1 Corinthians 1:1-3 (a devotional thought)

I believe it was Spurgeon who was once asked how to know if one had received the call to pastoral ministry. He responded that if you felt like you would die if you could not preach then you had the calling...otherwise no.

Well I know what he meant...I don't feel like I would die if I could not preach but I do feel like I will die if I cannot teach. There are few things I love more than teaching what I have learned, but unfortunately I have had limited opportunities in the last few years and there appear to be none coming up soon. Which is why you dear readers get to put up with the studies I post here! ;-)

I do confess that I am so much like all those who say they believe something but don't live like they actually do. What I mean by this is that I have not been the best of fathers in teaching my children. I am so undisciplined and have not taken advantage of the opportunities to have regular devotions with my sons. This is something that has eaten away at me for some time because I would love to just sit down with them and have spirited discussions about the Word, and yet I don't do it as often as I should (I believe it's been about a month, maybe longer, since we sat down to discuss what we'd been reading and hold a question/answer session).

Well, today while my sons were at youth group I began my long planned study of 1 Corinthians and so here is the first part of it. I hope you all enjoy it and please pray that I might be a more faithful spiritual leader in my home. Maybe this is why the Lord has not opened doors for me to teach...after all if I cannot be faithful in what He has given me, why should He give me more right?

Here you go:

Read 1 Corinthians 1:1-3

“Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,”

We have here the typical greeting of Paul throughout his letters...a humble, even amazed, declaration of his apostleship. While some in the modern era sometimes refer to others as apostles, the office of an apostle left us with the death of those who were called to that specific office by Christ, and Paul was one of these. Recall that he’d been called to the office by the Lord Himself, while he was on the road to Damascus…to persecute those within the church. A supernatural visitation by the Lord, however, awakened the spiritual deadness of Saul (as he was then known) and caused the scales to fall away from his eyes.

So truly he was called by the will of God, for remember that in Acts 9:15 and Acts 13:2 God Himself declares Paul to be a chosen instrument. He was called specifically to suffer much for the gospel, and was thereby a powerful tool in the hands of the Almighty!

It could also be said that those of us who have been reborn spiritually, who are awakened to the Truth of God, that we too have been called by the will of God (Ephesians 1:4-5), and we too are now instruments to be wielded by the Lord. We have a work before us, and we should take care to focus our full attention upon that work (Ephesians 2:10). And yet, our calling is different than that of Paul…for as we see in the book of Acts, he had a specific ministry to accomplish…proof of which we have by opening our Bibles and looking at the large portion which he was inspired to write!

“and our brother Sosthenes”

This is possibly the same Sosthenes of whom we read in Acts 18:17, who was beaten in the very city of Corinth. If it is the same man, then it is interesting to note that here we see he is accompanying Paul, for during his beating he was the ruler of the Jewish synagogue! Obviously, if it truly is the same person, then he came to a saving knowledge of Christ at some point after the incident described.

“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours”

I love the simple clarity of this declaration. The church of God that is in Corinth is made up of those sanctified in Christ Jesus! The letter here is addressed to these saints! And notice what else…those saints are such WITH every other one, in every other place, that calls upon the name of our Lord!! I don’t think it is presumptuous to add that this includes not only in every place but in every time! Brothers and sisters, the church of God is made up of all true Believers throughout all of time and throughout the world today. Those in China, in Iraq, in Peru, EVERYWHERE, if they are Believers then they stand together with us today.

Do this: next time you are praying, take a moment to consider that at that same moment there is a Believer in the next block and across the world who is raising his voice/thoughts to Him at the same time. What a mind blowing thought, amen?

Another thought: there are many out there who call themselves Christians but who don’t even believe in the Bible as the Word of God. This verse in no way tells us that we are one with them, for we are not. How could we be? If they call upon a false Christ then they have nothing to do with us. They are lost and in need of the gospel. But to all who confess Christ AND believe in their hearts that He is exactly as He is revealed in the Scriptures…then they are our brothers and sisters. We’ll discuss this a tad more later on in verses 10-17.

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is a benediction from the great Apostle to the church at Corinth. We who know what the rest of the letter consists of are well aware that they are in for quite a tongue lashing from Paul, but notice how he first takes care to assure them of his love for them…and of his sincere desire for them that they truly know the peace that comes only from God. This is the grace he desires for them. Such is his love for this church body he established by the grace of God that even as they begin to show disobedience he has a great concern for them.

God bless!