1 Corinthians 1:2, commentary and pictures

Paul's greeting is addressed to the local congregation at Corinth as people made holy in Christ Jesus and summoned to live as holy ones, while at the same time embracing all in every place who call on Jesus Christ as Lord. That holiness means being set apart to God through union with Christ and belonging to His church, a standing open to every Christian to the end of time. It does not rest on worldly wisdom, power, or rank, for God chose what the world counts foolish, weak, and despised so that no one may boast, and Christ Himself is made to believers wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. To those so called belong grace and peace from the Father and the Son, enriching them in speech and knowledge, confirming Christ's witness in them, and furnishing spiritual gifts to keep them firm and blameless as they wait for His return. This calling is shown in a growing character that shines outward in good works and sanctified love, in oneness without envy, strife, or party division, and in a pledged ministry of seeking to save others.

Identity and Universal Fellowship

The address is to the church of God at Corinth as those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints, marking them as belonging to God. That sanctified and called standing is the condition of truly converted souls. The same address joins with them all in every place who call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours, so that the privilege is shared beyond Corinth. They share the same Lord with the Corinthian believers, and stand in fellowship together with all who have faith in Him wherever they are.

To be sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints is to be set apart to God through union with Christ and to be members of the church of Christ. This address to Corinth applies also to all of God's people to the end of time, so every Christian may enjoy this sanctification. This sanctification is compatible with growth in Christian character and is shown in a life bearing good works. Being sanctified in Christ means having a soft, heavenly light shining in the soul that is not shut up but is diffused outward in the practical working out of God's will through holy living and sanctified, holy love.

This calling does not depend on worldly wisdom, power, or noble status. It comes largely not to many wise after the flesh, mighty, or noble, because those given to worldly pursuits and sharp worldly business traits seldom come into the truth and count the preaching of the cross as foolishness, while to those saved it is the power of God. God chose the foolish things to confound the wise, and the weak and base and despised things to bring to nothing things that are, so that no flesh should glory in His presence. Christ is made unto believers wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, and they are to glory in the Lord.

Surrounding Instruction and Gifts

To those addressed as sanctified in Christ and called to be saints, together with all everywhere who call on the name of Jesus Christ, belong grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving is due for the grace of God given through Jesus Christ by which they are enriched in all utterance and knowledge. That grace enriches believers in speech and knowledge, confirms Christ's testimony in them, and supplies spiritual gifts as they wait for Christ's coming. Christ will keep them firm to the end so they may be blameless in His day, and these blessings illustrate the privileges and fruits of Bible sanctification shown in a life bearing good works.

The verse stands in the first and second, and also the third, chapters of 1 Corinthians. Those chapters teach that the highest of all education is the knowledge of God, with the Word of God to counsel and not to be crowded out of education. They are to be read with deep interest and with prayer for understanding so that their truths may be comprehended and put into practice. So received, this knowledge gives fitness for heaven and light to impart to others in good works.

Those chapters give instruction of the greatest importance to all who have entered the Lord's army, rebuking envy, strife, and party division over ministers and calling God's people to oneness. They carry reproof to ministers of the gospel and to all churches wherever they are located. Ministers and churches are called to humble their hearts before God, to seek the truth and search the Scriptures, under warning that without such humbling their names will not be placed in the book of life. The verse is to be read in the churches, and ministers of the Word and teachers are under most solemn obligation to walk in harmony with it. In its words very much is comprehended, with character to be judged only by fruit, and all who are doers of the Word bear evidence that they are co-laborers with Jesus Christ, taking its truths into life practice.

Practical Life Application

The address to the church at Corinth reaches also to all in every place who call upon the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and have faith in Him, and to be sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints is to be members of the church of Christ. By baptism those thus addressed pledge themselves to a ministry of good works in seeking to save others who do not know the truth. The same address is directed to every soul newly come to the faith to impress that the work is aggressive. It is to carry out the principles of Protestantism, to pursue personal reformation of character, and to practice constant personal diligence in order to be kept from popery and the delusive infatuations pressed in on every side.

The address calls the church back into right lines of work as God leads out a people preparing for translation. Those who act a part in this work are required to stand as sentinels for God, to labor unitedly, to be willing servants of all, and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus as the great Exemplar. It shows part of the Lord's order for His work, which requires keeping full zeal, fervor, and energy in saving souls ready to perish while not consuming all time and means in one line of work and neglecting God's vineyard as a whole, so that no disproportion sways the work into wrong lines. The address presents believers as brethren in the faith and gives them assurance and comfort amid trouble. It gives precious assurance and comfort and encouragement to the child of God for a time of increasing trouble in the world when the Lord's children will have to suffer, to sustain a faith that will stand the test of trial and opposition, to give increased faith and firm reliance on the help God can give, and to bring hope and cheer and courage instead of discouragement and doubt.

As apostolic instruction spoken to God's people as saints set apart in Christ, the address is to be read and heeded as correction. It calls a man to keep his affections centered on proper objects, to give his wife the first place in his affections, and to respect, cherish and love her as his wife and the mother of his children. A man who lets his wife occupy the second place dishonors himself and his God, and a woman who receives affection from another woman's husband needs repentance and conversion. Such misplaced, sentimental, impure affection is spiritualistic, wrought by the enemy, and is one of the signs of the last days acted by the wicked, while Christ will take charge of the affections of those who love and honor God, guarding mind and heart from impurity.