After eighteen months in Corinth helping to establish a church, Paul moved on to build more churches in Asia Minor. Back in Corinth false teachers began to infiltrate the congregation, intent on ruining Paul's character and ministry, and the result threatened to divide a once-unified body.

Paul wrote this intensely personal and biographical letter to defend his ministry and his integrity against those slanderous attacks, dealing firmly with the false teachers like a seasoned attorney. John MacArthur takes the letter section by section with questions for study, and the material bears directly on how a congregation should weigh accusations against a faithful pastor.