Look at the Book is John Piper's ongoing series of 8-12 minute videos to help you learn to read the Bible for yourself.
Episodes
995- 1 Corinthians 3:10–11: The Foundation Dictates How We Build on It
How did Paul see his role as the first preacher a church might hear? He laid the groundwork for generations of faithful preaching.
- 1 Corinthians 3:5–9, Part 2: Fellow Workers of God Are a Single Force in God’s Hand
Why should Christians resist unduly elevating our leaders or pitting them against each other? Because God uses all leaders as a single means to bless his church.
- 1 Corinthians 3:5–9, Part 1: God, Not the Seed Sower, Gives Life
Although Paul’s evangelistic work and Apollos’s ongoing teaching were essential to the Corinthians’ faith, only God could make that faith grow.
- 1 Corinthians 3:1–4, Part 2: Why Does Paul Warn Christians Against Unbelief?
Paul sometimes speaks to believers with sobering severity. How does God use warnings like his to keep us walking with Christ until the end?
- 1 Corinthians 3:1–4, Part 1: Paul’s Stark Warning to Infants in Christ
The line between a carnal Christian and an unbeliever is a dangerous one. Conduct demonstrates the reality of the new birth — or the lack of it.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14–16: Why Do Non-Christians Fail to Understand Christians?
Why does having the Holy Spirit make such a difference in how we judge between wisdom and folly? Only those with the Spirit can see God’s wisdom as true wisdom.
- 1 Corinthians 2:10–13, Part 4: Paul’s Amazing Claim of Divine Inspiration
Do you believe that the apostles were spokesmen for God, taught by the Holy Spirit? Paul did. He depended on it for both authority and impact.
- 1 Corinthians 2:10–13, Part 3: We Cannot Know God’s Mind Without Revelation
How can anyone hope to understand the ways and wonders of God? Only the Spirit of God, through the words of Scripture, can reveal that truth.
- 1 Corinthians 2:10–13, Part 2: The Spirit’s Infinite Search into the Depths of God
Can anyone search the depths of God? The Holy Spirit can — because he himself is God, and he delights in knowing the depth of infinite glory.
- 1 Corinthians 2:10–13, Part 1: Does Paul Believe in the Trinity?
How could the Holy Spirit search the infinite depths of God without being infinite himself, yet somehow distinct from the Father and the Son? The Christian God is triune.
- 1 Corinthians 2:6–10, Part 5: Who Are the Mature?
Mature believers are not perfect people. But as we grow in discerning good and evil, we better understand and apply the wisdom of God.
- 1 Corinthians 2:6–10, Part 4: Unimaginable Joy Prepared for Those Who Love God
The mystery of God’s goodness in Christ exceeds everything we can imagine. We need God himself to reveal it to us.
- 1 Corinthians 2:6–10, Part 3: Crucifying the Lord of Glory, They Fulfilled the Wisdom of God
The rulers of this age mistook Jesus, so they crucified him — and ushered him into new glories he shares with his saints.
- 1 Corinthians 2:6–10, Part 2: Before Time, God Was Planning Our Glory
When this world fell into sin, God didn’t scramble for a backup plan. He had planned from all eternity to rescue a people through the work of his Son.
- 1 Corinthians 2:6–10, Part 1: Don’t Be Impressed with the Wisdom and Power of This Age
Why should we refuse to get sucked in by the empty promises of this world? Because this age is passing away; nothing it offers will eternally satisfy.
- 1 Corinthians 2:1–5, Part 3: What Is the Demonstration of the Spirit and Power?
How did Paul demonstrate the power of the Spirit in his ministry? By preaching in weakness, Paul showed a faith that boasts only in Christ crucified.
- 1 Corinthians 2:1–5, Part 2: The Crucified Christ and the Trembling Apostle
Paul relates everything to Christ crucified, including his own ability to preach. How else could he promote faith that boasts in God’s power?
- 1 Corinthians 2:1–5, Part 1: How Do You Speak So That People Trust God and Not You?
Paul could have come to the Corinthian church with oratorical skill and philosophical wisdom, but he chose not to. Why?
- 1 Corinthians 1:26–31, Part 2: Boasting in Man Ends — Boasting in Christ Is Forever
Our union with Christ grants us every blessing of the Christian life and voids any pride we could take in our own strength. How could we boast in anything but God?
- 1 Corinthians 1:26–31, Part 1: Why Do Christians Come into Being from Nothing?
Did God choose us for our connections, influence, or intelligence? No, God saves in a way that abolishes all human boasting.