Bible in a Year, Week 7: 1-2 Corinthians

This is the seventh weekly reading in the plan for reading your Bible in one year. The assignment for this week is 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. It should only take about 12 minutes a day, or about 3-4 chapters a day to complete the assignment.

Here are some comments to help you grow in knowledge and faith as you read 1 & 2 Corinthians.

Background: Corinth was a city much like many modern metropolises in the United States. Today that is not the case. But back in Paul’s time, it had an estimated 200,000 residents. It had a booming economy. And the residents surely enjoyed “worldly” living. We might imagine that living in Corinth back then was akin to a Christian living in New York City, Miami, or San Francisco today.

Paul founded the Corinthian congregation on his second missionary journey. He went to Corinth after his stop in Athens. From there he went to Ephesus. While in Ephesus he learned of troubles in the congregation. It appears from the context that 1 Corinthians is actually the second letter that he wrote to the congregation. Much of it is very pointed, addressing certain issues specifically and directly.

Shortly after Paul wrote 2 Corinthians from Macedonia, perhaps around 56 A.D. From this third letter it appears that the second letter had affect and the congregation was changing. We can only pray that God works in our hearts through the wonderful message of these two letters in such a powerful way!

1 Corinthians 1: Paul begins this letter in the typical format for his letters. There are three parts to this opening: 1) Author, 2) Audience/Recipients, 3) Greeting. Though Paul has some harsh words for the Corinthians coming in the following chapters, he begins by thanking God for them and for their faith. But then he gets right into it. Immediately he appeals to these fellow Christians to be perfectly united in mind and thought. What a travesty it is in our churches when we experience what the Corinthians did–rifts, factions, fights, and quarrels!

Bible in a Year, Week 5: Acts

This is the fifth weekly reading in the plan for reading your Bible in one year. The assignment for this week is the book of Acts. It should only take about 15 minutes a day, or about 4 chapters a day to complete the assignment.

Here are some comments to help you grow in knowledge and faith as you read Acts.

Background: Luke wrote the book of Acts. Luke was not one of the 12 disciples, but he was an apostle. This letter to Theophilus is a continuation of where he left off with his detailed account in his gospel. Luke the doctor investigated carefully everything that Jesus said and did for his gospel account. But for Acts, Luke was a witness of many of the events himself. There are several “we” sections in Acts that indicate Luke was with Paul on these journeys. These “we” sections are: 16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16.

Some think of Acts as a record of “the Acts of the Apostles.” This could be appropriate and fitting. Perhaps a better view might be to see this book as “the Acts of the Holy Spirit.” Acts is an amazing testimony to the power of the Spirit who worked in great and mighty ways through the preaching of the gospel.

As we read Acts, it can only be our prayer that God would use us to spread his Word in such bold and courageous ways, and that God would bless our work as he blessed the work of these first believers!