The Tension Between Holiness and Relevance

Paul returns to the theme of the temple in his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, and once again, his concern is for the church’s unity and purity. This time, however, he focuses on a different source of danger. In 1 Corinthians, Paul saw the threats to the church’s temple identity and mission as coming from within. The believers in Corinth were divided into factions, following different leaders, and destroying God’s temple with their foolish immaturity (1 Corinthians 3). Likewise, they were engaged in all kinds of sexual immorality that Paul viewed as a sin against the holiness of God’s temple (1 Corinthians 6).