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Acts 18:1-8  PAUL AT CORINTH

Introduction:

	In this text we see Paul’s arrival at the city of Corinth and the great 
success which he had in organizing a New Testament church there.  


I.  Paul’s departure at Athens and his arrival at Corinth

	V. 1, “After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.”  
Paul had been at Athens alone.  Now he is at Athens alone.  Corinth was a large 
and rich trade city.  It was located on a narrow strip of land which lay between 
the Ionean Sea and the Agean Sea.  Therefore, the city had two seaports.  The 
seaport on the western side of the city was on the Ionean Sea.  The seaport of 
the eastern side of the city was on the Agean Sea.  Ships which came to the city 
from either port would often transport all or part of their cargo overland to 
the other port and send it on to some other part of the world.  This saved the 
ship owners time and money, and it also made money for the people of Corinth.  
	Corinth was also a powerful city politically.  It was the capital city of 
Achaia, which was a large Roman province in the southern part of Greece.  
Therefore, the city fathers had a great influence both in Rome, which was the 
capital city of the Roman Empire and also in all of Greece, especially in 
Achaia.  Because Corinth had such an active shipping trade with other parts of 
the world and because of the great influence that Corinth had on other cities in 
Greece, the establishment of a church in this city would have a great outreach 
to other parts of Greece and other parts of the world.  
	One other thing stood out about the city of Corinth.  It was an extremely 
wicked city.  It was a mixture of many cultures which acquainted the people with 
many sinful practices.  If there ever was a city which needed the gospel of 
Jesus Christ, it was the city of Corinth.  When the Apostle Paul entered that 
city, I suppose that he was the only Christian in the entire city.  But the 
mighty power of God would accompany him to accomplish mighty things for God.  

II.  Paul’s encounter with Aquila and Priscilla

	V. 2, “And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come 
from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all 
Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.”  Aquila, was a Jew and he was 
also a business man.  He had been born in Pontus, a large Roman district of Asia 
Minor which lay just south of the Black Sea.  Aquila’s business had earlier 
carried both him and his wife, Priscilla, to Rome.  He might have remained in 
Rome, but Claudius, who was the Roman Emperor at that time commanded that all 
Jews had to leave Rome.    
	Having to leave Rome must have seemed to Aquila and Priscilla a terrible 
inconvenience and hardship at the time.  However, it turned out to be for the 
good of both of them.  To come to Corinth right at the time that they did was 
most certainly good for them spiritually.  It put them in contact with the 
Apostle Paul and under the influence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It may have 
also been a good move for them financially.  The city of Corinth offered great 
opportunities in the business world.  
	By the way, the strained relationship between the Roman Caesar, Claudius, 
and the Jewish people is an indication that a greater trouble was brewing for 
the future.  By 70 A. D. a complete break between the Roman government and the 
Jews would erupt in a full scale revolt against Rome by the Jews in Judea.  It 
would also result in an invasion of Jerusalem by the Roman armies and the 
complete destruction of the Jewish temple at Jerusalem.  However, this 
particular rift between Claudius and the Jews would heal and his orders that all 
Jews must leave Rome would soon be withdrawn.  By the time that the Apostle Paul 
would be arrested and carried as a prisoner to Rome there would be numerous Jews 
in Rome.  Some of them were Christians and they would visit Paul regularly and 
bring supplies to him.
	V. 3, “And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and 
wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.”  Both Aquila and 
Priscilla quickly heard the gospel message and got saved.  We cannot say 
positively that they were saved under Paul’s preaching.  It is possible that 
they had heard the gospel from someone else and were already Christians when 
they came to Corinth, but it is most likely that they were unsaved when they 
came to Corinth and that they were unsaved until they heard the gospel through 
the Apostle Paul.  
	At any rate, they both got saved and they both had an opportunity to have 
a close relationship with the Apostle Paul.  They opened up their home to him 
and gave him a place to stay while he was in Corinth.  We can be sure that they 
were more than repaid in spiritual blessings through their contact with Paul.  
They also aided Paul financially.  They were of the same craft.  Both Paul and 
Aquila were tent makers and they gave Paul a job making tents.  They had already 
bought a home there and had apparently already built up a clientel.  Paul had 
neither a home nor a clientel there.  But he worked for them and with them and 
it was to the advantage of both.  It is probable that it was after Paul went to 
work for Aquila and Priscilla that they heard the gospel message and got saved.    

III.  Paul preaching in the Jewish synagogue 

	V. 4, “ And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the 
Jews and the Greeks.”  As you are aware, it had been the practice of Paul from 
the beginning of his mission work to go first into the synagogue if there was 
one in the city where he went.  Luke tells us that he went there every sabbath 
day for several weeks.  	
	The Jewish synagogues furnished Paul a great opportunity for witnessing 
for Jesus.  The people who attended those synagogues already believed in the 
true God.  He did not have to persuade them to turn from idolatry.  Furthermore, 
they already knew about the prophecies which foretold the coming of the Christ.  
When Paul started talking about Jesus being the promised Christ they already 
knew what he was talking about.  
	Luke tells us also that this particular synagogue gave Paul opportunity to 
witness to a goodly number of people who were of Greek nationality.  He was 
speaking in the Jewish synagogue, but there were Greeks there who heard him.  
These were Greeks who had forsaken their idolatry and had joined the Jewish 
synagogue as proselyte members.  So right there in the synagogue for several 
weeks straight Paul witnessed both to people of Jewish nationality and of Greek 
nationality about Jesus being the promised Christ.  Paul told them that Jesus is 
the Christ and sought to persuade them that this is so.  
	V. 5, “And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was 
pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews [that] Jesus [was] Christ.”  
When Paul left Berea and went to Athens neither Silas and Timothy were with him.  
He left them behind at Berea to train leaders and strengthen the work.  He sent 
them word to come to him at Athens, but by the time they got there he was gone.  
The brethren of the church which Paul started at Athens must have informed them 
where he had gone and they proceeded to go on to Corinth to find him.  
	When they arrived, their presence was a great encouragement to Paul and he 
was pressed in his spirit to more zealously persuade the Jews of the synagogue 
that Jesus is the Christ.  Paul had a love for all lost souls, but he had a 
special love for people of his own nationality.  I think that we can understand 
how he would feel that way.  So Paul spoke out more intensely insisting that 
Jesus is the Christ.  
	But instead of persuading the Jews of the Corinthian synagogue to believe 
that Jesus is the Christ they became more set in their opinion that Jesus is not 
the Christ.  V. 6, “And when they opposed themselves..”  I am sure that you are 
aware that this Scripture was not originally written in the English language, 
but in Greek.  There is something in the construction of the Greek sentence that 
is important in rightly understanding this verse.  The idea in this verse is 
that the Jews of the synagogue spoke out personally opposing what Paul said 
about Jesus being the Christ.  They said, “We do not believe that.  We do not 
believe that Jesus is the Christ.”  
	(V. 6), “...and blasphemed...”   The idea here is that not only did the 
Jews reject the idea that Jesus is not the Christ, but they very firmly denied 
that He is the Christ.  They spoke blasphemy against Jesus.  The word, 
blaspheme, means “To speak bitterly against.  To speak viscously against.”  They 
verbally attacked Jesus cruelly.  They were brutal in their attack against Him.  
		
IV.  Paul turning from the synagogue at Corinth

	(V. 6), “...he shook [his] raiment...”  Paul had witnessed to the Jews of 
this synagogue every sabbath day for several weeks straight.  He had reasoned 
with them.  He surely must have cited several Old Testament scriptures which 
showed beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus is the Christ.  He surely must 
have pointed out that there were many witnesses to the fact that Jesus had 
arisen from the grave.  He had intensified his efforts to persuade them after 
Silas and Timothy came.  But after his best efforts to persuade them when they 
launched a brutal verbal attack upon Jesus, Paul say that he was not getting 
anywhere with these people.  He saw that he was not going to get anywhere with 
them.  So why keep on trying?  He just back off.  He quit trying to persuade 
them.  He shook his raiment as a token that he was through trying to reason with 
them.  
	He also shook his raiment to indicate that whatever they would face in 
judgment he was not responsible.  They had brought it upon themselves.  (V. 6), 
“...and said unto them, Your blood [be] upon your own heads; I [am] clean...” 
Paul was not taking a self-righteous attitude here with them.  He was not 
saying, “I am better than you.”   Later in another letter he would write saying, 
“...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”  Paul 
felt that he was the chief of sinners.  But he also knew that he was not 
responsible for the condemnation of these people to whom he had so earnestly 
witnessed.  He was clean in that respect.  They were responsible for their own 
condemnation.  

V. Paul’s break with the Jewish synagogue at Corinth

	(V. 6), “...from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”  The Jews had 
become harder and harder to reach with the gospel.  In Acts 13:46 Paul and 
Barnabas had said to another group of Jews back at Antioch of Pisidia, “...It 
was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but 
seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, 
lo, we turn to the Gentiles.”  And he had turned from the Jews back at Antioch 
and he was turning from the Jews there at Corinth.
 	This, of course, does not mean that Paul had lost his burden for the Jews.  
In Romans 10:1 Paul said, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for 
Israel is , that they might be saved.”  This was a burden that never left the 
heart of Paul.  He continued to pray for them and when he had opportunity to go 
into a synagogue where the people were open to his message about Jesus he went 
in and witnessed to them.  In Acts 19:8 when Paul later went to Ephesus it is 
said that he spent three months witnessing to the Jews in the synagogue in that 
city.  
	But it does mean that he never returned to the synagogue at Corinth.  V. 
7, “And he departed thence, and entered into a certain [man's] house, named 
Justus, [one] that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.”  
This was an open break between Paul and some of the leaders of the synagogue at 
Corinth.  Instead of returning to the worship services of that synagogue, Paul 
moved right next door and started church services in the home of Justus.  
Apparently Justus was one of Paul’s converts there at Corinth and he joined in 
with Paul in breaking from the synagogue and he furnished Paul a place to live 
and a place to hold church services.  The synagogue services met on the sabbath 
and the next day Paul and those whom he had won to Christ held church services 
the next day right next door.
	Yet there was one leader of the synagogue who was not among those who 
refused Paul’s message about Jesus being the Christ.  V. 8, “And Crispus, the 
chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many 
of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.”  Crispus was the chief 
ruler of the synagogue at Corinth and he believed Paul’s message about Jesus.  
He accepted Paul’s message that Jesus is the Christ and he accepted Jesus as his 
Savior and Lord.  When Paul left the synagogue and started worship services 
right next door, he went with him.  Now I am confident that those who remained 
in the synagogue did not mind at all that Paul no longer worshipped with them, 
because every time he came he sought to convince everybody that Jesus is the 
Christ.  But I think that it must have disturbed them a great deal that Paul 
went right next door and started worship services in competition to the 
synagogue services and he carried a lot of the people from the synagogue with 
him including Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue. 
	The Greek citizens of the city took notice of these new worship services 
which got underway in the home of Justus.  They took notice that the chief ruler 
of the Jewish synagogue gave up his position in the synagogue and openly joined 
in worshipping with the Christians next door.  A great many of the citizens of 
the city started coming out to the church services, which met on the first day 
of the week.  Many of them believed the gospel message.  They not only got 
saved, but they also got baptized.  They openly professed Jesus to be their 
Savior and openly committed themselves to the worship and service of Jesus 
Christ.

VI.  Some lessons for us

	One of the first things that I want to point out to you is that people may 
make their own decision about Jesus Christ.  They can refuse to believe that 
Jesus is the Christ if they choose to do so.  God wants all people to be told 
that Jesus is the Christ, but God will not force people to believe it.  He wants 
them to believe it.  God wants all men everywhere to repent of their sin and to 
trust Jesus Christ and be saved.  But God allows each individual to make up his 
own mind whether or not he will trust Jesus and be saved.  But then God holds 
each person responsible for the decision that he makes.  If one chooses to 
reject Jesus as his Savior, there is a terrible consequence.  In John 3:18 Jesus 
said that one who does not believe on Jesus is condemned and will suffer the 
consequences of his decision in eternity.  He will not make it to heaven.  He 
will spend eternity suffering in a Lake of Fire and Brimstone.  
	Another lesson that we should learn is that when one believes in Jesus, 
God wants him (or her, whichever the case may be) to make an open break from his 
old religion and his old way of life and to commit himself to the worship and 
service of Jesus Christ.  God wants every person who believes in Jesus to be 
baptized at the hands of a New Testament church and to be an active member of a 
New Testament church.  A lost person does not have to be baptized and join a 
church in order to be saved, but once he has trusted Jesus and is saved, he 
should be baptized and join a good scriptural Bible believing Bible preaching 
church.       
	Still another lesson that we should learn is that believers in Jesus 
Christ ought to witness to the unsaved about Jesus.  Paul did.  Silas and 
Timothy did.  Justus did.  Crispus did.  A lot of people who got saved at the 
synagogue under Paul’s testimony did.  They all went out to the people of the 
city of Corinth and witnessed to the citizens of the city.  We know that they 
did because a lot of them came out to hear Paul preach, a lot of them got saved 
and a lot of them got baptized and joined the church.  That is what God wants 
saved people to do today.  If you are saved, that is what God wants you to do.  

Conclusion:  

	Let me ask you where you fit into this passage of Scripture?  Are you like 
Paul, Silas and Timothy?  Are you one who has already trusted Jesus and is 
already saved?  As a saved person, have you already been baptized and become a 
member of some scriptural church?  
	Or are you like those Jews of the synagogue at Corinth and you reject the 
idea that  your only hope of heaven is for Jesus Christ to have mercy and save 
your soul?  If you have never yet trusted Jesus Christ to save your soul, let me 
caution you not to close your mind to the truth of the gospel that only Jesus 
Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God can save your soul.  Let me also caution 
you not to keep putting off trusting Jesus until some other time.  If you were 
in a burning building it would be dangerous business for you to delay getting 
out of that building.  If you are unsaved, it is dangerous business for you to 
delay getting saved.  The Bible says that now is the accepted time.  Now is the 
day of salvation.  Call upon Jesus and get saved now while there is time.  Be 
saved today.  
	And please do not forget this last lesson.  If you are saved, the Lord 
wants you to be baptized.  He wants you to join one of His churches.  He wants 
you to leave your old religion behind and learn the truths of God as taught in 
the Bible.  He wants you to live a clean, honorable, godly life.