This letter was written by Paul with the endorsement of Sothenes, (In Acts 18, he was the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth whose beating was ignored by the leader Gallio). It’s the same effect of telling the kids, “Your Dad and I have something important to tell you.” Their greeting is to the Church of God in Corinth, sanctified (meaning set apart or made holy) by Christ and called to be saints (ones standing out for virtue). They then express thankfulness for the believers while mentioning God three times and Jesus Christ five times. Paul is reminding them of all that God has done for them. 

The reason for this letter is that Chloe’s people had reported back about their in-fighting. (Chloe requires no introduction, since she’s apparently a leader in their group.) The believers had been divided over teachings of early leaders including Paul, Cephas (Simon Peter), Apolos and Christ. (The gospels were not formerly written down at this point, but people had been speaking from either living experience or collections of stories.) Paul expresses his gratitude that he has only baptized a couple of people so that it wasn’t another a reason for people to form teams against each other. Paul reiterates that his main task was not to baptize, but to talk about Christ plainly so he would not “empty the cross of its power” with his fancy words. 

Paul explains that Jesus dying on a cross is foolish for those who are perishing, but it’s the power of God for those being saved. What does he mean? Paul questions the value of debaters and wise men while he’s living in the era of Roman philosophy and rhetoric, which is still highly valued in our society today. He says the Jews demand signs and the Greeks demand wisdom, but Jesus’s self-sacrifice is a stumbling block to the first and foolishness to the second. God’s foolishness and weakness is stronger and wiser than the strength and wisdom men. 

Paul calls the readers to consider themselves, neither well-educated nor strong nor of noble birth. God is using their limitations to show his own power. God is choosing the lowly things and even nonexistent things to show what he can do. He makes something out of nothing, so that he owns the bragging rights, not us. It’s our job is to tell about what God has done, but not contribute his blessings for our own greatness or compete with each other.