Comments on 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

    In my last blog post, I had written about the new year but now I'm planning on going back to a more expository format. I've started preaching through the book of 1 Corinthians at our local assembly and I hope that those talks can be an encouragement to our readers here.

Before we actually get to our text this morning I wanted to give us some background on the city of Corinth itself. Corinth had been burned, including the large temple to Aphrodite, in 146 BC and its people sold into slavery. About one hundred years later Julius Caesar founded a colony there again and by 27 BC that city had grown and become the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. It was situated on the western side of a 4 mile wide isthmus between two gulfs and as such was an important trading point which caused the city to become quite wealthy as well. They were the host of the Isthmus Games which were similar to the Olympics, just not quite as large and occurring every two years. That will become important when we get to chapter 9. 

During this time the temple of Aphrodite was rebuilt and the culture of promiscuity and temple prostitutes arose again, though not quite as much as before since the Roman Empire had introduced them to new philosophies as well. In Paul’s day the cults of Isis (an Egyptian goddess that emphasized wisdom) and of Mithras (which emphasized mysteries and hidden knowledge) had also grown up in Corinth and so the people there were very proud of their philosophical way of looking at life. 

The worldliness of Corinth was such that all over the Roman Empire if you were wanting to call someone especially immoral or promiscuous you would call them a Corinthian. We know that Paul wrote the epistle to Rome from Corinth and so when we read in 1:28-32 which states: “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” It can be assumed that Paul only had to look out his window in Corinth to see this kind of behavior. So the Corinthian church was in a difficult place spiritually, yet they had a tremendous opportunity to be a light—to have a faithful testimony in a wicked city by living out the life to which they had been called.

I am now going to turn and read in Acts, as I did in my introductory talk about Philippians, so that we have the Biblical, historical context for Paul’s work in Corinth. We’ll be reading Acts 18:1 - 17 : “After these things [that is after preaching the sermon on Mars Hill in Athens] he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’ Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.’ And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, ‘This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.’ But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.’ And he drove them away from the judgment seat. And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat, But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.”

So we know Paul stayed there in Corinth a year and a half ministering. He started quietly, reasoning in the synagogue and making tents with Aquila and Priscilla, but when Silas and Timothy came to town he seems to have started his gospel work in earnest. At some point the Jews started blaspheming while Paul was teaching in the synagogue and so he purposed to go to the Gentiles. We also read of two leaders of the synagogue in Corinth here, but the consensus among the commentators I read was that Crispus believed first and so they had to appoint a new leader in Sosthenes. Sosthenes didn’t get the results they were hoping for and so they beat him there at the end of our passage in Acts. However, we come now to our text in 1 Corinthians 1, and I’ll read the first nine verses: “Paul called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which is given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

v1 I wanted to point out that although we cannot know that this Sosthenes was the same man that was beaten in Acts 18, there is some thought that he would have been known to the Corinthian believers and so it could very well be the same man. How blessed to hear that one who had tried to persecute Paul would now be named brother in Christ. 

I did also want to point out that Paul was called “as” an apostle of Jesus Christ. His apostleship was a divine calling, “through the will of God,” in much the same way that in the next verse those he is writing to were “saints by calling” as it is rendered in the NASB. Also we read in Acts that though Paul was an apostle, he did work among the Corinthians as a tent-maker. I appreciated the point Ironside made about this so I’ll quote him here: “Paul was a great foreign missionary and when the churches of God did recognize their responsibility and send gifts as in the case of the Philippian church, he gladly received the money and used it for the glory of God. But when he was neglected, he did not sit down and pine and whimper because of the coldheartedness of Christians in other places; he simply created a job for himself and went to work making tents and providing the wherewithal to carry on his testimony. This in a way was helpful to his ministry, for sometimes when a preacher or missionary goes out as a well-supported individual bearing an official title and relationship to the church, people are not as interested in him and his message as they would be if he had come to work with his own hands as they have to do.” Paul’s willingness to labor with his hands so that the gospel might continue reminds us of the humility and perseverance that should mark all who serve Christ.

v2 He wrote to “the church of God which is at Corinth.” We’ll remember that the Greek word for church is ἐκκλησία which means “called out ones.” I appreciate the reminder in this second verse that every church has two addresses as it were. This group was “at Corinth” physically but Paul also mentions that they are “in Christ Jesus,” and so we can say we are “at Snyder,” and also “in Christ Jesus.”

As I mentioned above, Paul is an apostle by calling and is writing to those who are saints by calling. The sanctification here is in the past tense for these believers. They “have been sanctified,” and we can read in Hebrews 10:14 “He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” Ironside had also pointed out that while the normal teaching is justified then sanctified, as we read Scripture we actually see that order reversed. Quoting him again: “I find that a man is sanctified by the work of the Spirit in his heart even before he comes to the knowledge of Christ. It is the sanctifying, separating work of the Spirit of God that leads him to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” So there is a finished sanctification in the believer, and, I believe, an ongoing sanctification as we are more and more conformed to the image of Christ. But Paul here writes that they are already sanctified.

Also we should note that this letter, while a personal letter from Paul to believers whom he knew and cared for, is also addressed to “all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” That means that this letter is for our edification as well. Obviously all of Scripture is useful for teaching and rebuking, but this letter specifically is addressed to all those who trust Jesus as Lord. We cannot say, “Well this is just Paul’s writing for those people in that day.” This is for us.

v3 We now come to Paul’s standard greeting of “grace and peace.” We read it so often at the beginning of each of Paul’s epistles that I’ll admit that I sometimes skim right past it, but since we’re going through this more carefully I wanted to pause for a moment and talk about these two words again. These were normal greeting words for both Greeks (grace) and Jews (peace) and Paul using both helps remind us of the unity in the body of Christ. 

Paul is not wishing for them to find saving grace, but rather that they find the grace that helps us as believers get through the trials of life. We know we can trust God to give us “grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). Also, believers no longer need to find peace with God as we know from Romans 5 that we have that already, rather we need the peace of God that Paul mentions in Philippians 4 that we just went over a few weeks ago. We are not promised an easy life, but it can be much easier if we remember the grace and peace we can have in Christ.

v4 His greetings finished, Paul moved on, not to addressing the issues that he’d heard about from “Chloe’s people” (which we’ll talk about next time) but instead started with praising the Corinthians for what they had done well. He was reminding them, and I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say us as well, of the high and holy position we have in Christ Himself as believers. The grace of God is what accomplished that for them and us.

v5 In the next verse he reminds them that they are “enriched.” The Greek word here is πλουτίζω from which we get the word for plutocrat or a “very wealthy person.” Ironside and Wiersbe both pointed out how rich the Corinthian assembly was when it came to spiritual gifts, and yet we’ll learn later that they were not using them in a spiritual way. They had the words to speak and the knowledge of what ought to be, yet their carnal ways were not what God wanted from them. This is a good reminder for us that gift, in and of itself, does not save. You can have a brother who is a very talented speaker, or very good at sharing the gospel, but that is not necessarily evidence that his life is being guided by the Holy Spirit. 

v6 However, Paul does tell them that “the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed” in them. They were gifted, and knew the good news of Jesus Christ providing the way of salvation. It had been confirmed in them

v7 “so that [they] were not lacking in any gift.” Again Paul commends them for the plethora of gifts that were present in the assembly. He also reminds them to eagerly await the “revelation” of our Lord Jesus Christ. KJV here has “coming” but the Greek word is not παρουσία which is the normal word for coming such as in the epistles to the Thessalonians but rather is ἀποκάλυψις which is a revelation or an unveiling. Christians rightly look forward to the rapture where we will be caught up with Him, but we also long for the day when His majesty will be recognized in all the earth. We read in 1 John 2:28 “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.” Believers looking for “that day” will live their lives in such a way that it honors Him and they won’t need to be ashamed when He appears.

I wanted to take a minute here as well to quote Ironside once again: “We will never find in the Bible the undue familiarity in the use of the divine names that is so common in the irreverent days in which we live. No one in Scripture ever addressed our blessed Savior merely as Jesus. He was sometimes spoken of as Jesus; for example, by divine inspiration when His atoning work was particularly in view, the angel said, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). But when He was addressed directly, and ordinarily even when He was spoken of by His followers, He was called the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, or Jesus Christ our Lord.” I’m not saying any of us have fallen into “undue familiarity” but I think it is important to keep in mind that Jesus Christ is Lord.

v8 Paul then goes on to encourage them that He will “confirm you to the end.” This Greek word: βεβαιώσει is a legal term that refers to guaranteeing a settlement. Jesus Christ has promised that we will be “unto the end.” I won’t really get into the “perseverance of the saints,” because Scripture more often talks about the perseverance of the Savior. We can trust His promises.

Paul writes here that believers will be “blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That word blameless is another legal term that can also be translated as “unimpeachable” or “unaccusable.” On the day of our Lord the accuser of the brethren will try and bring charges against God’s people but there will be nothing that he can say because Jesus already settled all debts. All the “wood, hay, and stubble” will be burned up as we’ll read later in this letter at the Bema seat of Christ and so on the Day of the Lord we will be perfect and be able to stand before God in Christ.

v9 Our text this morning ends with a wonderful reminder that “God is faithful.” I could probably go around the room this morning and each of you could give me a story about how God was faithful in your lives. I know I have several. I won’t go over them now, but I do want us to stop and think for a moment about how faithful is our God that we serve.

He also reminds the Corinthians that our salvation calls us into “the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 John 1 reminds us that “our fellowship is with the Father,” and that “we have fellowship with one another.” Philippians 2 states that we also have “fellowship of the Spirit,” and so our salvation, while individual, joins us together in one body in Christ. How blessed our position.

As we close this morning, I’m struck by how Paul begins this letter. Before he ever corrects or warns or teaches, he reminds the Corinthians of who they are in Christ. They were called, sanctified, enriched, and upheld, not because of their faithfulness, but because of God’s. That same truth is for us today. No matter where we find ourselves, or how imperfectly we’ve walked, God is still faithful. He will confirm us to the end. And the One who called us into fellowship with His Son will never let us go.