The First Letter to the CORINTHIANS

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Contents

Chapter One

I. LETTER OPENING, 1:1-9

The opening verses of 1 Corinthians contain formal elements that are not unexpected in an ancient letter. However, these features should not be written off as merely perfunctory. Both the salutation (1:1-3) and the thanksgiving (1:4-9) are distinctive in the Pauline corpus, and together they set the stage for Paul's instructions in the ensuing sixteen chapters. Two tasks are key to discerning their function as an introduction to the rest of the letter: (1) a comparison with the openings of Paul's other letters highlights their distinctiveness; and (2) paying close attention to biblical echoes and allusions supplies clues to the biblical-theological framework that Paul is seeking to construct in his response to problems in the church in Corinth.

A. Salutation, 1:1-3

1 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. The Sender(s): Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ (and Sosthenes), 1:1

1:1 Like most letters in Paul's day 1 Corinthians begins with a salutation consisting of the form: A (v. 1) to B (v. 2), greetings (v. 3). In identifying himself Paul draws attention to the fact that he is an apostle, an agent or messenger of Christ Jesus. This assertion appears in all of Paul's epistolary prescripts with the exception of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Philippians, and Philemon. In 1 Corinthians, as in Galatians, it functions to bolster his standing in a community where at least some were questioning his authority.

Paul stresses the divine origin of his apostleship in two ways: he was called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, probably an allusion to his experience on the Damascus road; and his apostleship is by the will of God. It was not of his own choosing (cf. 15:5-7 and 10: "By the grace of God I am what I am"). This conviction produced in Paul a rare combination of genuine humility and supreme confidence, a profound sense of both privilege and obligation. Paul's reference to his own apostleship, if understated here, is more fully developed later in the letter. In 9:1-2 he reminds the Corinthians that their own favorable standing before God is a result of his "work in the Lord" and that they are "the seal of [his] apostleship," thus highlighting the direct relevance of Paul's status and stature for the Corinthians' ongoing spiritual life. Further, in 4:14-16 he admonishes them as their "father," another way of referring to his role as the apostolic founder of the church. And in 15:1-2 Paul explicitly reminds them that their salvation came about when Paul preached the gospel to them.

On eight occasions Paul cites others in the address of his letters, in this case our brother Sosthenes. Sosthenes is not mentioned elsewhere in Paul's letters. The bare reference to him here suggests that he was known to the Corinthians. It is quite possible that he is the "Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue," mentioned in Acts 18:17, who was treated roughly by the bystanders at Gallio's tribunal. Perhaps he later became a Christian and traveled to Ephesus with Paul. Why does Paul refer to Sosthenes here? It is not that he is a co-author; most of the verbs and pronouns in the letter are in the first-person singular. 1 Corinthians 16:21 implies that Paul did not write out the letter, but dictated it to someone, which was a common practice in his day. Since greetings from those with Paul in Asia (Minor) are left until 16:19-20, Sosthenes may be Paul's amanuensis or personal secretary, although we cannot be certain.

2. The Addressees: The Church in Corinth as God's Holy People under the Universal Lordship of Christ, 1:2

1:2 Paul writes to the church of God in Corinth. Since there were probably several house churches in Corinth, "[t]he singular [church] indicates already Paul's intention to call them to unity — they are one church, God's church." They belong to God, not to any of their teachers or leaders (cf. 3:21-23). The term church referred to Israel as the gathered people of God in the LXX and to the public political assembly in a Greek city. Paul uses it to mean the local community of believers. The addition of "of God" to "church" is unique to 1 and 2 Corinthians in Paul's epistolary prescripts. The words are echoed in 3:9 in further descriptions of the church in Corinth ("the field of God, the building of God") and recall the origin of Paul's apostleship (v. 1), which is also (by the will) of God. In apocalyptic Judaism, the equivalent Hebrew expression for church of God is used to refer to God's eschatological people. Roloff suggests that the term was used by Paul "because it corresponded with the eschatological self-understanding of the Church, which understood itself to be the company elect by God and determined by him to be the center and crystallization-point of the eschatological Israel now being called into existence by him." Thus, when Paul designates the Corinthians the church of God, he is not comparing them to any other club or society in town but evokes their place in God's cosmic plan.

Paul gives a more elaborate description of the church to which he is writing than in any of his other letters. The church in Corinth consists of those sanctified in Christ Jesus. They are set apart for God's special purpose and use, just as the utensils in the Temple, the priests, and so on. They are holy, that is, a peculiar and distinctive group in Corinth. Sanctified here is a perfect passive participle, which, according to recent studies of verbal aspect, stresses the present state of affairs. Thanks to Christ's work on the cross, believers find themselves in a state of sanctification (are now sanctified), made acceptable to God (Rom. 15:16) and able to enter into and enjoy his presence." The phrase in Christ Jesus refers to "their faith-union with Christ, through which they share his risen life" (cf. Acts 26:18). Sanctification in the New Testament generally does not refer primarily to growth in holiness but to God's taking possession of believers. However, those sanctified in Christ Jesus are intended to serve the purposes of God and his glory. Because God has sanctified them, they should worship him in holiness. In Romans 15:16, Paul describes his own apostolic ministry as "the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." It is ironic that the Corinthian Christians are thus described since in so many ways they are behaving no differently from other people in Corinth. They act as though they belong to the world rather than to God. They use secular courts, mimic the styles of secular leaders, and dine in pagan temples; to act "like mere human beings" (3:3) is to deny their sanctification.

So important is their consecrated condition that Paul states that they are called to be his holy people. Hagios in this phrase is regularly translated "holy" (cf. 16:1, "God's people"), and is one of Paul's favorite designations for all Christians (cf. 2 Cor. 1:1; Rom. 1:7; 8:27; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2). The term derives from Exodus 19:5-6, where Israel is called "a holy nation" set apart by God for himself through the events of the exodus (cf. Deut. 7:6; 26:19; Jer. 2:3). In later writings it was used more narrowly to refer to the elect within Israel who were destined to share in the blessings of the messianic kingdom (Dan. 7:18-27; Psalms of Solomon 17; many Qumran texts). That they are sanctified in Christ Jesus is further explained in the statement that their calling is to be God's holy people. Sainthood in Paul's letters is not some elevated status reserved for a few extraordinary individuals, as regrettably in much modern usage. It refers to the sanctity of all true believers who are saints by virtue of God's call to salvation and are expected to bring him glory.

It is significant that Paul identifies the church as a singular body (the church of God) and then twice as a composite of individuals (to those sanctified and called). By referring first to the church as a whole and then collectively Paul excludes any form of individualism and one-upmanship. Although Mitchell overstates the importance of the theme of unity in the letter, it is an important theme, and as she points out, "the attempt to unite diverse individuals into a cohesive community — is thus alluded to already in the prescript." As Paul will go on to say in 12:27, "you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."

Paul's description of the Corinthians in v. 2 mirrors elements of his self-description in v. 1. He is an apostle by calling; they are holy people by calling. He is an apostle of Christ Jesus; they are sanctified in Christ Jesus. He is an apostle by the will of God; they are the church of God. If Paul claims for himself a high station in v. 1, v. 2 accords with the Corinthians' considerable dignity and confirms his generally high opinion of them in spite of their many failings.

It is not just the Corinthian believers who are called to be saints, but they together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 1:1; Phil. 1:1). Paul gives them a gentle reminder that the holy people who belong to God extend far beyond their local congregation. Unity in one locality is to reflect the inherent unity of God's people everywhere. This unity is based on their common relation to the "Lord Jesus Christ," not primarily on a common creed or experience. A church that is aware of its connection to the church universal is less likely to be absorbed in its own problems.

Those who call on the name of our Lord, like "holy people," is another way of referring to all Christians (Acts 9:14, 21; 22:16; 2 Tim. 2:22). Those who thus call on the name of the Lord have already come to acknowledge him as the only true God, the one worthy of their worship and the source of all true hope. The Corinthian believers called upon the Lord when they believed and were saved (cf. Rom. 10:12-14), and they continue to address him in prayer and worship and acclaim him in their meetings.

Paul mentions that the Corinthians are united with all those who call on the name of the Lord, literally, "in every place." A key theme in Deuteronomy is the Lord's selection of one particular place where people would call on his name (understood to refer to Jerusalem). Repeated reference is made to "the place which the Lord your God will choose to have his name called upon" (cf. Deut. 12:11, 21, 26; 14:23-24; 16:2, 6, 11; 17:8, 10; 26:2). Rather than refer to that place, however, Paul says that the Corinthians join those who call on the name of our Lord "in every place." He is the only New Testament author to use the expression (1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 2:14; 1 Thess. 1:8; 1 Tim. 2:8), and he uses it to refer to the worship of God which is spreading around the world through his ministry to the Gentiles.

The expression echoes Malachi 1:11 LXX, which (in a context of frustration over the way the Lord is being worshiped in Jerusalem) prophesies a future time when God would be worshiped by Gentiles "in every place": "From the rising of the sun until its setting my name will be glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a pure offering, for my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord Almighty." Similarly, Haggai 2:7 anticipates a time when the Gentiles will glorify God in his Temple: "all nations will come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts."

The echo of Malachi 1:11 in 1 Corinthians 1:2 suggests that the Corinthians are part of the fulfillment of God's plan to be worshiped among all the Gentiles and that it is Paul's ultimate purpose in writing to them to see them play their part in fulfilling this worldwide eschatological vision by glorifying God (see 6:20b and 10:31b). If Malachi's purpose and message was intended to help his audience "come to terms, mentally, spiritually and ethically, with the non-non-appearance of the new eschatological beginning" which had been expected with the return from exile, Paul's goal in 1 Corinthians is to get the Corinthians to come to terms, mentally, spiritually and ethically, with its appearance. It is this vision of God's eschatological plan, and the Corinthians' failure to act in a way that coheres with it, that governs Paul's response to them in this letter.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The First Letter to the CORINTHIANSby Roy E. Ciampa Brian S. Rosner Copyright © 2010 by Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner. Excerpted by permission of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.