There's a certain degree of optimism at the start of a new school year. There are no late homework assignments or projects. There are no low results from tests, no absences and no detentions from bad behavior. In essence, there is a flawless report and a blameless record. The challenge naturally is from everything that follows. We know that we will not be perfect and that flawless record will not last.
This is the same challenge that every Christian has after salvation. We start the Christian life with such optimism, but as we face challenges, we stumble into sin, strain relationships and leave a wake of pain in our path. If we are believers we should feel a certain degree of guilt and remorse from this.
As a Congregation, the Church in Corinth pretty much got everything wrong that could go wrong. Although the church was blessed with an exceptionally talented group of people (12:7–11, 27–31) but was burdened by strife, divisions, moral problems, and irregularities in the worship services. When Paul wrote I Corinthians, he pastorally approached the readers by thanking God, who had called them to a life of holiness. Many of them had lived in spiritual darkness but by God’s grace now had fellowship with Jesus Christ. Paul rejoiced in their salvation. In a positive manner, he reminded the Corinthians of their commitment to Christ and urged them to ascend to a higher level of serving Christ in church and society. In his thanksgiving to God, he addressed the people positively in spite of their lack of love to God and their fellow (believers) (Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (Vol. 18, pp. 42–43). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)
When our failings and sins are before us how can we cope? When relationships are strained and the weight of sin is before us, how do we deal with this burden? The solutions that the Apostle Paul presents the Corinthians Church can help us to see how Blameless believers are in Christ, and how to effectively deal with the sins that so easily beseech us. Paul takes the first nine verses of 1 Corinthians to show believers who they are—saints, holy ones, sanctified ones. The rest of the letter is built on this foundation. “You are holy; therefore act holy. Live a life commensurate with who you are.”
In 1 Corinthians 1:3–9 Paul summarizes the benefits of believing in Christ, of being a saint. The benefits have three dimensions. Some are past, given the moment we accept Christ as Savior and Lord. Others are present, worked out as we live our lives in Him. Still others are future, to be experienced only when we go to be with Him in heaven. In the past there is grace, in the present there are gifts, and for the future there are guarantees. 1) Our Past is already taken care of (1 Corinthians 1:3-4, 6), 2) Our Present is provided for (1 Corinthians 1:5, 7a), and 3) Our Future is assured (1 Corinthians 1:7b-9).
Believers are Blameless in Christ because of:
1) Past Benefits of Grace (1 Corinthians 1:3-4, 6)
1 Corinthians 1:3-4, 6 [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, [6]even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you-- (ESV)
The first benefit of being a saint is the grace of salvation. In verse three, Paul used a common form of Christian greeting (cf. Rom. 1:7; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:2; 2 John 3; Rev. 1:4; etc.). Grace is favor, and peace is one of its fruits. Peace (Greek eirēnē) was used as the equivalent of the Hebrew shālôm, still the most common Jewish greeting today. The peace of which Paul speaks here is “the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension” (Phil. 4:7). It is the peace that only Christians can have, for only Christ can give it (John 14:27). The world does not have and cannot give that kind of peace. “Grace is always first, peace always second. This is due to the fact that grace is the source of peace. Without grace there is and can be no peace; but when grace is ours, peace must of necessity follow. (R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians (1935; Columbus: Wartburg, 1946), p. 28.)
• In a world of noise, confusion, and relentless pressures, people long for peace. Many give up the search, thinking it impossible to find, but true peace of heart and mind is available through faith in Jesus Christ (Barton, B. B., & Osborne, G. R. (1999). 1 & 2 Corinthians (p. 21). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.).
The greeting “grace and peace” is appropriate only for believer to believer, because it speaks of blessings that only they possess (Rom. 5:1-3). “Grace and peace” express his deep theological convictions about what God had accomplished in Christ: “grace” is the source of Christian life, and “peace” is its consummation (Garland, D. E. (2003). 1 Corinthians (p. 30). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic).
• In a world of war, corporate espionage, civic and labor strife, family breakdown and personal grief, only a life submitted to Christ will ever know God's favor of true and lasting peace.
Some people wish for peace and even invoke God to make it so. But Wishes which initially invoke God often historically degenerate into sheer convention. Thus the English “Good-bye” originates from “God buy’ye” as a contraction of “God be with ye.” Paul prevents the assimilation of the two speech-acts of greeting and “wish-prayer” by solemnly expanding it to include the agency through whom the wish is fulfilled: from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Thiselton, A. C. (2000). The First Epistle to the Corinthians: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 81). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.).
The Father and Jesus are linked grammatically as one unit (one PREPOSITION, but two OBJECTS). This is a common way for NT authors to assert Jesus’ deity (cf. 1 Thess. 1:1; 3:11; 2 Thess. 1:2, 12; 2:16). The application of the OT titles of God to Jesus is another way to assert the same truth (Utley, R. J. (2002). Paul’s Letters to a Troubled Church: I and II Corinthians (Vol. Volume 6, p. 11). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.)
In verse four, as the first word of 1 Corinthians states, the "I" here is Paul, the author of the book. He wrote 1 Corinthians from the city of Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia (16:8, 19) sometime before the final day of Pentecost (16:8; cf. Lev. 23:11, 15) Paul wrote 1 Corinthians , near the end of his three-year ministry in Ephesus. His passion was to see people redeemed, and his joy was greatest when that happened. Keeping a proper perspective, his thanks is directed God-ward. (Acts 19:21–22) (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 2197, 2191). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles)
Paul expresses his gratitude [I give thanks to my God always for/concerning you] regarding those who have received the grace of salvation. This is a PRESENT ACTIVE INDICATIVE, which expresses ongoing action (Utley, R. J. (2002). Paul’s Letters to a Troubled Church: I and II Corinthians (Vol. Volume 6, p. 11). Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International.).
• When we focus on people’s faults, hope soon wanes and discouragement follows. But when we concentrate on the Lord, even the darkest hours can be filled with praise (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (1 Co 1:4–9). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.).
Paul’s heart is filled with gratitude because God chose to call his people out of the immoral and idolatrous environment of Corinth. Even there God established the church in fellowship with Jesus Christ (v. 9). For that reason Paul can continually thank God (Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (Vol. 18, p. 37). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.).
• During the Thanksgiving holiday, we focus on our blessings and express our gratitude to God for them. But thanks should be expressed every day. We can never say thank you enough to parents, friends, leaders, and especially to God. When thanksgiving becomes an integral part of your life, you will find that your attitude toward life will change. You will become more positive, gracious, loving, and humble. Whom do you need to thank today? (Barton, B. B., & Osborne, G. R. (1999). 1 & 2 Corinthians (p. 22). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.)
Grace (charis) was a common Christian greeting, which Paul had just used in the previous verse in his salutation. The basic meaning of the word is “favor,” but in regard to God’s saving people through His Son it always has the special and distinct sense of undeserved and unrepayable kindness or mercy given to sinners. It is super-magnanimous giving, giving that is totally undeserved and unmerited. It need not, in fact cannot, be repaid. God’s saving grace is free and unearned. Paul notes that the grace that was given in the Greek is the aorist tense, indicating action completed at a particular, definite point of time. At the moment a person trusts in Jesus Christ, one receives the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
Please turn to Ephesians 2 (p.976)
In recent years we have been able, through magazines, newspapers, and television, to see vividly the terrible plight and anguish of people in such places as Cambodia, Afghanistan, Central America, and the Middle East. The sensitive Christian who lives in a free, peaceful country cannot help asking, “Why, Lord, have you given me so much? Why am I free to live peacefully, free to worship where and as I choose, free to work, free to raise my family as I think best, free to have fellowship with other believers?” We know it is not because we are more deserving of blessing. We are blessed because of God’s grace and for no other reason.
Ephesians 2:4-10 [4]But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5]even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- [6]and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7]so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8]For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9]not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10]For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
• We are given that grace in order to show others a foretaste of forthcoming eternal blessing in Christ (Eph. 2:4–7), help others ” (Eph. 2:10; Titus 2:14), and as He would continue on in Eph. 3, He is glorified in the display of His grace (Eph. 3:21)
We receive God’s grace when the testimony of Christ is confirmed—that is, settled, made steadfast and solid—in us. Continuing the theme of past grace, let's look at the testimony in verse 6 which is the Greek marturion, meaning “witness,” as it is sometimes translated (see Acts 1:8). It is from this term that we get the English martyr. Christ’s witness is settled and confirmed in us when we trust in Him as Lord and Savior. At that moment, and forever after that moment, we stand in God’s grace.
It is not when we hear the testimony about Christ, but when we have the testimony about/concerning Christ … confirmed in us, that we become partakers of God’s grace. That ‘testimony’ was the gospel which Paul had preached in the city of Corinth. ‘Testimony’ was a witness’ sworn evidence in a court, based on what he or she had seen and heard. In Paul’s case it referred to the gospel which had come to him so personally on the road to Damascus.
• The same principle applies to us. The gospel we give to others, whether as preachers or as individuals, must always be our testimony, words about things that are deeply true in our own experience. The light of the word of God must have shone in our hearts before we are able to shine it into the hearts of others (2 Cor. 4:5–6) (Barnett, P. (2000). 1 Corinthians: Holiness and Hope of a Rescued People (pp. 20–21). Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.).
When a person in faith accepts God’s offer, grace becomes operative. All sin is forgiven and all guilt is removed, forever. At that time God begins to pour out the superabundance of His blessings and riches on His new child, and He will not stop throughout all eternity. That is the extent of God’s grace (1 Cor. 1:4-6), that is how believers are blameless. The aorist tense of this verb here in a constative sense (i.e., emphasizing a total definitive action), sums up God’s work in the lives of the Corinthians—God did it (Mare, W. H. (1976). 1 Corinthians. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Romans through Galatians (Vol. 10, p. 190). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
Poem: Grace first inscribed my name, In God’s eternal book; ’Twas grace that gave me to the Lamb Who all my sorrows took. Grace taught my soul to pray, And made my eyes o’erflow; ’Twas grace that kept me to this day, And will not let me go (Ellsworth, R. (1995). Strengthening Christ’s Church: The Message of 1 Corinthians (p. 21). Darlington, England: Evangelical Press.).
Believers are Blameless in Christ because of:
2) Present Benefits of Grace (1 Corinthians 1:5, 7a)
1 Corinthians 1:5, 7a [5]that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge-- [7]so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, (as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ), (ESV)
The first benefits of grace for the believer are established in the past, totally completed when we trust in Christ. Other benefits are present, a continuing treasury of riches given throughout our earthly lives. In Christ we are continually enriched in everything. A key word in verse 5 is in. In every way believers in Christ are enriched in Him. The in Him qualifies the in every way/everything. That is, we have everything that Christ has to give, and He gives everything we need—though many times not everything we want. God’s “divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3), which is all a believer needs and should be all one wants. In Jesus Christ we “have been made complete” (Col. 2:10). “All things belong to [us]” (1 Cor. 3:21).
Among the most important of the things we have in Christ are all speech and all knowledge. Again the all is qualified. We have all the speech and knowledge necessary to accomplish all God wants us to do. We will always be able to say everything God wants us to say and to know everything He wants us to know. His will is concurrent with His enablement.
The particular speech in mind here is that of telling God’s truth. God gives every believer the capacity to speak for Him. We do not all have eloquence, an impressive vocabulary, or a captivating personality. But we all have the necessary God–given ability, the same capability and the same capacity; to speak for Him in the unique way that He wants us to speak.
Please turn to Acts 4 (p.912)
Besides lack of holiness, the most common failure of Christians is in not speaking for their Lord. The most frequent excuses are “I don’t know what to say” or “I don’t know how to say it” or “I just don’t think I can do it.” Even in the midst of hostility, God shatters these excuses.
Acts 4:26-31 [26]The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'--[27]for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, [28]to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. [29]And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, [30]while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." [31]And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (ESV)
• Witnessing is no more optional for “ordinary” believers than for the apostles. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8). We can witness and we must witness. We have no excuses for not giving testimony to Christ. As believers, we too have the Holy Spirit, and He will enable us, like them, to speak for the Lord with confidence and boldness. But we need to be “ready to make a defense to everyone who asks [us] to give an account for the hope that is in [us]” (1 Pet. 3:15).
Despite His empowering, God does not expect us to speak from a vacuum. With provision of all speech necessary He also provides all knowledge necessary. It is not that we know everything, even about the gospel. Now we know only “in part” (1 Cor. 13:12), But we are given everything we need to know to speak effectively for the Lord. God has given us enough revelation and will give us enough understanding to speak His truth to the world. We have His Word and we have His Spirit to interpret it (Mt. 11:25; 1 Cor. 2:9; 2 Cor. 4:6). But we must internalize the knowledge God gives in order to make it truly ours, and must open our mouths to use it. But the danger for all of us and particularly here for the Corinthian Christians was an exaggerated estimate of what they took for gnosis, and many of them were tempted to pride themselves on purely intellectual attainments (Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). 1 Corinthians (p. 3). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.)
Paul moves from the specific provisions of speech and knowledge of the present benefits of Grace to God’s general provision of all gifts that a believer needs to serve Him in the beginning of verse 7. A Christian is never lacking in any spiritual gift that one needs to live a full and faithful life. The word for gift (charisma), gift of grace, could refer exclusively to the specific spiritual gifts discussed in chapters 12–14. However, Paul is also able to use it more broadly for the gracious gifts of redemption in general...( Ciampa, R. E., & Rosner, B. S. (2010). The First Letter to the Corinthians (p. 65). Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.)
The problems in the Corinthian church shaped almost every word Paul wrote in his letter. He realized that the believers were struggling with internal, as well as external, problems. They were forgetting to whom they belonged. They were overlooking the source of the gifts and blessings over which they were arguing...The Corinthian believers were squabbling over gifts; he pointed them to the Giver (Barton, B. B., & Osborne, G. R. (1999). 1 & 2 Corinthians (p. 21). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.).
Not lacking is in the present tense and is therefore still referring to present benefits of believing. In light of the corruption in the Corinthian church, it may seem strange that Paul would state categorically that they lacked nothing. Unlike the Thessalonian and Philippian churches, the Corinthian church was exceptionally lacking in spiritual maturity and in moral purity. But they were not lacking, Paul says, in any spiritual gift. They did not have the same spiritual maturity and moral character as believers in those other churches, but they had all of the same resources. The Corinthians lacked no gifts, only the willingness to use them.
The word gift is the Greek charisma, which is specifically a gift of grace, derived from the term for grace (charis) used in verses 3–4. The gifts of which they had no lack were gifts provided by “the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus” (1:4). The particular blessings of speech and knowledge seem to refer primarily to presenting the gospel to the world; the general gifts of verse 7 seem to refer primarily to ministering to fellow believers. God’s resources dispensed to the churches are adequate to reach the world and adequate to build the church.
Illustration: Imagine how a parent would feel if on Christmas Day when the gifts for their children were handed out, the children just took them, said “Thank you,” and laid them aside with no attempt to open the gifts, not even to find out what they were!
Imagine how the Lord must feel when he has given gifts to us that he intends for us to use, and yet we never take the trouble to find out what they are, never put them to work, and then excuse ourselves from serving the church by saying that we can’t do anything! (Michael P. Green. (2000). 1500 illustrations for biblical preaching (p. 352). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.)
As believers we all have spiritual gifts, given since the Lord redeemed us, and we have them as fully as we need them and can have them. Because of indifference or ignorance it may take years to recognize them and many more years to develop them, but we already possess them. Many of us, like the Corinthians (1 Cor. 12:1), are ignorant of our spiritual gifts and even of the fact that we possess them. We need to recognize that we have spiritual gifts and we need to identify them and use them.
Finally, Believers are Blameless in Christ because of:
3) Future Benefits of Grace (1 Corinthians 1:7b-9).
1 Corinthians 1:7b-9 [7](so that you are not lacking in any spiritual 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. (ESV)
God’s grace not only provides past and present benefits, but also future benefits. God has saved us by His grace; He presently empowers us with gifts of His grace; and He guarantees the final fulfillment of His grace. The best is yet to come. The faithful believer cannot help being eschatological. We are grateful for past grace, we seek to be responsible in using present grace, but our greatest joy is looking forward to future grace. We watch, we wait, and we hope for the Lord’s next coming, His final coming. We eagerly wait for the revealing/revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are looking for Jesus to come. We are confident He is coming, and we know it could be soon. The present tense in “wait for” point to the present state of the Corinthians. Yet “the revealing/revelation” of Christ lies in the future (Lenski, R. C. H. (1963). The interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second epistle to the Corinthians (p. 34). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House )
The Greek word to wait (apekdechomenous) means to wait with eager anticipation and also with activity. It is not idle, passive waiting, as when sitting on a street corner waiting for a bus. It involves working while we wait and watch and hope. We know that God takes care of His own. We wait eagerly, but not anxiously. We can say with Paul, “I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Tim. 1:12). It is that very day which is the revealing/revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The revealing/revelation refers to His manifestation without the veil of humanity He wore in His incarnation. At His next coming He will be fully revealed in blazing splendor (Rev. 17:14). At this time Satan will be finally defeated (Rev. 19:20; 20:10), there will be justice for those who have been killed for the cause of Christ, (2 Thess. 1:6–7), eternal punishment those who reject Christ (2 Thess. 1:7–9) and eternal life for those who put their faith in Christ. That is why the text says that Christ will sustain you to the end. “End” is teleos, the achievement of an intended goal. Despite our faults, God preserves His own and keeps on working in us to present us blameless when Jesus returns (Richards, L. O. (1991). The Bible reader’s companion (electronic ed., p. 757). Wheaton: Victor Books.).
When Christ returns, verse 8 notes that He will confirm, or establish, us as guiltless/blameless before His heavenly Father. Although we presently are positionally blameless in redemption because of the work of Christ (Rom. 8:33-34, Eph. 1:7-10), our complete holiness has not been fully achieved.
Please turn to Colossians 1 (p.983)
When believers enter heaven we will not have all our sins and shortcomings flashed before us for everyone to see, as we sometimes hear in popular theology. Christ will affirm before the eternal throne of God that we are now counted blameless. Only then will we be confirmed blameless, made blameless, actually be blameless—settled and secured in blamelessness for all eternity. When the day of the Lord Jesus Christ comes, describing how Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, He is going to present believers to the Father:
Colossians 1:21-23 [21]And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, [22]he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, [23]if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (ESV)
• For those who have been reconciled to the Father through faith in the Son, we see aim of that redemption for us in future blamelesness. Lest we think this is entirely passive, we see here how there would be evidence of true faith for those who are the redeemed.
We are sure of God's grace—past, present, and future—finally because, as verse 9 concludes: God is faithful. The Greek order is inverted (“faithful is God”), because that form is more emphatic. God is faithful to His sovereign will—by/through whom you were called. When God calls someone to salvation, He is faithful to that call. Thus our future glory at Christ’s appearing is certain, for whom “He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). It is helpful to note that in Paul’s epistles the call of God is always seen as an effective call that produces salvation.
Believers are saved because God wanted us saved, and we stay saved because God does not change His mind about that desire. We had no part in God’s original desire to call us, and we can do nothing to change it. Since He called us when we were lost and wretched, He surely will not cease to be faithful to that call now that we have come into the fellowship with His Son. The word koinonia (fellowship) also means partnership, oneness. We are secured to glory by being one with God’s beloved Son. We entered the kingdom by grace and we will be kept in the kingdom by grace (1 Thes. 5:23-24).
(Format note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1984). 1 Corinthians (pp. 7–22). Chicago: Moody Press..)
