Commentary - 1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Bird's-eye view

Before Paul dives into the litany of problems vexing the Corinthian church, the factions, the arrogance, the sexual immorality, the liturgical chaos, he first lays a foundation of solid granite. This opening thanksgiving is not mere pleasantry or rhetorical throat-clearing. It is a profound theological statement that grounds everything he is about to say in the sovereign grace of God. Paul's strategy is brilliant; he is about to deliver some of the sternest rebukes in the New Testament, but he prefaces it all by reminding the Corinthians of who they are in Christ Jesus. Their identity is not ultimately defined by their failures, but by God's faithfulness. He thanks God for the grace they have already received, the spiritual riches they possess, and the guaranteed confirmation they will have on the last day. This is the gospel logic of sanctification: our standing in grace is the basis for our walk in obedience. Before correcting their behavior, Paul first confirms their position.

The central theme here is God's total and sufficient grace given in Christ. Every good thing they have, their salvation, their spiritual gifts, their knowledge, their future hope, is a gift. This is crucial because the Corinthians were proud, treating their gifts as personal achievements. Paul subtly re-frames everything as a result of God's unmerited favor. He reminds them that their entire Christian existence, from their initial calling to their final presentation as blameless before Christ, is the work of a faithful God. This section, therefore, is a potent dose of gospel truth, designed to humble the proud, assure the doubting, and set the stage for the radical, grace-based corrections that will follow.

Outline

Context In 1 Corinthians

This passage immediately follows Paul's opening salutation (vv. 1-3) and serves as the thanksgiving portion of a standard Hellenistic letter. However, Paul packs it with immense theological weight that is anything but standard. He is writing to a church he founded, but one that has descended into a mess of spiritual pride, division, and moral compromise. He has received a report about their contentions (1:11) and a letter from them asking questions (7:1). The entire epistle is a response to this situation. This introductory thanksgiving (vv. 4-9) is therefore critical. By emphasizing their secure position in Christ and the abundance of gifts they have received, Paul is not flattering them. Rather, he is establishing the gospel ground on which he will build his arguments. He is essentially saying, "Because God has done all this for you and guaranteed your future, your current behavior is utterly inconsistent and must change." The themes introduced here, grace, knowledge, spiritual gifts, the coming of Christ, and fellowship, are all topics he will address and correct later in the letter.

Key Issues

The Gospel Before the Grievances

One of the great pastoral lessons of all Scripture is found right here in the way the apostle Paul opens his letter to this car-wreck of a church. Before he says one word about their divisions, their arrogance, or the man sleeping with his father's wife, he thanks God for them. And not just a polite, "I'm praying for you," but a robust, doctrinally-rich declaration of God's lavish grace upon them. This is not Paul buttering them up so he can knock them down. This is Paul establishing the fundamental reality. The gospel is the indicative before it is the imperative. God's action on our behalf is the ground and basis for any action He requires from us. Paul is reminding them, and us, that we are not defined by our sins, but by our Savior. We are not identified by our messes, but by our calling. He is about to scrub the floors and take out the trash in this church, but first he reminds them that the house itself belongs to God, was built by Christ, and is destined for glory. All true Christian exhortation must begin here, in the overwhelming, unmerited, and unshakeable grace of God.

Verse by Verse Commentary

4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,

Paul begins with thanksgiving, and his thanksgiving is constant, always. This is remarkable given the catalog of sins he is about to address. His gratitude is not directed at their performance, but at God's gift. The object of his thanks is the grace of God. Grace is the foundational reality of the Christian life. It is not a substance God sprinkles on us; it is His active, unmerited favor. And notice the location of this grace: it was given you in Christ Jesus. Grace is not an abstract concept; it is covenantally located in the person and work of the Son. You cannot have God's grace while standing apart from Christ. All of God's goodness flows to us through our union with Him. This is the bedrock. Before the Corinthians are anything else, factious, proud, or immoral, they are recipients of divine grace in the Beloved.

5 that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all word and all knowledge,

This grace is not static; it is dynamic and productive. The result of being "in Him" is that they were enriched. This is the language of wealth. Spiritually, they were loaded. Paul specifies two areas of this enrichment: in all word and all knowledge. The Greek here is en panti logo kai pase gnōsei. This likely refers to a fluency in speaking the truth of the gospel (word) and a deep understanding of its content (knowledge). The Corinthians prized these things, particularly eloquent speech and esoteric knowledge. Paul affirms that they do indeed possess these gifts, but he immediately frames them as gifts received, not achievements earned. They were enriched in Him. The source of their spiritual wealth was not their own native intelligence or rhetorical skill, but their union with Christ.

6 even as the witness about Christ was confirmed in you,

How did this enrichment happen? It was the result of the apostolic testimony, the witness about Christ, being confirmed in you. When Paul preached the gospel in Corinth, it was not just a human message. The Holy Spirit worked powerfully, confirming the truth of the message in their hearts and lives. This confirmation was not just an internal feeling; it was made visible through the outpouring of spiritual gifts, the very "word and knowledge" he just mentioned. The presence of these gifts was objective evidence, a divine seal, that the gospel they had received was the real thing and that they were genuinely part of Christ's body. Their giftedness was God's own testimony to the truth of Paul's testimony.

7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

The result of this confirmation is that they are comprehensively equipped. They are not lacking in any gift. The word for gift here is charisma, a gift of grace. This is an astounding statement. This deeply flawed church was also a profoundly gifted church. But gifts are tools, not trophies. And they are given for a purpose. Their purpose is to build up the church during this present age, the time of waiting. They are provisions for the journey, not the destination itself. And so, their giftedness is immediately tied to their eschatological hope: eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. This "revelation" (apokalypsis) is the Second Coming. True spirituality does not terminate on the gifts themselves, but looks forward to the Giver. The gifts are temporary; the glory is eternal. The Corinthians were fixated on the gifts; Paul redirects their gaze to the coming King.

8 who will also confirm you to the end, beyond reproach in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is the great promise that undergirds everything. The one who confirmed the gospel in them at the beginning (v. 6) is the same one who will also confirm you to the end. The word "confirm" here means to establish, to make firm, to guarantee. God doesn't just start the work of salvation; He finishes it. And what is the result of His finishing work? We will be presented beyond reproach. This doesn't mean we will be sinless in and of ourselves, but that we will be vindicated, declared righteous, with no charge standing against us. And when will this happen? In the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the day of final judgment and vindication. Our confidence for that day rests not on our ability to hold on, but on His power to hold us fast and present us blameless.

9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul concludes this section by grounding the magnificent promise of the previous verse in the very character of God. How can we be so sure of this future confirmation? Because God is faithful. Our assurance does not rest on the stability of our own hearts, which wobble and wander, but on the unshakeable faithfulness of God. His reputation is on the line. He is the one who initiated everything; He is the one who called you. This calling was not an invitation that you could accept or reject based on your own free will. This was an effectual, divine summons. And what were you called into? You were called into fellowship with His Son. This is the heart of it all. The Christian life is a shared life, a participation (koinonia) in the life of Jesus Christ. We are brought into His family, His body, His kingdom. Because God Himself has brought us into this unbreakable union with His Son, His faithfulness guarantees He will never let us go.

Application

This passage is a potent antidote to two opposite errors that plague the church: pride and despair. To the proud, who think their spiritual status is due to their own wisdom, eloquence, or giftedness, Paul says everything you have is a gift of grace, given to you in Christ. Your giftedness is not a measure of your maturity. The Corinthians were loaded with gifts and were simultaneously a spiritual disaster area. Gifts are tools for service, not badges of honor. We must learn to thank God for them and use them humbly for the good of others, all while looking past the gifts to the Giver we eagerly await.

To those in despair, who are acutely aware of their sin and failure and wonder if they can ever make it to the end, Paul offers the bedrock assurance of God's faithfulness. Your perseverance does not depend on the strength of your grip on Him, but on the strength of His grip on you. He who called you into fellowship with His Son will confirm you to the end. He will present you blameless on that final day. This is not a license to sin, but the very fuel for sanctification. It is because we are secure that we are free to fight sin, not in order to win God's favor, but because we already have it in Christ. We must, therefore, learn to begin where Paul begins, with thanksgiving for the grace of God that is ours in Christ Jesus, a grace that has already enriched us and will infallibly carry us home.