• Avoid contention and be unified.
• Rely on the Spirit rather than on the wisdom of the world.
• Be morally clean.

Introduction to Corinthians

"In Paul's day, Corinth was a large and prosperous Greek trading center.  Although most of its population was pagan, many Jews lived there also.  During his second missionary journey, Paul stayed in Corinth for eighteen months, establishing a branch of the Church there.  The converts had committed to forsake the wicked ways of their city, but Paul apparently received reports that some of them had formed cliques and divisions, committed sexual sins, taken their brethren to court, trusted in the wisdom of men, squabbled over minor points of doctrine, returned to pagan practices, perverted the sacrament, and denied the Resurrection.  In addition, the Judaizers (Jewish Christians who still clung to the Mosaic law) were trying to discredit Paul.  Paul's letter to the Saints in Corinth was intended to respond to these disquieting reports." (Gospel Doctrine Teacher's Manual ©1989, p32)

1 Corinthians 1

1. READ 1:10-13.  Division & lack of unity in the Church.
• WHAT PROBLEM IN THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH SEEMED TO CONCERN PAUL THE MOST?
• Divisions and cliques that had formed within the church.
• TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THIS PROBLEM EXIST WITHIN THE CHURCH TODAY?
• I believe that the vast majority of active members are unified as a people.
• There are some major schisms and divisions within the church today including intellectualism, feminism, political thought, and standard of living.  Sometimes divisions occur over simple disagreements.  We still have work to do as a people to reach the kind of unity that existed in the city of Enoch.
• HOW CAN WE RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM?
• As long as we live in this temporal society, I am not sure we can totally eliminate these divisions within the Church.  We each have our agency.  What we can do is to make sure that we don't become part of the problem.  We can set a loving example for those who participate in cliques and schisms or otherwise cause divisions within the Church..
• There are steps we can take to see that we do not become part of the division:
• Hold to the rod.
• Follow the Brethren.
• Be faithful in our prayers.
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT CHURCH MEMBERS BE UNIFIED?
• D&C 38:27: "I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine."
• President Benson: "There is a 'union required by the law of the celestial kingdom; And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom.' (D&C 105:4-5.) Among the required principles and attributes is a unity of mind and heart. 'I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine,' is the Savior's injunction to His modern Church (D&C 38:27; John 17:20-23)." (Teachings ETB, p372)
• Lorenzo Snow: "Be in readiness to build the city of Zion. Then let us practice honesty and diligence in our various callings, seeking unity and to cultivate the spirit of brotherhood financially as well as spiritually, that we may be in readiness, upon call, to go forth and build up the center stake of Zion and prepare a house in which to meet the Lord our Savior and Redeemer." (Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p185)
• Ezra Taft Benson: "There is a real sifting going on in the Church, and it is going to become more pronounced with the passing of time. It will sift the wheat from the tares, because we face some difficult days, the like of which we have never experienced in our lives. And those days are going to require faith and testimony and family unity, the like of which we have never had." (Teachings ETB, p107)
2. READ 1:19-31. The Lord to destroy the wisdom of the wise.
• WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF EMBRACING THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD?
• The wisdom of man does not recognize God (21).
• The wisdom of man does not encompass all truth.
• By following the wisdom of the world we made be led into uncertain paths and forfeit our opportunity for eternal life.  Bruce R. McConkie states that, "Salvation comes through the knowledge of God and his laws and not through the learning of the world" (Mormon Doctrine, p375).
• IN WHAT WAYS CAN SECULAR LEARNING BE A BLESSING TO US?
• It enables us to improve ourselves, build skills, and obtain knowledge in order to better provide for our families.
• Much of what we enjoy in the modern world is the result of men and women who studied learned and applied that learning to practical applications.
• Secular learning can better help us appreciate the world around us.
• One example:  One of my favorite subjects is U.S history.  As one makes an objective study of the history of this great land, one discovers that the hand of God was evident in its founding.  We also learn that the price of liberty is not cheap.  We come away from this study with a better appreciation of this land and a desire to be a good citizen.
• HOW CAN WE BALANCE SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL LEARNING?
• Consider these thoughts from President Spencer W. Kimball: "The secular without the foundation of the spiritual is but like the foam upon the milk, the fleeting shadow.

     "Do not be deceived! One need not choose between the two... for there is opportunity to get both simultaneously....
     "If we spend our mortal days in accumulating secular knowledge to the exclusion of the spiritual then we are in a dead-end street, for this is the time for man to prepare to meet God; this is the time for faith to be built, for baptism to be effected, for the Holy Ghost to be received, for the ordinances to be performed. Contemporary with this program can come the secular knowledge, for even in the spirit world after death our spirits can go on learning the more secular things to help us create worlds and become their masters.
     "A highly trained scientist who is also a perfected man may eventually create a world and people it, but a dissolute, unrepentant, unbelieving one will never be such a creator even in eternities....
     "Our training must not only teach us how to build dams and store water to dampen parched earth to make the desert blossom as the rose and feed starving humanity, but it must prepare us to dam our carnal inclinations and desires with self-denial, creating reservoirs to be filled with spirituality." (Teachings SWK, p390-391)
• HOW DO THE WEAK THINGS OF THE WORLD CONFOUND THE WISE?
• Many years ago, General George S. Patton, the great World War II general met one of the Twelve in Mexico.  He said of this apostle, "Very interesting and educated."  He went on to say, "It seems strange that such a smart man could be a leader in such a fool religion." (The Patton Papers 1885-1940, p360)
• Consider the story of young Joseph Smith the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.  The world thinks that this is foolishness.  The world cannot understand our belief in these things, but consider their fruits.
• Instead of sending seasoned salesmen out as missionaries, the Lord has chosen to send young men, many still teenagers, out into the world to preach the gospel.  Consider their fruits.
• Bruce R. McConkie: "Question: How is it that the weak things of the earth confound the mighty and strong?

     "Answer: True religion is not a matter of intellectuality or of worldly prominence or renown, but of spirituality; and they are not weak but strong in the realm of spiritual things.
     "Question: How is it that weak and untried persons have spiritual powers and understanding which is often denied the learned and worldly wise?
     "Answer: It is in large measure a matter of pre-existent preparation. Some people developed in the pre-mortal life the talents to recognize truth, to comprehend spiritual things, to receive revelation from the Spirit; others did not. Those so endowed spiritually were foreordained and sent to earth to serve at God's command as his ministers." (DNTC, 2:316-17)

1 Corinthians 2

1. Among the Greeks, the popular means to ascertain truth and knowledge was through philosophical debate.  Consider Paul's teachings to the Corinthian saints about how to obtain the truth about God.
2. READ 2:1-7,10-13. The things of God can only be known through the Spirit.
• WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WITH USING PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE TO DETERMINE RELIGIOUS TRUTH?
• There is only one way to ultimately obtain religious truth and that is through "revelation".  Any other method is subject to falsehoods.  If we are honestly seeking truth, then we must use the only proven method.
• Debating or arguing may lead some people from considering the truth.  As we have often heard spoken, "A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."
• WHAT DIFFERENCES HAVE YOU OBSERVED BETWEEN THE LEARNING THAT COMES BY THE SPIRIT AND THE LEARNING THAT COMES ONLY THROUGH INTELLECT?
• 1 Corinthians 2:14: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
• Speaking on the subject of religion, the Prophet Joseph Smith once said, "Could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was written on the subject" (TPJS, p324).
• Learning from the Spirit leads a man to do good and find true peace and happiness.
• The learning of man seems to send one an endless course of trying to find the truth and unable to find satisfaction in the answers.
• Bruce R. McConkie: "Pure religion is a thing of the Spirit and not of the intellect alone, and its truths must be carried into the hearts of hearers by the power of the Spirit, otherwise the human soul is not changed...and the seeker after salvation does not become alive in Christ." (DNTC, 2:318)
• WHY DO SOME CHURCH MEMBERS RELY MORE ON THE WISDOM OF MEN THAN ON REVELATION THROUGH THE SPIRIT?
• The wisdom of men is more popular.
• It seems to hold more credibility in their own minds and, thus, they think they are more credible among others.
• Revelation through the Spirit requires a man to take action related to the knowledge received.  Not all men wish to change their ways and take action.
• Paul says that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God".  Those who lean towards the "natural man" will tend to find more credibility in the teachings of man.
• WHAT MUST WE DO TO OVERCOME THE NATURAL MAN?
• Mosiah 3:19:  "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

1 Corinthians 3

1. READ 3:1-3.  The Corinthians saints were unable to learn because of their carnality.
• WHAT LIMITATIONS WERE PLACED ON PAUL BY THE WORLDLY ORIENTATION OF THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH MEMBERS?
• He could not teach the full gospel because of their carnality - their envying, strife, and divisions.  He could only give them milk and not meat.  Without the full teachings, they were being denied the greater blessings.
• WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MILK AND MEAT?
• The Law and the higher gospel.
• Salvation and exaltation.
• WHAT BLESSINGS MIGHT WE TODAY FORFEIT BY BEING TOO WORLDLY?
• Those that are worldly may not qualify for a temple recommend thus be denied the great blessings that are initiated by the those sacred covenants.
• The Church as a whole may be denied additional scripture because of its worldliness and inability to utilize and accept that which we have.  We know for a fact that the Prophet Joseph Smith translated only one-third of the gold plates.  WHY haven't we received the additional two-thirds of the plates?

Paul On Morality

1. READ 5:1-8,13. Paul condemns immorality.  There is no place for it in the Church.
• In the original writings Paul used the word porneia (not fornication) and this meant any illicit sexual intercourse.
• Corinth of this day had a worldwide reputation for immorality.  The Corinthians saints truly lived in the world.
• Bruce R. McConkie: "Apparently a member of the Church in Corinth had married his stepmother, either because she was a widow or had been separated from her prior husband. Such marriages were forbidden by the Mosaic code under penalty of excommunication. (Lev. 18:68, 29.)  Paul endorses the Mosaic prohibition, describes the intimacies resulting from such unions as fornication, condemns his Corinthian brethren for winking at the offense, and directs the excommunication of the offender. If the sinner were left in the Church, Paul reasons, his influence, as leaven, would spread throughout the whole Church. The Church must, therefore, purge out this old leaven of wickedness and replace it with a new influence or leaven of righteousness." (DNTC, 2:335)
• WHY WAS PAUL SO CONCERNED ABOUT REMOVING THE UNREPENTANT SINNER FROM THE CHURCH?
• Paul said, "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" (v6).  He seemed concerned that immorality left unchecked within the Church would affect many of the members.  Several years ago I lived in a ward where a negative attitude developed.  It spread to many throughout the ward and negatively affected lives.  Like a cancerous growth, immorality must be removed and it must be done with love and compassion for the sinner.

     While on my mission, I served with a wonderful senior couple.  The husband was a member of the mission presidency and responsible for the Church in the districts.  He told me of one branch where there were several members who had engaged in immoral conduct.  The progress of the branch stopped.  It did not begin to grow and prosper again until those members were properly dealt with by Church disciplinary councils.
2. READ 3:16-17. Ye are the temple of God.
• WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS AN APPROPRIATE COMPARISON?
• To realize the full impact of this statement, we must consider the eternal implications.  Our eternal goal is to become like our Heavenly Father.  In order to eventually achieve this lofty goal, we left our heavenly home to come to this earth to obtain a physical body and to gain necessary experience.  A physical body is necessary to achieve eternal exaltation.  Given the sacred and eternal nature of our bodies, we can thus draw the comparison to the sacred nature of the temple.  We enter our physical bodies in order to achieve our ultimate destiny of becoming like the Father.  In like manner, we enter the temple to make covenants and perform ordinances that are necessary to return to the Father.  Should we then treat our physical tabernacles any different than the House of the Lord?
• WHAT THINGS CAN DEFILE OUR BODIES?  WHAT SHOULD WE DO TO TREAT OUR BODIES AS TEMPLES?
3. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
• Paul indicated that unchecked immorality would destroy one's opportunity to progress and obtain the kingdom of God.
• WHAT IS GOD'S LAW OF SEXUAL MORALITY IN OUR TIME?
• D&C 42:23-24: "And he that looketh upon a woman to lust after her shall deny the faith, and shall not have the Spirit; and if he repents not he shall be cast out.

     "Thou shalt not commit adultery; and he that committeth adultery, and repenteth not, shall be cast out."
• D&C 59:6: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it."
• Richard G. Scott: "Any sexual intimacy outside of the bonds of marriage--I mean any intentional contact with the sacred, private part of another's body, with or without clothing--is a sin and is forbidden by God.  It is also a transgression to intentionally stimulate these emotions within your own body." (Ensign, Nov 1994, p38)
• WHY ARE SEXUAL SINS TO SERIOUS?
• Joseph B. Wirthlin: "One of the most pervasive deceptions in recent years is the notion that immorality is normal and acceptable and has no negative consequences.  In truth, immorality is the underlying cause of much suffering and many other problems that are prevalent today, including rampant disease, abortion, broken families, families without fathers, and mothers who themselves are children." (Ensign, Nov 1994, p76)
• Boyd K. Packer: "[Satan] knows that this power of creation is not just an incident to the plan, but the key to it.  He knows that if he can entice you to use this power prematurely, to use it too soon, or to misuse it in any way, you may well lose your opportunities for eternal progression."
4. 1 Corinthians 5:9: "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators."
• HOW MIGHT THIS COUNSEL APPLY TO US?
• I have heard it said that what we become depends on the people we associate with and the books we read.  What we feed into our minds affects our actions.  We do not want to associate with those who are bent on living an immoral life.  Certainly, we want to reach out to those who are involved in immorality, but we do not want them to unduly influence our own thoughts and behaviors by to close or frequent of an association.  As Alexander Pope wrote: 
          Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,

        As to be hated needs but to be seen;
        Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
        We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
     Not only do we need to be careful of the company we keep, but we also need to be judicious in the use of our time.  We cannot allow the use of our idle time wander to books, magazines, television, movies, videos, or internet sites that can influence our thoughts in immoral ways.
     I am often surprised at what a single "seed thought" can do to influence our behavior.  Back in March 1984, I watched on television the inaugural Emerald City Marathon.  As I watched the marathon, I thought to myself that running a marathon would be an interesting challenge.  Up to that point in my life, over 30 years, I had never been able to keep a running program going for more than a few weeks.  But the thought of the marathon and the challenge kept working on  my mind.  A few weeks later, I  participated in a run called the Slug Run.  I think it was only a couple miles and I had to walk part of it, like a slug.  I didn't run again for another three months.  But the thought of running a marathon kept working on me.
     In August I started running.  Little did I know what I was getting into.  Over the next eight months I felt that I was always pushing the edge of my endurance.  I endured a period of a sore hip.  I ran through lots of Seattle rain.  I ran through a blizzard.  I ran through freezing weather.  I ran when I was tired.  As time progressed, I ran until I was almost faint.  In the early spring of 1985 I found myself in downtown Seattle on the starting line of the second annual Emerald City marathon.  The first 13 miles went smoothly.  Just past the halfway point, my neck started hurting.  I worked through that just in time to hit the proverbial "wall" near the 20 mile mark.  The last 6 miles was a combination of walking and running.  But I finished the race.
     It was only a single thought that led me to this odyssey of running a marathon.  As I finished, I vowed I would never run another marathon.  I was tired and I hurt.  Within days, my body healed and wanted to go running.  Within a week I ran a 10K.  And I ended up running four more marathons.  The power of a single thought.  Certainly, if it is a good thought, we want to cultivate it.  We also need to find ways to displace negative thoughts before the "seeds" can germinate, sprout, and grow into uncontrollable weeds.  Elder Packer suggests  keeping in mind a favorite hymn to recite.  We can use a number of other diversions such as prayer, the playing of sacred music, reading an uplifting book or the scriptures, or calling a righteous friend.
• Spencer W. Kimball:  "Oh, if our young people could learn this basic lesson to always keep good company, to never be found with those who tend to lower our standards! Let every youth select associates who will keep him on tiptoes, trying to reach the heights attained. Let him never choose associates who encourage him to relax in carelessness." (BYU Speeches, January 5 1965, p8)
• WHAT METHODS DOES SATAN USE IN TRYING TO PERSUADE US THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO GOD'S LAWS OF MORALITY?
• Richard G. Scott: "Satan tempts one to believe that there are allowable levels of physical contact between consenting individuals who seek the powerful stimulation of emotions they produce, and if kept within bounds, no harm will result.  As a witness of Jesus Christ, I testify that is absolutely false....  Decide what you will and will not do.  When temptation comes, do not change your standards."  (Ensign, Nov 1994, p38)
5. There was no excuse in Paul's day for immoral behavior and there is no excuse today.  We must protect ourselves from worldly forces and not allow ourselves to be led down the slippery slope.

Summary

Hundreds of years ago Paul was concerned about the behavior of the Corinthian saints.  Many of them were going beyond gospel standards.  As an apostle, and as their friend, he wrote a letter of counsel.  Though his advice was directed at these ancient members of the Church, his counsel is still valid today.  As members of the Church, we need to strive towards unity.  We need to beware of the counsel and wisdom of the world and seek for the guidance of the Spirit.  Today we live in a world that often tells us that there is nothing wrong with immoral behavior.  We have been commanded by the Lord in our time to stay pure and clean.  We need to be ever diligent in watching our thoughts and behavior and never cross any boundaries that can lead to our downfall.

Next Week

Lesson 34: 1 Corinthians 11-16

Additional Reading:  3 Nephi 18:1-14; Moroni 7:44-48; 10:8-18; Doctrine & Covenants 46:1-26; 76:50-119; 88:27-32, 95-102.