"The Grace of God"

1 Corinthians 1:1–9 CSB

Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes our brother: To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge. In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; you were called by him into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Much is known about the city of Corinth due to the extensive excavation of the ancient ruins. What was originally thought to be a city of about 10,000 turned out to number over 250,000!

CULTURALLY, the city was steeped in:

· IDOLATRY (many Egyptian deities were discovered, which may explain the success of Apollos, who was from Alexandria).

· IMMORALITY– as a result of the Temple to Aphrodite (located above the city employing 1,000 temple prostitutes who would descend on the city each night), sexual immorality was rampant!

· As you might expect, DIVORCE was another major problem—there were more people who were divorced than were married!

· MATERIALISTIC– MONEY, MONEY, MONEY! The architectural style of Corinth is still popular today, with its display of wealth!

· This was a culture that was infatuated with MONEY & SEX!

Sound familiar? Many refer to this as, “The Letter to the Americans!”

SPIRITUALLY, the Church in Corinth was also a MESS! Nearly every chapter in this book deals with some problem:

1 & 3 – Divisions and pride

2 – A reliance on worldly wisdom

4 – Submission to, and pride among the leadership in the church

5 – Failure to discipline a sinning member

6 – Resolving personal disputes; sexual immorality; marriage—those who weremarried, with those who wanted out ofmarriage, and those who wanted to bemarried

8 – Eating food offered to idols: Christian liberty versus love

9 – Problems paying the preacher!

10 – Warnings against idolatry

11-14 – Difficulties of proper worship

15 – Disputes over the resurrection

This church was in such apparent difficulty that Paul wrote an earlier letter that is now lost.

1 Corinthians 5:9 CSB

I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.

THEY had written a letter to Paul asking for HELP! And we DO know the contents of that letter:

· (7:1)– Immorality

· (8:1)– Christian liberty

· (12:1)– Spiritual gifts

· (15:12)– The Resurrection of Jesus

· (16:1)– Collection of the Saints

Despite the mess, or better yet, because of the mess Paul begins his letter by REMINDING them of the BLESSINGS & GRACE OF GOD!

I. SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS from GOD – (1:2-3)

1. They are CALLED the CHURCH OF GOD! – (v.2a)

2. They are SANCTIFIED in CHRIST JESUS! – (v.2b)

Hebrews 10:14 CSB

For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.

3. They are CALLED SAINTS! – (v.2c)

The whole point of (vv.4-9) is that the ONLY WAY to solve your problems is by God’s Grace! The Corinthians were trying to do it by SELF-EFFORT (the same as many of us) but it doesn’t work. It takes…

II. The GRACE of GOD! – (1:4-9)

1. There is a SOURCE of that Grace – (vv.4b-5)

“…given to you in Christ Jesus” “…in him”– ‘by means of, through’

Why is that important? – The longer we are in the Lord; the more difficult it is to operate in the grace of God!

As you grow in knowledge of God & His Word, the temptation is to operate by your own strength and knowledgeinstead of relying on the undeserved, unmerited gift of God!

How does this apply?

When you have a carnal group of believers, the way to straighten them out is NOT to used LAW (which is the temptation) but to remind them of the SOURCE of Grace!

2. The SUPPLY of that Grace – (v.5)

“…you were enriched in him in every way”– made wealthy!

2 Peter 1:2–3 CSB

May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Do you believe that?

“…in all speach and all knowledge…”

Why did he mention those two? – Many believe it was a reference to the spiritual gifts of tongues and knowledge. NO – not even the same word (λόγω vs. γλωσσων).

Because they were speaking against one another based on their knowledge (or supposed superior wisdom) of things spiritual!

Have you ever run into someone who spiritually intimidates you?

The usual approach is they say something like, “What you need is what I’ve experienced…” They look at you like you’re some poor, little, wandering lamb–and you’re intimidated!

THEOLOGICALLY – Is that a true statement? No way! In fact, it is a denial of Bible doctrine!

Ephesians 1:3 CSB

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.

1 John 2:27 CSB

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him.

God’s grace has made you WEALTHY in EVERYTHING! The challenge is to believe what God says!

3. God’s Grace makes me STABLE! – (v.6)

“…confirmed” – made stable, sure, validated, it was settled!

How many of you know for sure that if you died, you’d go to heaven? –How many of you are ready to go right now?

What a JOY it is to have that assurance, to know that the issue of eternity is SETTLED—

Why does that NOT affect our lives when we run into problems?

There often is a GAP in what we SAY WE BELIEVE and what is APPLIED in our lives!

PARADOX – Paul writes to carnal believers and yet declares, “…the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you.”

You can have the issue of WHERE you’ll spend ETERNITY, and yet STILL struggle with PROBLEMS! That’s GRACE!

4. The SCOPE of this Grace – (v.7)

(v.7a) – The “you” is plural, indicating that it is the CHURCH, and not the individual believer at Corinth that had every spiritual gift!

I believe that this applies to EVERY BELIEVER! And here’s why:

(v.7b) – NOTICE the connection to the Return of Jesus…

Is there anything you can do that will either impede or speed up the Return of Christ? NO – You wait for it.

IN this whole area of spiritual gifts, could it be that God is saying, “Wait…anticipate (eagerly awaiting) …believe! Why? Because you can’t do a thing about it other than wait for it to unfold!”

I have no more control over the spiritual gifts I receive than I do the Second Coming of Jesus! I am to trust in God’s graceto equip me and work through me, and finally, to SECURE ME!

5. The SECURITY of God’s Grace – (vv.8-9)

(v.8) – “He will also strengthen you to the end…blameless…”

Colossians 1:22 CSB

But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—

When Jesus is revealed, you and I will be declared blameless!

It’s amazing how many people refuse to believe that!

Paul gives the reasons we are blameless in (v.9):

God is FAITHFUL –

Philippians 1:6 CSB

I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:11–13 CSB

This saying is trustworthy: For if we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

God has CALLED US –

Romans 8:28–30 CSB

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

God has called us into FELLOWSHIP with His Son!

“fellowship” means that I share in common the life of Jesus!

I am called by God’s POWER & GRACE into FELLOWSHIP with His Son!

I didn’t deserve it; I didn’t earn it; it all came by God’s grace!

Romans 5:20 CSB

The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more

And THAT’S why Paul began a letter to a SINFUL CHURCH by THANKING HIM for His AMAZING GRACE!