The mind of Christ

When it came to Bible study time, the believers at Corinth had no New Testament to delve into. They had access to the Old Testament writings but the teachings about Jesus were not yet captured into a New Testament canon.

Today we can use the Bible as a standard but what could they do in Corinth? As they were being tempted to follow the teachers of their culture, what standard helped them evaluate the words of these speakers?

Paul had to establish the authority of the apostles and he did so in the middle of 1 Cor 2. There, he reminded the church at Corinth that "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." (1 Cor 2:12)

The "we" in that statement refers to the apostles. These apostles were speaking from what the Spirit of God was giving them.

He explains further: "This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words." (1 Cor 2:13 )

Their words were from God, not their own opinions. Their teaching was not to sooth human understanding but to express God's truth.

Other teachers might use eloquent words or popular rationalizations, but Paul spoke truth from God. That was why the people should listen. Not because of his talented oratory but because of God's message.

Paul knew this authority had to be established early in his letter for the rest of his teaching to be effective. We recognize 1 Corinthians as inspired by God - and Paul needed the church at Corinth to recognize the same thing.

He closed chapter 2 with a powerful reminder: "But we have the mind of Christ."
1 Cor 2:16