1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Have you ever had a friend, or a family member, or a spouse, who consistently has done the wrong thing? If you don’t, maybe you are that person.

Sometimes, I am that person. Dealing with that person can be very hard. We sometimes want to grab them by the throat and shake them. But, that never does any good… though it might make us feel better.

Paul is writing to a whole church that is consistently doing the wrong thing.

We studied the history of Corinth. That is is basically, New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas all rolled into one. The Corinthian church, instead of pursuing holy lives, were embracing their culture. Instead of valuing their brothers and sisters in Christ, seeking unity, they were dividing over small points of doctrine and which preacher they liked listening to better.

So, Paul, as he gets ready to write some pretty harsh words to this church, starts by reminding the Corinthians who they are, which we studies last week.

Then, he reminds them about God’s grace, which we could all use a daily reminder of.

He explains to the Corinthians 6 things which God’s grace brings. This is not all encompassing. Sometime, when you are feeling down, start a list of all the things God’s grace brings.

Let’s read the passage:

Read 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Pray

So, what does God’s grace bring?

1A. Salvation

First, God’s grace brings salvation. Paul talks about the grace given us in Christ Jesus.

We know who we were before Christ. Even if we don’t remember that time, we know who we were. Goodness, we know who we could be without Christ. As the phrase goes “There but for the grace of God go I.”

Paul reflects on our state before and without Christ in Ephesians

Ephesians 2:1–5 (NIV)

2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

We don’t deserve our salvation. If anytime we stand up and say “You know I deserve God’s forgiveness.” Or we say “I earned eternal life.” We have not understood our salvation. We have not understood who God is and who we really are.

So, let’s reflect.

God is holy. He is perfection. As a holy God, he cannot have any imperfection around him. No sin can come near. His holiness drives it away.

We were all born sinful. Not only that, but we have all willingly run down the sinful path.

Picture kids jumping in a mud puddle. They come to their house and their mother says: you can’t come in until you wash all that filth off.

We are filthy and our filth separates us from God. We can’t come near him without being cleansed.

So, those kids go to the garden hose out back, and they wash and they wash, but no amount of washing takes care of the mud. They scrub. They use soap. They try to burn it off, cut it off. Nothing takes the mud off. On the horizon, the sun is setting. They are going to be stuck outside all night, because the mud will not come off.

This us. We cannot take care of our sin. It is stuck to us, seeped into our soul. And we are in danger of being stuck outside in the night for all of eternity.

That’s were God’s grace comes in.

Later in this letter to the Corinthians, Paul will talk about their sinful lives before Christ. Then he says:

1 Corinthians 6:11 (NIV)

11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Jesus Christ, the son of God, came to earth, lived among us, among our filth, our sin, without getting sinful himself, and died on the cross to purify us from our sins.

Not only does he purify us, but he earns our forgiveness, and declares us completely righteous.

Through him, we have way to approach God without being consumed or driven away. We can have a relationship, which brings peace, hope, and joy.

This is our salvation. We should have been driven away, but in Christ we are brought close.

2A. Spiritual gifts

What else does God’s grace bring? Well, after saving us, he equips us to live the Christian life.

His grace brings spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians 1:5 (NIV)

5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—

Later in Corinthians, chapters 12-14, Paul will dive into Spiritual gifts with great detail. Unfortunately, we won’t be studying those passages for a while. We’ve got a lot of treasure to mine before then.

So, let’s take a brief tour of spiritual gifts.

Immediately, when someone turns to Jesus in faith, the Holy Spirit is given to them.

Jesus explains the purpose of the Holy Spirit in John

John 14:26 (NIV)

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

The Holy Spirit purifies, reveals, and unifies. It provides evidence of God’s presence, guides his people, and gives assurance. It strengthens and empowers.

And, it gives what we call gifts.

These gifts are briefly mentioned in 1 Peter 4, and detailed in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12.

A simple search on google will show that people are obsessed with spiritual gifts. There is a hunger to know what those gifts are.

There is actually a website called spiritualgiftstest.com which details 19 spiritual gifts in Scripture and offers a test to take for you to determine what your spiritual gifts are.

In the hunger and the obsession, many people forget what these gifts are for. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12

1 Corinthians 12:7 (NIV)

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

Peter says:

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

These gifts are given to glorify God and encourage his church.

The point isn’t the gift, but the result of the gift. Paul mentions in 1:5 that the Corinthian church had the gifts of speech and knowledge, but they were not using those gifts rightly. They were not glorifying God or encouraging his church.

When God in his grace gives us a gift, we are to use that gift. We seek every way we can to glorify him and to encourage his church, our brothers and sisters.

Two final notes on this: First, the spiritual gifts that are given are not permanent. That’s one thing I don’t like about spiritual gifts tests. God gives his gifts to specific people at specific times so that they can accomplish his plan, glorifying him and encouraging the church. After time, he can take that gift away and give another gift in its place.

Second, most of the time in the New Testament, the church members recognized gifts in each other and encouraged each other to use them. It wasn’t one person declaring they had a unique gift. It was the church. So, when someone comes to you and says that they see something special in you, or encourages you to do something that is not in your character (or that you are not “gifted” in) (everyone say: not me!). Pray about it and see if God might be actually calling you to do it.

God in his grace provides salvation, he provides spiritual gifts.

3A. Confirmation in belief (spiritual gifts)

Through the spiritual gifts, God’s grace provides confirmation in belief.

1 Corinthians 1:6 (NIV)

6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

Let’s read that in context:

1 Corinthians 1:5–6 (NIV)

5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

The spiritual gifts were evidence to the Corinthians that their faith was real, that God was who he said he was, that their salvation was a fact.

Sometimes certain spiritual gifts are called sign gifts, because God uses them as a sign of the truth of his message.

This phrase comes from 1 Corinthians 14

1 Corinthians 14:22 (NIV)

22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.

Sign gifts, such as speaking in other languages, prophecy, healing, are used consistently throughout the Gospels and Acts to provide evidence for the truth of the Gospel.

Paul and Peter would travel to different cities proclaiming salvation through Jesus Christ. God would allow miracles to happen, truths to be presented, the ability to speak in someone’s native language. People would see that and realize the truth of the Gospel and turn to Jesus in faith.

The point was never the spiritual gift. The point was always the result of the gift: the glory of God and the encouragement of the body.

Spiritual gifts bring confirmation of belief. Belief always needs confirmation.

Consider what James says:

James 2:17 (NIV)

17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Our faith demands evidence. No one can stand up and say that they are a follower of Jesus Christ if there is no evidence in their life. That evidence can be life change, repentance, good works. All of which are products of God’s spiritual gifts.

God gives us his Spirit. That Spirit creates change in us, empowering us to do things that we never have before, whether it is showing mercy to someone, giving our treasure away, or praying for someone to be healed.

When we see evidence of life change in ourselves or in someone else, our belief, our faith is confirmed.

That is grace of God.

God’s grace brings salvation. It brings spiritual gifts. It brings confirmation of belief.

4A. Hope (spiritual gifts)

It also brings hope. This too is a product of spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians 1:7 (NIV)

7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

God gives us the ability, through the spirit, to live each day, not lacking anything we need for that day. And he does that for a purpose. Not only does this help us remember the truth of our salvation, but it reminds us that Christ is coming again.

Every time we are able to do something we weren’t able to before. Every time that we are able to give someone else encouragement. Every time we are generous or full of mercy. Every time we make time in our busy schedule to help someone. Every time we say “no” to temptation. Every time we speak differently or live holy.

Every time we are reminded of the God who empowers us, who gives us the grace to be who we are instead of who we were. And then, if we allow ourselves, we remember that God is calling us home. One day our savior will return.

Paul writes

Titus 2:13 (NIV)

13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

This is our hearts cry. When hard times hit, we cry out as John does:

Revelation 22:20 (NIV)

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

We have a truly amazing gift by having hope. We’ve talked about this a lot over the past year. And I have had countless conversations with people, wondering how anyone is able to live without the hope we have in Christ.

I don’t know. But, I know that they do. Which should cause us all to be so grateful for God’s grace. It’s only because of him that we have hope. That we know beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus is coming to take us home.

God’s grace brings salvation. It brings spiritual gifts. It brings confirmation of belief. It brings hope.

5A. Confirmation in life

God’s grace brings confirmation in life.

Now, that is a weird way of saying it, but hear me out.

Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 1:8 (NIV)

8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Interesting note, the word for keeping firm is the same word as for confirm in verse 6. Confirming testimony is the same verb as keeping you firm to the end.

So, I decided to flesh that verb out. I like the concept of confirmation. When God confirms the testimony, he is showing that it is true.

When God keeps us firm to the end, he is keeping our life in line with the truth, basically showing our life as true.

Through his grace, we are able to live our lives so that we will be blameless on the day when Christ calls us home.

That’s a big deal. This concept of blameless is found throughout the epistles, most commonly used to describe leaders in the church, but is universally applied to everyone who confesses Christ.

We are all called to be blameless.

What does this mean? It means that no one can bring a charge against us.

When Christ calls us home, God will declare us blameless on that day. Because Christ’s death is applied to us. We died to sin. And his righteousness is placed on our account.

So when we stand before the throne of God, even though we remember all the things we have done and said, God will declare us blameless. That’s grace.

But, God’s grace keeps us blameless in this life. That doesn’t meant that we won’t sin anymore. We all know that we will sin.

It means that no one can bring a charge against us. It means that we don’t have any secret sins. When we do commit a sin, we own up to it and make it right.

This is not natural. But, as followers of Jesus Christ, we will seek to live lives that are true to who we are, to confirm every moment that our savior is Jesus Christ: we owe everything to him.

So, we will confess, we will make restitution, take discipline, and do what it takes to live in a way that no one can place blame on us.

Paul writes:

Philippians 2:14–15 (NIV)

14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky

God’s grace brings salvation. It brings spiritual gifts. It brings confirmation of belief. It brings hope. It brings confirmation in life.

6A. Fellowship (circles back to salvation) (which also means fellowship with his family)

Finally, God’s grace brings fellowship. This concept circles back to salvation.

Let’s read the whole passage again:

1 Corinthians 1:4–9 (NIV)

4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Being saved means that we are brought into the fellowship of the body of Christ, what we call the church. This isn’t a building, this is a group of people.

The word that is used of fellowship is a very special word that is used 19 times in the New Testament. It speaks of participation and sharing.

We have fellowship with Jesus Christ. That means we have participation and sharing in Jesus’ life and death.

Paul brings in communion as an example of this:

1 Corinthians 10:16 (NIV)

16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?

As we live we participate in his suffering:

Philippians 3:10 (NIV)

10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

If we consider baptism, it is an illustration of participation and sharing in Christ. We are placed under the water and raised up out of the water: buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life.

We have fellowship with Christ, participation and sharing.

We also have fellowship with the body of Christ. We are called, if we claim to be Christians, to participate and share with the body of Christ.

A great example is the NT church.

Acts 2:42–47 (NIV)

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Participation and sharing. By God’s grace, we have fellowship.

God’s grace brings salvation. It brings spiritual gifts. It brings confirmation of belief. It brings hope. It brings confirmation in life. It brings fellowship.

· God in his grace has given us some pretty amazing things. Take some time today and reflect on his grace. And the next you want to choke someone, remind them instead of God’s grace.