“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 1:1-3 NIV
Question 1. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 NIV, how does Paul describe the church in Corinth?
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These are the opening lines of a letter Paul wrote to the church he had planted in Corinth. He is responding to a letter that the church wrote to him in which they shared with Paul many struggles and concerns they had. One of which was that some in the church had doubts about Paul's role as an apostle (1 Corinthians 9:1-2), so at the start, Paul reiterates his calling and the authority that he had received from God.
Next, note how Paul mentions "...and our brother Sosthenes" in his initial greeting. Sosthenes was a Corinthian who was loved and respected by the church in Corinth. But more than that, by mentioning Sosthenes, Paul is highlighting the transforming power of the gospel.
Sothsenes was previously a believer in Judaism and was so devout that he had become the ruler of a synagogue of the Jews. Many scholars believe that before Sothsenes became a Christian, he led an attack against Paul using the charge that Paul was "persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law" (Acts 18:13).
From a leader in the religion of Judaism, attacking Paul with a false charge, to now "our brother Sothsenes," reveals how the message of the cross transforms lives.
As we can see in the transformation of Sosthenes, the preaching of the suffering and crucified Christ, and the power of the resurrected Christ, can break and heal hearts previously hardened to the gospel (Luke 20:18, 1 Peter 2:24). A friend of mine, with tears of joy running down his face, put it this way "the cross of Christ has ruined me!" The wonder is that all who are "ruined by the cross" are also restored, and made whole by it.
In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul addresses the Corinthians as “those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people.” Through the power of His cross, Christ sets believers apart, as He did the Corinthians, to be His holy people. As we continue in our study, we will see the many problems and sin struggles of the Corinthian church, and as we do, remember they were considered by God as sanctified. The behavior of the Corinthians did not sanctify them; Jesus did. What grace it is that God sees all believers in His Son, Jesus, and they look perfect to Him (Colossians 1:22) even as they are learning to live holy lives (Hebrews 10:10-14)!
“together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.” See how simple God has made salvation: we hear the good news “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised on the third day.” We call out to Him who is “mighty to save” (Isaiah 63:1), the One who received the name “Jesus” because “He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Paul closes his greeting with the words, “grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” In this greeting, He shows the precious twin rivers flowing from Calvary’s mountain. Through the death of our Substitute (Jesus), God commits to only treating believers according to grace for the rest of our lives, assuring us that we have peace with Him forever.
Question 2. To live and grow in the gospel is to focus on the message of "first importance" (1 Corinthians 15:1-7). How can we see Paul communicating this truth so far?
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