when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him. 28When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.
29Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead? 30Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour? 31I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 32If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 33Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.” 34Wake up righteously and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?” 36You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies. 37That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind. 38But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. 39All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. 40There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. 41There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable. 43It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
45So also it is written, “The first man Adam became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46However, that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. 47The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. 48As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly. 50Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.
51Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55“Death, where is your sting?
Hades, where is your victory?”
56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
The Apostle Paul identifies himself as the writer of 1 Corinthians twice within the epistle (1:1-2; 16:21). Pauline authorship of 1 Corinthians is almost unanimously accepted throughout Biblical scholarship. Clement of Rome (ca. A.D. 95), one of the earliest Church Fathers, confirmed Paul's authorship in his To the Corinthians (ch. 47). Pauline authorship was also confirmed by Polycarp, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian. 1 Corinthians was one of the most quoted of Paul's epistles in the writings of the early Church Fathers.
Paul probably wrote 1 Corinthians while ministering at Ephesus during his third missionary journey. In 1 Corinthians 16:8 Paul says that he would remain in Ephesus until Pentecost. This, coupled with Acts 20:31, indicates that the time of writing was in the last year of his three-year stay in Ephesus. That would place the date of the epistle in the spring of A.D. 55/56. Most likely, Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus carried the epistle from Ephesus to Corinth (see 1 Cor 16:18). The church would have been about four to five years old when they received the first Corinthian letter (see "Church at Corinth" for founding date).
Paul had left Corinth with Aquilla and Priscilla in the spring A.D. 53 to continue his second missionary journey. On his third journey, during his stay at Ephesus, he received word from the Corinthian believers. Paul's main purpose in this first letter to the Corinthians was to respond to the two pieces of correspondence he had received from the people of Chloe's house and from the church.
First, Paul had received a disturbing report from the household of Chloe (1:11). The report centered on divisions and on immorality in the church. These problems arose because the young Corinthian church had failed to protect itself from the decadent culture of the city. The immaturity of the Corinthians had given way to sectarian divisions. Believers rallied under the names of men in factions rather than uniting under the name of Christ (3:1-9). The pride that characterized Corinth had seeped into the church and divided it because men and their wisdom had been exalted over God's (3:18-23).
Chloe's household had also reported to Paul that the Corinthian believers were dragging each other into the pagan courts to settle their disputes (6:1). The arguments grew from their immature divisive spirits, while their desire to settle differences in pagan courts instead of the church illustrated their inflated estimation of human wisdom. Paul also confronted the sexual immorality that had grown in the church. Paul in a previous letter (not preserved by God for the church) had warned the believers to deal strongly with fornicators in their midst (5:9-11), but evidently the church had not corrected their negligence.
Second, Paul answered inquiries delivered from Corinth by Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus (16:15-18). The believers had questions concerning several practical issues and on proper worship. Paul first dealt with obligations of marriage and singleness (7:1-40). He emphasized the importance of each one being content to live in the state that God had called them. Paul then developed a lengthy section (8:1-11:1) to answer concerns about Christian liberty in a depraved culture. Paul purposed not to strangle their liberty, but to protect them from falling back into idolatry. His guiding principle for liberty was God's glory. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (10:31).
Following this, Paul gave the Corinthians principles for orderly worship. Paul taught the believers concerning women's decorum in worship services whenever they would participate in public prophesying and praying (11:2-16) and then reminds his readers of the solemnity which ought to characterize the observance of the Lord's supper (11:17-34). Paul closes the section with an extended discourse on the place of spiritual gifts in the church. Though the church had been considerably gifted, their immaturity and pride caused many abuses of their gifts. Paul reminds them that their spiritual gifts came from God (12:11) and that they ought to serve to unify and edify His body (12:24-25; 14:1-4). Within this section, Paul wrote the great love chapter (ch. 13). The attitude behind the exercising of spiritual gifts was to be love, the fruit of the Spirit, which, in turn, was generated by the filling of the Spirit.
Before Paul closed his letter, he corrected a doctrinal matter within the church by writing the most detailed New Testament apologetic for the resurrection of Christ and Christians (15:1-58). To a church shot through with problems, this chapter became a fountain of encouragement bursting forth from the victory wrought by God through the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ (15:57).
The major purpose of 1 Corinthians was the correction of Christian conduct. Paul's eighteen months of intense labor and his deep compassion for the Corinthian church moved him to answer the reported problems quickly. He purposed to rebuke the immature pride that had caused the divisions, litigations and abuse of spiritual gifts. He sought also to instruct his readers in relationships, in Christian freedoms, in worship and in the doctrine of the resurrection.