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Pelagius

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 465 passages across 8 books

Commentary

1–20 of 465
1 Corinthians 1:1

Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

By calling Sosthenes his brother, Paul is both demonstrating his own humility and pointing out that Sosthenes is a fellow worker in the gospel.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

1 Corinthians 1:2

Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

Paul is writing to those who have preserved their sanctity, not to those who have lost it. The former he honors with his letter; the latter he admonishes with his authority.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

1 Corinthians 1:5

That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;

When the Corinthians came to faith in Christ they were blessed with all grace. But now that they were no longer living according to their faith, they had made void the grace which they had received.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

1 Corinthians 1:7

So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Christ’s second coming is described as a revelation, because now it is hidden from us.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

1 Corinthians 1:17

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

Paul did not usurp the functions of the lower offices when he was able to exercise the higher ones. It would be as if nowadays a bishop or even a priest were to do the work of a deacon.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

1 Corinthians 1:22

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

The Jews want signs, because that is what the prophets gave them, but even then they do not believe. The Greeks, on the other hand, want clever academic arguments.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

1 Corinthians 1:24

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Note that Paul does not say that the divinity of Christ is God’s power and wisdom, but rather the pattern of the cross.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1

1 Corinthians 2:5

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Human wisdom is temporal. The power of God is eternal.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 2

1 Corinthians 2:8

Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Pilate, Caiaphas and the rest were condemned by their ignorance, because they should have known the truth. There are two kinds of heretics who misinterpret this passage. The first are the Apollinarians, and the second are the Arians. The Apollinarians are wrong because they do not accept that Christ’s human nature was perfect. The Arians err because they claim that the Word of God can suffer. Arius did not believe that it was the Lord of glory who took on a human nature, and therefore he thought that the Word, being only human, could suffer.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 2

1 Corinthians 2:16

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

We have the mind of Christ because we have the Holy Spirit.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 2

1 Corinthians 3:5

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

If Paul and Apollos counted for nothing, what can we say about those who glory in the flesh?

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

1 Corinthians 3:8

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

Paul points out that he and Apollos are merely hired hands on someone else’s farm. They have nothing apart from the payment they get for their labor.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

1 Corinthians 3:12

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

The house does not build itself; somebody has to put the walls up. This is the role of teachers in the church. The gold, silver, etc., represent six different types of hearers. Gold stands for good respondents, silver for better ones (because silver is stronger than gold) and precious stones for the best of all. Similarly, wood stands for bad people, hay for those who are worse and straw for the worst of all.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

1 Corinthians 3:13

Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

Gold, silver and precious stones will survive the fire of judgment, but wood, hay and straw will be burned up.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

1 Corinthians 3:20

And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

The thoughts of the wise contribute nothing to a person’s salvation.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 3

1 Corinthians 4:17

For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

Paul’s behavior was completely consistent with his teaching.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 4

1 Corinthians 6:1

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

This proves that there were no Christian judges at that time, because Paul refers to them all as “unrighteous.”

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 6

1 Corinthians 6:6

But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

There is a double sin here. First, they were taking each other to court, and secondly, they were going to court before unbelievers.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 6

1 Corinthians 6:11

And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

The Corinthians were not to bother about the sins they committed before baptism. All that should concern them now was that they should not sin again in the future.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 6

1 Corinthians 6:18

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

Fornication multiplies sins because two people are involved, and both perish together.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 6

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