1 Corinthians 1:4-7

Sermon Exegesis for Confirmation Sunday (also Palm Sunday), April 17th, 2011.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:4

4 Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ μου πάντοτε περὶ ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῇ χάριτι τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ δοθείσῃ ὑμῖν ἐν Χριστῷ ᾽Ιησοῦ,

There is a variant with τῷ θεῷ μου; Codex Vaticanus, the original hand of Sinaiticus, the Ethiopic and a Father (Ephraem) omit μου (one ms, 1984, omits the whole phrase). The evidence on the side of keeping it is overwhelming, and I've inserted the reading into brackets [my] into the NIV translation below.

4 I always thank [my] God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

The present indicative Εὐχαριστῶ indicates ongoing action, underscored by the emotional πάντοτε "always." Here the preposition ἐπὶ with the dative τῇ χάριτι is causal; the reason for Paul's thanksgiving is the grace of God (τοῦ θεοῦ, object genitive), and the dependent clause τῇ δοθείσῃ "which is given..." describes exactly which "grace of God" it is to which Paul refers. Grace is a gift: δοθείσῃ is passive; the Corinthians did nothing to merit or earn God's grace.

Finally, this grace is given in and only in the sphere of Christ Jesus (ἐν Χριστῷ ᾽Ιησοῦ). Outside of Christ, there is no grace at all, but within Christ is all of God's grace, complete and eternal.


1 CORINTHIANS 1:5

5 ὅτι ἐν παντὶ ἐπλουτίσθητε ἐν αὐτῷ, ἐν παντὶ λόγῳ καὶ πάσῃ γνώσει,

5 For in him you have been enriched in every way-- in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-- (NIV)

ἐπλουτίσθητε is the aorist passive of πλουτίζω, "to make rich," and in the passive also has the meaning "to be richly furnished." We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and how wonderful it is to know that we don't deck out this temple ourselves. In our sinfulness, we are like a run-down tenement house that the Lord moves into, redecorating with his own righteousness and holiness, and tossing out all our old sins and temptations. The filled dumpsters are hauled away and the Lord's glory and holiness is what is left. When Christ looks in, he hardly recognizes the place thanks to the labor of the Holy Spirit within our hearts.

The γνώσει "knowledge" was described this way by Melanchthon: "The knowledge of Christ is the knowledge of the abundance and mercy and grace of God, which is poured out through Christ" (Annotations on 1 Corinthians, 1522, p. 32). Melanchthon's original publisher was Luther himself.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:6

6 καθὼς τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐβεβαιώθη ἐν ὑμῖν,

A minor variant here skipped by the UBS committee is the substitution of θεοῦ for Χριστοῦ in the original hand of Vaticanus and a few later Uncials (F, G, 81). Perhaps a scribe was influenced by μαρτυρία τοῦ θεοῦ in 1 John 5:9 or a similar constructions in the LXX (2 Chron. 1:3).

6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. (NIV)

ἐβεβαιώθη, aorist passive 3rd sg from βεβαιόω, "confirm, prove to be true." Although the Kittel TDNT (Vol. I) leans toward a legal sense, it is probably best not to press that kind of force to the word except where context calls for it, which is not the case here nor even in a test case like IMag 13:1. The τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ "testimony about Christ" is the teaching as well as the preaching of the gospel. Justification by faith alone, sanctification through the Holy Spirit, preservation by God the Father; the use of the Law of God as curb, mirror and guide, the Sacraments, and so forth would all be included in such teaching. This teaching is ἐβεβαιώθη "confirmed" (1) in the faith of the Corinthians, to which only God and each Corinthian could know for certain, (2) in the confession of the Corinthians, which would be spoken for anyone to hear and to advance the same teaching to others, and (3) in the lives of the Corinthians, which is often what we look for most in believers. But there are times, such as at the confirmation of a youth, where the second confirmation (the confession of faith) is paramount and it is understood that the life will follow because of that professed faith.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:7

7 ὥστε ὑμᾶς μὴ ὑστερεῖσθαι ἐν μηδενὶ χαρίσματι, ἀπεκδεχομένους τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ᾽Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ·

7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. (NIV)

ὑστερεῖσθαι, present passive infinitive ὑστερέω, "lack." χαρίσμα "spiritual gift" is anything including faith. When we have faith, we have everything we need; if there is a χαρίσμα mentioned in the Bible that you or I do not have -- prophecy, tongues, healing, or what have you -- it is not because God's grace or blessings are inferior, but because we have everything we need. We do not put parachutes in submarines because they aren't needed under water, and I don't need to speak in tongues because my witnessing doesn't require it.

There were problems in Corinth. Some of the people thought they were better than others because they had certain gifts. Others thought they were somehow lesser Christians because they didn't have certain gifts. Today the same thing can happen. One Christian may feel that you just can't be a Christian unless you speak in tongues. Another may think you just can't be a Christian unless you feel "a burning in your bosom" or some such other sign of faith. To all this, Paul says, baloney! The Church itself has all the gifts it needs. You have one, I have one, my brother has one, and my dad has another. We can't all be pastors and we can't all be painters. But we all eagerly await our Savior. And when somebody you know has a unique gift, be proud of them.

What's your gift? Praise God for it, and use it!