Download 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 Called by God to Be Saints

Called by God
to Be Saints in Christ
Studies in 1 Corinthians Series [2]
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
May 4, 2014
Pastor Paul K. Kim
TWO ROOT PROBLEMS OF THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH
• Influence of the worldly wisdom and lifestyle
 Influenced by Greek philosophy that put a high premium
on knowledge, wisdom, and eloquent speech.
 Influenced by wanton sexuality widely accepted as a way
of life.
• “Over-realized eschatology”
 Due to the abundance of the miraculous gifts of the Holy
Spirit in the Corinthian church—in which they thought,
“Heaven is here already for us to experience it fully.”
 Due to the worldly view on spirituality—which says,
“Power, glory, and prosperity are the signs of spirituality.”
WHAT FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS
DOES PAUL BEGIN WITH IN THIS LETTER?
1) All believers are called by God’s sovereign will and grace.
1
Paul, called by the will of God
to be an apostle of Christ Jesus,
and our brother Sosthenes.
9 ...by whom you were called into the fellowship
of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (vs. 1, 9b)
 Paul’s authority was in this calling by God’s sovereign will to
be an apostle—sent by Christ vested with his full authority.
 While Paul was called for a special role as an apostle, every
believer was also called by God’s sovereign will and grace.
 This calling is much more than a mere invitation—it is the
saving work of God’s sovereign grace that brings us into the
fellowship of Christ through faith.
WHAT FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS
DOES PAUL BEGIN WITH IN THIS LETTER?
2) All believers are set apart as “saints” together in Christ Jesus.
2 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: 3 Grace to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (vs. 2-3)
 To the unruly, immature, unholy Corinthian Christians, Paul
begins with this new identity—they were “saints” in Christ.
 Sanctification here refers to “positional holiness” by God’s
setting them apart as his church, the people of God.
 We are also set part as together for the lifelong process of
sanctification of “conditional holiness” as saints in Christ.
Foundational Truths about New Testament Christianity
Fundamental to New Testament Christianity is this ambiguity
of the church. We are living in between times, between the
first and second comings of Christ, between what he did
when he came and what he will do when he comes again,
between kingdom come and kingdom coming, between the
‘now already’ of kingdom inaugurated and the ‘not yet’ of
kingdom consummated. It is the key to understanding of 1
Corinthians and of the Christian life. John Newton expressed
it well:
I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be,
I am not what I hope to be in another world. But I still
am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God
I am what I am.
― John R. W. Stott
WHAT FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS
DOES PAUL BEGIN WITH IN THIS LETTER?
3) All believers are given grace for salvation, gifts for the
Christian life, and Christ’s work for sustaining sanctification.
4I
give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that
was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him
in all speech and all knowledge—6 even as the testimony about Christ was
confirmed among you—7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait
for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end,
guiltless 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. (vs. 4-9)
 Grace is (1) of God, (2) for the undeserving, and (3) in Christ.
 The Corinthian Christians were enriched by gifts of the Spirit,
complete in God’s grace yet incomplete until Christ’s coming.
 The ultimate certainty of our sanctification (“guiltless/holy”)
is God’s faithfulness through Christ’s sustaining work for us.
29 For
those whom he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he
might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those
whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called
he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:29-30
And I am sure of this, that he who began
a good work in you will bring it to completion
at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6
THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS
FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE
1.
In what ways does your “positional sanctification” [= set
apart as holy] encourage you to pursue “conditional
sanctification” [= becoming holy]?
2. What is your response to God’s grace and the Spirit’s gifts
that enriched you in every way? What will you do with
them?
3. In what ways have you experienced God’s faithfulness in
sustaining you to the end? What is your part in this?