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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:1-9
In this message we shall consider further Paul’s introductory word in 1:1-9.
Verse 2 says, “To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints.” According to grammar, “to the church of God” is in apposition to “to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.” This indicates that “to the church of God” equals “to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.” This strongly indicates that the church is a composition of the saints, and the saints are the constituents of the church. The two should not be considered separate entities. Individually, we are the saints; corporately, we are the church. Thus, the church is not only constituted of God, but is also composed of the saints.
To be sanctified is to be made holy, separated unto God for the fulfillment of His purpose. Saints are separated ones, those who have been set apart to God.
In this verse Paul says that we have been “sanctified in Christ Jesus.” We are sanctified in the element and sphere of Christ. Christ is the element and sphere that separated us, made us holy, unto God when we believed in Him, that is, when we were brought into organic union with Him through our faith in Him.
The expression “called saints” indicates that the believers in Christ are the called saints; they are not called to be saints (as in KJV). This is a positional matter, a sanctification in position with a view to sanctification in disposition.
Many readers of 1 Corinthians find it difficult to recognize that the believers in Corinth were saints. To be sure, according to the Catholic definition, they were not saints. According to Catholicism, only certain persons, such as Theresa or Francis, can rightfully be called saints. We may wonder how the fleshly believers in Corinth could be called saints. Nevertheless, it is in the Word that Paul describes them as those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called saints.
Do you have the boldness to say that you are holy? Some may reply, “I cannot argue with Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 1:2. According to this word, I have been sanctified. But still I don’t feel that I’m holy.” Concerning this, we should not look at ourselves. Paul does not say that the Corinthians were sanctified in themselves; he declares that they had been sanctified in Christ Jesus. We need to forget ourselves and see that it is in Christ that we are sanctified.
Regarding the matter of being sanctified in Christ Jesus, a brother should not be influenced by any negative opinion his wife may have about him. Every brother is holy in the eyes of others, but not in the eyes of his wife. A wife always knows the weak points of her husband. She has a detailed knowledge of his shortcomings. This makes it difficult for any wife to admit that her husband is holy. But even if a brother is not sanctified in the eyes of his wife, he is nonetheless sanctified in Christ Jesus.
God does not look at us as we are in ourselves; rather, he looks at us in Christ. This may be illustrated by the words the prophet Balaam uttered about the children of Israel. Apparently the children of Israel were full of evil. But when Balaam prophesied concerning them, he declared, “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel” (Num. 23:21). Likewise, Paul knew all the evil things about the church in Corinth. Nevertheless, in his opening word he addressed them as those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and he called them saints.
In verse 2 Paul says, by the use of another appositive, that those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus are called saints. To us, this may seem repetitious. But without such repetition we may not receive a strong impression concerning the fact that the believers there in Corinth were truly saints, even called saints.
Every saved one is a called one. To be called is to be saved. When the Lord Jesus said to Peter, “Follow Me,” that was His calling of Peter. We, the saved ones, have all been called. Once we were called, we became saints.
Do not think that only persons such as Theresa or Francis should be called saints. You and I are saints also. Do you have the boldness to declare that you are a saint? Some of us may have the confidence only to say that we are believers, but not the assurance to say that we are saints. Some may say, “I am a sinner saved by grace, and I am a believer in Christ. But I dare not say that I am a saint.” The reason for this lack of assurance is that the evil influence from Catholicism still affects our understanding. Others, aware of failures like losing their temper or quarreling with their spouse, may not have the confidence to say that they are saints. But whether or not you are a saint does not depend on whether or not you lose your temper or quarrel. It depends on whether or not you have been called.
Instead of saying “called saints,” the King James Version says “called to be saints.” According to this translation, being a saint is pending; it is not already an accomplished fact. But Paul did not say that we are called to be saints; he says that we are called saints. If we turn away from ourselves and look at Christ, we shall be able to declare that we are saints. We shall realize that a saint is simply a called one.
To be called by God is to be separated unto Him. For example, those who have been called into military service have been separated from civilian life and drafted into the service. This illustrates God’s calling. When we were called by God, we were drafted, separated, by Him. As a result, we have been sanctified; that is, we have been separated unto a certain purpose. Because we all have been called by God unto His purpose, we are the called saints.
In verse 2 Paul also says, “With all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theirs and ours.” Notice that here he does not say “and all those,” but “with all those.” This indicates that a local church, like the church in Corinth, is composed only of those believers in that locality, not of all believers in every place. It also indicates that this Epistle was intended not only for the believers in that one church in Corinth, but for all believers in every place. First Corinthians is for all believers of whatever place or time.
If I had been writing this Epistle, I probably would have used the word and instead of with. Paul’s wording here is very important. As we have seen, it indicates that a local church includes only those in that particular locality, not all the saints on earth. Paul wrote this Epistle to the church in Corinth with all the saints on earth. Only the local saints are the components of a particular church. The saints in other localities are not components of that church. However, this greeting indicates that this book of illustrations was written not only to the saints at Corinth, but to all the saints, no matter where they may be.
When referring to the local saints at Corinth, Paul uses the expression “called saints.” But when he speaks of all the saints on earth, he uses another description: “all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place.” In this verse we see two callings: first, we are called saints; second, we call upon the name of the Lord. This indicates that we, the believers, the saints, have been called by God to call upon the name of the Lord. We have been called to call! To be called is a matter once for all, but to call upon the name of the Lord is a lifelong matter. Continually we need to call on Him.
To call upon the name of the Lord implies to believe in Him (Rom. 10:14). All believers in the Lord should be His callers (Acts 9:14, 21; 22:16). We have been called to call, called by God to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus.
In the opening verses of this Epistle, Paul gives us the definition of an apostle, of the church, and of the saints. A saint first is one who has been called by God unto Him. Second, a saint is one who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus.
Calling on the name of the Lord Jesus is not a matter of praying silently. It is to call on the Lord audibly. Christians often pray silently or in a very low voice. But if we would call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we need to audibly call out to Him. I can testify that this kind of calling makes a great difference.
When you call on the name of the Lord in this way, you are the first to listen to your prayer. If you do not listen to your own prayer, how do you expect the Lord to listen to it? But if you listen to your prayer, you will have the assurance that the Lord has heard it also.
As saints in Christ Jesus, we are not machines. Our praying to the Lord, therefore, should not be mechanical. When we call on the Lord Jesus, our entire being is stirred up. Our whole inner being is exercised.
We have pointed out that a saint is a person who has been called by God and who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus. However, some Christians strongly oppose calling on the name of the Lord. But to call on the name of the Lord Jesus is not only scriptural; it is also necessary in our daily living. As Christians, we should not be dumb. We should not come to the meetings and sit silently as if we were dumb idols. We should call on the name of the Lord Jesus aloud. Sometimes we may even need to call out to Him in public places. You may think that this will cause you to lose your face. Actually, instead of being put to shame, you will be uplifted in the Lord.
You have been called by the Lord, but are you calling on Him? I am concerned that even among us there are some who do not call on the name of the Lord. They are still concerned about losing their face. The more we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, the more we are released and uplifted. Furthermore, this calling designates us as called saints.
In verse 2 Paul says that the Lord Jesus Christ is “theirs and ours.” Christ as the all-inclusive One belongs to all believers. He is our portion given to us by God (Col. 1:12). The apostle added this special phrase at the end of this verse to stress the crucial fact of Christ’s being the unique center of all believers in whatever place or situation. In this Epistle the apostle’s intention was to solve the problems existing among the saints in Corinth. For all the problems, especially the matter of division, the only solution is the all-inclusive Christ. We have all been called into the fellowship, the participation, in Him (v. 9). All believers should be focused on Him, not distracted by any gifted person, any overemphasis on doctrine, or any particular practice.
In verse 3 we have Paul’s greeting to the Corinthians: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace is God as our enjoyment (John 1:17; 1 Cor. 15:10), and peace is a condition which results from grace, issuing from the enjoyment of God our Father.
In verse 4 Paul says, “I give thanks to God always concerning you based upon the grace of God which was given to you in Christ Jesus.” The apostle’s thanksgiving to God for the Corinthian believers was based upon the grace of God given to them in Christ, not upon their condition in themselves.
In verse 5 Paul continues, “That in everything you were enriched in Him, in all expression and all knowledge.” The Greek word for expression in this verse is logos, the word that expresses the thought formed in the mind. The word of the gospel preached by the apostle conveys the thought of God to our understanding. Hence, the word is the expression of the divine thought. Knowledge is the apprehension, the realization, of what is conveyed and expressed in the word. The Corinthian believers were enriched by the grace of God in all the expression of the divine thought concerning Christ and in all apprehension and realization in knowing Christ.
In verse 6 Paul goes on to say, “Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.” The testimony of Christ is the preaching of Christ by the apostle, not merely with objective doctrines, but with subjective experiences, as a witness bearing a living testimony of Christ. Such a testimony of Christ was confirmed within and among the Corinthian believers by their being enriched in Christ, as mentioned in verses 4 and 5.
For years I was troubled by verses 4 through 7, especially by the meaning of the word gift in verse 7. I wondered how Paul could give thanks for the church in Corinth when the saints were in a poor situation, divided and confused. Also, I did not have the proper understanding of grace. Forty years ago, I did not know what grace is. As a result, I could not understand verse 4. Concerning verse 5, I wondered how the believers in Corinth could have been enriched in Christ. In like manner, I did not know what it meant for the testimony of Christ to be confirmed in them and for them not to be lacking in any gift. Regarding verse 7, I even gave messages in which I said something like this: “We see from 1 Corinthians that the gifts are not effective. From verse 7 we understand that you can have all manner of gifts and still be babyish.” At that time I thought this understanding was right. But deep within I did not have peace about these verses. Eventually I began to see that in verse 7 we have what we may call the initial gifts, the gifts which came out of the grace we received when we believed in the Lord Jesus.
In verse 7 gift refers to the inward gifts issuing from grace, such as the free gift of eternal life (Rom. 6:23) and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) as the heavenly gift (Heb. 6:4), not the outward, miraculous gifts, such as healing or speaking in tongues, in chapters twelve and fourteen. All the inward gifts are parts of grace. They are the initial things of the divine life received of grace. All these need to grow (3:6-7) to their full development and maturity. The Corinthian believers were not lacking in the initial gifts in life, but they were desperately short of the growth in life. Hence, however much they were initially enriched in grace, they were still infants in Christ, soulish, fleshly, and even fleshy (2:14; 3:1, 3).
After many years, I now have the boldness to say that the gift in 1:7 is different from the gifts spoken of in chapters twelve and fourteen. In these two chapters some gifts are miraculous and others are mature. (We shall consider this more fully when we come to this portion of 1 Corinthians.) As we have pointed out, the gift in verse 7 refers to the initial gifts issuing from grace, namely eternal life and the gift of the Holy Spirit. At the time of our regeneration, we received eternal life as the gift of God. According to Acts 2:38, the Holy Spirit also is a gift. To speak of these gifts as initial gifts indicates that these gifts have not yet developed; they have not yet grown to maturity.
The growth of a plant from a seed to a mature plant illustrates the growth and development of the initial gifts. First, a seed is sown into the ground. This seed is the initial plant. As the seed grows, it develops until it reaches maturity. The Corinthian believers all had the initial gifts; they all had the divine life and the Holy Spirit sown into them as seeds. If we understand these verses not only by the context but also in the light of our own experience and the experience of other believers, we shall see that here Paul was telling the Corinthians this: “You believers in Corinth have received the Lord Jesus. When you believed in Him, you received the initial gifts — the divine life and the Holy Spirit. The problem is that you have not allowed these gifts to grow and develop.” For this reason, in chapter three Paul points out that the Corinthians need to grow. He says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God made to grow” (3:6). The Corinthians, still infants with respect to the initial gifts, desperately needed to grow.
An infant has life and also the functions of life, but no growth or development of life. This makes it impossible for him to do anything. The more a child grows, the more he is able to do. For example, my eleven-year-old grandson can do many things which his younger brother, aged seven, is not able to do. Even four years’ growth makes a great difference. This does not mean that the younger boy does not have life. He has life, but does not have the same amount of the development of this life. Likewise, even though the Corinthians had received the initial gifts and had been enriched in Christ in all expression and in all knowledge, they were still infants. The initial gifts had not been developed.
The Epistle of 1 Corinthians was written to philosophical people. We should not think, however, that the ancient Greeks were more philosophical than we are today. We all are philosophical. Like the Corinthians, we philosophical ones have been enriched in our understanding concerning spiritual things. We may have the knowledge of these things, yet still be babes in Christ.
Due to their education, many saints are able to understand the expressions used to convey spiritual things. They may grasp the thought without possessing the reality. This was the situation of the Corinthian believers. Because they were cultured, educated, and philosophical, they could understand the words which conveyed the thought of Paul’s ministry. But they did not have the reality of this thought. It is entirely possible for today’s college graduates to understand my ministry merely in word. They may understand the thought conveyed in words, but they may lack the reality to which the thought points. This reality is Christ Himself. Like the Corinthian believers, they are rich in expression and in knowledge, in their understanding of spiritual things, but they may not have much reality of these things.
In verse 7 Paul also speaks of “awaiting the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This unveiling refers to the Lord’s appearing, His second coming. To await the appearing of the Lord is a normal sign of true believers.
In verse 8 Paul says, “Who will also confirm you till the end, unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The relative pronoun who in this verse refers to God in verse 4. The very God who has initially given us grace will also confirm us till the end. The word confirm indicates the need for growth after the initial receiving of grace.
