September 10, 2023
1 Corinthians 1:4-9
“Grateful Thankful Blessed”
Service Overview: Maybe a trite saying these days, but the idea of being thankful for the grace of God is nothing to treat flippantly. God’s grace in Christ Jesus is in fact the ultimate enrichment because it is one that belongs eternally to those who are being saved.
Memory Verse for the Week:
“God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:9 (NIV)
Background Insights:
- The wealth accompanying commercial success often breeds moral laxity; that certainly was the case in Corinth. Throughout the ancient world, the city was known for its moral decadence. Plato used the term “Corinthian girl” to refer to a prostitute; and Aristophanes used the verb “to act like a Corinthian” to refer to fornication. (Grant R. Osborne, Life Application Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Corinthians, 4)
- The members of the church permitted the sins of the city to get into the local assembly. Corinth was a polluted city, filled with every kind of vice and worldly pleasure. About the lowest accusation you could make against a man in that day would be to call him a “Corinthian.” People would know what you were talking about. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 454)
- (v.4) When Paul says he “always” thanks God (v. 4a), he means either “repeatedly,” or “whenever I pray.” His thankfulness for God’s “grace” (v. 4b; from the same root as “gift”) prepares the way for his references to spiritual gifts in verses 5—7. (Craig L. Blomberg, NIV Application Commentary: 1 Corinthians, 36)
- Even with its numerous problems, the Corinthian body of believers became a strategic church for the propagation of the gospel. Its location on the major trade routes of the Roman Empire made it a key outpost for spreading the gospel in Achaia (present-day Greece). (Osborne, 5)
- Our God is a good and gracious God. He delights in showering his children with gifts. Psalm 84:11 says it beautifully: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord grants favor and honor; he does not withhold the good from those who live with integrity.” The Corinthian Christians, though, were not walking in integrity! They were divisive, idolatrous, prideful, sexually immoral, and greedy. But they were still God’s people and an actual church. He still loved them and was committed to working with them and in them for their good and his glory. (Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, 10)
- Because the Corinthian believers were justified by God’s grace, they would stand before Him blameless (anenklitous, “free from accusation”; cf. Col. 1:22) when Christ returns. Thus they could eagerly wait (apekdechomenous; used seven times in the NT of the return of Christ: Rom. 8:19, 23, 25; 1 Cor. 1:7; Gal. 5:5; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 9:28) for Him. (The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty, 508)
What should stick out to us as students of this passage?
- Paul’s attitude of gratitude for the people, despite the people.
(v. 4 | Ps. 28:7; Eph. 1:16; 5:20; 1 Thess. 5:16-18; 2 Thess. 1:3; 1 Tim. 2:1; Heb. 12:28)
Blame comes best on the back of praise. (James Moffatt, Paul to the Corinthians, 7)
Surely the most striking feature of this thanksgiving is how positive Paul can be about a church torn with strife and abuses of the very gifts he thanks God for having given its members. (Blomberg, 38)
Thanksgiving for a church so rife with problems may seem a bit strange. If Paul’s only resources had been his own, the prospects of reforming a group like the Corinthians would have been dim indeed. But God was at work and that, for Paul, was a matter of thanksgiving. (The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty, 508)
- How, in Christ, they had everything they needed to be effective in the times in which they lived.
(vv. 5-7 | Ps. 119:105; Rom. 12:5; 15:4; 1 Cor. 15:57; Col. 1:27; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 John 4:17)
Hope is a powerful concept in any language. However, real hope is only as effective as its object. The Bible does not teach a “Well, I hope so” way of thinking. It teaches an “I hope because I know so” way of thinking. (Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, 11)
The result of all this is that the Corinthians lack no gift. This word is used (1) of salvation (Rom. v. 15), (2) of God’- good gifts in general (Rom. xi. 29), and (3) of special equipments of the Spirit, for example, speaking with tongues (1 Cor. xii. 4ff.). Here the thought is the wide one (2). God had enriched their lives and they lacked no spiritual gift. (Leon Morris, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: 1 Corinthians, 37)
- How God himself would be at work to sustain them till the end.
(vv. 8-9 | 1 Chr. 16:34; John 14:27; Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 12:9; Phil. 4:12-13)
Paul’s confidence is that God, who has begun a good work by calling them into the fellowship of his Son will complete it by preserving them to the end (cf. Phil. 1.6). (F. F. Bruce, The New Century Bible Commentary: 1 and 2 Corinthians, 31)
Verse 9 is probably the key to the epistle. It emphasizes that the Lord Jesus Christ is the solution to the problems that they had in the church and also to the personal problems that were present among the believers in Corinth. It is startling to note the similarities between the problems in the Corinthian church and the problems today. The solution is the same now as it was then. (J. Vernon McGee, First Corinthians, 17)
Conclusion… How does a passage like this challenge us in countering to the surrounding culture?
A. In a world of ingrates, be great, by being grateful.
(Ps. 50:23; 105:1; Phil. 4:6-7; Col. 2:6-7; 3:15-20; 1 Thes. 5:18; 2 Thes. 1:3)
When thanksgiving becomes an integral part of your life, you will find that your attitude toward life will change. You will become more positive, gracious, loving, and humble. (Osborne, 20)
The primary cross-cultural principle that emerges from both Paul’s greeting and his thanksgiving is to focus on what is going right in Christian circles before addressing problems that require attention. This is made possible by focusing on the faithfulness of God rather than the fickleness of humans, including Christians who still await perfection. (Craig L. Blomberg, NIV Application Commentary: 1 Corinthians, 39)
B. In Christ, you are a part of, and gifted for, something greater than yourself; own it.
(Acts 2:38; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:4-7; 12:12-26; Col. 1:13-14; Heb. 12:28; 1 Peter 4:10)
in Christ we get all that we will ever need to be pleasing to God and effective for God. (Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, 11)
Christians are not called to be saints and then left to their own resources during the days of waiting. They never lack any spiritual endowment or ‘grace-gift ‘ to fit them for their course. Christ himself is not a mere object of hope; as they have received effectively their present standing in him, he in turn will see to it that loyal experience never collapses. (James Moffatt, Paul to the Corinthians, 7)
C. Humbly own up to your junk, but take heart in knowing God’s not done with you yet.
(John 14:27; Rom. 8:28; 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 15:57; Eph. 4:1-16; Phil. 4:12-13; James 1:2-4)
God never made a promise that was too good to be true. (D.L. Moody, Christian History, n. 25)
Our focus on God’s strength rather than human frailty and on what’s going right more than on what’s going wrong should lead us to outbursts of praise to God for his grace and faithfulness. This praise should take place privately but also publicly, so that the people we thank God for can be encouraged by hearing us and knowing that we are speaking well of them before the Lord. (Craig L. Blomberg, NIV Application Commentary: 1 Corinthians, 39)
If you are truly trusting in Christ, you can’t confess a sin for which God has not provided forgiveness in Jesus. Indeed, if you work at the discipline of confessing your sin, it should not lead to despair at all, but rather to rejoicing over the extent of God’s love to you in Christ. (Mark Dever, The Day of Atonement, 42)
Gospel Connection…
Jesus died to save, gift, and deploy a people to live counter culture, as he faithfully works in and through them.
(John 15:19; Rom. 12:2; 1 Cor. 9:19-23; 11:1-2; Gal. 3:28; 1 John 2:15-17; Rev. 7:9-10)
To be “sanctified” means to be cleansed of sin, separated from the world and belonging to God. This can only happen through salvation “in Christ Jesus,” for only his death on the cross could accomplish this for sinners. (Grant R. Osborne, Life Application Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Corinthians, 17)
In each of these verses Paul mentions Jesus Christ. The people of God are significant because everything they are and will be is a result of what God has done for them in the person of his Son (cf. 1:30), and not as a result of secular status, privileges or achievements. (D. A. Carson, New Bible Commentary, 1163)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- If God were writing a letter specifically to you, what would be your “good news” and “bad news”?
- Does Paul’s greeting to the Corinthian church differ from what you would expect given what he knows about them? How would you have responded to the same report?
- What does this passage teach you about God’s work in salvation? What does it teach you about the Christian’s identity? How can this give you hope and rest?
- How does the church’s identity as God’s possession refocus what a church prioritizes?
Quotes to note…
A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves. (Henry Ward Beecher)
As the Lord loveth a cheerful giver, so likewise a cheerful thanksgiver. (John Boys, A Puritan Golden Treasury, 276)
Thankfulness to God is a recognition that God in His goodness and faithfulness has provided for us and cared for us, both physically and spiritually. It is a recognition that we are totally dependent upon Him; that all that we are and have comes from God. (Jerry Bridges, The Practice of Godliness, 100)
Preoccupied with ourselves, we have lost the grace of being thankful. It is sad to live in a world where there is no one to thank because we have ourselves become the cause and source of all good things. (John Hannah, To God be the Glory, 11)
Christians are what they are because through the Holy Spirit they have received gifts of grace, and they are what they are because, having been redeemed and called by the historic work of Christ they now look for his coming to consummate his achievement. They live in remembrance of what he has done, and in expectation of what he will do. It was a characteristic Corinthian error to concentrate on the present with its religious excitement, and to overlook the cost at which the present was purchased, and the fact that the present is still incomplete. (C. K. Barrett, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 39)
The people of God are those whom God has graciously called to be saints, who continually profess faith in Christ, and who humbly use their gifts for God’s glory as they wait for Christ to return and fulfill his promises. (Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, 6)
How can Paul be so thankful and positive about a church rife with divisions and abuses even of these very gifts? Verses 8-9 supply the answer: God’s character provides the guarantee. He will remain faithful to his promises ultimately to perfect his people, however immature they at times seem to be (vv. 8a, 9). (Craig L. Blomberg, NIV Application Commentary: 1 Corinthians, 37)
As part of the gospel message, the promise of Christ’s ultimate return in triumph motivates all believers to live for him and eagerly await the time when they will live with him in his kingdom (see 1 Peter 4:7, 13). The spiritual gifts God has given to believers here on earth are merely a foretaste of what is to come. (Grant R. Osborne, Life Application Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Corinthians, 21)
A saint is not a dead person who has been honored by men because of his or her holy life. No, Paul wrote to living saints, people who, through faith in Jesus Christ, had been set apart for God’s special enjoyment and use. In other words, every true believer is a saint because every true believer has been set apart by God and for God. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 454)