It is imperative that we understand the cultural situation of the first century Roman world, especially in Corinth, being in Greece. For these polytheistic individuals to listen to the message of Paul, and believe in the one God, and the Savior Jesus Christ, receiving salvation was an incredible change in their belief system. As we discussed, they had no written Word to keep their focus on daily seeking to be conformed to Christ. They had the 18 months of daily teaching by Paul, discipling, encouraging those who listened in the synagogue and the Greeks who believed. Apollos came later, to teach and encourage them, as we saw in 1 Corinthians 3. Acts 18 & 19 record the history of the work to establish the church in Corinth.
We did a brief overview of the chronology / timeline of first century Christianity, and when events occurred, especially the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, and testified by Paul in Galatians 1 & 2. The issue of the gospel to the circumcision (Jews) with James, Peter, and John, and the gospel to the uncircumcision (Gentiles) given to Paul was very clear in Galatians 2:7-21. They all agreed which group they would seek to reach, because of their personal calling.
Chapter 7 deals with the issues of marriage and how Christ changes the home and your world view, regardless of the cultural morays you must live within. This is what salvation does, it sets us on a higher road to Christlikeness, regardless of what the world says or does. We will look at these issues in the days ahead.