New Testament / 1 Corinthians

  • The Form of Worship

    1 Corinthians 14:26–40

    Take some time today to consider the liturgy used in your own church. Have its different elements become meaningless to you, things you do without consideration? Or, do you take care to contemplate the significance of the words you speak ...Read More

  • Rising from the Dust

    1 Corinthians 15:35–49

    Unfortunately, many early Christians found it hard to get rid of the Greek philosophical notion that matter is bad while spirit is good. That is not a biblical concept. The earth and all on it, including human beings, was originally ...Read More

  • The Need for Atonement

    1 Corinthians 2:1–5

    “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” a masterful hymn by the Puritan Isaac Watts, includes the line: “Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God: all the vain things that charm me most ...Read More

  • The Meaning of Baptism

    1 Corinthians 12:13

    Whenever we read the Nicene Creed we confess belief in the communion of saints. This means that we become united to every believer who has ever lived whenever we trust in Jesus. The other Christians we know are not merely ...Read More

  • Principel or Custom?

    1 Corinthians 11:1–16

    Sometimes, after we have studied the background of a text thoroughly, we are still not sure whether it is giving us a principle or a custom. But it is better to treat a custom as a principle than a principle ...Read More

  • Growing Up in Love

    1 Corinthians 13:11–13

    Do you think it is more important to possess many talents and gifts or to be righteous? The emphasis in the New Testament is on the importance of personal holiness and the practice of righteous love, for if we are ...Read More

  • Love Never Ends

    1 Corinthians 13:7–10

    The suffering God allows us to go through can bring us many opportunities to grow in our effectiveness when ministering to others. Our time spent living with an illness or tragedy can make us better able to share Christ with ...Read More

  • Truth and Hope

    1 Corinthians 13:6–7

    Scripture speaks of hope as an anchor (Heb. 6:19) because it looks forward to the sure promises of our God. Hope is not merely a desire for something that may not come to pass. All the blessings and glory ...Read More

  • Love and Evil

    1 Corinthians 13:5–6

    It is interesting that in addition to some of what we might consider the more “vile” sins in the above passage from Romans, Paul also lists gossip and slander (vv. 29–30). Unfortunately, these sins seem to be some of ...Read More

  • Selfless Love

    1 Corinthians 13:4–5

    The hardest people to be courteous to are the people who know us the best. How often are we rude and irritable with our spouses and children even as we exercise a great deal of self-control with those who are ...Read More

  • Not Envious or Boastful

    1 Corinthians 13:4

    Have you learned how to be content in whatever state you find yourself, or do you envy others because they have things you do not have? Do you boast in what you possess, or are you thankful you belong to ...Read More

  • The Priority of Love

    1 Corinthians 13:1–3

    Though we believe speaking in tongues and the gift of prophecy ceased with the end of the apostolic age, the many spiritual gifts and offices God still gives His people today can still be used in an unloving manner. One ...Read More

  • Apostolic Authority

    1 Corinthians 7:10–16

    There is an unfortunate tendency to elevate the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospels and elsewhere as more authoritative than the words of the other biblical authors. But we must not do this, for Paul, Peter, and the other ...Read More

  • Christ is Risen

    1 Corinthians 15:3–34

    Since the Enlightenment, many have said the resurrection is impossible and that we can still have Christianity even if we deny the supernaturalism of Scripture. However, if Christ has not been raised then our faith is in vain (1 Cor ...Read More

  • By Christ Alone

    1 Corinthians 1:30

    Roman Catholic theology denies the sufficiency of Christ by regarding our works as something that adds to and makes possible a righteousness within ourselves. However, though personal holiness is important, it only demonstrates that we have been justified by faith ...Read More