And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Paul continued a year and six months in Corinth teaching the word of God among them, in a major center marked by idolatry, gross immorality and corruption. He remained there in obedience to Christ's night vision commanding him not to fear but to speak, with the promise of Christ's presence, protection and much people in the city. His teaching pointed them to the crucified and risen Savior as the only means of salvation, urging repentance toward God and faith in Jesus with practical godliness and holiness as its aim. The work raised up a large and flourishing church of Jews and Gentiles, with many truly converted from darkness to light, including the most dissipated Gentiles as monuments of God's mercy. His staying a year and a half in one place gives the pattern for work in large cities to be continued patiently and long instead of closing too soon to move to a new field.
Context and Length of Stay
Paul remained in Corinth a year and six months teaching the word of God among its people. That long stay took place in a city marked by idolatry and gross immorality and corruption. Corinth was a city of pleasure-loving merchants, yet its importance as a major center made it a place where truth could be established.
Corinth served as his headquarters while he also worked among nearby cities by personal visits and by letters. His extended and successful ministry there strengthened his influence beyond Corinth. Together with his fellow workers he helped establish several churches, and the letters he sent cared for the churches during his absences and were read in them as the word of God delivered through him.
He stayed and taught in obedience to Christ's night vision commanding him not to be afraid but to speak and not hold his peace. The vision carried the promise of Christ's presence and protection from harm and of much people in the city as guarantee of increase to the seed sown. He had grown weary of the sight and hearing of corruption, grieved by Gentile depravity and by Jewish contempt and insult. Doubting the wisdom of building a church from such material and planning to leave for a more promising field while anxious to know his duty, he was strengthened and encouraged to labor there with great zeal and perseverance.
Teaching and Its Fruit
During those eighteen months he pointed the Corinthians to the crucified and risen Saviour as the only means of salvation and urged them to depend fully and implicitly on the transforming power of His grace. His teaching centered on Christ crucified and on salvation through repentance toward God and faith in Jesus, with practical godliness and holiness as its aim. Before admitting professing Christians to church fellowship he gave them special instruction concerning the privileges and duties of Christian believers and helped them remain faithful to their baptismal vows.
He labored among the believers there with deeper interest and more untiring effort than for any others, working untiringly to strengthen and confirm those who were young in the faith. He presented the gospel simply, relying on the power of the Spirit rather than on human wisdom, and adapted his teaching to what the believers could understand. He taught them the basic truths of the faith because they were spiritually immature and not yet able to receive deeper instruction. At the same time he entreated them to make an entire surrender to God, knowing that when the soul fails to make this surrender sin is not forsaken, appetites and passions still strive for the mastery, and temptations confuse the conscience.
That labor raised up a large and flourishing church made up of Jews and Gentiles, demonstrating the divine character of his mission. The Gentile converts were more numerous than the Jewish converts, and many of them were truly converted from darkness into the light of the gospel. Among them were true converts from even the most dissipated Gentiles, who became monuments of God's mercy and of the cleansing power of Christ's blood from sin. The Gentiles were in a more favorable condition than the Jews to receive the truth, because they were not walled in by the maxims and traditions of priests and elders.
His work at Corinth afterward formed part of the Gentile ministry he reported to the brethren at Jerusalem. His account included the difficulties and divisions among the Corinthian believers.
Pattern for Mission Labor
The eighteen months of teaching the word of God at Corinth stand as an example of laboring beyond one's own churches and carrying truth to people in error and in the darkness of error. They call God's workers to branch out more than they are doing and to make the world their field of labor rather than working for the churches only. That sustained teaching raised up a large and flourishing church composed of Jews and Gentiles, demonstrating the divine character of the mission. The Gentile converts were more numerous than the Jewish converts, and many were truly converted from darkness into the light of the gospel, for the Gentiles were in a more favorable condition than the Jews to receive truth because they were not walled in by the maxims and traditions of priests and elders.
Staying a year and a half in one place and a year in another gives the pattern for work in large cities to be continued patiently and long in one field. The effort is to remain in one place teaching the word of God among the people instead of closing the work too soon and going to a new field. Haste to close an effort wastes half the effort and brings great loss, so closing too soon loses one half of the effort.
Paul continued a year and six months in Corinth teaching the word of God among them, in a major center marked by idolatry, gross immorality and corruption. He remained there in obedience to Christ's night vision commanding him not to fear but to speak, with the promise of Christ's presence, protection and much people in the city. His teaching pointed them to the crucified and risen Savior as the only means of salvation, urging repentance toward God and faith in Jesus with practical godliness and holiness as its aim. The work raised up a large and flourishing church of Jews and Gentiles, with many truly converted from darkness to light, including the most dissipated Gentiles as monuments of God's mercy. His staying a year and a half in one place gives the pattern for work in large cities to be continued patiently and long instead of closing too soon to move to a new field.
Context and Length of Stay
Paul remained in Corinth a year and six months teaching the word of God among its people. That long stay took place in a city marked by idolatry and gross immorality and corruption. Corinth was a city of pleasure-loving merchants, yet its importance as a major center made it a place where truth could be established.
Corinth served as his headquarters while he also worked among nearby cities by personal visits and by letters. His extended and successful ministry there strengthened his influence beyond Corinth. Together with his fellow workers he helped establish several churches, and the letters he sent cared for the churches during his absences and were read in them as the word of God delivered through him.
He stayed and taught in obedience to Christ's night vision commanding him not to be afraid but to speak and not hold his peace. The vision carried the promise of Christ's presence and protection from harm and of much people in the city as guarantee of increase to the seed sown. He had grown weary of the sight and hearing of corruption, grieved by Gentile depravity and by Jewish contempt and insult. Doubting the wisdom of building a church from such material and planning to leave for a more promising field while anxious to know his duty, he was strengthened and encouraged to labor there with great zeal and perseverance.
Teaching and Its Fruit
During those eighteen months he pointed the Corinthians to the crucified and risen Saviour as the only means of salvation and urged them to depend fully and implicitly on the transforming power of His grace. His teaching centered on Christ crucified and on salvation through repentance toward God and faith in Jesus, with practical godliness and holiness as its aim. Before admitting professing Christians to church fellowship he gave them special instruction concerning the privileges and duties of Christian believers and helped them remain faithful to their baptismal vows.
He labored among the believers there with deeper interest and more untiring effort than for any others, working untiringly to strengthen and confirm those who were young in the faith. He presented the gospel simply, relying on the power of the Spirit rather than on human wisdom, and adapted his teaching to what the believers could understand. He taught them the basic truths of the faith because they were spiritually immature and not yet able to receive deeper instruction. At the same time he entreated them to make an entire surrender to God, knowing that when the soul fails to make this surrender sin is not forsaken, appetites and passions still strive for the mastery, and temptations confuse the conscience.
That labor raised up a large and flourishing church made up of Jews and Gentiles, demonstrating the divine character of his mission. The Gentile converts were more numerous than the Jewish converts, and many of them were truly converted from darkness into the light of the gospel. Among them were true converts from even the most dissipated Gentiles, who became monuments of God's mercy and of the cleansing power of Christ's blood from sin. The Gentiles were in a more favorable condition than the Jews to receive the truth, because they were not walled in by the maxims and traditions of priests and elders.
His work at Corinth afterward formed part of the Gentile ministry he reported to the brethren at Jerusalem. His account included the difficulties and divisions among the Corinthian believers.
Pattern for Mission Labor
The eighteen months of teaching the word of God at Corinth stand as an example of laboring beyond one's own churches and carrying truth to people in error and in the darkness of error. They call God's workers to branch out more than they are doing and to make the world their field of labor rather than working for the churches only. That sustained teaching raised up a large and flourishing church composed of Jews and Gentiles, demonstrating the divine character of the mission. The Gentile converts were more numerous than the Jewish converts, and many were truly converted from darkness into the light of the gospel, for the Gentiles were in a more favorable condition than the Jews to receive truth because they were not walled in by the maxims and traditions of priests and elders.
Staying a year and a half in one place and a year in another gives the pattern for work in large cities to be continued patiently and long in one field. The effort is to remain in one place teaching the word of God among the people instead of closing the work too soon and going to a new field. Haste to close an effort wastes half the effort and brings great loss, so closing too soon loses one half of the effort.