1 Corinthians 1:1-9 (NRSV)

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 (NRSV)

Salutation

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

² To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on 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. 

⁴ I give thanks to my^* God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— ⁶just as the testimony of^* Christ has been strengthened among you— ⁷so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Late and short because of illness …

Verses 4 ff refers to the experience of the Corinthians of Jesus and His grace: they were enriched in all areas including speech and knowledge of every kind. This was my experience. As you recall when we were at school, I was but of minor intellect, but when I found faith, my mind was set free and I have had the privilege to study at two universities and completing three degrees. I know that many of my teachers would be astounded!

There is another dimension. No one can ever argue a person into Christianity, all we can say is “Try it and see!” When people do, they find that its claims are all true.

One of the most special parts of this experience is the receipt of gifts that we are given, wonderful gifts that are free and undeserved. I have already referred to my gift, that of learning and teaching, which is all of grace. All our special gifts are from God. This is in fact true of all people, but too many do not acknowledge this. The world would be such a different place if it were so. Barclay writes: “If we fully realised that, it would bring new atmosphere and character into life.”

The people of Corinth preferred thought to action: to them religion was about thinking about God, but for Paul it was all about loving your neighbour. O’Conner writes: “For intellectuals, new religion implied a change of mind, for Paul it meant a new world.”

The intellectuals thought of themselves as adults because of their superior knowledge, and they considered those who were not at their level as children if they couldn’t handle the new intellectual discourse. But Paul sees the intellectuals as children because they reveal their lack of true wisdom by the factions that existed in their fellowship. The intellectuals thought that jealousy, strife and party factions were just part of the fabric of human life – all societies have these characteristics so this is just the way of human nature – “It is only human!”

These Corinthian Christians probably condemned Paul for his unsophisticated approach to religion; but they failed to realise that acceptance of Christ should result in social transformation. But this transformation is not automatic. Coming to faith is the beginning of a journey. New Christians need to become critical of what they had previously taken for granted and they need to reject all the behaviour that is incompatible with following Christ. They need to put themselves on a new course and in the process develop an appropriate lifestyle; they need to devise new social institutions and structures that make real the values of the Gospel. In short, we as Christians need constantly to use our intellect to re-think the practical outworking of our faith in present reality, in effect act out, in our daily lives, the selfless love that Christ showed. And when we do, we see that there is no place for jealousy, strife and party factions.