The Lord's Supper in Paul

THE LORD’S SUPPER IN PAUL:
AN IDENTITY-FORMING PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
James M. Hamilton Jr.

In a strange twist of God’s providence, we find ourselves grateful for the ways that the Corinthian church struggled. We are not grateful that they sinned but grateful that their problems provoked Paul to apply the gospel to their lives in ways that continue to instruct. Paul’s letters are occasional, and scholars often observe that
if the Corinthians had not provoked Paul to address their abuse of the Lord’s Table, the Lord’s Supper might not have been directly addressed in his letters.

Paul’s words in 1 Cor 11:17–34 explain that the Lord’s Supper is a proclamation of the gospel made by those who embrace the gospel,those whose identity is shaped by the gospel. In order to establish this thesis we must understand the abuses of the Lord’s Supper in the church in Corinth, and these abuses are tangled up with the other problems in the church that Paul addresses. Throughout 1 Corinthians,
Paul addresses Corinthian error with Christian gospel. The fact that the Lord’s Supper is a proclamation of the gospel made by those who embrace the gospel makes what Paul says about the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 10–11 relevant to the issues Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 1–9. (keep reading)