“I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people”

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians has been lost to antiquity! What we call “1 Corinthians” was his second actual letter to them. In fact, he seems to have written at least four letters interspersed among three separate visits to them. The interchange can be summarized as follows:

Visit No. 1:  1 Cor. 2:1-5 (referring to when Paul founded the church there, as cited in Acts 18:19)

First letter to the Corinthians: 1 Cor. 5:9 (warning to avoid immoral people). The response to this letter was probably carried to Paul by the three men of 1 Cor. 16:17. This letter is not in Scripture.

Letter from Corinthians: 1 Cor. 7:1 (asking Paul about a list of issues like marriage)

Second letter to the Corinthians: The situation had deteriorated. This letter was probably being carried to them by Timothy (1 Cor. 4:17). This letter has been preserved for us today as “1 Corinthians” in the NT.

Visit No. 2:  2 Cor. 2:1 (clearly a visit in the past but not his first visit when he founded the church there)

Third letter to the Corinthians: 2 Cor. 2:4, 7:8 (some argue this refers to 1 Corinthians, but 1 Cor. 7:8 seems to point to the reaction caused by his second letter). This letter has not been preserved in the NT.

Fourth letter to the Corinthians: This letter is found in the NT, and we call it “2 Corinthians.”

Visit No. 3:  2 Cor. 12:14, 13:1

Why is this information important? Does it simply exist to satisfy our curiosity? First, these observations highlight the fact that the NT letters were written in a historical context that can be reconstructed. Details can be checked against details to demonstrate consistency in the NT story. That is valuable data for the historian and serious student of Scripture. Second, through this study, we can see the larger picture, the flow of apostolic movement and interaction in the early church. The more we understand the big picture, the more we can understand the details in their historical context.

Finally, we see evidence of divine selection of only certain of the apostolic writings for inclusion in the canon of the NT. In other words, not everything Paul wrote was of equal weight in God’s eyes, for preservation as His inspired Word for all generations of Christians.

Lord, thank You for preserving Your Word through Paul’s canonical writings.