About This Book

1 Corinthians is Paul’s pastoral letter to a real church in a complicated city, a congregation gifted in many ways, yet tangled in division, compromise, and confusion. Paul writes as a father in the faith to re centre the church on Jesus Christ crucified and risen, so that ordinary church life, from leadership to sexuality to worship, might be brought under the rule of the gospel.

The book moves between reports of trouble and questions the church has asked. Paul addresses factions and pride (chs.1 to 4), serious moral failure and messy disputes (chs.5 to 6), and then works through marriage, singleness, freedom, and love (chs.7 to 10), before turning to gathered worship, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection hope (chs.11 to 15). The burden is not simply to correct behaviour, but to recover a Christ shaped mind, where the cross governs wisdom, power, identity, and the use of every gift for the building up of the body.

1 Corinthians trains the church to live as one holy people, under the lordship of Christ, for the good of one another and the glory of God.

Preach this book with a steady grip on the gospel logic, keep returning to chs.1 to 4 and ch.15 as your load bearing walls, and apply with patience, because Paul is forming a church culture, not just solving a list of problems.

Structure of the Book

This outline is intentionally high level. It is designed to keep sermon planning tethered to the flow of the book.

1. Christ and the cross as the church’s foundation
   The opening thanksgiving and the rebuke of divisions, where Paul reframes wisdom, power, and leadership around Christ crucified, chs.1 to 4
2. Holiness and discipline in a sinful world
   Dealing with scandal, lawsuits, and the call to honour God with the body, chs.5 to 6
3. Marriage, singleness, and faithful living
   Pastoral instruction on relationships, calling, and contentment under the lordship of Christ, ch.7
4. Freedom governed by love
   Knowledge, conscience, idolatry, and Paul’s own example of self denial for the sake of the gospel, chs.8 to 10
5. Order and love in the gathered church
   Headship, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, and intelligible worship shaped by love, chs.11 to 14
6. The resurrection and the future of the church
   The centrality of Christ’s resurrection and the sure hope of bodily resurrection for believers, ch.15
7. Final exhortations and practical arrangements
   Steadfast service, generosity, and closing pastoral concerns, ch.16

Key Themes

• The cross as true wisdom, God overturns human pride by saving through what the world calls weakness.
• Unity in Christ, the church belongs to Christ alone and must not fracture around personalities or preferences.
• Holiness of life, grace never excuses sin but reshapes conduct, especially in matters of sexuality and integrity.
• Christian freedom, liberty is real yet always constrained by love for weaker believers.
• The gathered church, worship is ordered, intelligible, and aimed at mutual edification.
• Spiritual gifts, gifts are given for service, not status, and must operate within love.
• The resurrection, Christ’s bodily resurrection anchors the gospel and guarantees the believer’s future.
• Persevering service, because the resurrection is sure, labour in the Lord is never in vain.

Recommended Commentaries

Recommendations are grouped to help you build a working shelf. A top choice aims to serve as your primary companion for preaching and teaching. A strong recommendation provides a second trusted voice that complements your main volume. A useful supplement helps with structure, background, or a particular angle, without demanding more time than it is worth.

A simple strategy, choose one main commentary you will actually consult weekly, then add a second voice only where the passage is especially dense or pastorally sensitive.

• The First Epistle To The Corinthians (Revised)by Gordon D. Fee, Score: 9.3

  A first-class evangelical commentary on 1 Corinthians, combining scholarship and pastoral wisdom for faithful teaching and preaching

• The First Epistle To The Corinthians (1st Edition)by Gordon D. Fee, Score: 9.0

  A landmark evangelical commentary on 1 Corinthians that remains essential for advanced study.

• The Message of 1 Corinthiansby David Prior, Score: 8.5

  A pastorally wise, gospel-centred, and practical guide to 1 Corinthians for preaching and church teaching.

Browse all 1 Corinthians reviews

Additional help is often most valuable in chs.8 to 10 on conscience and freedom, chs.11 to 14 on gathered worship, and ch.15 where the argument for the resurrection requires careful handling.

Preaching and Teaching Helps

1 Corinthians presents familiar pastoral challenges that reward patient exposition and careful application to modern church life.

• Track the gospel logic, repeatedly show how Paul’s commands grow out of the message of the cross.
• Avoid atomistic preaching, many sections assume earlier arguments, especially chs.1 to 4.
• Handle sensitive issues wisely, passages on sexuality, discipline, and gender require clarity and pastoral care.
• Explain first century context, especially around idolatry, meals, and spiritual gifts.
• Keep love central, ch.13 is not a digression but the heart of Paul’s corrective strategy.

This Book in the Story of Scripture

1 Corinthians stands within the apostolic witness to the risen Christ, applying the finished work of Jesus to the everyday life of the church. Rooted in the gospel proclaimed in the Gospels and Acts, the letter shows how the cross reshapes God’s redeemed community as it lives between Christ’s resurrection and his return.

The book presses the church toward holiness, humility, and hope. It forms believers who live under the lordship of Christ, worship with reverence and joy, and serve with endurance, knowing that the resurrection secures both present obedience and future glory.

Because Christ is risen, the church can live in costly obedience now, confident that its labour in the Lord will one day be revealed in glory.