1 Corinthians
+ NewAdam and Christ: The Two Heads of Humanity — Romans 5:12-21
Paul's clearest statement of the two representative heads is Rom 5:12-21: "as one trespass led to condemnation for all, so one act of righteousness leads to justification." Death reigned "from Adam," so that all are bound up with him. Augustine built the Western doctrine of original sin on this passage, reading the Latin in quo omnes peccaverunt as "in whom all sinned"; Trent received this, teaching that Adam's sin is transmitted to all and remedied only in Christ. Irenaeus had earlier framed Christ as the new Adam who recapitulates and heals humanity — the Eastern accent on restoration. The two heads structure the whole of redemptive history. The Adam-Christ parallel reaches back to the fall of Gen 3:17-19 and forward to the resurrection harvest of 1Cor 15:22: "as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." Bavinck treats this organic solidarity as the hinge of covenant theology.
Foreknown, Called, Glorified — Romans 8:28-30
Rom 8:28-30 links five acts of God: foreknew, predestined, called, justified, glorified. Each verb is aorist, including "glorified," so certain is the outcome that Paul speaks of it as already done. Augustine grounded predestination in God's prevenient grace, and Aquinas treated it as God's eternal ordering of the elect to glory, fully compatible with human freedom. Calvin read this chain as the ground of assurance, not anxiety. The traditions differ on how predestination and free cooperation fit together, yet share its comfort — that God works all things for good (8:28) — grounded in the sovereignty unfolded in Rom 9:6-18. Glorification ties this note to the resurrection hope of 1Cor 15:42-44 and to the conformity to Christ's image promised in Rom 8:29. Bavinck treats the ordo salutis as the temporal unfolding of God's eternal purpose.
Christ Our High Priest — Hebrews 9
Heb 9:11-14 presents Christ entering "the greater and more perfect tent... by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." The earthly tabernacle was a copy; Christ ministers in the true sanctuary. Aquinas read Christ's priesthood as the perfect fulfillment of the Levitical types, and Owen built his entire theology of the atonement on Hebrews' priestly logic. The once-for-all sacrifice of 9:26 ends the cycle of repeated offerings. The chapter is a sustained meditation on the Day of Atonement in Lev 16:14-15, and its new-covenant frame fulfills Jer 31:31. The blood that inaugurates the new covenant reappears at the Lord's Supper in 1Cor 11:25.
The Resurrection as Vindication — 1 Corinthians 15
1Cor 15:3-8 preserves the earliest creed: "Christ died for our sins... was buried... was raised on the third day... and appeared." Paul stakes the whole faith on it: "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" (15:17). Wright argues at length that only a bodily resurrection explains the rise of the church, and Athanasius saw the resurrection as the public defeat of death itself. The resurrection is the Father's vindication of the crucified Son. The Adam-Christ contrast of 15:22 ties back to Rom 5:18, and the resurrection body of 1Cor 15:42-44 anchors Christian hope for the believer's own glorification promised in Rom 8:30.
The Passover and the Lamb of God — Exodus 12 and John 1:29
Exod 12:21-27 institutes the Passover: a lamb without blemish, its blood on the doorposts, and the LORD passing over the houses so marked. Israel is redeemed by substitutionary blood and a shared meal. Calvin read the Passover as a sacrament of the old covenant, pointing to Christ, and Augustine saw in the lamb a figure of the crucified Lord. John the Baptist names Jesus "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." The Passover lamb of Exodus is fulfilled in the Lamb of God of John 1:29 and becomes the framework for the Lord's Supper in 1Cor 11:23-26. Paul says plainly, "Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed" in 1Cor 5:7.
Baptism into Christ — Romans 6 and Matthew 28
Rom 6:3-4 interprets baptism as union with Christ's death and resurrection: "we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that... we too might walk in newness of life." The sign signifies a real participation. Calvin defined a sacrament as a visible word that seals the promise, and the Catechism treats baptism as the gateway to life in the Spirit. Augustine's debates with the Donatists shaped the church's theology of valid baptism. Baptism is commanded in the Great Commission of Matt 28:19 and grounded in the union of Rom 6:5-11. It is the visible entry into the body addressed in 1Cor 12:13.
The Lord's Supper — 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
1Cor 11:23-26 hands on the words of institution: "this is my body... this cup is the new covenant in my blood... do this in remembrance of me." The meal proclaims the Lord's death "until he comes." Aquinas articulated transubstantiation as the mode of Christ's presence, which Calvin rejected in favor of a true spiritual feeding by the Spirit. The Catechism summarizes the Catholic eucharistic faith. The Supper has been the central sacramental dividing line of the church. The "new covenant in my blood" fulfills Jer 31:31 and the Passover of Exod 12:23. The shared loaf expresses the one body of 1Cor 12:12.
The Church as the Body of Christ — 1 Corinthians 12
1Cor 12:12-27: "for just as the body is one and has many members... so it is with Christ." By one Spirit all are baptized into one body, and the diversity of gifts serves the common good. Augustine's totus Christus — the whole Christ, head and members — expresses this unity, and Calvin treated the church as the mother of believers. The Catechism develops the body-of-Christ image for the communion of saints. The Spirit who distributes gifts here is the same Spirit of John 15:26 and Pentecost in Acts 2:17. The one baptism into one body connects to Rom 6:3 and Eph 4:4-6.
The Already and Not Yet Kingdom — Mark 1:15
Jesus' inaugural proclamation in Mark 1:14-15 — "the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe" — sets the tension of New Testament eschatology: the kingdom has arrived in him, yet awaits consummation. Wright frames Jesus' whole ministry as the in-breaking of God's reign and the end of exile, while Augustine's City of God distinguished the two cities now intermingled. The parables of Matt 13:31-33 picture a kingdom that grows hiddenly before its harvest. The 'already' is secured by the resurrection of 1Cor 15:20; the 'not yet' awaits the new creation of Rev 21:1. Between them the church lives by hope.
The Resurrection of the Body — 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
1Cor 15:42-44 describes the resurrection body: "sown perishable... raised imperishable... sown a natural body... raised a spiritual body." The Christian hope is not escape from the body but its glorification. Wright argues that 'spiritual body' means Spirit-animated, not immaterial, and Bavinck treats bodily resurrection as the goal of the whole ordo salutis. Augustine devoted the close of City of God to the glorified body. The pattern is set by Christ's own resurrection in 1Cor 15:20 and promised as glorification in Rom 8:30. Death is finally "swallowed up in victory" (15:54).
Pentecost and the Outpoured Spirit — Acts 2
Acts 2:16-21 interprets Pentecost as the fulfillment of Joel: "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh." The ascended Christ sends the Spirit, and the last days begin with the birth of the church. Augustine preached Pentecost as the love of God poured into the church, the reversal of Babel, and Calvin treated the outpouring as the public inauguration of the Spirit's new-covenant ministry. The Spirit given here is the same who proceeds in John 15. Pentecost fulfills the promise of the Spirit in John 15:26 and the new heart of Ezek 36:27. It constitutes the one body of 1Cor 12:13 and looks ahead to the consummation of Rev 21:3.