1 Corinthians: The Word of the Cross

Stephen T. Um’s commentary expounds 1 Corinthians with a strongly pastoral concern for how the gospel reshapes Christian identity, church community, and everyday life in a fallen culture. Written in the Preaching the Word series, it follows Paul’s letter section by section while repeatedly moving from the first-century problems of cosmopolitan Corinth to the pressures faced by modern Christians and churches. The title, The Word of the Cross, captures the controlling emphasis: God’s wisdom revealed in the crucified Christ overturns the assumptions by which people seek status, freedom, fulfillment, and power.

The early chapters of the commentary trace Paul’s appeal for unity in 1 Corinthians 1–4. Um shows how rivalry, self-promotion, human wisdom, and misplaced allegiance fracture Christian community. The cross rewrites the story by which believers evaluate themselves and one another. God gives growth, Christ defines the community’s foundation, and Christian leaders exercise authority as servants rather than celebrities. These chapters address questions about how a church can resist factionalism, how Christians should understand spiritual authority, and how gospel identity changes the pursuit of recognition and success.

In 1 Corinthians 5–7 Um applies Paul’s teaching to church discipline, conflict between believers, sexual immorality, marriage, singleness, and calling. His exposition connects grace with moral seriousness: the church is not to tolerate destructive sin, yet discipline and correction belong within a community formed by the gospel. Sexuality is treated in relation to the body’s belonging to Christ, while marriage and singleness are considered as callings in which believers serve God rather than construct identity from cultural expectations.

The commentary gives extended attention to freedom, rights, and idolatry in 1 Corinthians 8–10. Um explores how knowledge can become self-serving, how Christian liberty is limited by love for others, how Paul relinquishes legitimate rights for the sake of effective witness, and how Israel’s wilderness failures warn the church against idolatry and presumption. The practical question is not simply what a Christian is permitted to do but whether freedom is being used for God’s glory and the good of a neighbor.

In 1 Corinthians 11–14 the focus turns to the worshiping community. Um explains the Lord’s Supper, the variety of spiritual gifts, the interdependence of the body, the surpassing way of love, and the need for intelligible and orderly worship. Gifts are not badges of spiritual importance; they are given by God for mutual upbuilding. The treatment of 1 Corinthians 13 places love at the heart of Christian community, while the chapters on tongues and prophecy ask how spiritual expression can genuinely serve others.

The exposition of 1 Corinthians 15 develops the power of the gospel through Christ’s resurrection, the resurrection of believers, the future resurrection body, and victory over death. Um connects bodily resurrection with durable Christian hope and faithful service. The letter’s closing concerns continue the communal emphasis through generosity, partnership, reconciliation, and shared mission.

Across the book, Um repeatedly addresses how Christians can live faithfully amid cultural pressures without either copying the world or withdrawing from it. The commentary is especially relevant to readers asking how the cross changes identity, how believers fight sin without losing sight of grace, how churches handle division and discipline, how Christians use rights and freedom, how worship and spiritual gifts should build the church, how love governs community, and how resurrection hope changes the way Christians live now. Its distinctive strength is the continual connection of Paul’s theology to the human heart, contemporary idols, city life, relationships, witness, and the practical formation of a gospel-shaped people.