1 Corinthians 1:4-8

 1 Corinthians 1:3 ESV

Grace             to              you

and           peace       from                          God                           our Father

and the                                                       Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul extends the words of joy (grace) and peace.to them.  These he reminds them come, in their truest form, only from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace and joy are two attributes he promised to those who followed him in faith.’

John 15:11 ESV
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

The joy Jesus promised comes from him and cannot be shaken by events around us.  On the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus was promising joy to his followers.  When the world around us is full of chaos and violence and hysteria, we can know joy and live a life reflecting that inner joy.  What a powerful witness that is to those who observe us and our joy in the midst of troubled times and events.

Jesus also promised peace.

John 14:27 ESV
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

1 Corinthians 1:4-8 ESV

I     give                           thanks      to my God                 always

for you

because                 of the grace                               of God

that was given you

in Christ Jesus,

that                                         in every way

you                    were enriched          

in him

in      all speech

and                                                                                                                                all knowledge—

even as the                                testimony about Christ

was confirmed among you—

so that      you           are not lacking          in any gift,

as                              you           wait                           for the revealing

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who         will sustain you

to the end,

guiltless

in the day                                                                          of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the opening verses of his letter to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul displays a rather sarcastic attitude. These new Christians were “graced” by God with all knowledge and all speech. The Holy Spirit had displayed himself in their midst through sign gifts, most notably the gift of tongues.  Instead of humbly receiving such gifts from God, they had become arrogant and boastful. 

Their arrogance and misuse of their giftedness clouded the fact that their spiritual gifts came from God through faith in Jesus Christ. Twice in these verses they are again reminded that Jesus is Lord.

In these first eight verses one finds several lessons.

Lesson !:  There is only ecclesia.  This is a concept that is very hard for modern Christians to comprehend. The Reformation had many positive outcomes but one major negative was that it divided the ecclesia into a host of competing groups who saw themselves and the only true church and often anathematized others who had differing views.  Modern Christians generally have a hard time seeing past these divisions.

Lesson 2:  Members of the true ecclesia (church) find unity in their confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  By making this confession they are accept and proclaim the following premises about Jesus.

A.   Lord – Jesus is the creator of and supreme authority in the universe.  He is God.

John 14:9 ESV
Jesus said to him, …Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Acts 4:12 ESV
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

B.   Jesus – Jesus was God and he was also fully human.

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

C.   Christ – Jesus was anointed by God the Father to be a savior for all mankind.

Luke 4:18 ESV
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Lesson 3:  The presence of these gifts confirmed both the truth of Paul’s testimony about Jesus and the authority of his apostleship.  What he had told them about Jesus was true and the truth was found in the spiritual gifts they had received.  God would not validate a false testimony.