by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
The Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized into Christ. Thus, by the Spirit they were baptized into one <\/b>body. They were washed, sanctified, and justified (cf. I Corinthians 6:9-11). Paul could write to them as the ‘saints in Corinth’. Yet<\/strong>, they had problems.<\/p>\n They began as we all do, as ‘babes in Christ<\/em>,’ but they didn’t grow up spiritually. They got sidetracked by pursuing things that were spiritually childish. To grow up is to put off the things of childhood and put on things of maturity. As we read through the letters to the churches, it becomes apparent that churches, like the people that make them up, have differing personalities. While all churches had problems being what God wanted for them, they were yet a collection of God’s people. Hence the church at Corinth is ‘the church of God that is in Corinth<\/em>‘ (I Corinthians 1:2).<\/p>\n As you read through Corinthians, you will see that instead of pursuing holiness, righteousness, peace, and godliness, they were yet worldly. They were worldly not just about materialism, but of the very attitudes and aspirations of worldly people. They were enamored with teachers. One was embroiled in a public case of incest, and the church was complacent and accepting of such a relationship. They were yet struggling with greed concerning worldly possessions. Some were struggling with idolatry, and others were rather hard-hearted concerning such struggle. They had corrupted the Lord’s supper and, in the name of ‘liberty,’ abandoned the roles that God had given for men and women. They were puffed up, proud, arrogant, and divisive over spiritual gifts, thinking that they were for personal aggrandizement instead of building each other up spiritually. Some had begun denying a future resurrection. Wow!<\/p>\n Even with all of this, Paul did not give up on them as a church, and neither did God. Such problems could be overcome, but not without difficulty. The greatest difficulty is learning to love God with all their heart and to love each other as brethren. They needed to grow up and take responsibility for their character before God. They needed to consider each other and the needs of the church above their own selfish interests. They needed a healthy dose of the fear of the Lord, which is the true beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). Paul would warn them that they would all stand before the judgment seat of Christ (II Corinthians 5:10). Paul warned them that causing division and destroying the body of God’s people would be met by the wrath of God. They needed to realize that they had to come out from such worldly thinking and grow in holiness (II Corinthians 6:17-18).<\/p>\n I have often wondered if we would fit right into this church! Would we stand out as the spiritual light among such people of stunted holiness? Perhaps we would have just given up on such brethren and walked away. Even worse, would we become so disgusted with ‘religious people’ that we lose our faith in God? Being part of God’s people is not always easy. Being part of a group that needs to grow is a challenge – a challenge to not become complacent. Teaching and admonishing brethren when they don’t appreciate it, don’t receive it readily, and don’t appear to be growing is difficult.<\/p>\n “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain<\/em>” (I\u00a0Corinthians 15:58).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Hugh DeLong The Corinthians heard, believed, and were baptized into Christ. Thus, by the Spirit they were baptized into one body. They were washed, sanctified, and justified (cf. I Corinthians 6:9-11). Paul could write to them as the ‘saints in Corinth’. Yet, they had problems. They began as we all do, as ‘babes in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[328],"class_list":["post-97518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-corinthians"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50807,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-women-forbidden-to-speak-in-corinth-because-they-were-prostitutes\/","url_meta":{"origin":97518,"position":0},"title":"Were women forbidden to speak in Corinth because they were prostitutes?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Questions: I was told that women in the church of Corinth were prostitutes and that is why they couldn't speak in the church. And that does not have anything to do with the other churches. Answer: \"I was told\" makes a useless source. The most detailed information we have about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42087,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-church-membership\/","url_meta":{"origin":97518,"position":1},"title":"My “Church” Membership","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edward O. Bragwell, Sr. I am not a member of a denomination called \"Church of Christ\" or \"Churches of Christ\" or a denomination with any other name. The local church where I regularly attend is not a congregation of the \"Church of Christ\" denomination. Yet, I have been a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67187,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/denominationalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":97518,"position":2},"title":"Denominationalism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Denominationalism today is not just about one particular doctrine but a mindset that relates to how we think about the Lord's body. Denominational thinking perceives the church (universal) as comprised of an interconnected web of congregations instead of seeing the church as comprised of individual Christians without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/running-from-church-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":97518,"position":3},"title":"Running from Church Problems","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Richard Blackford When a church has problems, the first inclination is to run from it and find a perfect congregation that doesn't have problems. I know that feeling. I've had it too. Of course, honesty compels us to admit that this is the easy way out. \"After all, my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4091,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/let-women-keep-silent-in-the-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":97518,"position":4},"title":"Let Women Keep Silent in the Churches","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by W. Frank Walton \"The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says\"\u00a0(I\u00a0Corinthians 14:34). What is the silence Paul enjoins upon women? Is it absolute in every situation or is it qualified\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92291,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/division-in-a-local-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":97518,"position":5},"title":"Division in a Local Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert L. McDonald via Expository Review, November 1984 \"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97518\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}