Chapter 4Paul is trying to re-assure everyone in the church that Paul’s church is the real church, and that Paul’s group doesn’t try and pervert God’s words. Which means that someone was accusing them of doing just that. Who made the accusations? It is not for us to know.Paul (and presumably the other Christians) are being legitimately persecuted at this time, and he is trying to keep everyone’s spirits up. He basically tells the Christians that their tribulations and deaths further glorify the lord. And enduring this suffering and torture, even perhaps death, is worth it to gain an eternity’s worth of grace from God.

Chapter 5To tell you the truth, I kinda fell asleep half-way into this chapter. Paul has this annoying habit of saying something, then saying it again in slightly different words, then saying it again in slightly different sentences. Once through is enough for me. Reading the same idea three times within a 21-verse chapter?

Anyway, people have a tent here and a heavenly home in god’s kingdom. We want to shed our tent (die) and move off to heaven, but to do that we have to suffer and try and spread god’s word.

Chapter 6Now, unless I am reading this chapter wrong, Paul is basically saying that the church in Corinth  should not be as welcoming of newcomers as it is (“Stop becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers”) and should fall into step with what Paul and his follower’s say! (“We have not cut you off, but you have cut off your own feelings toward us.”)

Apparently there is something rotten in the state of Corinth…