Insights On 1 2 Corinthians

Corinth, a diverse, cosmopolitan city sitting at a strategic center of commerce for both Greece and the wider Roman Empire, was known for its decadence and wealth. In his commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians, Chuck Swindoll explores how Paul took the Corinthian church to task for taking on the character of the city instead of the character of Christ. As Chuck shows, the message of Paul to the Corinthians is greatly needed by the Church today. The 15-volume Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary series draws on Gold Medallion Award–winner Chuck Swindoll’s 50 years of experience studying and preaching God’s Word. His deep insight, signature easygoing style, and humor bring a warmth and practical accessibility not often found in commentaries. Each volume combines verse-by-verse commentary, charts, maps, photos, key terms, and background articles with practical application. The newly updated volumes now include parallel presentations of the NLT and NASB before each section. This series is a must-have for pastors, teachers, and anyone else who is seeking a deeply practical resource for exploring God’s Word.

Your faith is challenged daily. We live in a society that has few absolutes, where “truth” is defined by personal philosophies. It’s really not so different from the culture of Corinth during the apostle Paul’s ministry. Believers were struggling with the “gray areas” of life, so Paul wrote letters—1 and 2 Corinthians—to remind them of what God intended as black-and-white. In Letters to a Troubled Church, Bible teacher Ray Stedman uses Paul’s epistles to guide us through difficult matters.

Rushdoony’s Sermons in First and Second Corinthians are the last of his Biblical commentaries—delivered shortly before his passing—but it represents a fitting close to his teaching ministry. He said Paul’s letters are difficult to preach on because they speak to the sins of Christians, and with the church at Corinth, the long list of sins included division, strife, injustice, immorality, doctrinal error, and the abuse of the sacraments. Despite their many transgressions, the apostle Paul still addresses the believers at Corinth as saints and referred to their gathered community as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were still Christ’s embassy on earth. They could still develop into a greater training center for Christian action. This is why Paul’s letters to the Corinthians are relevant to the church today, and it’s also why Rushdoony’s sermons on these two epistles are invaluable to us now. Rushdoony was criticized for his ecclesiology, but only because he always saw the greater fact of God’s advancing Kingdom, and the church as the equipping center for the saints. Rushdoony’s fresh application of Paul’s warnings and admonitions will help Christians, pastors, and churches to free themselves of the same sins and return to the church as an embassy of the Kingdom. THE NEED FOR A GODLY SOCIAL ORDER “The church could not hope in time to rule the world if it could not rule itself. It was thus very important for Paul to bring the Corinthians back into obedience to God’s law, among other things.” The apostle Paul was an envoy to the ekklesia of Jesus Christ—those who are called to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. Therefore, the importance of his patience, correction, and instruction could not be diminished if he were to be faithful to the One who sent him. The church is Christ’s embassy to earth to reclaim what belongs to Him. Against the backdrop of a history filled with hatred for God and hatred of all that is holy, our greater calling is the establishing of a godly social order, and this commentary by Rushdoony is a welcomed text to help equip us for that great responsibility.

If you think that 1 and 2 Corinthians are somebody else’s mail, then you need to think again. Paul wrote them for you and he wrote them for me. Right from the outset, his goal was far bigger than the city walls of Corinth. He copied them to “all the saints throughout Achaia” and to “all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” They are God’s message to believers in any local church in any place at any time. They describe the kind of church God can use. God inspired the Bible for a reason. He wants you read it and let it change your life. If you are willing to take this challenge seriously, then you will love Phil Moore’s devotional commentaries. Their bite-sized chapters are punchy and relevant, yet crammed with fascinating scholarship. Welcome to a new way of reading the Bible. Welcome to the Straight to the Heart series.

This newly revised and expanded edition of Insights on James, 1 & 2 Peter, part of the 15-volume Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary series, draws on Gold Medallion Award–winner Chuck Swindoll’s 50 years of experience with studying and preaching God’s Word. The series combines Chuck’s deep insight, signature easygoing style, and humor to bring a warmth and practical accessibility not often found in commentaries. Each volume combines verse-by-verse commentary, charts, maps, photos, key terms, and background articles with practical application. The newly updated volumes now include parallel presentations of the NLT and NASB before each section. This series is a must-have for pastors, teachers, and anyone else who is seeking a deeply practical resource for exploring God’s Word.

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