The Benefits of Believing
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. – 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 (ESV)
Unfortunately, the world seeks wisdom but finds it in places devoid of absolute truth. If the Church is not careful, we can begin to mix our own biblical teaching with the culture of the world around us. This creates a polluted mix of truth and lies and makes the border between what the Bible teaches and what the world tells us harder and harder to see.
While this may seem like a 2025 problem, it is also the problem that the church in Corinth is facing. Paul is writing this letter to the Corinthians to encourage them to remain faithful to the teachings of God and to guard themselves against letting too much of the world into their lives. In this book, we will find wisdom for our times, just as the church at Corinth found wisdom for themselves.