Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Corinthians 1:4 - 1:9

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Corinthians 1:4 - 1:9


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The thanksgiving of the apostle:

v. 4. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ,

v. 5. that in everything ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance and in all knowledge,

v. 6. even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,

v. 7. so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;

v. 8. who shall also confirm you unto the end that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

v. 9. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

In spite of the conditions which Paul knew to be existing in Corinth, he must break forth in a hymn of thankfulness. "The injury of the ungrateful Corinthians was great, but their ingratitude did not consume Paul's gratitude. " Paul's manner of dealing in this instance is, incidentally, a fine example of love's believing all things; for he was sure that the abuses that were found in the Corinthian congregation did not represent their real spiritual selves, and that his admonition would readily be heeded. And therefore he was engaged in thanking God always, in blessing and praising His mercy, concerning the Corinthian Christians, for the grace of God which was given them in Christ Jesus. That was the reason for his continual thanksgiving. In spite of their many weaknesses they were yet believers; they had received from God, and were in possession of, His grace, as a free gift in Christ Jesus, a gift made possible through the merits of Christ in His vicarious office. "That is also an unspeakable treasure of a Christian that he has of a certainty first of all the Word of God, which is the Word of eternal grace and comfort, Baptism, the Sacrament, the understanding of the Ten Commandments and of faith, and, in addition, also the certain refuge and assurance that He will hear us in trouble, if we will call upon Him."

The apostle now shows in what way the grace of God has given practical evidence of its living power in the hearts of the Corinthian Christians: That in every point you have been enriched, abundantly blessed, in Him, namely, in every word and in every knowledge, in all doctrine and in all understanding. "That is what St. Paul calls 'being rich,' first 'in all doctrine or wisdom,' which is the high spiritual understanding of the word which concerns eternal life, that is, the comfort of faith in Christ; also of calling upon Him and praying. And 'in all understanding,' that is, correct knowledge and distinction of the entire external physical life and being on earth. " They had learned to know the way to eternal life, they were filled with the riches of the certainty of the grace of God, and they were rich in all understanding, they had an insight into the truth of the doctrine of God in its application to every-day life, to their needs in every condition of life. And the abundance of this knowledge and understanding in them was in proportion to their acceptance of the Gospel-truth: Even as, or, inasmuch as, the witness of Christ was confirmed in you. The witness to Christ, the good news of God about His Son, "the well-established truth of the message" of salvation, had been made sure in them; they had become fixed, they had remained steadfast in the truth, their hearts were established, Heb_13:9, they were certain of its reality. As then, so today this establishment in the witness to Christ is a matter of His grace, an object of prayer, and a cause for thankfulness.

A further result of this gift of grace and of the firm establishment of the Gospel: So that you are not deficient in any gift. The Christians of Corinth did not lack, did not fall behind in, any gift of grace which was needed for edification, by which they were qualified to labor for the Lord by instruction, by exhortation, by rule, by service. No congregation of the early days exceeded that of Corinth in the variety of its endowments and the satisfaction felt in them, chap. 12:7-11. The believers in that heathen city were in possession of such rich endowments while they eagerly awaited the coming, the final revelation, of the Lord Jesus Christ. They received the rich endowment of the gifts of grace and used them for the benefit of the work for Christ, but at the same time their hearts were turned in eager anticipation to their final redemption, Php_3:20; Tit_2:13; 2Pe_3:12. Thus the heart of every believer is filled with homesickness for the mansions above; but that very fact causes him to work in the interest of the Master while it is day, to use all his gifts and abilities in the interest of his Lord. In the meantime he knows that Christ the Lord will confirm, establish, us unto the end, to the end of the world, if that is thus near, or to the end of our life, if the Lord calls us home before His last great day. But no matter when the day may come, He will establish us to be blameless, that we shall no longer be guilty and under the condemnation, Rom_8:33-34. This blamelessness of the Christians does not consist in any merits on their part, but in the fact that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to them by faith, Php_3:9. The reason for every believer's acceptance by God is thus placed on the side of God and Christ alone, and the promise is made with such reassuring certainty that it should be the basis of a joyful hope, Joh_10:27-28.

The final, the deepest ground of Paul's hope for the salvation of the Corinthian Christians is the fidelity of God: Faithful is God, through whom you are chosen to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Our hope of eternal life is based upon the promise of God, who cannot lie, Tit_1:2. Our election to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, the fact that we have been brought to faith by Him and have thus been united with Him in that wonderful spiritual union of members in His body, is His earnest-money to us that our salvation is secure in His hands. Christ is but the Firstborn among many brethren, and we are joint-heirs with Him of the blessings of eternal life. Since He, however, is also our exalted Lord, our communion with Him invests us with His present grandeur and certifies the manifestation of His glory upon us. So the Christian's faith is not a vague and uncertain hope, but is based upon the fact that he has received a guarantee of the final consummation of his hopes. "What Christ has begun in you, and what He has already given you, in that He will surely keep you to the end and into eternity, if only you do not willfully fall from it and cast it from you; for His Word and promise, given you, and His work, which He performs in you, is not changeable like men's word and work, but sure, certain, and divinely immovable truth. Since, then, you have such a divine call, take comfort in it and rely upon it firmly. " "Thus, also, Holy Scripture testifies that God, who has called us, is so faithful that, when He has begun the good work in us, He also will preserve it to the end and perfect it, if we ourselves do not turn from Him, but firmly retain to the end the work begun, for which He has promised His grace."