1 Corinthians 1:1-9. Salutation and Introduction 1. _called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God_ St Paul here as elsewhere asserts his Divine commission. This was necessary because a party had arisen which was inclined to dispute it. We read in the Epistle to the Galatians of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus_ Literally, TO THEM THAT HAVE BEEN SANCTIFIED. The word here rendered _sanctify_means (1) to consecrate to the service of the Deity, and hence (2) to purify, make holy. The word here partakes of both senses. Those who have become united to Christ by faith... [ Continue Reading ]
_grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and_from _the Lord Jesus Christ_ The close association of these words for the preposition is not repeated twice has been held to imply the oneness of substance of the Father and the Son. It is also to be noted that the grace and peace are said to c... [ Continue Reading ]
_the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ_ Rather, perhaps, _the_ FAVOUR _of God which is given you_ IN _Jesus Christ_. "We are to conceive of Jesus Christ as filled with grace and as pouring it out upon the human race" (Olshausen). Or rather perhaps, All gifts are the result not of our m... [ Continue Reading ]
_in every thing ye are enriched_ Rather, YE WERE ENRICHED, i.e. at your baptism, when you entered into the covenant-union with Christ. The gifts of utterance, knowledge and the like, were the result of the favour of God towards you. It appears evident from the rest of the Epistle that the Apostle wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift_ The testimony of Christ is St Paul's preaching concerning Christ. It was -confirmed" by the outpouring of His Spirit.... [ Continue Reading ]
_come behind_ should rather be translated FALL SHORT. No comparison with other Churches seems to have been intended. _the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ_ The word in the original and in the margin of the English version is _revelation_. But this is not always equivalent to _coming_. The -revelation... [ Continue Reading ]
_blameless_ is the exact equivalent of the Greek, which signifies _free from reproach_. It is worthy of remark that "blame," though the Saxon termination "less" has been appended to it, is itself a word of Greek origin. It is identical with "blaspheme," the original meaning of which is, "to speak il... [ Continue Reading ]
_God is faithful_ It will not be God's fault, but our own, if the promises of the last verse are not realized. _the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ_ The important word here rendered _fellowship_has unfortunately different renderings in our version. Sometimes, as in ch. 1 Corinthians 10:16 (where... [ Continue Reading ]
Rebuke of the Divisions in the Corinthian Church 10. _I beseech you, brethren_ The Apostle now enters on the subject of the divisions among his Corinthian converts, for which his introduction (see next note) was intended as a preparation. _by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ_ St Chrysostom says t... [ Continue Reading ]
_For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe_ The aorist here seems to imply some special occasion on which St Paul met his informants, and received the intelligence which pained him. Of Chloe nothing is known.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul_ The idea of some commentators that there were defined parties in the Apostolic Church under the leadership of Apostles and their Master, a Paul-party, a Peter-party, a Christ-party, is refuted by ch. 1 Corinthians 4:6, where St Paul plainly... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is Christ divided?_ Some editors read this affirmatively, "Christ is divided," instead of interrogatively as in the text. But the latter is preferable. St Paul would ask if Christ, into Whose Name the whole Church has been baptized, and Whose Body (Ephesians 1:23) the whole Church is, can thus be s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Crispus and Gaius_ The special honour seems to have been accorded to Crispus of baptism by the hands of St Paul, because he was -the chief ruler of the synagogue" (Acts 18:8). Gaius, -mine host, and of the whole Church" (Romans 16:23) must not be confounded with Gaius of Derbe (Acts 20:4), nor with... [ Continue Reading ]
_in mine own name_ Rather, INTO MY OWN NAME.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Stephanas_ Probably the bearer of the Epistle. He is mentioned in ch. 1 Corinthians 16:15; 1 Corinthians 16:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel_ "Even the less earned can baptize perfectly, but perfectly to preach the Gospel is a far more difficult task, and requires qualifications which are far more rare." Augustine. _not with wisdom of words_ Rather _discourse_, as in 1 Corinth... [ Continue Reading ]
God's Message not intended to flatter the pride of man 18. _For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God_ Literally, TO THEM THAT ARE PERISHING FOOLISHNESS, BUT TO US WHO ARE BEING SAVED IT IS THE (or A) POWER OF GOD. The conne... [ Continue Reading ]
_For it is written_ In Isaiah 29:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?_ i.e. "the wise generally, the Jewish scribe, the Greek disputer." Dean Alford. "The words -of this world" apply not to the disputer alone, but to all three." De Wette. _hath not God made foolish_ Rather, DID NOT GOD MAKE... [ Continue Reading ]
_For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God_ We have here a contrast drawn between God's wisdom and that of man. Man's wisdom could but inquire and argue. God's wisdom had decreed that by such means man should only learn his weakness. _it pleased God by the foolishness of... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Jews require a sign_ The plural, -signs" -miracles," is the better supported reading here. The Jews (Matthew 12:38; Matthew 16:1; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; John 2:18; John 6:30) required external attestations of the power of Christ, and especially that of the subjugation of the world to His kingly... [ Continue Reading ]
_but we preach Christ crucified_ The Christian doctrine was the very reverse of what Jews and Greeks demanded. Instead of Messiah upon an earthly throne, triumphant over his enemies, instead of a skilful and original disputant, the Christian preachers speak of a condemned criminal. As a temporal Pri... [ Continue Reading ]
_but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God_ His power enabled them to shake off the yoke of sin and conform their lives to the pattern of His. His wisdom consisted in speaking what He knew and testifying what He had seen (St John 3:11), in d... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men_, &c. What was folly in the eyes of the Greek, or weakness in the eyes of the Jew, was yet far wiser and stronger than their highest conceptions. The revelation of God in the man Christ Jesus, the Infinite allying itself to the Finite the foolishness... [ Continue Reading ]
_For ye see your calling, brethren_ or perhaps, BEHOLD YOUR CALLING. So Vulgate, Wiclif and Tyndale. The Apostle adds an illustration of his paradox in 1 Corinthians 1:25. The truth is exemplified in the growth of the Christian Church. Its law of progress is the very opposite to that of all ordinary... [ Continue Reading ]
_to confound_ Literally TO DISGRACE, BRING TO SHAME. That which is disgraced can have no ground for self-glorification.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and things which are not_ i.e. -things which by comparison are non-existent" things which by the side of other things of higher importance in our human eyes appear to us as nothing. Yet these, in the counsels of God, are to change places, and more than change places, with things that are highly reg... [ Continue Reading ]
_of him are ye in Christ Jesus_ Humanity is nothing in the sight of God, except it be created anew in Christ Jesus. By virtue of His Incarnation it becomes wisdom, not by means of human research but by Divine Revelation; righteousness, not by works done in obedience to law, but by the infusion of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord_ The whole work of salvation is of God. The Corinthians, like many others since, were inclined to take some of the credit to themselves. The Apostle reminds them to Whom it is due. These words are a paraphrase of Jeremiah 9:23-24.... [ Continue Reading ]