Paul concludes his lengthy letter with some final instructions, his travel plans, final commands, and his prayer for them.

Paul is going to show us that God must transform the corruptible and mortal bodies of dead and living believers, into incorruptible and immortal bodies in order to defeat death triumphantly. Because Christ’s victory is our victory we can persevere.

God does not simply give life to our earthly bodies at the resurrection, but God resurrects and transforms our earthly bodies into heavenly bodies. We are going to see that there will be both continuity and discontinuity between our earthly body and heavenly body.

Paul argues that if God does not raise the dead, then Christ has not been raised and if Christ has not been raised, then there are some horrible consequences. However, if Christ has been raised, believers can know that God will raise those who belong to Christ and thus destroy death.

In our text today Paul is encouraging the church that when they gather for corporate worship, they must use their spiritual gifts not only to build up one another, but they must also do it in an orderly way. Paul provides practical instructions on how they should exercise their spiritual gifts in the corporate worship gathering.

In our text today Paul is going to show them that if they are exercising their spiritual gifts in love, their main concern then would be the building up of the church, especially when gathering for corporate worship. That would mean at times they would put some spiritual gifts to the side and exercise other spiritual gifts. Because there are some spiritual gifts that are more edifying in the gathering of corporate worship than others.

In our passage today, Paul is going to show them that no matter what spiritual gift the Spirit gives and empowers them with, that gift does not benefit anyone unless they use it in love. Love is not a spiritual gift. Love is essential for using spiritual gifts and is more important than spiritual gifts.

As Paul is addressing the issue regarding spiritual gifts, Paul is showing the church that God is the giver of diverse spiritual gifts to a united church. We will discover the purpose and power of spiritual gifts.

In our text today, as Paul is addressing the abuse of the Lord’s Supper, Paul is going to reveal the underline problem, the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper, the appropriate approach to the Lord’s Supper and the solution to their problem.

Paul is addressing the wearing of head coverings. We cannot understand this text without understanding the historical-cultural context. We discover that men wore head coverings during corporate worship to flaunt their social status and women removed their head coverings to flaunt their rebellion and life of promiscuity. Paul shows them that men wearing heading coverings during corporate worship dishonors Christ and women who remove their head coverings dishonor their husbands.

Paul is finishing addressing the issue of eating food offered to idols that Christians must not participate in eating food sacrifices to idols if it leads to the participation in worshipping idols. For a Christian cannot participate in the Lord’s Supper and participate in pagan religious ceremony. Instead, he instructs the church to glorify God by building up others in everything they do.

Paul in our text is going to give us the reason why it is so important for a Christian to live like a Christian. Because our eternal life depends on it. So, we must exercise self-control and flee from idolatry.

As Paul continues to address the issue of eating food offered to idols, he uses his lifestyle as an example to imitate, that there are times where we give up some of our rights for the sake of the gospel.

1 Corinthians 8 goes far beyond whether or not the people in Corinth should eat meat offered to idols. Paul teaches us that true knowledge doesn’t lead to pride. Rather, true knowledge leads us to love God and love one another. We are created by God and exist for him in Christ Jesus.

Paul is going to address engaged people who are planning to get married and whether they should pursue marriage. Some of the Corinthians might have believed that it was sinful to get married considering the “present distress”, and Paul responded that it is not sinful, but may not be the most prudent. The work that we need to do to understand the text and apply it to our lives is to understand what Paul meant by the “present distress” and take a closer look at his recommendations.

As Paul is addressing the issue of divorce, he is addressing two groups of people and for each group he describes the ideal situation and the not so ideal situation. The first group are the people that are married, and the second group are the Christians who are married to non-believers. Paul lays out the general principle that should guide each one in the various situations.

Paul gives the church of Corinth instructions and wisdom about marriage and singleness. Paul shows us that both marriage and singleness are a gift from the Lord and the way we navigate through this is to lead the life the Lord has assigned us.

Paul is addressing the issue of sexual immorality, where some Corinthian men are defending their behavior by using common slogans among the Corinthians. Paul would take their slogan and refute their arguments with gospel truths by reminding them of who they are in Christ and what Christ has done for them.

There seems to be much confusion when it comes to church membership. The Bible does not explicitly command church membership. Nowhere in Scripture does it say, “that you must join a local church.” However, the Bible does something far better. The Bible expands the relationship between the church and its members with a series of metaphors that shapes our identity and challenges our inclination to individualism, self-sufficiency, and pride.

In our passage today, Paul is addressing the third of ten major issues in the letter: Bringing lawsuits against one another. Paul is rebuking the Corinthians not just for having disputes, but for how they are dealing with and attempting to settle them. The problem is that here is another area in which these Christians are still embracing their worldly values.

Church discipline should not be a burden, but rather is a gift and opportunity to proclaim the gospel to one another and to grow in our understanding of the gospel. In our text today, Paul is going to show us the reason why church discipline is for our good and clarify any misunderstandings.

Today, as we look at the second issue that Paul is addressing in his letter, we see Paul using the same main message. The gospel requires God’s holy people to mature in purity. They must become what they are. What Paul is presenting to the church in dealing with this problem is church discipline.

Over time the church of Corinth began to imitate the values of their worldly culture. It began to influence how they viewed one another, the church, and the role of leaders in the church. Paul has been showing them that God’s wisdom is contrary to worldly wisdom. Now he is going to take that principle and apply it to their approach to church leaders and then appeal to them that instead of imitating their worldly values, they should imitate him as he follows Christ.

Paul continues to address the issue of division with a rebuke, warnings, and an exhortation. This passage assumes three things about believers in Christ. We are God’s holy temple, built on the foundation of Christ’s work and filled with God’s Spirit. We are still capable of profound spiritual immaturity and living like people of the flesh. We have the Holy Spirit and because of the Holy Spirit at work in us, we can respond with repentance when confronted with our sin.

Paul reminds the church in Corinth of two truths: His message about a crucified Savior might seem weak and is proclaimed out of weakness, but it is a demonstration of the Spirit’s Power. God reveals his wisdom about this crucified Savior through His Spirit.

The church in Corinth had many problems, and at times one wonders if they were truly a church. When Paul wrote to them, he addressed them as the people of God, set apart by God as holy and saints. He wanted to remind them of who they are in Christ. By reminding them of who they are in Christ, he will instruct them of how they should live. We learn that we must become practically what God has made us positionally before Him through His Son Jesus Christ.