Paul's Unwavering Theme: Christ and Him Crucified

Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church with singular purpose: "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." This was no rhetorical flourish but the organizing principle of his apostolic ministry.

Paul was emphatically a man of one idea. He did not go forth to baptize (1 Corinthians 1:17), nor to preach himself (2 Corinthians 4:5), nor to teach philosophy (1 Corinthians 1:23), nor to practice tricks of rhetoric (1 Corinthians 2:4). Whether in the synagogues of Antioch and Thessalonica (Acts 13:38; 17:3), on Mars Hill (Acts 17:31), before Felix and Agrippa (Acts 24:25; 26:23), or in Rome's prison (Acts 28:31), his one theme was Christus kai houtos estauromenos—Christ and Him crucified.

Why such prominence? Because the Cross commands universal attention, touching a universal want. It means remission of sins—Christ the Amnos tou Theou, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). It means immortality of glory.

The Cross is the grandest theme. It gave grandeur to Paul's life, to Luther's, to Whitfield's, and to Wesley's. As the Christos, the Anointed One (Psalm 45:7), Jesus functions as King, Priest, and Prophet of His Church. Heaven knows Jesus Christ; earth knows Jesus Christ and Him crucified—the scandal and power of Adonai's redemptive plan.