1 & 2 Corinthians (Life Application Bible Commentary | LABC)
Overview
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians speaks to the concerns of today’s headlines. Sexual escapades among church leaders, lawsuits among disgruntled church members, and unethical fiscal practices in Christian institutions seem to parade across our television screens. Instead of standing apart from the world, the church has often mirrored its secular surroundings. What would God say to churches and individuals who have strayed from his truth? He spoke nearly two thousand years ago through Paul to the Corinthians in decadent Corinth, a city similar to many communities today. Paul wrote letters, now known as 1 and 2 Corinthians, urging believers to focus on Christ, forsake immorality, settle their differences, reject false teachers, and love each other. These personal and powerful epistles, written to believers in ancient Greece, present truths and principles that apply to our generation as well.
About the Series
The Life Application Bible Commentary series provides verse-by-verse explanation, background, and application for every verse in the New Testament. In addition, it gives personal help, teaching notes, and sermon ideas that will address needs, answer questions, and provide insight for applying God’s Word to life today. The content is highlighted so that particular verses and phrases are easy to find.
Each volume contains three sections: introduction, commentary, and reference. The introduction includes an overview of the book, the book’s historical context, a timeline, cultural background information, major themes, an overview map, and an explanation about the author and audience.
The commentary section includes running commentary on the Bible text with reference to several modern versions, especially the New International Version and the New Revised Standard Version, accompanied by life applications interspersed throughout. Additional elements include charts, diagrams, maps, and illustrations. There are also insightful quotes from church leaders and theologians such as John Calvin, Martin Luther, John Wesley, A. W. Tozer, and C. S. Lewis. These features are designed to help you quickly grasp the biblical information and be prepared to communicate it to others. The reference section includes a bibliography.
Top Highlights
“Paul had been dealing with various forms of disorder and confusion taking place in the Corinthian church in particular.” (Page 213)
“The Christian life is a struggle, precisely because it is ‘Christian.’ It is a struggle to obey God, face persecution, exercise self-control and self-discipline, and deal with sin in one’s life. When people are ‘saved,’ they grow in their relationship with Christ and want to become more like him. They will not become perfect in this life, but they desire to work toward holiness. Some of the Corinthian believers thought that because they had professed faith, went to church, and joined in the Lord’s Supper, they could then live as they pleased. But this was a false belief, as Paul would show through the example he used from Israel’s history.” (Page 135)
“People can spend a lifetime accumulating human wisdom and yet never learn how to have a personal relationship with God.” (Page 29)
“He will not always remove the temptation, because facing it and remaining strong can be a growing experience; however, God does promise to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. This means that there exists no temptation that a believer cannot resist. But the believer must resist and stand against it. Each temptation can be resisted because God made it possible to resist it. The secret to resisting temptation is to recognize the source of the temptation and then to recognize the source of strength in temptation. God promises to give his people the strength to resist.” (Page 142)
“Greeks had different words that described different kinds of love. The word agape connotes a deep, abiding, self-sacrificing love—the kind that looks out for the other person first. God requires his people to have agape love for one another.” (Page 186)