A STUDY IN CORINTHIANS
by J. RICHARD CHASE Paul is not saying that his mes sage is Jesus only, that is, simply an evangelistic message and then there is nothing more. The entire book of I Corinthians is a compen dium of teaching that Paul gave to them that went beyond the simple message of salvation in Christ. Paul is saying, "I determined that the single thing that you need more than anything else was to know Christ as your personal Savior." There are three basic things that Paul determined to know, things that Paul understood about these people that shaped the kind of message that he was to preach. First of all, he knew his listeners. Secondly, we are going to see that he knew the content of an effec tive message. And we are going to close by noting that Paul knew the source of power for a Gospel mes sage. Let us look now at the concept of knowing your listeners. Paul is not an inexperienced public speak er. He knew the individuals to whom he would be communicat ing. When he analyzed his listen ers he realized that they needed a Saviour. They needed the founda tion for eternal life. So he did not try to present some peculiar doc- Page 41
Public speakers in Paul's day fre quently went to oratorical extremes to impress their listeners. Paul's approach was entirely different. Paul says in I Corinthians 2:2, “ For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." “Determined" is frequently translated as “judge" or "the judgment." The word has both the idea of judging in the judgmental sense and making dis tinctions. Here Paul uses “deter mined" in the sense of distinctions or evaluating. In essence, he is saying, "I came to Corinth and I wanted to present the message that would be most effective for you people. I analyzed the ideas that perhaps you are familiar with, I thought of the many things that I could discuss with you, perhaps ways in which I could lead you slowly to an appreciation of Christ." Or he might even have thought, “ I was thinking how could I get through to these people that they might live a more acceptable life, a more moral life." He said, "I de termined when I came. I selected and evaluated all my courses of ac tion to know simply Christ and Him crucified."
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