1 Corinthians: The Word of the Cross

Preaching the Word

by Stephen T. Um, R. Kent Hughes (Editor)

The issues addressed in the the book of 1 Corinthians are strikingly similar to the issues faced by the church today: sin, pride, disunity, and confused identities. Paul warns the Corinthians with words of exhortation, but not without profound encouragement. In doing so, he points modern readers to the hope offered to Christians as they follow Jesus in a fallen world.


In this commentary, pastor Stephen Um uses powerful illustrations and practical applications to point readers and teachers of the Bible to the heart of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians: the gospel of Jesus Christ that has the power to save, change, and unite God's people.

Genres: Theology, Christian

368 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 2015

About the author

Stephen Um (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is senior minister of Citylife Church in Boston, Massachusetts, and president of the Center for Gospel Culture. He serves on the board of directors for the Gospel Coalition, is an adjunct faculty member at a number of theological seminaries, and is an associate training director for Redeemer City to City Asia. He is the author of several books and articles and the coauthor of Why Cities Matter.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great addition to this commentary series. The book is a series of sermons given over the entire book. There are about 32 sermons total each about 10 pages long. The book is suitable for devotional reading, or for study and preaching. I got it for my own preaching through 1 Corinthians and found it helpful to see how other expositors worked with the text. Personally I thought this was the best book in the series that I have read.

[Jonathan Sussex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first new testament commentary I have read in the Preaching the Word series, and I was not disappointed. The author brings the text alive with useful application for the present day, showing not much has really changed in Church life since Paul penned this epistle.

[Erin Seeders · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book of 1 Corinthians is such a profound, theologically rich portion of Scripture. But this particular commentary on 1 Corinthians fell short. The author has a social justice gospel mentality, which is not a Scriptural principle. He conflates the social issues of today with that being a primary burden the church is to address, rather than seeing all people equally through the lens of our shared depravity and sinfulness against the Holy God. I appreciate many of the other books in this Preach the Word series by other authors, but they are not all of the same quality, and this is one I would not recommend to anyone else.

[Brandon Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's hard to rate a good exegetical commentary any less than 5 stars

[Steve Croft · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first commentary I read in the 39 (at the moment) PTW book series that I am endeavouring to complete. I read daily it alongside the M'cheyne bible reading plan. Each of the commentaries in the series are a different style, as there are multiple authors. I found this one good, Stephen has an easy-to-digest writing style. I was hoping this would be an exergetical analysis of the text, but instead Stephen would present the theme of a chapter and explain the context of the text and the intended teaching. As such, I found that some difficult verses weren't covered at all, such as:

7:14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

Or

11.10 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.

I learned lots, but disagreed with one teaching in the book (expected in a commentary.) In chapter 5 the study focusses on 3:1-9 and in particular:
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

Stephen goes on to say:
"Implication 1. We don't need to strive to produce our own growth. If we know and believe that our growth is not something that we produce, then we can give up on all our self-help, self-improvement, self-actualisation projects."

I disagree with this hypothesis. The context is that Paul doesn't want to take credit for their growth, he's not saying that they don't need to do anything themselves to grow spiritually. Elsewhere in the book he quotes:
"James Smith suggests in desiring the kingdom. Our hearts desires are shaped and molded by the habit forming practices in which we participate daily."

Another great quote:
"Idolitary is in the air we breath, and its rarely explicit. Most people dont know its happening. They're not saying, 'I want this instead of Christ', they are saying, 'I want this plus Christ'. Idolitary isnt the choice between 2 Gods, Its the attempt to serve many gods at the same time."

[nate]

Another one of the commentaries I read throughout a 45 part sermon series I did in the book of 1 Corinthians. I appreciate the Preaching the Word series as it helps you see how another person has put together a sermon for each of the different sections in a book of the Bible. While I really benefited from this book in general, one of the limitations of this approach is that Stephen Um preaches to a different audience than I do. Every preacher knows the challenges of finding an "entry point" in a text of Scripture, asking the questions "How am I going to approach this, what are the themes, how can I communicate it best to my audience, etc." While I generally agreed with Um's approach to this letter, I had to lean on other commentaries to help find those entry points.

[Bryn MacPhail · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a help for sermon preparations you can't go wrong with the "Preaching The Word" series. Stephen Um's commentary on 1Corinthians was useful for almost every passage I studied. The one weak spot with this particular commentary is that it didn't adequately delve into the more controversial passages of this biblical book, in terms of a deep theological dive. This commentary pairs well with a more technical commentary (i.e. Gordon Fee) for sermon preparation.

[Bob Wolniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful collection of 32 expositional sermons in 1 Corinthians by former pastor Stephen Um.

[Paul Vawter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty bland commentary with little in the way of memorable insights and a pretty progressive argument in favor of economic justice toward the end.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This bible commentary on 1 Corinthians is part of Crossway's Preaching the Word commentary series. I have read quite a few commentaries in the series now. I've read Isaiah, John, and Judges/Ruth. My favorite would probably be either the Isaiah one or the John. I loved, loved, loved both of those.

Stephen Um wrote the commentary for 1 Corinthians. Chapter by chapter, he takes readers verse by verse through one of Paul's longest letters.

This commentary series is more formal than say J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible series. But it isn't dry or scholarly either. Each chapter is essentially an expository sermon in print form. Each chapter also seeks to highlight how relevant the Bible still is for our lives today.

So don't expect Stephen Um, to address you as "MY FRIEND" every other page. (I do love that about J. Vernon McGee.)

So. 1 Corinthians covers a LOT of material on how to live a Christian life. What to do, and, what NOT to do. It's addressed to a church with issues. And that helps make a case for relevance, doesn't it?!

Four chapters are dedicated to unpacking all the wonderful-ness of 1 Corinthians 15. Three chapters are dedicated to covering 1 Corinthians 7. Most chapters of the book get one or two chapters.

I loved the focus on the resurrection, the cross, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.