1 Corinthians (Evangelical Press Study Commentary | EPSC)

Although 1 Corinthians was originally written with the needs of the Corinthian congregation in mind, Paul aimed his words at “all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, theirs and ours” (1:2). If he wrote for the Corinthians, he also wrote consciously for all of us, without reference to where and when we live. When we read the epistle, we feel that the Lord of glory is speaking to our hearts.

One of the dominant themes of this letter is the continuity between Old Testament Israel and the emergent New Testament churches. Within the whole community of the faithful there can be no theoretical estrangement between Jews and Gentiles, nor even between those who knew the Lord before his first coming and those of us around the globe who have been born and born again since Christ came. Abraham, about four thousand years ago, and the last sinner to be converted in future time belong to each other because they both belong to the Lord Jesus.

The problem at Corinth was that too many in the church were spiritually and emotionally immature. Dragging their feet, they found it difficult to respond to the moral demands of the gospel and were reluctant to abdicate the cultural norms of their city in favor of commitment to the scandal of a crucified Messiah.

Paul urges the Corinthians to reconsider the Christ whom he preaches; even if in so doing they discover that they have to repudiate traditional values. While the unbelieving world regards the message of the gospel as foolishness, for the believer the cross of Christ is nothing less than “the power of God.” The discerning saint knows that his life has been transformed both by what Christ did for him at Calvary and by what the Lord has effected within him by the Spirit.

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