Temple of Apollo, Corinth  Photo: ©  Adobe Stock Images

The Church in Corinth

A Spirit-Filled Fellowship      

The Church in Corinth was planted by Paul, Silas and Timothy in c 52AD, as described in ACTS 18:1-28.  Corinth was a bustling seaport filled with sailors and temples to all sorts of Greek and Roman deities, including Aphrodite, goddess of love, where ritual prostitution was part of the worship. In 1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-11 Paul says the fellowship included former thieves, prostitutes, murderers, adulterers, alcoholics and swindlers. All of them had been saved by God's grace and mercy, through faith in Jesus' blood shed on the Cross at Calvary so their sins might be forgiven, and had been born again by a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit and filled with the Spirit to live new lives in Christ.

A Typical Church Service In Corinth

Paul summarises a typical meeting in 1 CORINTHIANS 14:26 by saying it was characterised by

•  Praise and worship
•  Teaching
•  Prophecy
•  Tongues and interpretation of tongues

The problem was their meetings often descended into chaos through a lack of wisdom and genuine agape-love for one another. That's why Paul wrote several letters to the Church in Corinth, teaching them how to exercise THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT in the way God intended.