1st Corinthians 1:4-9
To make sure we are all on the same page moving into our passage this morning; Paul is writing this letter to the church in Corinth that he planted, to a group of people that he spent 18 months with. He cares deeply about these people. And while he writes the letter to address division and disunity that has crept in, he begins the letter expressing his deep love for them. I used to have this phrase that I would say to students when I was going to have a tough conversation with them. I would say, “you know I love you, right?” They would acknowledge that they knew that, which would give me the open door to a tough conversation. Why? Because they were admitting that anything I said was coming from a place of love.
This is kind of how Paul begins his letter. Before he gets into the tough conversation, he affirms his love for this young church. He does so in the form of thanksgiving.
Big Idea: Grace is poured out on the believer through Jesus.
Read 1st Corinthians 1:4-9
Really there’s one main point of thankfulness that everything else flows out of. There is one overarching truth that gives way to the others:
The grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.
Grace (charis) means “unmerited favor,” in other words, favor that we don’t deserve. The simplest way to say it is that grace is God giving us something that we don’t deserve. And what is it that God freely gave us that we didn’t deserve? It’s not a what, but a who, and it’s Christ Jesus. This is the gospel. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…and the wages of sin is death.” Every one of us is born a sinner, and every single one of us deserves spiritual death because of it. We deserve an eternity separated from God. The death that we deserve is the death that Jesus died on the cross. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We did nothing to deserve this. We aren’t good enough to warrant God sacrificing His Son. We can’t earn it. There is nothing we can do. But God, with unmerited favor, gave us Jesus.
This is a continuation of Paul’s encouragement from the first few verses. “You are called by the will of God…You are sanctified in Christ Jesus…You are saints…” And now, “all of this is a result of grace.” And the most incredible manifestation of grace in our lives comes in the person and work of Jesus.
This is the overarching theme that Paul wants them to hear, and there is much included in this grace.
Enriched in Speech and Knowledge
Not just in some ways, but in ALL ways enriched. Richly given the ability in speech and knowledge. In other words, because of the grace of God through Christ Jesus, and the subsequent Holy Spirit that indwells us, we are equipped to speak the truth of the gospel, and understand how to live as ambassadors for Christ. What this means, then, is that when we are given an opportunity to share the gospel, God will give us the words to speak. And when we have an opportunity to live out the gospel, God will give us the strength, wisdom and discernment to do so.
We are richly given gospel words on our lips and gospel representation in how we live. Jesus tells us in John 15:5 that apart from Him we can do nothing. It’s a result of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. This was true of the church in Corinth, and it’s just as true for us today. And this was the testimony of the church! Paul says that “the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you.”
Life that Confirms Salvation
This young church had proven themselves Christians. The life-change that only the gospel can bring was evident in their lives. Even though there was a current struggle happening in their midst, they had become known as a people who reflected the truth of the gospel.
I think this is a good place for us to just pause for a minute and ask ourselves the question: Does my life prove that I have been changed? Do my motives, my words, my actions, do they reflect the radical transformation that Jesus has made? This young church had proven that. Their lives reflected what they claimed to believe. This is probably one of Paul’s concerns! If they didn’t get their act together as a body of believers, they would do damage to their potential influence and the community's perception of the church.
Isn’t this a common argument we hear from people today? That the church is riddled with hypocrites? That people don’t want to consider Christianity because according to them, “Christians are no different than me?” It’s such a sad reality, and has created an uphill battle for so many good, healthy churches.
Have you ever been around someone, though, that just exudes Jesus?
What else do we see about grace? Paul continues his thought on grace gifts:
Not Lacking in Any Gift
I believe that speech and knowledge are kind of all-encompassing. But we see mention of these gifts elsewhere in Scripture. And every believer has been given grace gifts:
1 Peter 4:10-11 - “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”
Romans 12:6-8 - “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”
There are various gifts given to every believer, but we need to understand that we aren’t just given these gifts for fun. We are given these gifts, Peter says, so that God may be glorified. The whole point of teaching, serving, exhortation, generosity, leadership, mercy, it’s all for God’s name to be glorified. This is why Paul brings this up. What he has heard about this church gives him great concern because their behavior is not honoring the Lord. The outside world is watching, and division in the church does damage to the testimony that the church is called to have. Paul says, “listen, you have been given every spiritual gift in your church. You, as a body of believers, are lacking nothing…BUT…” We’ll get to that beginning next week. But Paul continues to encourage them! What else do we see about the grace of God?
Sustained Until the End
How does Jesus end His Great Commission to His disciples? “...Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Ever present. Always with us. But what does it mean for God to sustain? We see this as a part of His nature, and it has many layers. A basic definition would tell us that to sustain means to “give strength, protection, encouragement and comfort.”
David claims this in Psalm 54 when he is being pursued by King Saul - ““Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.” And David claims this countless times in the Psalms.
We are finite beings. We are limited in our strength. We are broken. The world is broken. The only thing that can hold it all together is Jesus. Colossians 1:17 tells us this: “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” The only possible solution for endurance until the end, for strength to live another day, for any hope of holding it together, is by the power of Jesus. That’s it. This is pretty monumental, because we live in a world that shoves things in our face. “Here, hold onto this. Here, make more money, then you can put the pieces back together. If you fall out of love, just leave and call it quits, you’ll be much happier. Do you feel depressed? Here, drink this or take this drug, it’ll get you through it.” It’s all a lie! The only thing that can possibly sustain us is Jesus. It’s the hope that we have in Him. It’s the promise to carry our burdens. It’s the gift of the presence of the Holy Spirit. It’s freedom from sin because of the cross. It’s strength, and peace. “Jesus,” Paul says, “is the only way!”
He’ll sustain you until the end, and then on that day, the day when the sustaining comes to completion, there is nothing to fear, because you will be counted guiltless.
Counted Guiltless
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We need to understand the term “imputed.” Impute means “to ascribe (righteousness, guilt, etc.) to someone by virtue of a similar quality in another.” In other words to take a quality of someone and place it on another. When Jesus died on the cross, our sin was placed on Jesus. It was transferred. When we believe this to be true, and place our faith in Jesus, the righteousness of Jesus is placed on us. It is transferred.
At the point of salvation, when this is done, it is done. We are secure. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus claimed this first in John 10:38-39: “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 the Father’s hand.”
The moment we place our faith in Jesus, we are secured. An unbreakable contract signed by the blood of Jesus, rolled up and sealed by the Holy Spirit and locked away in a vault protected by God the Father. So that, when Jesus comes back to finally and forever redeem HIs people, in the last days, “in the day of Jesus Christ,” all those who have been sealed will be counted guiltless, because of what Jesus did.
And just in case this young church is struggling to believe all of this, Paul reminds them that God is faithful to fulfill that which He is promised.
Paul says “I am so thankful that the grace of God was given to you in Christ Jesus. That He has enriched you in speech and knowledge. That you have lived a life that confirms what you believe. That you, as a church body, are fully equipped, not lacking anything. That Jesus is sustaining you. That you are counted innocent because of Jesus…” You know I love you, right?
Here’s the beauty of this passage for us. Everything that Paul lays out for the church in Corinth is true of us as well! The grace of God extended to us through Jesus is the same for us as it was for them. We have been enriched with spiritual gifts. We are capable of living a life that reflects what we believe, because of the Holy Spirit. We are sustained, every day, by Jesus. When Jesus returns, we will be found guiltless, because of Jesus.
And so our application this morning is to just be encouraged. For me personally, I know this season can be kind of draining. The sun doesn’t shine much. It’s cold. It gets dark early. A lot of time is spent inside, and overall it’s just a more depressing time of year. Statistically, this is true. If you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus this morning, would you consider how beautiful it is? Would you consider how important it is? Would you consider how it’s the most important decision you’ll ever make?
