Unity & Humility Series

Can the division and boasting in Corinth be a lesson for our local church? What about Paul would make us want to study this letter?

1 Cor 1:1-9 To Saints

1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

Paul’s calling was as any minister of the Gospel ought to be, “chosen by the will of God” (NLT). The letter was co-written by Sosthenes, probably as Paul dictated it. He was probably the same Sosthenes who was earlier beaten up by a crowd of religious bigots (Acts 18:17).

What is a generic description of those who Paul wrote to? How did he use the word saint differently than is commonly used today? Was this letter also written to us?

1 Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:

We find the generic description church or churches of God a dozen times in the New Testament (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Corinthians 10:32; 1 Corinthians 11:16; 1 Corinthians 11:22; 1 Corinthians 15:9; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Timothy 3:5; 1 Timothy 3:15).

All true Christians are “called to be saints,” holy to God. Paul never uses the word saints in the narrow sense, applying it to only a select group of super Christians. He uses the word “saints” for all Christians.

The lessons addressed in Corinth are for “all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours” (NASB)

What are Paul’s greatest wishes for these saints and us?

1 Corinthians 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace are not just throw away lines used as a flippant greeting, but central to our Christian faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV) and Jesus said, “in Me you may have peace.” (John 16:33 NKJV) Where does the grace we have received come from?

1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

A great gift is God’s favor, given by Jesus Christ. How does God’s grace enrich these Christians?

1 Corinthians 1:5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;

Their church services must have been rich with gifted teachers, in logically speaking (logos) the knowledge of doctrine (gnósis). What was also demonstrated in them?

1 Corinthians 1:6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

Their rich spiritual gifts were a demonstration of Paul’s testimony concerning Jesus Christ in them. Did they lack any gift? What was their attitude towards the Second Coming?

1 Corinthians 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

They were not “lacking” (ESV, NASB) in what God had given. The difference between a true and false Christian is whether they expectantly await or fearfully dread the Lord’s return. Could they be confident in God sustaining them to the very end? Could they be confident of not being blamed in judgment?

1 Corinthians 1:8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

None of us can claim to have sinless perfection, but we can plead the blood of the Lamb, that covers all our sins. How does that play out in reality?

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Fellowship is a sharing of all things, a joint participation. His is not an unshared inheritance, whereby one gets all and other siblings are left out. Jesus shares everything with us. What kind of unity is that?

1 Cor 1:10-16 Schisms

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

The divisions or schisms of Christian history have mostly been over unnecessary things not demanded by Christ or the Apostles. Calling ourselves by our denominational name is not speaking the same thing, but calling ourselves Christians is speaking the same thing. Certainly, liberal and legalistic heresies should be avoided, but the apostolic core of our faith unites all true Christians. What about contentions?

1 Corinthians 1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.