Sabbath: Paul’s Ministry in Corinth
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 27th of June 2026
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study
1 Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:1, Acts 17:16-34, 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, Acts 18:4-10, 2 Corinthians 2:4.
Memory Text:
“One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people’ ” (Acts 18:9-10, NRSV).
The great English missionary William Carey used to say that he cobbled shoes to pay his expenses, but his real business was winning souls.
Likewise, Paul worked as a tentmaker for a living (Acts 18:1-3), but his real business was, of course, winning people to Christ.
This week, we will get a glimpse of Paul’s ministry to the church in the city of Corinth. The church, as we will see, was full of problems, many that were not unlike what our churches face today, almost two thousand years later. Indeed, anyone who has been in Christianity for any length of time, or who has been involved in church work, could ask the question: Have you ever found a Christian group that doesn’t have any problems? The answer is, of course, obvious.
Paul faces challenges in Corinth but does so with the message of the Cross (1 Corinthians 2:2). Faithfulness to this message is also the way to face the challenges that we have today. As we will see this week and throughout this quarter, the message of 1 and 2 Corinthians applies to our lives, as well.
Corinth was a major city in New Testament times. It was situated on the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. That is the bit that is almost cut off from the mainland of Greece by the Corinth Canal. In those days they used to haul small ships across the narrow isthmus on rollers. The city was very cosmopolitan, with not only Greeks but also Romans and a large Jewish population. There was also an itinerant population of travellers, sailors and people with commercial interests.
It is probably not surprising that in such a mixed environment, life was a bit immoral. The ancient Greeks had a slang term, “korinthiazomai,” to mean “to act like a Corinthian”-in other words, to practice immorality. Just behind the city on the southern side was a mountain bluff, the Acrocorinth, with a temple to Aphrodite (goddess of love) on its summit.
This gives us a brief outline of the environment where Paul worked and built a Christian Church. It helps us understand some of the challenges he writes about in his epistles. While I was researching the Corinthian background, it struck me that our environment today is not all that different. Paul’s Corinthian epistles are potentially very relevant to us.
Paul reminded the believers in Corinth that the message of Christ crucified was offensive to human reasoning, writing, “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:22–23, NKJV). Yet God chose the cross—the very symbol of shame, suffering, and apparent defeat—to reveal His saving power, for “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25, NKJV). While the cross was the greatest demonstration of God’s love and power to redeem humanity, the message of the cross remains the only way lost humankind can be reconciled to God, for “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18, NKJV).
Something we should know is that during the time of the Apostle Paul (around AD 51), Corinth was a bustling, affluent Roman colony and the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. Situated on a strategic isthmus, its two vibrant ports made it a wealthy, diverse, and morally complex crossroads of the ancient world.
Yet Paul was commissioned to serve Corinth and other Gentile (pagan) regions throughout the vast Roman Empire.
Hold that thought…
That fact alone should be a catalyst for our mission. God wants them all—not only those already within the church. God’s mission crosses every boundary; it is never limited.
What a beautiful way to begin this quarter—with this powerful text. Read it again:
(Acts 18:9–10)
Paul’s books have featured more frequently in the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guides in the last five years.
1. 2022 Q1 (Jan–Mar) – In These Last Days: The Message of Hebrews
2. 2023 Q3 (Jul–Sep) – Ephesians
3. 2026 Q1 (Jan–Mar) – Uniting Heaven and Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians
4. 2026 Q3 (Jul–Sep) – First and Second Corinthians
This frequency is not by accident or a deliberate bias towards Pauline studies. I seem to see a deliberate orientation towards two critical aspects:
1) Salvation
2) Christian identity.
In all that we do as believers, we need to remind ourselves more urgently that our salvation draws ever closer than when we believed. In a world which is saturated with all sorts of beliefs, our identity as Christians is a matter which has eternal consequences. The time has come to make our calling and election sure.
“So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.” (2 Peter 1:10, NLT)