1 Corinthians 1:9

The ground of Paul's hope for the ultimate welfare of the Cor [110] is God's fidelity. His gifts are bestowed on a wise and settled plan (1 Corinthians 1:21; Romans 8:28 ff; Romans 11:29); His word, with it His character, is pledged to the salvation of those who believe in His Son: πιστὸς ὁ Θεὸς διʼ οὗ ἐκλήθητε = πιστὸς ὁ καλῶν of 1 Thessalonians 5:23 f.; the formula πιστὸς ὁ λόγος of the Past. Epp. is not very different. διʼ οὗ is “through (older Eng., by) whom you were called”; cf. διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ (1 Corinthians 1:1, see note), and διʼ οὗ … τὰ πάντα (of God, Romans 11:36); similarly in Galatians 4:7 : God had manifestly interposed to bring the Cor [111] into the communion of Christ (see, further, 1 Corinthians 1:26-28); His voice sounded in the ears of the Cor [112] when the Gospel summons reached them (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:13). Christ (1 Corinthians 1:8) and God are both therefore security for the perfecting of their Christian life. God's accepted call has brought the readers εἰς κοινωνίαν τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν i.e., not “into a communion (or partnership) with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (nowhere else has this noun an objective gen [113] of the person: see parls.), but “into a communion belonging to (and named after) God's Son,” of which He is founder, centre and sum. In this fellowship the Cor [114] partake “with all those that call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:2); κοινωνία denotes collective participation. The κοινωνία τ. υἱοῦ is the same, both in content and constituency, as the κοινωνία τ. πνεύματος (see 1 Corinthians 12:13; 2 Corinthians 13:13; Philippians 2:1; Ephesians 4:4-6). Its content that which the Cor [115] share in is sonship to God, since it is “a communion of His Son,” with Christ for “first-born among many brethren” (Romans 8:29 f.; cf. Hebrews 2:10-16), and consequent heirship to God (Romans 8:17; Galatians 3:26 to Galatians 4:7). The title “our Lord,” added to “His Son Jesus Christ,” invests the Christian communion with present grandeur and certifies its hope of glory; Christ's glory lies in His full manifestation as Lord (1 Corinthians 15:25; Philippians 2:11), and its glorification is wrapped up in His (2 Thessalonians 1:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; also 1 Thessalonians 2:12). 1 Corinthians 1:9 sustains and crowns the hope expressed in 1 Corinthians 1:8. For κοινωνία, see further the notes on 1 Corinthians 10:16 f.

[110] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[111] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[112] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[113] genitive case.

[114] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[115] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

DIVISION I. THE CORINTHIAN PARTIES AND THE GOSPEL MINISTRY, 1 Corinthians 1:10 to 1 Corinthians 4:21. Paul could not honestly give thanks for the actual condition of the Cor [116] Church. The reason for this omission at once appears. The Church is rent with factions, which ranged themselves under the names of the leading Christian teachers. On the causes of these divisions see Introduction, Chap. 1 Out of their crude and childish experience (1 Corinthians 3:1-4) the Cor [117] are constructing prematurely a γνῶσις of their own (1 Corinthians 8:1, see note), a σοφία resembling that “wisdom of the world” which is “foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 1:18 ff., 1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Corinthians 3:18 f., 1 Corinthians 4:9 f.); they think themselves already above the mere λόγος τοῦ σταύρου brought by the Ap., wherein, simple as it appeared, there lay the wisdom and the power of God. This conceit had been stimulated, unwittingly on his part, by the preaching of Apollos. Ch. 1 Corinthians 3:3-7 shows that it is the Apollonian faction which most exercises Paul's thoughts at present; the irony of 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 and 1 Corinthians 4:6-13 is aimed at the partisans of Ap., who exalted his ὑπεροχὴ λόγου κ. σοφίας in disparagement of Paul's unadorned κήρυγμα τοῦ σταύρου. Mistaking the nature of the Gospel, the Cor [118] mistook the office of its ministers: on the former subject they are corrected in 1 Corinthians 1:18 to 1 Corinthians 2:5 showing in what sense and why the Gospel is not, and in 1 Corinthians 2:6 to 1 Corinthians 3:2 showing in what sense and to whom the Gospel is a σοφία; the latter misconception is rectified in 1 Corinthians 3:3 to 1 Corinthians 4:21, where, with express reference to Ap. and P., Christian teachers are shown to be no competing leaders of human schools but “fellow-workmen of God” and “servants of Christ,” co-operative and complementary instruments of His sovereign work in the building of the Church. The four Chapter s constitute an apologia for the Apostle's teaching and office, parl [119] to those of 2 Corinthians 10-13 and Galatians 1-3; but the line of defence adopted here is quite distinct. Here Paul pleads against Hellenising lovers of wisdom, there against Judaising lovers of tradition. Both parties stumbled at the cross; both judged of the Ap. κατὰ σάρκα, and fastened upon his defects in visible prestige and presence. The existence of the legalist party at Cor [120] is intimated by the cry, “I am of Cephas,” and by Paul's words of self-vindication in 1 Corinthians 9:1 f.; but this faction had as yet reached no considerable head; it developed rapidly in the interval between 1 and 2 Cor.

[116] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[117] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[118] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[119] parallel.

[120] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.