1 Corinthians 1:1–9 (ESV)

Greeting

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.

The editors of the ESV added the section breaks. Use them to understand the passage. The first two verses are a greeting. This is sort of like the address on an envelope. From what I understand, this part would be written on the outside of a scroll. The other side would have the letter itself.

Who wrote the letter?

How does Paul describe his status as one writing to them?

Why is he an apostle?

To whom does he write the letter (two, not one)? Why does that matter? Think carefully about the second recipient of the letter, what does that have to do with you?

Verse three is a prayer. What does Paul pray God will give them? Compare that with 1 Cor. 16:23 (the closing).

How is God described? Jesus?

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

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.

 

Paying attention to the structure of the sentence will help you see the points Paul is making.

What does Paul do (4)?

For whom?

Why?

Everything which follows “grace” given to them?

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.

 

Notice that the grace of God was given to them “in him”. This is a critical point of Paul’s argument to the Corinthians: God’s relationship to the Corinthians is in Christ (alone). Pay attention to this theme throughout the letter. In the next section, Paul will begin to discuss the divisions among the Corinthians. If each of the Corinthians are in Christ; and if all of the grace they receive from God is in Christ and through Christ, how does that help you understand the wrongness of division?

Paul says they were “enriched”? With what were they enriched?

In v. 6 he writes that the testimony of Christ was confirmed among them. Look at v. 5 & 7, how was it “confirmed”? What did God do to confirm it.

Why do they need this grace? Verse 7, second clause: what are they doing?

What will happen before the  revealing? Verse 8a.

What will happen at the revealing? Verse 8b.

How is God described? V. 9a

What has God done? V 9b

Think again: People at Corinth have many divisions. Paul wants to develop their unity in Christ alone. In verse 4 they learn that all of God’s grace is given to them in Christ. In verse 9 they learn their fellowship is with the Son. That means that no one comes to the Father except through the Son and that all good from the Father comes through the Son. What is the relationship between the sinful divisions between the people and Paul’s instruction on how God relates to his people through Jesus? How does that knowledge act to combat their divisions?

How many times is Jesus called “Lord”? In these first nine verses?

Paul is going to give some serious and often sharp correction in this letter. He is going to detail some serious and open sin in the Church. But before he begins his correction, he gives them a great deal of encouragement: What exactly is the encouragement here in the introduction?

Think about how this particular encouragement will help them listen to his correction and be willing to change (repentance)? Think particularly about his prayer for them: that they would receive “grace” and “peace”.

Application: This letter is written in part to you (second part of verse 2).  How do these words encourage us to repent?

We always move in the direction of our hope: Our hope is our goal. The strength of that hope will depend upon (1) the value of the thing hoped for, and (2) a conviction that the hope is realistic.  We would not have much hope in something we did not particularly like, because it would stir no desire in us. No one hopes that they will have financial or physical problems. Second, there are things we could desire because they are desirable, but they do not inspire hope because they are completely unrealistic and not to be attained by us: I wanted to be a baseball player when I was a boy, but that hope did not persist because I was never that good. The hope was unrealistic.  How does Paul give them good ground for hope in this introduction? What is the hope which Paul is seeking to develop?