Partakers of Grace: A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians

by Douglas Wilson

A New Testament Church means New Testament snarls.

Prostitution, incest, drunkenness at the Lord's table, sectarianism, and babble all were problems in Paul's rag-tag startup church in Corinth. Paul's letter was a course-correction for many in the church, bringing people back to the Gospel as the basis for right unity, sexual ethics, observation of the sacraments, and worship.

This commentary works through this deep and sometimes confusing letter verse by verse, unpacking the details and making applications. Yes, even on the headcoverings.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity

272 pages, Paperback

Published May 26, 2018

About the author

I write in order to make the little voices in my head go away. Thus far it hasn't worked.

Reviews

[Caleb M. Powers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent commentary.

[Jake McAtee]

"The message we are to preach is that God has set certain inexorable forces in motion, and it is our assigned task to get as many people as prepared as possible before God’s great eucatastrophe hits. We are all living along the beach in our miserable little grass huts, and a great tsunami, a huge tidal wave of joy, is heading toward us. Our task is not that of trying to get the tidal wave to come. We cannot make it come any faster, and we most certainly cannot get it to slow down. We declare that it is coming—as the children say, ready or not—and that preparation matters a great deal."

[Noah Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phenomenal commentary for both clergy and laymen alike. Some commentaries are useless unless you are fluent in Koine Greek or are overly simplistic. Not this one! Simple, yet insightful. This is due to Wilson expecting a certain level of basic knowledge from the reader, which allows him to cover topics without pages of ink being spilt. If you want to be challenged and learn without spending hours reading different commentaries, I would highly suggest this one.

[Abigail Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really thankful for this commentary. It helped me to see the sections of the letter flow into the whole purpose of the letter: Orderly worship.
There were some parts of the commentary that were lacking the depth of conversation that I was anticipating. Specifically chapter twelve. But thankfully Wilson had a sermon that expounded on the verses.
Also, chapter 15….intriguing.

[Rusten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed that one. Lots of level headed reading of an at times confusing letter.

[William Schrecengost · Rating 3 out of 5]

It should be prefaced that this is not so much a commentary as it is a collection of exhortations on 1 Corinthians. He doesn't get very in depth with the text and sometimes puts off explaining something for a little bit. The last portion was the best, chapters 12-16, the rest were OK. Because the content originated as emails sent to his congregation, it doesn't feel like it flows very well. The most they are interconnected is when he's not explaining something because there's 1 verse later in the chapter that will explain everything, so you have to bide your time reading what is essentially space filler until you get to "that 1 verse".
I think this is fine as a layman's commentary and for devotions, but I don't know how helpful it would be beyond that.

[Ty Brunet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty, clear, applicable

Partakes of Grace was a witty and helpful commentary, offering clear explanations and tangible application. The only thing I would have like to see different is more commentary, but it is clear that the goal wasn’t to be exhaustive.

[Matthew Rawlings · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best Commentary on 1 Corinthians

Wilson has done it again. I would recommend getting your hands on the Baylor Greek Handbook and this commentary if you want to faithfully preach through 1 Corinthians.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really a commentary and not very helpful.

[Jesus Salgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a delight to read. The author puts things in simple terms but he also writes in a way that gets you thinking. Corinth was an interesting church, this commentary is an interesting read.

[Jim Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Grant Van Brimmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very accessible and rich commentary to go along with personal Bible reading. 1 Corinthians contains many difficult passages, as well as controversial ones. Wilson provides concise and clear explanations for those tough passages.