top of page

God's Gracious Gifts in Christ | 1 Cor. 1:1-9

As preached by Timothy O'Day.


The church is...

1) claimed by God in Christ (1-3).

2) enriched by God in Christ (4-6).

3) preserved by God in Christ (7-9).


God’s Gracious Gift in Christ

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

January 26, 2025


If you are a Christian, then one of the first things you do (or at least, you should do) when you move to a new area is find a church with which you can gather to worship the Lord and walk with in faith. If you were to move to a new place, what kind of things would you look for in a church? 


The trifecta that most people point to is preaching that is faithful to what Scripture says, songs that highlight the truth of the gospel and convey rich doctrine, and fellowship that leads to growth in Christlikeness. 


With that list in mind, what would you think if you visited a church and quickly found out:

  1. That members were openly dividing from one another and claiming to be superior because they have a favored teacher and preacher they follow

  2. They openly disagreed with apostolic teaching

  3. They accepted and even boasted in the fact that they tolerated sexual immorality in their midst

  4. Members were taking each other to court and suing one another

  5. Some were swearing off marriage and using that as a sign that they were more holy than others

  6. Some were syncretistic in worship and others flippant about how the way they lived affected the spiritual health of others

  7. Many were not concerned about flirting with the practices of idolatry

  8. The members were asserting themselves over others, claiming to be more spiritual because they spoke in tongues more often than others

  9. During the Lord’s Supper, some people were coming early and eating all the bread and then getting drunk on wine—leaving nothing for the poorer members of the church.

  10. Worship services were chaotic because people were speaking in tongues and blurting out prophecy without any order. 

  11. And, in addition to all these things, some of the members are saying that the resurrection is real.


Let’s be honest, if you visited that church, you would run away—fast. In fact, you would probably say, “That isn’t a church. 


But what I just described isn’t a hypothetical situation. That is a description of the church in Corinth. These are all of the issues that Paul is writing to address in the book of 1st Corinthians. And while all of these issues are present in Corinth, notice what Paul says in verse 2 as he addresses this letter, “To the church of God that is in Corinth.” As messy as this church is, it is still a church. Is it disordered? Yes. Is it unhealthy? Yes. But it is still God’s church. 


Now, I am glad to say that, while our church isn’t perfect, we do not have the issues of the church in Corinth. But we do and we will continue to have issues, as any collection of redeemed but not yet arrived Christians will have. Every church is going to have problems and, before addressing those problems directly, every church needs to begin with the realities that Paul begins with in this letter before he moves on to address the specific issues in the church. 


How does he begin? By pointing out the identity of the church, both this one and every church, and calling them to remember who they are. So let’s walk through what this text says.


The church is…


  1. Claimed by God in Christ (1-3)

Verses 1-3 focus on this reality, that Christians are individually claimed by God when they place their faith in Jesus Christ and they are corporately united together as his church because they are all in Jesus Christ.


In verse 1, you see that this is true of Paul himself. He was called by God, which is an expression that Paul uses throughout his letters to mean that God has drawn him to Christ and now he is united to Christ by faith. If you read Acts 9, you see how Paul was literally called out by Christ not only to have faith in Christ but to be an apostle. An apostle is one who is a witness to the risen Lord and who is specifically sent out by Jesus to proclaim that Jesus is risen from the dead. As an apostle, he speaks with the authority of Jesus. 


In this authority, he is looking at what has happened in Corinth and, despite their many egregious issues, he still says, “This is God’s church.” In other words, he acknowledges that the gospel call has gone forth there and God has called and claimed people in Corinth for himself. 


Look down at verse 2. There we see that he is writing to the church of God in Corinth. The reason they are the church of God is because they were called by God to be so.


“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…”


When Paul says that they are “sanctified” and “called to be saints,” he is highlighting two realities. First, they are sanctified in the sense that by faith in Jesus, the penalty of their sin is removed. Another word for this is justification. When you place your faith in Jesus Christ, your sins are counted toward him, and his righteousness is counted toward you. By virtue of the fact that faith unites you to Christ Jesus, all of the benefits he has earned through his righteous life come to you. That’s why it is important to read in verse that you are “sanctified in Christ Jesus.” Only by coming to Jesus in faith are your sins truly paid for by the work of Christ and his work comes to you. Faith unites you to Christ in the New Covenant so that you are counted and seen as Christ himself is seen: righteous and one whom death can have no dominion; one who does not have hell as destiny, but heaven!


And second, when you are sanctified in Christ, you are simultaneously called to be saints. What does it mean to be a saint? It means that you are justified but also now set apart to grow in holiness and be like Christ. 


The reason Paul offers so much correction in this letter, and often stern correction, is because as the Corinthians are justified by faith in Christ, they are in Christ and thus expected to grow in Christlikeness by his power


To be claimed by Christ is to be counted as righteous and set apart for God’s purposes to be made righteous and thus display his power and goodness through your very life. 


And we do not do this alone. Look down at the middle of verse 2 again. We are…


“…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.” 


When you come to faith in Christ, your life no longer belongs to you. You have a new Lord. And, as you come to Christ, you can look around and see others who belong to him, who also call him Lord. We are claimed individually, but we are claimed and brought together as God’s church.


What Are the Implications of Being Claimed By God?

What are the implications of God's claim on us in Christ? There are several that we need to grapple with and understand, but let me focus on just one.


God is the one who calls and claims, so he is the one who orders our lives and the church. As you will see later in this letter, the church in Corinth was resisting and even throwing off the apostolic authority that Paul had in Christ. Part of what Paul is beginning within this letter is a statement that Christ has called him to hold a certain authority over the church. He is going to address problems not as an adviser but as an authority. He speaks with the authority of Christ because Christ has given him that authority. 


While we do not have apostles today, we have God’s Word which contains the apostolic witness. The office of an apostle was not meant to be a continuing office. You have to be a witness of the resurrection to be an apostle. During his ministry, Jesus instructed the apostles to write down their witness and to order churches by his authority. This they did and their witness and ordering is contained in Scripture. For us to obey apostolic authority, we must obey God’s Word. 


Put differently, we do not organize as a church and live Christian lives outside of the authority of God’s Word. We sit under God’s Word, we study God’s Word, we submit to God’s Word. 


Why? Because Jesus is our Lord, so we want to follow and obey him. We don’t get to choose our authority or divide up under different authorities. He is our Lord. He has claimed us and sanctified us—now he has set us apart to live in such a way that we would proclaim his excellencies. But the way we do that is by hearing him and following him, thus displaying the transforming power of the gospel in our lives. 


In fact, it is under this united Lordship of Jesus Christ that the grace and peace offered in verse 3 is received. Without him, we cannot have it and do not experience it. 


This gift of grace and peace is why we can actually pursue what the Lord sets before us. We can walk in obedience to his Lordship because he doesn’t just give us instructions. He empowers us, which is what we see next.


  1. Enriched by God in Christ (4-6)

Those who are claimed by God in Christ Jesus are also enriched by God in Christ Jesus. In verse 4, Paul gives thanks to God for the fact that he has enriched his church in Corinth. The reason he gives thanks in verse 4 is, as you look there


“Because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.”


As you look there, just note with me again that they have received grace only because they are in Christ Jesus. They have grace because they are in Christ.


But what is this grace? It is not speaking of the grace by which we are saved. In Paul’s writings, he uses grace often to speak of the grace of God saving rebels for himself. In this sense, grace is the undeserved gift of salvation. But Paul also will use the word grace to speak of gifts that he will give to individual Christians. For example, in Ephesians 3:7, Paul speaks of the fact that he was made an apostle by God’s grace, meaning that he did not deserve that office but Christ gave it to him through his kindness. Later in 1 Corinthians, Paul will specifically address spiritual gifts that God has given to his church through the power of the Holy Spirit. These gifts are not earned but given as a grace. 


That’s what he means in verse 4. This is confirmed as you look at verse 5. It is through the grace that they have in Jesus Christ that they were 


“Enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge…


They were graced with speaking gifts—prophecy, the gift of wisdom, and speaking in tongues—and knowledge gifts—teaching, prophecy, and discernment. 


While the Corinthian church was not the only church to have these gifts, they were noticeably abundant in this church. So much so that, as Paul writes in verse 6, God had obviously confirmed the truth and reception of the gospel through the believers there receiving gifts. If you read in 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul remarks the gospel had obviously taken root in the hearts of believers there because they suffered with joy. That was a mark of the Spirit’s work that was particularly noticeable for them. In the same way, the abundance of spiritual gifts in Corinth was a particularly noticeable work of the Spirit in Corinth. 


Using God’s Gift Against His Purpose

As we will see in later chapters, the Corinthians did not use these gifts well. They tried to assert dominance over each other by claiming to be more spiritual and more holy because they had certain gifts. 


Even though these gifts are being abused in this church, the gifts are good. It is the people who abuse them, but that makes the people abusive and dangerous, not the gifts themselves. 


The problem in this church was that the members were using the gifts to highlight and exalt themselves instead of focusing on and highlighting the power, mercy, and kindness of God. 


Paul’s language and approach highlight the fact that the attention should be on God, not the gift or the recipient of the gift. 

Here is what I mean: when Paul thinks about the gifts, what does he do? Look at the first part of verse 4,


“I give thanks to my God…” 


When Paul sees the gifts, his eyes are drawn to the Lord and not the person with the gift. He sees the kindness of God, not the ability of the person. He rejoices in God’s provision, not in the person who receives provision. 


When he sees the gifts he cries out, “Praise God who saved you and equipped you!” 


If you follow Paul’s logic, you will come to this conclusion: only a fool boasts in a gift that is graciously given to him. It makes no sense. But one can boast in the God who graciously gives. 


Imagine someone incredibly wealthy saying to you, “I am going to meet your financial needs. On top of that, I am going to deposit $1,000,000 into your bank account each month for you to give away to other people as you come across their needs.” Your needs are met and now you have an abundance of wealth entrusted to you in order to bless others. 


When you do bless others with that wealth and meet their needs, and they say to you, “Thank you so much! You are so generous and kind!” What would you say?


Would you boast about yourself? “Yes, I am generous and kind!” Foolishness! No, you would rightly say, “Don’t focus on me, let me tell you about where this money is coming from! Let me tell you about the one who makes me rich.”


Spiritual gifts are not for you; they are riches that God wants to give to others through you


God enriches us with spiritual gifts not so that we could cry out, “Look at me! Look at me!” But so we can cry out to everyone around us, “Look to Christ! Look at the riches he gives! Look how he will provide!” 


When you see spiritual gifts in others, don’t be jealous—be grateful. Don’t say, “I wish I had that gift,” say, “I so want to be able to give like that.” When you are used of God by the power of his Spirit, don’t be prideful—be grateful. Don’t focus on yourself, focus on the Lord. 


You cannot rightly boast in yourself for a gift you’ve been given, but you can and should boast in Christ for the gifts you have in him. 


Remember, God has claimed you and enriched you so that you and others can see him, not you. 


Giving thanks redirects your focus from yourself and onto God, which gives us great hope, as we see in our last point. 


  1. Preserved by God in Christ (7-9)

Not only did the church in Corinth misuse the spiritual gifts as a means to focus on themselves instead of God, but they also misread their lives by the presence of these spiritual gifts. As we will see later in the letter, they had an over-realized eschatology. Here is what that means: they were not looking forward to the return of Christ, the resurrection from the dead, and the new heavens and earth because they thought they had all the benefits of Christ in the present moment


They have every spiritual gift, but they have not arrived at full salvation. That’s what is meant in verse 7,


“So that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 


Paul is shifting their focus. They are so focused on the fact that they have all of these spiritual gifts that they have forgotten the hope of Christ’s return. 


Let’s put this together: By giving thanks for these gifts and as he is about to lay a frontal assault to all of the problems in Corinth, what Paul is doing is laying out for this church a devastating contrast:


God has given you every gift, yet you have all of these problems. And one day, Jesus will return.


What you might expect next is, “And he is going to let you have it.” But what do you read in verse 8?


“Who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 


Do you see what Paul is doing? Before pointing out and correcting all of the dysfunction and problems in this church, he begins by grounding them in the reality of the gospel. 


God claims his church, enriches his church, and then promises to preserve his church as blameless on the day of judgment. It is this promise that makes the coming correction possible and hopeful. 


Because of the Gospel, Correction is Blessing

When you are in Christ, correction is not a threat to your salvation. Correction is a blessing, not destruction. Does correction and reproof hurt? Absolutely? But it hurts like a surgeon's knife. If you’re in Christ, he cuts you in order to heal and restore you. 


But how do we know that God will really count us as blameless on that day of judgment as it says in verse 8? If you are in Christ, then you will be counted as guiltless on the day of judgment, not because you are perfect and without sin. If your confidence before God rested on what you do, how you think, and what you feel, then your confidence would be weak—and should be weak.


But our confidence rests on God’s faithfulness, not our own. Look at verse 9, following up on this promise to deliver us as guiltless, we read next:


“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 


God is faithful, which means that he will keep his promise to count you as righteous in Christ as you are united to him by faith. If God has called you into fellowship with his Son, he is faithful to keep you in fellowship with his Son. That’s what verse 9 says. He is faithful. Did he call you into fellowship with his Son? Then he will keep you in fellowship with his Son. This is just another way of saying what Jesus promises in John 10:27-29,


“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” 


That’s his promise and he is faithful. He will do whatever it takes to keep you in Christ. As this letter continues, Paul rebukes sin and gives correction. As we read the word and we feel conviction, that is God being faithful to keep us in Christ. As you are in conversations with people and they rebuke your sin, correct your thinking, and call you to obey the Lord, that is God using his church as a gift to you in order to keep you in fellowship with Christ. 


God Cares More Than You Do

The simple fact of the matter is that God cares more about your salvation than you do. He is more determined to keep you in Christ than you are determined to stay in Christ. He is more committed to your good than you are committed to your own good. 


So you can rely on him even when you feel like you cannot rely on yourself. 


When you fear your faith will fail, Christ will hold you fast.


When the tempter would prevail, he will hold you fast.


You could never keep your hold through life’s weary path, for your love is often cold.


He will hold you fast. 


Before We Hear Anything Else

So before we receive anything else from this letter, we have to know who we are church. We are claimed by God, we are enriched by God, and we are preserved by God. So we should have confidence as we read this letter. If God reveals sin to you as you read, don’t run away! Embrace his correction as a loving gift. If we see something in this letter that we need to obey as a church, let’s embrace it as a gift. 


The result of grasping who we are in Christ is peace for us and praise and love for God. He gets the praise because he does the work, but we get the blessing because God gives himself to us. 


And anyone can get in on this. Do want to follow Christ? If so, that means you are heeding his voice. He is claiming you so that he may enrich you and preserve you. 


So come to him. Trust that Jesus alone is the means by which you can be forgiven of your sin, turn from your sin, and give yourself to him. If you come to Christ, your sins are forgiven because he died once for all for sin. And come tell us about your faith in Christ, which cannot be seen, and we will baptize you so that you can declare to the world that your hope is in Christ. Then, you can walk with us under his Lordship—claimed by him, enriched by him, and preserved by him. Let’s pray. 


Comments


bottom of page