God always does everything excellently! Even though Paul needed to rebuke the Corinthian church, he gave praise to God for everything He had done for them and in them. It was through God's grace that they had been saved when they put their trust in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8). They heard the gospel, and responded in repentance and by receiving new life in Christ. How gracious God had been to them!

There was disunity in the church in Corinth. Paul, Peter and Apollos had all taught in the church. They all presented the same message of salvation by faith in Christ, and they all spoke well of each other. But 'party spirit' is a malignant disease which seizes hold of perceived differences in order to try to control the church. They latched onto the different styles of these men and clubbed together to champion one teacher over another. The church was being torn apart from the inside.

The message of the cross is straightforward: Jesus died as a substitute sacrifice to pay for the sins of the world and everybody who believes in Him is assured that they have forgiveness and eternal life.  It is a brilliantly gracious message  - the best news in the world.  It is at the heart of God's powerful gospel; all those who believe it and receive Christ are assured of salvation.

It is not wrong to ask the question, "How do I know that your faith is the true way to God?"  But you need to look in the right place for the answer.  Human beings have an inbuilt desire to reach out to somebody or something bigger than themselves, believing that there is more to life than the world offers (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  So, thousands of religious ideas have been spawned as people search for an external meaning to their lives (Acts 17:24-28).