1 Corinthians

1:1-3

1. Maintaining unity in the church, 1:1-4:21

i] Grace and peace from God

Paul's letter to the church at Corinth begins with a conventional address: the sender, the recipients, and a greeting. It is in the greeting to the church where we find some theological meat.

klhtoV adj. "called" - a called. This word is not found in some texts. The sense can run from "invited" to "summoned / commissioned / appointed..", "was" or "has been" is a matter of taste as it is necessary to add the verb "to be." Most commentators see the word as an allusion to Paul's Damascus road experience and therefore carries the notion of compulsion, his being set apart for a divine task in the same way as the prophets were set apart for their task.

dia + gen. "by" - through, by means of. Expressing efficient cause, means, rather than just agency, therefore "through". The application of God's sovereign intention brings about Paul's invitation / appointment as an apostle (or possibly his apostleship, rather than his invitation / appointment, so Bruce).

oJ adelfoV (oV) "our brother" - "Our Christian brother"

th/ ekklhsia/ "to the church" - to the assembly. "To the gathered believers."

tou qeou "of God" - Probably a genitive of possession, belonging to God. A reminder that the church does not belong to the minister etc. "To God's church in Corinth", CEV.

hJgiasmenoiV (aJgiazw) perf. pas. part. dat. "to those sanctified" - to ones having been sanctified. Participle as a substantive. The word carries the Old Testament sacrificial sense of that which is set apart to God for a special use. The use of the perfect underlines a past act with present ramifications. An epexegetical phrase, further explaining the sense of "church". "To those Christ has made holy", Phillips.

en "in [Christ Jesus]" - in, on. Possibly "by", ie. instrumental rather than a locative sense, although "in", as in "union with", is more like Paul.

klhtoiV aJgioiV "called to be holy" - called saints/holy. It is unlikely that Paul has an ethical sense in mind here. We are not called/invited to be good, but rather to stand approved in God's sight through our union with Christ, "called to be God's men and women", Phillips.

sun + dat. "together with ...." - with. It is probably "the church of God in Corinth, together with ....."

toiV epikaloumenoiV (epikalew) pres. part. "those [everywhere] who call on" - the ones calling upon, invoking. Participle as a substantive. The present tense indicates a durative (repeated, ongoing) approach to the divine. An allusion to Joel 3:5. The sense is of worship, "invoke the name of the Lord", Moffatt.

en panti topw/ "everywhere" - in every place. The phrase is used in extant literature of a synagogue and therefore Paul is probably specifically referring to the meeting place of believers.

autwn kai hJmwn "their Lord and ours" - theirs and ours. Grammatically, "their place and ours", as in "meeting place", follows the order of the Greek sentence, but the antecedent "Lord Jesus Christ" makes more sense, so NIV.

cariV (iV itoV) "grace" - A nominative absolute. As a greeting it serves to express a wish for good times, but in Christian circles it took on a more particular sense, namely of the bestowal of God's kindly favour.

eirhnh (h) "peace" - In Jewish circles this greeting, (shalom), expresses a wish for well-being in life under God.

apo + gen. "from" - introducing two equally weighted appositional constructions in the genitive case, linked by "and". "God our Father" = God, who is our Father, and our "Lord Jesus Christ" (not the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ). Both the Father and Jesus are coequal suppliers of grace and peace, "may God, both Father and Son, give you grace and peace.

1 Corinthians Introduction

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