Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, (2) To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. (3) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (4) I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, (5) that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, (6) even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, (7) so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, (8) who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul who spent 18 months in that hedonistic city preaching the gospel. He makes it clear that the Christian Corinthians were not lacking in any spiritual gifts – they had plenty of ability but needed discipline and humility to remain blameless in Christ when the day of the Lord arrives. In our verses today Paul expresses gratitude and affection for the faithful in Corinth but this introduction is followed by a corrective and generally critical letter which explains why the church in Corinth was referred to as the church of God; it was His church and needed to be holy.

The Corinthians were saints by divine calling but were not saintly in their conduct as this epistle makes clear. Paul taught by God’s sustaining power Christians will someday stand free before the Lord guiltless because God has imputed the guilt of our sins to Christ Jesus. Paul’s confidence did not rest on the Corinthians ability to persevere but rested on God’s promise to preserve them; to complete the work begun in them. Paul’s confidence in God as expressed here enabled him to deal with the problems in the Corinthian church optimistically and realistically – but it was a painful process.

God is faithful by whom we are called. Paul knew the steadfastness and perseverance of believers was founded on God’s promise – BECAUSE they were called. ‘Whom He calls He also justifies and whom He justifies He also glorifies’. Paul wanted the Corinthians to become who they already were.