1 Corinthians 1
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Important messages
Chapter 1
Greeting and opening statements
1.
Paul,
called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother
Sosthenes,
2.
To
the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
3. Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4.
I
give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given
you in Christ Jesus,
5.
that
in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge-
6.
even
as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you –
7.
so
that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord
Jesus Christ,
8.
who
will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9.
God
is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord.
If Paul is called
of God to be an apostle, meaning a “sent one”, and of course he is, in this
immensely vital mission, which concerns the dispensation of the eternal gospel,
then this letter is of utmost importance to us. The writing is inspired of the
Holy Spirit and infallible; it is true instruction, which is alive and ageless.
Paul joins with Sosthenes in his greeting, a combined effort to counsel the
church, because this Jew is well-known to the Corinthians. After Crispus, the
ruler of the synagogue, was converted to Christianity, he was replaced by
Sosthenes as the Jewish leader. When the Jews accused Paul before the Roman
proconsul of Achaia, Gallio, he ignored their complaint and the Corinthian
citizens took Sosthenes and beat him before the tribunal. Later, Sosthenes also
became a Christian, the second important Jewish convert.
The letter is
written to the church, meaning the “called-out ones” in Corinth. They are
saints, because they have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. Saints are not an
elite order of extraordinary Christians, who have done outstanding deeds, but
are only called so, because of the work of Christ on their behalf. They join
with this growing band of believers throughout the Middle East in the time of
the apostles, and hundreds of thousands more have called on the name of the
Lord, down through the centuries and throughout the world, up to modern times.
He is our same Lord in the 21st Century (2).
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