Analysis of Paul’s First Letter to The Corinthians (Essay Sample)

Analysis of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Analysis of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians
The church is a term translated from the Greek word, ekklesia, which refers to a congregation or an assembly of believers of Jesus Christ. The assembly was established under the leadership of Christ, with a mission to guide and direct people to the right path. Unfortunately, the church has evolved into a center of controversy. Different groups have sprouted with different ideals, threatening to split the unifying image of the entity. A review of the current church problems reveals great semblance to the issues that the church of the Corinthians faced. Paul highlights these problems in his letters, and instructs the Corinthians on how to solve them. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians captures these problems, which are also synonymous with the modern church. In I Cor. 1:10-17 (New International Version), he writes about the divisions in the church, the independence of thought, and cliquishness in the church as major themes rampant in the Corinthians church. Besides, he also debunks baptism as the sole path to salvation. 
In 1 Cor 1: 10, Paul addresses disunity in the church. He implores the church to agree on what to say and who to follow. Instead of following Christ, the members had opted to follow human leaders (Tyndale, 2019). This blind allegiance gave some church leaders clout, which almost turned the church into a cult. The members treated these leaders as superior beings, following them blindly, and agreeing to whatever they said without questioning them. In writing the book, Paul reminded Christians to commit to Christ alone. Such divisions are comparable to those of the modern church, where main churches are disintegrating to form small worship centers. The disintegration is not driven by the desire to spread the word of God but on the selfish gains of the disgruntled church leaders. The modern church features leaders who are hungry for power, riches, and fame. When they do not envision the power and glory coming while serving as subordinates, they decide to break away and form their churches. Sadly, these leaders continue with this rivalry by criticizing their parent churches, sowing further seeds of division among their members. 
The verse also addresses independence of thought as a theme through Paul’s definition of unity. He defines unity as an aspect of togetherness both in mind and spirit. The statement does not imply that congregants should think the same. People are innately different and have are bound to have different thoughts. Other scriptures by Paul also talk about the unity of thought. For example, In his letter to the Philippians, he states, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). The passage prompts us to ask how the mind of Christ thinks. Reading further, it reveals that the independence of thought on account of Christ involves the willingness to sacrifice rights and personal privileges, and the readiness to assume a lower place for the benefit of others. The passage challenges Christians to be ready to forego their desires for the sake of Christ. Unfortunately, this type of thinking is absent in the modern church. People are obsessed with power and wealth and will stretch to any length to achieve their desires. 
1 Cor. 1: 13 reveals the theme of cliquishness in the Corinthian church. In the verse, Paul asks the congregants whether Christ is divided, and whether himself was crucified for them. He warns Christians against such isolations as it divides the image of Christ, and puts it in parcels as though his work came in packages. He states that harboring such divided thoughts about Christ’s works makes one lose perspective of the whole doctrine of Christianity. Everyman has a role to play in the church, just as different parts of the body play specific roles (Díaz-Pabón, 2019). Christ is divided equally among all members of his church and, therefore, following one church member limits the Christian to only one side of Christ. Modern Christianity significantly features similar cliquishness, where congregants prefer to associate with certain members and isolate others. Paul states that a person who limits himself to one teacher gets a distorted view of Jesus Christ. He equates the belief to chopping Christ into little portions and taking one small piece. Christians should not entertain cliquishness in the church as it prevents them from enjoying a wholesome experience of Christ.
In 1 Cor. 1: 17, Paul closes the reading with insights on baptism as a manifestation of salvation. He states that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the gospel. The key concept in this address was the tendency of Christians to prioritize baptism, and to perceive the act as the primary means of salvation. Through the statement, Paul advises that salvation is independent of baptism. While the latter is essential as it is a way that believers identify with Jesus Christ, it should not be viewed as the sole means to salvation. If Paul had prioritized baptism as a means of salvation, he would have emphasized on people getting baptized. However, he emphasized the need for people to believe in the gospel to be saved. In modern society, baptism is still practiced as a means of salvation. For example, in the Roman Catholic Church, believers have to be baptized as a path to salvation. This lack of a clear relationship between baptism and salvation continues to be a mystery to most churches, making it difficult to explain to their members the need for baptism.
In the same verse, Paul addresses the tendency of the Corinthians to misinterpret the scriptures. For example, when Paul advised the Christians to focus preaching the gospel, his words were misinterpreted to mean that he was a