1 Corinthians 1:2

the church of God--He calls it so notwithstanding its many blots. Fanatics and sectaries vainly think to anticipate the final sifting of the wheat and tares (Mat 13:27-30). It is a dangerous temptation to think there is no church where there is not apparent perfect purity. He who thinks so, must at last separate from all others and think himself the only holy man in the world, or establish a peculiar sect with a few hypocrites. It was enough for Paul in recognizing the Corinthians as a church, that he saw among them evangelical doctrine, baptism, and the Lord's Supper" [CALVIN]. It was the Church of God, not of this or of that favorite leader [CHRYSOSTOM].

at Corinth--a church at dissolute Corinth--what a paradox of grace!

sanctified--consecrated, or set apart as holy to God in (by union with) Christ Jesus. In the Greek there are no words "to them that are"; translate simply, "men sanctified."

called to be saints--rather, "called saints"; saints by calling: applied by Paul to all professing members of the Church. As "sanctified in Christ" implies the fountain sources of holiness, the believer's original sanctification in Christ (Co1 6:11; Heb 10:10, Heb 10:14; Pe1 1:2) in the purposes of God's grace, so "called saints" refers to their actual call (Rom 8:30), and the end of that call that they should be holy (Pe1 1:15).

with all that in every place call upon . . . Christ--The Epistle is intended for these also, as well as for the Corinthians. The true CATHOLIC CHURCH (a term first used by IGNATIUS [Epistle to the Smyræans, 8]): not consisting of those who call themselves from Paul, Cephas, or any other eminent leader (Co1 1:12), but of all, wherever they be, who call on Jesus as their Saviour in sincerity (compare Ti2 2:22). Still a general unity of discipline and doctrine in the several churches is implied in Co1 4:17; Co1 7:17; 11-16; 14-33, 36. The worship due to God is here attributed to Jesus (compare Joe 2:32; Mat 4:10; Act 9:14).

both theirs and ours--"in every place which is their home . . . and our home also"; this is added to include the Christians throughout Achaia, not residing in Corinth, the capital (Co2 1:1). Paul feels the home of his converts to be also his own. Compare a similar phrase in Rom 16:13 [CONYBEARE and HOWSON]. "Ours" refers to Paul and Sosthenes, and the Corinthians' home [ALFORD]. BEZA better explains, "Both their Lord and our Lord." All believers have one and the same Lord (Co1 8:6; Eph 4:5); a virtual reproof of the divisions of the Corinthians, as if Christ were divided (Co1 1:13).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Co 1:2. Unto the church of God which is at Corinth — The apostle, writing in a familiar manner to the Corinthians, as also to the Thessalonians and Galatians, uses this plain appellation; to the other churches he uses a more solemn address: to them that are sanctified in, or through, Christ Jesus — That is, called out of the world, set apart for God, and made holy, through faith in Christ, and by grace derived from him, the head of his mystical body. Thus sanctified, undoubtedly they were in general, notwithstanding some exceptions, called — Of Jesus Christ, Rom 1:6; to be saints — That is, holy persons, by virtue of that calling, or, as κλετοις αγιοις is literally, saints, or holy persons, called: with all that in every place — All the world over; and particularly in every part of Achaia; nothing could better suit that catholic love which Paul labours to promote in this epistle, than such a declaration of his good wishes for every true Christian upon earth. Call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord — This plainly implies that all true Christians pray to Christ, as well as to the Father through him. We have the same expression with that here used, Act 7:59 : They stoned Stephen, επικαλουμενον, calling upon, or invoking, namely, Christ, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. See also Act 9:14; Act 22:16; Rom 10:12-14. Praying to Christ was so much practised by the first Christians, that Pliny mentions it in the letter to Trajan: Carmen Christo quasi Deo dicere, They sing a hymn to Christ as God. Both theirs and ours — That is, who is Lord of all true believers everywhere. This the apostle mentioned in the beginning of his letter, to show the Corinthians how absurd it was for the disciples of one master to be divided into factions under particular leaders. Christ is the only Lord or Master of all his disciples, whether they be Jews or Gentiles; and therefore they ought not to disagree among themselves. “Though this epistle was written primarily to correct the disorderly practices of the Corinthians, it contains many general instructions, which could not fail to be of use to all the brethren in the province of Achaia likewise, and even to Christians in every place: for which reason the inscription consists of three members, and includes them all.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. Sanctified in Christ Jesus—For every justified man is also, in some degree, a sanctified man. Every true Christian is a saint. And the word saints is a usual New Testament appellation for the body of true believers.

Rom_15:23; 1Co_6:1-2; Eph_1:1; Eph_1:18; Php_1:1; Col_1:2.

Called to be saints—Literally, called saints. As Paul was a called apostle, so they were called saints.

Saints—That is, holy ones; a term, as just said, with different degrees of verity, applicable, as it is here applied, to all Christians.

With all—That is, they are called saints not alone; but in blessed unity with the living, universal Church.

Call upon—So that there is a mutual call; Jesus Christ calls them, and they call upon Jesus Christ. By call upon, is meant, praying to. So Stephen, in Act_7:59; and so Act_9:14, and Rom_10:13. This last text, in particular, shows that the phrase means prayer in its highest sense as to God, and is a very conclusive proof that the very mark of a Christian, in Paul’s view, was truly praying to Christ, as that of a Jew was blaspheming him, and that of a Gentile was worshipping idols.

In every place—The Greek order of words is thus:

with all that call upon the name of the Lord in every place, both theirs and ours.

Theirs and ours—Some make this mean their place or locality of residence and ours. Ours would then include Paul and his Corinthian brethren; theirs would refer to all others praying to Christ. But our English version makes a richer sense. Jesus is declared to be Lord alike of the Corinthian and the universal Church. Paul exults to address his Corinthians as not solitary Christians, but as part of the great body of saints.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Unto the Church. This form of address is used in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians. In St. Paul"s later Epistles, for some unknown reason, he prefers the address "to the saints." These forms of address show the absence of any fixed ecclesiastical government. He does not in this Epistle address any "bishops" or "presbyters" whom he might regard as responsible for the growing disorders which prevailed at Corinth, but he appeals to the whole Church.

The word ecclesia signifying those who were "called out of the world," and so primarily applied to "the congregation of Israel came ultimately to mean "a congregation." The only apostle who uses the word "synagogue" of the Christian assemblies is St. James. (Jam_2:2) Of God. Not the Church of this or that party leader. Some commentators give to these words an emphasis and importance which does not seem to belong to them. Which is at Corinth. So in 2Co_1:2. In 1 and 2 Thessalonians he prefers the form, "the Church of the Thessalonians. "The Church at Corinth" was an expression which involved the sharpest of contrasts. It brought into juxtaposition the holiest ideal of the new faith and the vilest degradations of the old paganism. It was "a glad and great paradox" (Bengel). The condition of society at Corinth, at once depraved and sophistical, throws light on many parts of the Epistle. Cicero describes the city as "illus trious a like for wantonness, opulence, and the study of philosophy." Even them that are sanctified. The apostles could only write to Churches as being really Churches, and to Christians as being true Christians. In all general addresses they could only assume that the actual resembled the ideal. They never conceal the immense chasm which separated the real condition of many members of their Churches from the vocation which they professed. They knew also that it is (as Calvin says) "a perilous temptation to refuse the name of Church to every Church in which there is not perfect purity." Ideally even the Corinthian Christians were redeemed by Christ"s expiation, consecrated and sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit. They could only be addressed in accordance with their ostensible position (see Hooker, "Eccl. Pol.," 3:1; 5:68). Our Prayer book is constructed on the same principle. The harvest is still a harvest, though amongst the corn there may be many tares. In Christ Jesus. The words, "in Christ," constitute what has been happily called "the monogram of St. Paul." The life of the true Christian is no longer his own. The Christ for him has become the Christ in him. His natural life is merged into a higher spiritual life. Baptized into Christ, he has become one with Christ. Called to be saints. (On this Christian calling, see Eph_4:1, Eph_4:4; 2Th_1:11; 2Ti_1:9; Heb_3:1; 2Pe_1:10) They are called to be united saints, not schismatic partisans or members of antagonistic cliques. The description of what they were ideally is the more emphatic because he feels how much they had fallen away. With all that in every place. Perhaps this may mean the same as 2Co_1:1, "With all the saints that are in the whole of Achaia;" or the words may imply that St. Paul"s exhortations are applicable to all Christians, wherever they may be and (as is expressed in the next clause) whatever may be their varying shades of individual opinion. It was well in any case to remind the Corinthians that they formed but a fraction of the Christian communities. Catholicity, not provincialism, makes the true Church of God. Call upon the Name. The Greek verb is here in the middle voice, not "who are called by the Name". (comp Jam_2:7; Amo_9:12) It means, therefore, all who reverence the Name of Christ, all who adore their one "Lord" in the fulness of his nature (see Joe_3:5; Act_2:21; Rom_10:2-4; 2Ti_2:22, etc.) in other words, "all who profess and call themselves Christians". (comp Act_25:11) Their Lord and ours. I connect these words, not with "place," as in the Vulgate, In omni loco ipsorum et nostro which, however it may be twisted, can give no good sense but with "Jesus Christ." It has been in all ages a fatal temptation of party Christians to claim a monopoly of Christ for themselves and their own sects, as though they only taught the gospel, and were the only Christians or the only "Evangelicals." But Christ cannot thus be "parcelled into fragments" (see vers. 12, 13), nor has any party a right to boast exclusively, "I am of Christ." The addition, "and ours," could not be regarded as super fluous in writing to a Church of which one section wanted to assert an exclusive right in Christ.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Ver. 2.

Called to be saints.

The term "saint" is, in common use, limited to certain classes of holy men. It is applied to the inspired evangelists and apostles; to the great doctors and martyrs of the early Church, especially to such as were "canonized;" and to the glorified in heaven. But the New Testament usage is more general. In the Acts and in the Epistles, Christians generally, otherwise designated "disciples" and "brethren," are also called "saints." In all except two of St. Paul"s Epistles, the Christians to whom he writes are thus designated in the opening salutations. The appellation is one very significant and very instructive.

I THIS DESIGINATION REMINDS CHRISTIANS OF WHAT THEY EITHER ONCE WERE OR WOULD HAVE BEEN BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD. Properly and literally, a saint is one separated and consecrated, made holy by being called out of a sinful society and set apart and dedicated to God. In the case of most of those first thus addressed, it was literally the case that they had been "plucked as brands from the burning." Inhabitants of one of the most luxurious, voluptuous, and debased cities of the ancient world, these members of the Corinthian Church had been rescued and saved by the gospel of God"s grace. If the case seems different with hearers of Divine truth in our own land and in our own day, still it must be borne in mind that Christianity alone has brought about such a result that God alone has made us differ.

II THIS DESIGNATION REMINDS CHRISTIANS OF WHAT THEY ARE.

1. They are the creation, the "new creation" of God"s Holy Spirit. His cleansing and regenerating power, symbolized in the purifying waters of baptism, has effected this great change.

2. They are accordingly consecrated unto God. In the Corinthian temple of Aphrodite, a thousand priestesses were "consecrated" as prostitutes, to the impure worship of the goddess of lust. In the Christian Church all members are devoted to the holy service of a holy God.

3. They are sanctified in character. Negatively, Christians are represented by this language as being freed from the bondage and service of sin. Positively, they are arrayed in the white garments of spiritual purity. Outward, ceremonial purity is insufficient; for Christ looks for and values the purity of the heart.

4. They are associated with a holy fellowship. The Church is a holy body, and an unholy member would be out of sympathy with the body to which it professedly belongs. Holiness is a "note" of the spiritual brotherhood.

III THIS DESIGNATION REMINDS CHRISTIANS OF WHAT THEY WILL BE. They are inheritors of a holy kingdom. They look forward to immortal citizenship in that city into Which entereth nothing that defileth, where holiness reigns perfectly and for ever, whose occupations of service and of praise are suited to holy beings and to a holy place. A prospect such as this is inspiring as well as delightful. The future casts its influence upon the present. "He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as Christ is pure. T.

What the Church is, and what the Church ought to be.

In introduction deal with the features of Christian life in towns and cities, as represented in Corinth, noticing its relation to complicated civilization, diversity of sects, class distinctions, society evils, and intellectual pride. Out of the population of such a town as Corinth Paul gathered what he calls a Church, and this body he regards ideally and practically. Here the full conception of what it should be is the prominent thing. His advice, given later on, applies to the Church as it actually was.

I THE CHURCH IS A WHOLE, WITH A SPECIALITY. A whole, for it is the Church the Church of God, who is One; and it includes "all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place." We fittingly call it the "one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." But it has a characteristic speciality. It can be localized. It can be the Church at Corinth or at any other place, but the localization does not break up the unity. It is but a condition of the earthly sphere which the Church must of necessity have, and need in no way destroy our sense of the complete oneness and wholeness of the Church. The tendency to sectarian division can best be checked by failer presentations of the essential, ideal "wholeness" of Christ"s Church. And the same truth alone gives efficient place to the conception of Christ"s living and universal rule, with its related fact, the unity and brotherhood of all believers.

II THE CHURCH IS A BODY ACTUALLY SANCTIFIED. The two senses in which the term "sanctified" may be used need careful consideration. It may mean "made holy;" and it may mean "set apart," or "consecrated,.... devoted to one special object," and this latter is the more frequent and familiar use in Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, where cities, lands, persons, and things were constantly "sanctified in the sense of being devoted, or consecrated, to the Divine service. Manifestly the meaning "made actually holy" cannot be that required in our text, for this has never yet, in any age, been the fact concerning Christ"s Church; and, indeed, the New Testament holds this forth only as the sublime attainment of the future. But it is true of each sincere member, and so of the whole Church, that they are sanctified in the sense of being "self dedicated," "devoted to God," and so ideally a "holy people." A man is what he really wishes to be and endeavours to be; he is what he sets before himself as his highest attaimnent. Guard this truth against misrepresentation and misuse, and make it an incentive to the formation of high ambitions and patient effort for their attainment. Add that the pervading element, atmosphere, and tone of Christ"s Church is holiness. Christ present brings the surroundings of the "holy," and we are "called unto holiness." So, ideally, Christ"s Church is "sanctified.

III THE CHURCH IS A BODY SEEKING TO BE PRACTICALLY WHAT IT IS MYSTICALLY. This opens the application of the subject. Our response to and acceptance of the call into Christ"s Church puts us under a definite and distinct pledge and responsibility. We bind ourselves to win the personal holiness that will match our call and worthily follow it up. This involves due self watching and self mastery, as well as fitting use of the various means of grace provided for us. What we ought to be we shall be found every day striving to be, if we are true hearted and sincere.

In conclusion, revert to the practical bearings of the oneness and wholeness of Christ"s Church. It involves a tender and helpful common brotherhood in rights, in sentiments, and in duties. Such brotherhood is "becoming to saints," to those "called to be saints. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1 Corinthians

CALLING ON THE NAME

1Co 1:2.

There are some difficulties, with which I need not trouble you, about both the translation and the connection of these words. One thing is quite clear, that in them the Apostle associates the church at Corinth with the whole mass of Christian believers in the world. The question may arise whether he does so in the sense that he addresses his letter both to the church at Corinth and to the whole of the churches, and so makes it a catholic epistle. That is extremely unlikely, considering how all but entirely this letter is taken up with dealing with the especial conditions of the Corinthian church. Rather I should suppose that he is simply intending to remind ‘the Church of God at Corinth . . . sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints,’ that they are in real, living union with the whole body of believers. Just as the water in a little land-locked bay, connected with the sea by some narrow strait like that at Corinth, is yet part of the whole ocean that rolls round the world, so that little community of Christians had its living bond of union with all the brethren in every place that called upon the name of Jesus Christ.

Whichever view on that detail of interpretation be taken, this phrase, as a designation of Christians, is worth considering. It is one of many expressions found in the New Testament as names for them, some of which have now dropped out of general use, while some are still retained. It is singular that the name of ‘Christian,’ which has all but superseded all others, was originally invented as a jeer by sarcastic wits at Antioch, and never appears in the New Testament, as a name by which believers called themselves. Important lessons are taught by these names, such as disciples, believers, brethren, saints, those of the way, and so on, each of which embodies some characteristic of a follower of Jesus. So this appellation in the text, ‘those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ may yield not unimportant lessons if it be carefully weighed, and to some of these I would ask your attention now.

I. First, it gives us a glimpse into the worship of the primitive Church.

To ‘call on the name of the Lord’ is an expression that comes straight out of the Old Testament. It means there distinctly adoration and invocation, and it means precisely these things when it is referred to Jesus Christ.

We find in the Acts of the Apostles that the very first sermon that was preached at Pentecost by Peter all turns upon this phrase. He quotes the Old Testament saying, ‘Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved,’ and then goes on to prove that ‘the Lord,’ the ‘calling on whose Name’ is salvation, is Jesus Christ; and winds up with ‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.’

Again we find that Ananias of Damascus, when Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him to go to Paul and lay his hands upon him, shrank from the perilous task because Paul had been sent to ‘bind them that call upon the name of the Lord,’ and to persecute them. We find the same phrase recurring in other connections, so that, on the whole, we may take the expression as a recognised designation of Christians.

This was their characteristic, that they prayed to Jesus Christ. The very first word, so far as we know, that Paul ever heard from a Christian was, ‘Lord Jesus! receive my spirit.’ He heard that cry of calm faith which, when he heard it, would sound to him as horrible blasphemy from Stephen’s dying lips. How little he dreamed that he himself was soon to cry to the same Jesus, ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ and was in after-days to beseech Him thrice for deliverance, and to be answered by sufficient grace. How little he dreamed that, when his own martyrdom was near, he too would look to Jesus as Lord and righteous Judge, from whose hands all who loved His appearing should receive their crown! Nor only Paul directs desires and adoration to Jesus as Lord; the last words of Scripture are a cry to Him as Lord to come quickly, and an invocation of His ‘grace’ on all believing souls.

Prayer to Christ from the very beginning of the Christian Church was, then, the characteristic of believers, and He to whom they prayed, thus, from the beginning, was recognised by them as being a Divine Person, God manifest in the flesh.

The object of their worship, then, was known by the people among whom they lived. Singing hymns to Christus as a god is nearly all that the Roman proconsul in his well-known letter could find to tell his master of their worship. They were the worshippers-not merely the disciples-of one Christ. That was their peculiar distinction. Among the worshippers of the false gods they stood erect; before Him, and Him only, they bowed. In Corinth there was the polluted worship of Aphrodite and of Zeus. These men called not on the name of these lustful and stained deities, but on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And everybody knew whom they worshipped, and understood whose men they were. Is that true about us? Do we Christian men so habitually cultivate the remembrance of Jesus Christ, and are we so continually in the habit of invoking His aid, and of contemplating His blessed perfections and sufficiency, that every one who knew us would recognise us as meant by those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?

If this be the proper designation of Christian people, alas! alas! for so many of the professing Christians of this day, whom neither bystanders nor themselves would think of as included in such a name!

Further, the connection here shows that the divine worship of Christ was universal among the churches. There was no ‘place’ where it was not practised, no community calling itself a church to whom He was not the Lord to be invoked and adored. This witness to the early and universal recognition in the Christian communities of the divinity of our Lord is borne by an undisputedly genuine epistle of Paul’s. It is one of the four which the most thorough-going destructive criticism accepts as genuine. It was written before the Gospels, and is a voice from the earlier period of Paul’s apostleship. Hence the importance of its attestation to this fact that all Christians everywhere, both Jewish, who had been trained in strict monotheism, and Gentile, who had burned incense at many a foul shrine, were perfectly joined together in this, that in all their need they called on the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and brought to Him, as divine, adoration not to be rendered to any creatures. From the day of Pentecost onwards, a Christian was not merely a disciple, a follower, or an admirer, but a worshipper of Christ, the Lord.

II. We may see here an unfolding of the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

Note that solemn accumulation, in the language of my text, of all the designations by which He is called, sometimes separately and sometimes unitedly, the name of ‘our Lord Jesus Christ.’ We never find that full title given to Him in Scripture except when the writer’s mind is labouring to express the manifoldness and completeness of our Lord’s relations to men, and the largeness and sufficiency of the blessings which He brings. In this context I find in the first nine or ten verses of this chapter, so full is the Apostle of the thoughts of the greatness and wonderfulness of his dear Lord on whose name he calls, that six or seven times he employs this solemn, full designation.

Now, if we look at the various elements of this great name we shall get various aspects of the way in which calling on Christ is the strength of our souls.

‘Call on the name of-the Lord.’ That is the Old Testament Jehovah. There is no mistaking nor denying, if we candidly consider the evidence of the New Testament writings, that, when we read of Jesus Christ as ‘Lord,’ in the vast majority of cases, the title is not a mere designation of human authority, but is an attribution to Him of divine nature and dignity. We have, then, to ascribe to Him, and to call on Him as possessing, all which that great and incommunicable Name certified and sealed to the Jewish Church as their possession in their God. The Jehovah of the Old Testament is our Lord of the New. He whose being is eternal, underived, self-sufficing, self-determining, knowing no variation, no diminution, no age, He who is because He is and that He is, dwells in His fulness in our Saviour. To worship Him is not to divert worship from the one God, nor is it to have other gods besides Him. Christianity is as much monotheistic as Judaism was, and the law of its worship is the old law-Him only shalt thou serve. It is the divine will that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.

But what is it to call on the name of Jesus? That name implies all the sweetness of His manhood. He is our Brother. The name ‘Jesus’ is one that many a Jewish boy bore in our Lord’s own time and before it; though, afterwards, of course, abhorrence on the part of the Jew and reverence on the part of the Christian caused it almost entirely to disappear. But at the time when He bore it it was as undistinguished a name as Simeon, or Judas, or any other of His followers’ names. To call upon the name of Jesus means to realise and bring near to ourselves, for our consolation and encouragement, for our strength and peace, the blessed thought of His manhood, so really and closely knit to ours; to grasp the blessedness of the thought that He knows our frame because He Himself has worn it, and understands and pities our weakness, being Himself a man. To Him whom we adore as Lord we draw near in tenderer, but not less humble and prostrate, adoration as our brother when we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, and thus embrace as harmonious, and not contradictory, both the divinity of the Lord and the humanity of Jesus.

To call on the name of Christ is to embrace in our faith and to beseech the exercise on our behalf of all which Jesus is as the Messiah, anointed by God with the fulness of the Spirit. As such He is the climax, and therefore the close of all revelation, who is the long-expected fruition of the desire of weary hearts, the fulfilment, and therefore the abolition, of sacrifice and temple and priesthood and prophecy and all that witnessed for Him ere He came. We further call on the name of Christ the Anointed, on whom the whole fulness of the Divine Spirit dwelt in order that, calling upon Him, that fulness may in its measure be granted to us.

So the name of the Lord Jesus Christ brings to view the divine, the human, the Messiah, the anointed Lord of the Spirit, and Giver of the divine life. To call on His name is to be blessed, to be made pure and strong, joyous and immortal. ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe.’ Call on His name in the day of trouble and ye shall be heard and helped.

III. Lastly, this text suggests what a Christian life should be.

We have already remarked that to call on the name of Jesus was the distinctive peculiarity of the early believers, which marked them off as a people by themselves. Would it be a true designation of the bulk of so-called Christians now? You do not object to profess yourself a Christian, or, perhaps, even to say that you are a disciple of Christ, or even to go the length of calling yourself a follower and imitator. But are you a worshipper of Him? In your life have you the habit of meditating on Him as Lord, as Jesus, as Christ, and of refreshing and gladdening dusty days and fainting strength by the living water, drawn from the one unfailing stream from these triple fountains? Is the invocation of His aid habitual with you?

There needs no long elaborate supplication to secure His aid. How much has been done in the Church’s history by short bursts of prayer, as ‘Lord, help me!’ spoken or unspoken in the moment of extremity! ‘They cried unto God in the battle.’ They would not have time for very lengthy petitions then, would they? They would not give much heed to elegant arrangement of them or suiting them to the canons of human eloquence. ‘They cried unto God in the battle’; whilst the enemy’s swords were flashing and the arrows whistling about their ears. These were circumstances to make a prayer a ‘cry’; no composed and stately utterance of an elegantly modulated voice, nor a languid utterance without earnestness, but a short, sharp, loud call, such as danger presses from panting lungs and parched throats. Therefore the cry was answered, ‘and He was entreated of them.’ ‘Lord, save us, we perish!’ was a very brief prayer, but it brought its answer. And so we, in like manner, may go through our warfare and work, and day by day as we encounter sudden bursts of temptation may meet them with sudden jets of petition, and thus put out their fires. And the same help avails for long-continuing as for sudden needs. Some of us may have to carry lifelong burdens and to fight in a battle ever renewed. It may seem as if our cry was not heard, since the enemy’s assault is not weakened, nor our power to beat it back perceptibly increased. But the appeal is not in vain, and when the fight is over, if not before, we shall know what reinforcements of strength to our weakness were due to our poor cry entering into the ears of our Lord and Brother. No other ‘name’ is permissible as our plea or as recipient of our prayer. In and on the name of the Lord we must call, and if we do, anything is possible rather than that the promise which was claimed for the Church and referred to Jesus, in the very first Christian preaching on Pentecost, should not be fulfilled-’Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

‘In every place.’ We may venture to subject the words of my text to a little gentle pressure here. The Apostle only meant to express the universal characteristics of Christians everywhere. But we may venture to give a different turn to the words, and learn from them the duty of devout communion with Christ as a duty for each of us wherever we are. If a place is not fit to pray in it is not fit to be in. We may carry praying hearts, remembrances of the Lord, sweet, though they may be swift and short, contemplations of His grace, His love, His power, His sufficiency, His nearness, His punctual help, like a hidden light in our hearts, into all the dusty ways of life, and in every place call on His name. There is no place so dismal but that thoughts of Him will make sunshine in it; no work so hard, so commonplace, so prosaic, so uninteresting, but that it will become the opposite of all these if whatever we do is done in remembrance of our Lord. Nothing will be too hard for us to do, and nothing too bitter for us to swallow, and nothing too sad for us to bear, if only over all that befalls us and all that we undertake and endeavour we make the sign of the Cross and call upon the name of the Lord. If ‘in every place’ we have Him as the object of our faith and desire, and as the Hearer of our petition, in ‘every place’ we shall have Him for our help, and all will be full of His bright presence; and though we have to journey through the wilderness we shall ever drink of that spiritual rock that will follow us, and that Rock is Christ. In every place call upon His name, and every place will be a house of God, and a gate of heaven to our waiting souls.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

them

1Co 1:2-9, in contrast with 1 Corinthians 10-13, illustrate a distinction constantly made in the Epistles between the believer’s position in Christ Jesus, in the family of God, and his walk, or actual state. Christian position in grace is the result of the work of Christ, and is fully entered the moment that Christ is received by faith; Joh 1:12; Joh 1:13; Rom 8:1; Rom 8:15-17; 1Co 1:2; 1Co 1:30; 1Co 12:12; 1Co 12:13; Gal 3:26; Eph 1:3-14; Eph 2:4-9; 1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6; Rev 5:9; Rev 5:10. The weakest, most ignorant, and fallible believer has precisely the same relationships in grace as the most illustrious saint. All the after work of God in his behalf, the application of the word to walk and conscience; Joh 17:17; Eph 5:26 the divine chastenings; 1Co 11:32; Heb 12:10, the ministry of the Spirit Eph 4:11; Eph 4:12 the difficulties and trials of the path 1Pe 4:12; 1Pe 4:13 and the final transformation at the appearing of Christ 1Jn 3:2 have for their object to make the believer’s character conform to his exalted position in Christ. He grows in grace, not into grace.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours [All Christians are sanctified, i. e., set apart from the world and consecrated to God, and in the New Testament Scriptures they are all called saints, which means "holy ones" ( Rom_15:26 ; 1Co_6:1-2 ; Eph_1:1 ; Eph_1:18 ; Phi_1:1 ; Col_1:2 ). Into this saintship they were called by the Holy Spirit through the agency of preachers like Paul and Apollos, etc. Unto the saints at Corinth, together with all others who showed themselves saints by calling upon or praying ( Act_7:51 ; Act_9:14 ; Rom_10:3 ), in the name of Jesus, who is Lord over all Christians everywhere, Paul addresses his letter, and gives the greeting which follows in verse 3]:

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

1:2 The church is comprised of those who are called by God to be his own holy people, those who belong to him and are dedicated to him. They have been made holy by means of Christ Jesus—God has set them apart for himself through the saving work of his Son and their faith relationship to him.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Co 1:2. Τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, To the Church of God) Paul, writing somewhat familiarly to the Thessalonians, Corinthians, and Galatians, uses the term, Church; to the others he employs a more solemn periphrasis. The Church of God in Corinth: a great and joyful paradox.[2]—τῇ οὔσῃ, which is), [at Corinth and moreover] flourishing [there], 1Co 1:5-6. So, [the Church] which was [at Antioch], Act 13:1.—ἡγιασμένοις, to them that are sanctified) them, who have been claimed for God [by being set apart as holy to Him]. Making a prelude already to the discussion, he reminds the Corinthians of their own dignity, lest they should suffer themselves to be enslaved by men. [Then in the Introduction also, 1Co 1:4-9, he highly praises the same persons, how near soever they may have come to undue elation of mind. The praise which is derived from Divine grace rather cherishes humility, besides being subservient to awakening.—V. g.] The force of the participle is immediately explained, called to be saints, [said of the Gentiles, who are saints by calling, whilst the Israelites are so by descent]; comp. Rom 1:7, note.—σὺν πᾶσι, with all) To be connected with, sanctified, and, saints, not with, to the Church; compare ours, at the end of the verse. Consequently the epistle refers also to the other believers in Achaia, 2Co 1:1. The universal Church however is not shut up within the neighbourhood of Corinth. As Paul was thinking of the localities of the Corinthians and Ephesians, the whole Church came into his mind. The consideration of the Church universal sets the mind free from party bias, and turns it to obedience. It is therefore set forthwith before the Corinthians; comp. ch. 1Co 4:17, 1Co 7:17, 1Co 11:16, 1Co 14:33; 1Co 14:36.—τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις) that call upon, so that they turn their eyes to Him in worship, and call themselves by His name; comp. 1Co 1:10, on the authority of the name of Christ. [This passage certainly prepares the way for that exhortation, which follows the verse now quoted (1Co 1:10).—V. g.]—αὐτῶν [theirs], of them) near Corinth.—ἡμῶν [ours], of us) where Paul and Sosthenes were then staying.

[2] Religion and Corinth, a city notorious for debauchery, might have seemed terms utterly incapable of combination.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_1:2. Τῇ ἐκκλ. τ. Θεοῦ] Θεοῦ is genitive of the owner. Comp קְהַל יְהֹוָה, Num_16:3; Num_20:4. The expression is with Paul the standing theocratic designation of the Christian community, in which the theocratic idea of the Old Testament קהל presents itself as realized; it is the πλήρωσις of this קהל. Comp 1Co_10:32, 1Co_11:16; 1Co_11:22, 1Co_15:9; 2Co_1:1; Gal_1:13, al[84]

ἡγιασμ. ἐν Χ. Ἰ.] adds at once a distinctive definition of quality to τ. ἐκκλ. τ. Θεοῦ (see the critical remarks), and thereupon follows the local specification of τ. ἐκκλ. τ. Θεοῦ. To the church of God, men sanctified in Christ Jesus, which is in Corinth. How common it is to find a participle in the plural standing in an attributive relation to a collective singular, may he seen in Kühner, II. p. 43; Pflugk, a[85] Eur. Hec. 39. Τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορ., however, is purposely placed after ἡγιασμ. κ.τ.λ[86], because the thought is, that the church of God addressed does in itself and as such (not as Corinthian) consist of those sanctified in Christ. The ἁγιασμός is to be conceived as consecration to God in the Christian church (see above, τ. ἐκκλ. τ. θεοῦ). Comp on Rom_1:7. This belonging to God as His own has its causal ground not out of, but in Christnamely, in His redemptive work, of which the Christians have become, and continue to be, partakers (perfect) by means of justifying faith (Eph_1:4 ff.; Heb_10:10). Comp Php_1:1. ἘΝ Χ. Ἰ. gives to the ἩΓΙΑΣΜ. its distinctively Christian character.

κλητοῖς ἁγίοις] added, in order to a properly exhaustive description of that experienced benefit of Gods grace of which the readers, as Christians, were assumed to be conscious; the new element introduced here lies in ΚΛΗΤΟῖς. The call to the Messianic kingdom (conceived as issued effectually, comp on Rom_8:28, and see Lamping, Pauli de praedestin. decreta, Leovard. 1858, p. 32 f.) is, according to the constant conception of the N. T. (Rom_1:6; Gal_1:6 not excepted), given by God (1Co_1:9, Rom_8:30; Rom_9:24, al[90]; Usteri, Lehrbegr. p. 281) through the preachers of the gospel (Rom_10:14; 2Th_2:14); see Weiss, bibl. Theol. p. 386 f.

σὺν πᾶσι Κ.Τ.Λ[91]] does not belong to κλητοῖς ἁγίοις, so that the readers were to be made sensible of the greatness of the fellowship in which they, as called saints, stood (Grotius, Bengel, Storr, Rosenmüller, Flatt, Billroth, Rückert, Olshausen, de Wette, Neander, Becker, Hofmann). But it belongs, as necessarily follows from 2Co_1:1, to the superscription as part of it (on σύν, comp Php_1:1); yet neither so as to mark the Epistle as a catholic one (Theodoret, Estius, Calovius, Cornelius a Lapide, and others; comp Schrader); nor so that Paul shall be held, while greeting the Corinthians, as greeting in spirit also the universal church (Osiander, comp Chrysostom, Theodoret, Erasmus, Billroth, Heydenreich, and others); nor yet so that by the ἐπικαλ. τ. ὄν. τ. Κυρ. were meant the separatists, in contrast to those disposed to adhere to the church (Vitringa, Michaelis), or as if σὺν πᾶσι κ.τ.λ[95] were meant to comprehend all Corinthian Christians without distinction (Eichhorn, Einleit. III. 1, p. 110, Pott); but so that the sense is in substance just that expressed in 2Co_1:1 : σὺν τοῖς ἁγίοις πᾶσι τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ Ἀχαΐᾳ. See below on ΑὐΤῶΝ ΤΕ ΚΑῚ ἩΜῶΝ. The Epistle is primarily addressed to the Christians in Corinth; not, however, to them merely, but at the same time also to the other Achaean Christians, and the latter are denoted by πᾶσι … ἡμῶν. A comma is to be put after ἉΓΊΟΙς.

ΤΟῖς ἘΠΙΚΑΛ. Τ. ὌΝ. Τ. ΚΥΡ.] confessional designation of the Christians, Rom_10:12 f.; Act_2:21. Respecting the N. T. idea of the invocation of Christ, which is not to be held as absolute, but as relative worship (of Him as the Mediator and Lord over all, but under God, Php_2:10 f.), see on Rom_10:12.

αὐτῶν τε καὶ ἠμῶν] is joined with ΤΟῦ ΚΥΡΊΟΥ by Chrysostom, Theodoret, Photius, Theophylact, Calvin, Beza, Piscator, Erasmus Schmid, Valckenaer, and others, including Billroth, Olshausen, Lücke (de invocat. Chr., Götting. 1843), Wieseler (Chronol. des apost. Zeitalt. p. 324), in such a way as to make it an epanorthosis or (see Wieseler) epexegesis of the foregoing ἡμῶν. But apart from the fact that this ἩΜῶΝ in the habitually used ΚΎΡΙΟς ἩΜῶΝ embraces all Christians, and consequently αὐτῶν τε καὶ ἡμῶν (ἡμῶν being referred to Paul and Sosthenes) would express something quite self-evident, and that, too, without any special significance of bearing,[96] the position of the words is decisive against this view, and in favour of attaching them to παντὶ τόπῳ, to which they necessarily belong as a more precise definition. Comp Vulg.: In omni loco ipsorum et nostro. If, namely, σὺν πᾶσι … ἡμῶν must denote the Achaean Christians out of Corinth (see above), then παντὶ τόπῳ requires a limitation to the geographical district which is intended. Now, this limitation is not already laid down by ἐν Κορίνθῳ (Lücke, Wieseler), since it was precisely in the superscription that the need of definiteness in designating the readers was obvious, but it is expressly given by αὐτῶν τε καὶ ἠμῶν, in such a way, namely, that αὐτῶν refers to the Corinthians, who, however, are indicated not by ὑμῶν, but by αὐτῶν, because from the point where the widening of the address (σὺν πᾶσι κ.τ.λ[98]) comes in, the Corinthians appear as third parties. Accordingly the Epistle is addressed: To the Corinthian Christians, and to all who, in every place that belongs to them (the Corinthians) and to us as well (Paul and Sosthenes), call upon the name of Christ. Every place in the province, namely, where Christians lived or a church existed (as e.g. in Cenchreæ, Rom_16:1), was a place which belonged to the Corinthians, a τόπος αὐτῶν, in so far as the church at Corinth was the mother-church of the Christian body in Achaia; but each such place belonged also to Paul (and Sosthenes), in so far as he was the founder and apostolic head of Christianity in Corinth and all Achaia. It is quite in accordance with the ingenious subtlety of the apostle to give the designation of the provincials in such a form, as to make his own authority felt over against the prerogative of those living in the capital (αὐτῶν). As in Rom_16:13 ΑὐΤΟῦ ΚΑῚ ἘΜΟῦ delicately expresses the community of love (comp also 1Co_16:18; Phm_1:11; Soph. El. 417 f.: πατρὸς τοῦ σοῦ τε κἀμοῦ), so here ΑὐΤῶΝ ΤΕ ΚΑῚ ἩΜῶΝ the community of right. The objection that the sense in which they belonged to the Corinthians was different from that in which they belonged to Paul and Sosthenes (de Wette), fails to appreciate the point of the words. The offence which Hofm. takes at the reading τε καί (as though it must be equivalent to ΕἼΤΕ) arises from a misunderstanding; it is the usual co-ordinating ΤΕ ΚΑΊ, which here has not even the appearance (Hartung, Partik. I. p. 100) of standing in place of εἴτε. Comp., on the contrary, Hartung, p. 101; Baeuml., Partik. p. 225. Observe, besides, that τε καί gives more rhetorical emphasis to the association of the two genitives than the simple ΚΑΊ; see Dissen, a[100] Dem. de cor. p. 165. Räbiger, krit. Unters. p. 62 f., has assented to our view.[101] Comp also Maier. Those who join ΣῪΝ ΠᾶΣΙ Κ.Τ.Λ[103] to κλητοῖς ἁγ. (see above) usually take αὐτῶν τε καὶ ἡμ. as an analysis of the idea παντί: in every place, where they and where we (Paul and Sosthenes) are, i.e. elsewhere and here in Ephesus. See Calovius, Rückert, de Wette, Osiander. But how meaningless this more precise explanation of παντί would be! In fact, it would be absurd; for, since the subject is all (πᾶσι κ.τ.λ[104]), in which the ἩΜΕῖς are thus already included, an analysis of it into ΑὐΤΟΊ (which the ΠΆΝΤΕς are surely already) and ἩΜΕῖς is utterly illogical. This applies also in opposition to Becker, by whom the ΤΌΠΟς ἩΜῶΝ is held to be Corinth, and to refer to the strangers who come to Corinth. Others have, following Ambrosiaster, referred αὐτῶν to the heathen lands, and ἡμῶν to Judaea (Erasmus, Semler, Bolten; similarly Schrader). Contrary to the text, as is also Wetsteins opinion: P. suum locum vocat, ubi ipse per praedicationem evangelii ecclesiam fundaverat. Tacite se atque Sosthenem … opponit peregrino falso doctori, qui in locum non suum irrepserat. Others refer ἐν παντὶ … ἡμῶν to the different meeting-places of the parties (Vitringa, Mosheim, Eichhorn, Krause, Pott, Ewald), so that the ΤΌΠΟς ἩΜῶΝ would be the house of Justus (Act_18:7), or, generally, the place where the church had statedly assembled at first under Paul (Ewald); and the ΤΌΠ. ΑὐΤῶΝ the meeting-house of the Petrine party, perhaps the Jewish synagogue (Pott), or, in general, the other places of assembly of the new sections (Ewald). But the presupposition that the church was broken up into parties locally separated from each other (see, on the contrary, 1Co_14:23, 1Co_11:17 ff.) has not a single passage in the Epistle to justify it. Böttger, l.c[105] p. 25, holds, strangely, that αὐτῶν applies to the Corinthian Christians, and ἡμῶν to those of Lower Achaia (among whom Paul is supposed to have written; see Introd. § 3); and Ziegler, that αὐτῶν applies to those in Corinth, ἩΜῶΝ to those staying with Paul in Ephesus, Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus (1Co_16:17), and others. Hofmann propounds the peculiar view that ΚΑῚ ἩΜῶΝ betokens that Paul was at home, and felt himself to be so, wherever Christ was invoked. As if the reader would have been capable of deducing any such ubiquity of spiritual domicile from the simple pronoun, and that, too, in the very address of the Epistle, without the slightest hint from the connection.

[84] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[85] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

[86] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[90] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[91] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[95] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[96] It is supposed to convey a polemical reference to the party-divisions. See Wieseler, l.c. This can only be the case if αὐτῶν applies to the Corinthians. But in fact, according to the view of Lücke and Wieseler (see below), it cannot do so, but must apply to the other Achaeans.

[98] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[100] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

[101] Also Burger in his (popular) Auslegung, Erl. 1859, and Holtzmann, Judenthum u. Christenth. p. 749.

[103] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[104] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[105] .c. loco citato or laudato.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co 1:2 . τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ (in salutation of 1 and 2 Cor [39] only) gives supreme dignity to the assembly of Cor [40] addressed by the Ap. of Christ Jesus the assembled citizens of God’s kingdom and commonwealth (Eph 2:12 ; Eph 2:19 ; cf. Tit 2:14 , 1Pe 2:9 f.). τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορ ., “that exists in Corinth” lætum et ingens paradoxon (Bg [41] ): so far the Gospel has reached (2Co 10:13 f.); in so foul a place it flourishes! (1Co 6:9 ff.). Not as earlier, “the assembly of Thessalonians,” etc.: the conception of the ecclesia widens; the local Christian gathering is part of one extended “congregation of God,” existing in this place or that (see last clause). To τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τ . Θεοῦ is apposed, by way of predicative definition (hence anarthrous), ἡγιασμένοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ , “the Church of God (consisting of men) sanctified in Christ Jesus”: Church status is grounded on personal relationship to God in Christ. Now this relationship began with God’s call , which summoned each to a holy life within the Christian fellowship; hence the further apposition, κλητοῖς ἁγίοις (see note on 1, and Rom 1:7 ; cf. Act 18:10 , λαός ἐστίν μοι πολύς κ . τ . λ .). The pf. pass [42] ptp [43] expresses a determinate state: once for all the Cor [44] readers have been devoted to God, by His call and their consent. This initial sanctification is synchronous with justification (1Co 6:11 ), and is the positive as that is the negative side of salvation: ἐλευθερωθέντες ἀπὸ τ . ἁμαρτίας , ἐδουλώθητε τ . δικαιοσύνῃ (Rom 6:16-19 ). “Sanctified in Christ Jesus” (= “living to God in Christ Jesus,” Rom 6:11 ) imports union with Christ (1Co 6:17 ; 1Co 6:19 , 1Co 12:11 , Rom 8:9 f.) as well as salvation through Christ. His past work is the objective ground, His present heavenly being (implied by the name “Christ Jesus,” as in this order) the active spring of this ζῆν τῷ Θεῷ : cf. 1Co 1:30 and note. The repeated ref [45] to the holiness of the readers recalls them to their vocation; low practice calls for the reassertion of high ideals; admonet Corinthios majestatis ipsorum (Bg [46] ). Cv [47] draws a diff [48] yet consistent inference: “Locus diligenter observandus, ne requiramus in hoc mundo Ecclesiam omni ruga et macula carentem”. The adjunct σὺν πᾶσιν … τόπῳ may qualify ἡγιασμένοις κ . τ . λ . (so some moderns), or the main predicate (Gr [49] Ff [50] ): i.e. , the Church shares ( a ) in its Christian sanctity , or ( b ) in the Apostle’s good wishes , “with all that call upon the name,” etc. ( b ) gives a better balanced sentence, and a true Pauline sentiment: cf. Eph 6:24 , also the Benediction of Clem. Rom. ad Cor [51] , lxv. ἐν πάντι τόπῳ , an expression indefinitely large (see parls.), approaching “in all the world” of Rom 1:8 , Col 1:6 ; there is nothing here to indicate the limit given in 2Co 1:1 . The readers belong to a widespread as well as a holy community; Paul insists on this in the sequel, pointing in reproof to “other churches”. To “call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” to invoke Him in prayer as “Lord” is the mark of the Christian, by which Saul, e.g. , once recognised his victims (see parls.), the index of saving faith (1Co 12:3 , Rom 10:12 ff.). The afterthought αὐτῶν καὶ ἡμῶν , correcting the previous ἡμῶν (Cm [52] , Cv [53] , Gd [54] , Sm [55] ), heightens the sense of wide fellowship given by the previous clause; “one Lord” (1Co 8:6 ; Rom 10:12 ; Rom 14:9 , Eph 4:5 ) unites all hearts in the obedience of faith. To attach these pronouns to τόπῳ ( in omni loco ipsorum et nostro , Vg [56] ) gives a sense strained in various ways: “their place and ours,” belonging to us equally with them (Mr [57] , El [58] , Ed [59] ); “illorum (prope Cor [60] ), nostro (ubi . et Sosth. versabantur,” Bg [61] ); in non-Pauline and Pauline Churches (Hn [62] ); and so on.

[39] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[40] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[41] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

[42] passive voice.

[43] participle

[44] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[45] reference.

[46] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

[47] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii .

[48] difference, different, differently.

[49] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.

[50] Fathers.

[51] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[52] John Chrysostom’s Homiliœ († 407).

[53] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii .

[54] F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. Ép. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).

[55] P. Schmiedel, in Handcommentar zum N.T. (1893).

[56] Latin Vulgate Translation.

[57] Meyer’s Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).

[58] C. J. Ellicott’s St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians .

[59] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians .

[60] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[61] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

[62] C. F. G. Heinrici’s Erklärung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer’s krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_1:2

Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called (to be) saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.

To the church of God. The word church is used in Scripture as a collective term for the people of God, considered as called out from the world. Sometimes it means the whole number of Gods people, as when it is said, Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, Eph_5:25. Sometimes it means the people of God as a class, as when Paul said, he persecuted the church of God, Gal_1:13. Sometimes it means the professing Christians of any one place, as when mention is made of the church in Jerusalem, Antioch, or Corinth. Any number, however small, of professing Christians collectively considered may be called a church. Hence we hear of the church in the house of Philemon, and in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, Rom_16:5. It is called the church of God, because it belongs to him. He selects and calls its members, and, according to Act_20:28 it is his, because he has bought it with his blood.

To them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus. This is explanatory of the proceeding clauses, and teaches us the nature of the church. It consists of the sanctified. The word (ἁγιάζω) translated to sanctify, means to cleanse. And as sin is presented under the twofold aspect of guilt and pollution, to sanctify, or to cleanse from sin, may mean either to expiate built by an atonement, or to renew by the Holy Ghost. It is used for expiation by sacrifice in Heb_2:11, Heb_10:14, Heb_13:12, and elsewhere. The word also means to render sacred by consecrating any person or thing to the service of God. In the present case all these ideas may be united. The church consists of those whose guilt is expiated, who are inwardly holy, and who are consecrated to God as his peculiar people.

In Christ Jesus, that is, in virtue of union with him. It is only in him that we are partakers of these inestimable blessings. It is because we are in him as our head and representative, that we are justified by his righteousness; and it is because we are in him as a branch is in the vine, that we are purified by his Spirit.

Called (to be) saints, that is, by the effectual call of the Holy Spirit constituted saints. The called always mean the effectual called as distinguished from the merely externally invited. Saints. The original word (ἅγιος) sometimes signifies sacred, set apart to a holy use. In this sense the temple, the altar, the priests, the prophets, and the whole theocratic people, are called holy. In the New Testament the word is commonly expressive of inward purity, or consecration of the soul to God. Believers are saints in both senses of the word; they are inwardly renewed, and outwardly consecrated. It is not to be inferred from the fact that the apostle addresses all the nominal Christians in Corinth as saints and as sanctified in Christ Jesus, that they were all true believers, or that those terms express nothing more than external consecration. Men are uniformly addressed in Scripture according to their profession. If they profess to be saints, they are called saints; if they profess to be believers, they are called believers; and if they profess to be members of the church, they are addressed as really belonging to it. This passage teaches also, as Calvin remarks, the useful lesson that a body may be very corrupt both as to doctrine and practice, as such corruption, undoubtedly prevailed even in Corinth, and yet it may be properly recognized as a church of God. Locus diligenter observandus, ne requiramus in hoc mundo ecclesiam omni ruga et macula carentem: aut protinus abdicemus hoc titulo quemvis coetum in quo non omnia votis nostris respondeant.

With all that in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. To call upon the name of any one is to invoke his aid. It is properly used for religious invocation. Compare Act_9:14, Act_9:21 and Act_22:16. Rom_10:12, Rom_10:13; 2Ti_2:22. To call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, is to invoke his aid as Christ, the Messiah predicted by the prophets, and as our almighty and sovereign possessor and ruler. It is in that sense Jesus is Lord. All power in heaven and earth has been committed unto him; and he died and rose again that he might be the Lord of the dead and of the living; that is, that he might acquire that peculiar right of possession in his people which arises from his having purchased them with his blood. To call upon the name of Jesus as Lord is therefore to worship him. It is to look to him for that help which God only can give. All Christians, therefore, are the worshippers of Christ. And every sincere worshipper of Christ is a true Christian. The phrase expresses not so much an individual act of invocation, as an habitual state of mind and its appropriate expression.

It might at first view appear from this clause that this epistle was addressed not only to the church in Corinth, but to all the worshippers of Christ. This would make it a catholic, or general epistle, which it is not. To get over this difficulty some explain the connection thus: Called to be saints together with all who call upon the name of Christ: that is, the Corinthians as well as all other worshippers of Christ were called to be saints. A reference to 2Co_1:1 suggests a better explanation. It is there said, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints which are in all Achaia. The same limitation must be supplied here. This epistle was addressed not only to the Christians in Corinth, but also to all their brethren in the province of which Corinth was the capital.

Theirs and ours. These words admit of two connections. They may be connected with the word Lord, Their Lord and ours. There were certain persons in Corinth who claimed a peculiar relation to Christ, and said, We are of Christ; to whom Paul said, If any trust to himself that he is Christs, let him of himself think this again, as he is Christs, so are we Christs, 2Co_10:7. It is possible that he may have intended at the very opening of his epistle, to rebuke this exclusive Spirit, and to remind his readers that Christ is the common Lord of all who call upon him. The position of the words however renders it more natural to understand the apostle to mean, in every place, theirs and ours. If this be the true construction, then the sense may be, In every place of worship theirs and ours. This interpretation supposes that the divisions known to exist in Corinth had led to the separation of the people into different worshipping assemblies. There is, however, not only no evidence that such external separation had occurred, but clear evidence in 1Co_11:18 to the contrary. Others understand the sense to be, In every place, theirs and ours, i.e. where they are, and where I am. This supposes the epistle to be general. A third interpretation has been proposed. The epistle is addressed to all Christians in Corinth and Achaia, wherever they might be. Every place is at once theirs and ours. Their place of abode, and my place of labor.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is a Church of God, although it hath great faults in it, so that it obey them which admonish it.

A true definition of the Catholic Church, which is one.

The father sanctifieth us, that is to say, separateth us from the wicked, in giving us to his Son, that he may be in us, and we in him.

Whom God of his gracious goodness and mere love hath separated for himself: or whom God hath called to holiness: the first of these two expositions showeth from whence our sanctification cometh, and the second showeth to what end it tendeth.

He is said properly to call on God, who crieth unto the Lord when he is in danger, and craveth help at his hands: and by the figure Synecdoche it is taken for all the service of God: and therefore to call upon Christ’s Name, is to acknowledge and take him for very God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 2. The Church of God which is at Corinth] This Church was planted by the apostle himself about A. D. 52, as we learn from Ac 18:1, c., where see the notes.

Sanctified in Christ Jesus] ηγιασμενοις, Separated from the corruptions of their place and age.

Called to be saints] κλητοις αγιοις, Constituted saints, or invited to become such this was the design of the Gospel, for Jesus Christ came to save men from their sins.

With all that in every place, c.] All who profess Christianity, both in Corinth, Ephesus, and other parts of Greece or Asia Minor and by this we see that the apostle intended that this epistle should be a general property of the universal Church of Christ; though there are several matters in it that are suited to the state of the Corinthians only.

Both theirs and ours] That is, Jesus Christ is the common Lord and Saviour of all. He is the exclusive property of no one Church, or people, or nation. Calling on or invoking the name of the Lord Jesus, was the proper distinguishing mark of a Christian. In those times of apostolic light and purity no man attempted to invoke God but in the name of Jesus Christ; this is what genuine Christians still mean when they ask any thing from God for Christ's SAKE.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. To the Church of God which is at Corinth. It may perhaps appear strange that he should give the name of a Church of God to a multitude of persons that were infested with so many distempers, that Satan might be said to reign among them rather than God. Certain it is, that he did not mean to flatter the Corinthians, for he speaks under the direction of the Spirit of God, who is not accustomed to flatter. But among so many pollutions, what appearance of a Church is any longer presented? I answer, the Lord having said to him, “Fear not: I have much people in this place” (Acts 18:9, 10;) keeping this promise in mind, he conferred upon a godly few so much honor as to recognize them as a Church amidst a vast multitude of ungodly persons. Farther, notwithstanding that many vices had crept in, and various corruptions both of doctrine and manners, there were, nevertheless, certain tokens still remaining of a true Church. This is a passage that ought to be carefully observed, that we may not require that the Church, while in this world, should be free from every wrinkle and stain, or forthwith pronounce unworthy of such a title every society in which everything is not as we would wish it. For it is a dangerous temptation to think that there is no Church at all where perfect purity is not to be seen. For the man that is prepossessed with this notion, must necessarily in the end withdraw from all others, and look upon himself as the only saint in the world, or set up a peculiar sect in company with a few hypocrites.

What ground, then, had Paul for recognizing a Church at Corinth? It was this: that he saw among them the doctrine of the gospel, baptism, the Lord’s Supper — tokens by which a Church ought to be judged of. For although some had begun to have doubts as to the resurrection, the error not having spread over the entire body, the name of the Church and its reality are not thereby affected. Some faults had crept in among them in the administration of the Supper, discipline and propriety of conduct had very much declined: despising the simplicity of the gospel, they had given themselves up to show and pomp; and in consequence of the ambition of their ministers, they were split into various parties. Notwithstanding of this, however, inasmuch as they retained fundamental doctrine: as the one God was adored among them, and was invoked in the name of Christ: as they placed their dependence for salvation upon Christ, and, had a ministry not altogether corrupted: there was, on these accounts, a Church still existing among them. Accordingly, wherever the worship of God is preserved uninfringed, and that fundamental doctrine, of which I have spoken, remains, we must without hesitation conclude that in that case a Church exists.

Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints He makes mention of the blessings with which God had adorned them, as if by way of upbraiding them, at least in the event of their showing no gratitude in return. For what could be more base than to reject an Apostle through whose instrumentality they had been set apart as God’s peculiar portion. Meanwhile, by these two epithets, he points out what sort of persons ought to be reckoned among the true members of the Church, and who they are that belong of right to her communion. For if you do not by holiness of life show yourself to be a Christian, you may indeed be in the Church, and pass undetected, but of it you cannot be. Hence all must be sanctified in Christ who would be reckoned among the people of God. Now the term sanctification denotes separation This takes place in us when we are regenerated by the Spirit to newness of life, that we may serve God and not the world. For while by nature we are unholy, the Spirit consecrates us to God. As, however, this is effected when we are engrafted into the body of Christ, apart from whom there is nothing but pollution, and as it is also by Christ, and not from any other source that the Spirit is conferred, it is with good reason that he says that we are sanctified in Christ, inasmuch as it is by Him that we cleave to God, and in Him become new creatures.

What immediately follows — called to be saints — I understand to mean: As ye have been called unto holiness. It may, however, be taken in two senses. Either we may understand Paul to say, that the ground of sanctification is the call of God, inasmuch as God has chosen them; meaning, that this depends on his grace, not on the excellence of men; or we may understand him to mean, that, it accords with our profession that we be holy, this being the design of the doctrine of the gospel. The former interpretation appears to suit better with the context, but it is of no great consequence in which way you understand it, as there is an entire agreement between the two following positions — that our holiness flows from the fountain of divine election, and that it, is the end of our calling.

We must, therefore, carefully maintain, that it is not through our own efforts that we are holy, but by the call of God, because He alone sanctifies those who were by nature unclean. And certainly it appears to me probable, that, when Paul has pointed out as it were with his finger the fountain of holiness thrown wide open, he mounts up a step higher, to the good pleasure of God, in which also Christ’s mission to us originated. As, however, we are called by the gospel to harmlessness of life (Philippians 2:15,) it is necessary that this be accomplished in us in reality, in order that our calling may be effectual. It will, however, be objected, that, there were not many such among the Corinthians. I answer, that the weak are not excluded from this number; for here God only begins his work in us, and by little and little carries it forward gradually and by successive steps. I answer farther, that Paul designedly looks rather to the grace of God in them than to their own defects, that he may put them to shame for their negligence, if they do not act a suitable part.

With all that call. This, too, is an epithet common to all the pious; for as it is one chief exercise of faith to call upon the name of God, so it is also by this duty chiefly that believers are to be estimated. Observe, also, that he says that Christ is called upon by believers, and this affords a proof of his divinity — invocation being one of the first expressions of Divine homage. Hence invocation here by synecdoche (κατὰ συνεκδοχήν) denotes the entire profession of faith in Christ, as in many passages of Scripture it is taken generally for the whole of Divine worship. Some explain it as denoting mere profession, but this appears to be meager, and at variance with its usual acceptation in Scripture. The little words nostri (ours) and sui (theirs) I have put in the genitive, understanding them as referring to Christ, while others, understanding them as referring to place, render them in the ablative. In doing so I have followed Chrysostom. This will, perhaps, appear harsh, as the expression in every place is introduced in the middle, but in Paul’s Greek style there is nothing of harshness in this construction. My reason for preferring this rendering to that of the Vulgate is, that if you understand it as referring to place, the additional clause will be not merely superfluous, but inappropriate. For what place would Paul call his own? Judea they understand him to mean; but on what ground? And then, what place could he refer to as inhabited by others? “All other places of the world” (say they;) but this, too, does not suit well. On the other hand, the meaning that I have given it suits most admirably; for, after making mention of all that in every place call upon the name of Christ our Lord, he adds, both theirs and ours, manifestly for the purpose of showing that Christ is the one common Lord, without distinction, of all that call upon him, whether they be Jews or Gentiles.

In every place This Paul has added, contrary to his usual manner; for in his other Epistles he makes mention in the salutation of those only for whom they are designed. He seems, however, to have had it in view to anticipate the slanders of wicked men, that they might not have it to allege that, in addressing the Corinthians, he assumed a confident air, and claimed for himself an authority that he would not venture to assert in writing to other Churches. For we shall see by and by, that he was unjustly loaded with this reproach, too, as though he were preparing little nests for himself, with the view of shunning the light, or were withdrawing himself in a clandestine way from the rest of the Apostles. It appears, then, that expressly for the purpose of refuting this falsehood, he places himself in a commanding position, from which he may be heard afar off.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(2) Church of God.—St. Chrysostom remarks how these opening words are a protest against the party-spirit prevailing at Corinth: “The Church of God—not of this or that man.”

Them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus.—This is not another class of persons, but a description of those who compose “the Church”—who are further described as “called to be saints”—i.e., “holy.” The term “saints” is never used by St. Paul with its restricted modern meaning, but is applied to the whole baptised Church. The English word which most nearly expresses the apostolic idea is “Christians”—used in its most comprehensive sense.

With all that in every place.—Better translated, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours. The teaching of the Epistle is thus addressed to the Church at large, which is composed of all who call upon the Lord Jesus, whether it be in Corinth (“our” country—the Apostle identifying himself with his converts) or elsewhere. This idea of the Church, put forward in the very opening of the Epistle, at once directs the reader’s mind from the narrow spirit of faction which was exhibiting itself at Corinth. The words of this verse contain a strong testimony to the worship of Christ, not only as being practised in the Apostolic Church, but as being one of the very marks of true union with the Church.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus] Literally, to them that have been sanctified. The word here rendered sanctify means (1) to consecrate to the service of the Deity, and hence (2) to purify, make holy. The word here partakes of both senses. Those who have become united to Christ by faith have not only been dedicated to Him, but have been made partakers of His holiness by their participation in the Life that is in Him. But such persons were by no means as yet free from actual sin, as chapters 5, 6, 8, 11. conclusively prove. “The Church of Christ, abstractedly and invisibly, is a kingdom where no evil is; in the concrete, and actually, it is the Church of Corinth, Rome, or England, tainted with impurity. And yet, just as the mudded Rhone is really the Rhone and not mud and the Rhone, so there are not two churches, the Church of Corinth and the false church within it, but one visible Church, in which the invisible lies concealed.” Robertson, On the Corinthians, Lect. ii.

called to be saints] Literally, called saints—because the faculty of saintliness, if not actual saintliness itself, had been communicated to every member of the Church. The only difference between ‘saints’ and ‘them that are sanctified’ is that the latter expression has reference to a past act of God’s mercy, the former to the present condition of those who have benefited from it.

with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord] The Epistle, which dealt with so many and such weighty truths, was not to be treasured up as the peculiar heritage of the Corinthian Church, but was to be regarded as the common possession of the universal Church of Christ. Or perhaps it is better, with Olshausen, to regard the Apostle as reminding the Corinthians that they form only a part, and that but a small one, of the whole Church of Christ, a consideration which their self-satisfaction was leading them to forget.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Unto the church of God which is at Corinth,.... This epistle is inscribed to the saints at Corinth; who are described by their being "the church of God", a particular congregated church; a number of persons gathered out of the world, and joined together in holy fellowship, carrying on the worship of God together, and walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord; a very high character this, to be called the church of God, which is the pillar and ground of truth: and it may be observed, that this is here given to a people, among whom were many irregularities, errors, disorders, and divisions; which shows, that a church of God is not to be unchurched for everything that is amiss in them: they are further described by the place of their abode, Corinth, the "metropolis" of Achaia; a very large and opulent city, a place of great trade and commerce, and famous both for its wealth and wisdom; but not so famous for anything as this, that there was a church of Christ in it; of the city of Corinth; see Gill on Act 18:1; and of the church; see Gill on Act 18:8. The members of it in general, for it cannot be thought to hold good of every individual, are said to be

sanctified in Christ Jesus; not by baptism, for they were sanctified before that; but were set apart, or chosen in Christ from all eternity, to grace here, and glory hereafter; justified by the blood and righteousness of Christ, in which sense the word "sanctified" is sometimes used; and to whom Christ was made "sanctification" and righteousness; and in consequence of which they were sanctified by his Spirit in his name, out of that fulness of grace and holiness which is in him: wherefore it follows,

called to be saints; for though they were chosen to holiness in Christ, and through sanctification of the Spirit unto salvation, yet before calling were unholy; though Christ had given himself for them to sanctify and purify them, yet whilst uncalled were impure; they fell in Adam, and became both guilty and filthy through his transgression; and by their first birth were unholy and unclean, and were so in their lives and conversations; nor are any holy by natural descent: these were not born saints, nor made so by their own free will, but were become such through the powerful grace of God in the effectual calling; in which not only desires after holiness, but principles of holiness were wrought in them; and by which they were called to the practice of external holiness, or to live an holy life and conversation. And this epistle is not only inscribed to these saints at Corinth, but to them,

with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord; as in Corinth, so in any part of Achaia, of which Corinth was the chief city. Invocation of the name of Christ not only respects prayer to him, but includes the whole of religious worship: see Rom 10:13; and this being given to Christ, and perforated in his name, is a very considerable proof of his true and proper deity; and the Ethiopic version here styles him, "God, our Lord Jesus Christ"; for none but God is to be invoked; nor can any but a divine person, one that is truly and properly God, without idolatry, be regarded as the object of religious worship and adoration. The phrase

both theirs and ours, either, as some think, refers to "every place" and so read the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; and the sense is, that the apostle inscribes his epistle to all that call upon the name of Christ, whether in Judea or in the Gentile world, in the place where the apostle was, or the Corinthians were, or any of the other saints in Achaia were; signifying, that invocation of God is not confined to any particular place, but that men may now lift up holy hands prayer to God everywhere; or rather it refers to "our Lord", and shows that Christ is the common Lord of his people, whom they all invoke, and by whom they are called, and therefore ought to love one another.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

Ver. 2. Called to be saints] i.e. Either such as are sanctified by habitual infusion, or such as are sanctified by baptismal profession only, that are in covenant with God by sacrifice, Psa 50:5, and are in Christ, though they bear no fruit, Joh 15:2. These two sorts of saints make up a true visible Church.

With all that in every place] The apostles then wrote not their Epistles for the particular uses of those times only, as the Jesuits will have it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Unto the church of God which is at Corinth - For an account of the time and manner in which the church was established in Corinth, see the introduction, and the notes at Acts 18:1-17. The church is called “the church of God,” because it has been founded by His agency, and was devoted to his service. It is worthy of remark, that although great disorders had been introduced into that church; though there were separations and erroneous doctrines; though there were some who gave evidence that they were not sincere Christians, yet the apostle had no hesitation in applying to them the name of a “church of God.”

To them that are sanctified - To those who are made holy. This does not refer to the profession of holiness, but implies that they were in fact holy. The word means that they were separateD from the mass of pagans around them, and devoted to God and his cause. Though the word used here (ἡγιασμένοις hēgiasmenois) has this idea of separation from the mass around them, yet it is separation on account of their being in fact, and not in profession merely, different from others, and truly devoted to God; see the note at Rom 1:7.

In Christ Jesus - That is, “by” ἐν en the agency of Christ. It was by his authority, his power, and his Spirit, that they had been separated from the mass of pagans around them, and devoted to God; compare Joh 17:19.

Called to be saints - The word “saints” does not differ materially from the word “sanctified” in the former part of the verse. It means those who are separateD from the world, and set apart to God as holy. The idea which Paul introduces here is, that they became such because they were called to be such. The idea in the former part of the verse is, that this was done “by Christ Jesus;” here he says that it was because they were called to this privilege. He doubtless means to say that it was not by any native tendency in themselves to holiness, but because God had called them to it. And this calling does not refer merely to an external invitation, but it was that which was made effectual in their case, or that on which the fact of their being saints could be predicated; compare 1Co 1:9; see 2Ti 1:9; “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace,” etc.; 1Pe 1:15; the Rom 1:6-7; Rom 8:28 notes; Eph 4:1 note; 1Ti 6:12 note; 1Pe 2:9 note.

With all ... - This expression shows:

(1) That Paul had the same feelings of attachment to all Christians in every place; and,

(2) That he expected that this Epistle would be read, not only by the church at Corinth, but also by other churches. That this was the uniform intention of the apostle in regard to his epistles, is apparent from other places; compare 1Th 5:27; “I charge you by the Lord that this Epistle be read unto all the holy brethren;” Col 4:16; “And when this Epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans.” It is evident that Paul expected that his epistles would obtain circulation among the churches; and it was morally certain that they would be soon transcribed, and be extensively read - the ardent feelings of Paul embraced all Christians in every nation. He knew nothing of the narrowness of exclusive attachment to a sect. His heart was full of love, and he loved, as we should, all who bore the Christian name, and who evinced the Christian spirit.

Call upon the name of Jesus Christ - To call upon the name of any person, in Scripture language, is to call on the person himself; compare Joh 3:18; the note at Act 4:12. The expression “to call upon the name” ἐπικαλουμένοις epikaloumenois, to invoke the name, implies worship, and prayer; and proves:

(1) That the Lord Jesus is an object of worship; and,

(2) That one characteristic of the early Christians, by which they were known and distinguished, was their calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus, or their offering worship to him. That it implies worship, see the note at Act 7:59; and that the early Christians called on Christ by prayer, and were distinguished by that, see the note at Act 7:59, and compare the note at Act 1:24, also Act 2:21; Act 9:13; Act 22:16; 2Ti 2:22.

Both theirs and ours - The Lord of all - both Jews and Gentiles - of all who profess themselves Christians, of whatever country or name they might have originally been. Difference of nation or birth gives no pre-eminence in the kingdom of Christ but all are on a level, having a common Lord and Saviour; compare Eph 4:5.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In every place of theirs and ours. Inasmuch as among Christians in all places there ought to be such an union of faith, and conformity of discipline, as if they were all in one place. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Unto the church of God which is at Corinth; unto those in Corinth who having received the doctrine of the gospel, and owned Jesus Christ as their Saviour, were united in one ecclesiastical body for the worship of God, and communion one with another. Corinth was a famous city in Achaia, (which Achaia was joined to Greece by a neck of land betwixt the Aegean and Ionian Seas), it grew the most famous mart of all Greece. Paul came thither from Athens, Act 18:1.

Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue there, believed, upon Paul’s preaching; so did many Corinthians, and were baptized, 1Co 1:9. He stayed there eighteen months, 1Co 1:11; there Sosthenes (mentioned 1Co 1:1) was converted; from thence Paul went to Ephesus, 1Co 1:19. These believers were those here called the church of God at Corinth, to whom he writes this Epistle (as it should seem from 1Co 16:8) from Ephesus, where Paul stayed three years, Act 20:31. The members of this church the apostle calleth such as are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints: whether by the term the apostle meaneth only such as by the preaching of the gospel were separated from the heathens at Corinth, and professed faith in Christ, (as, Act 15:9, the apostle saith the Gentiles’ hearts were purified by faith), or such in Corinth as were really regenerated, and had their hearts renewed and changed, is not easy to determine: both of them are saints by calling; the former are called externally by the preaching of the gospel, the other internally and effectually by the operation of the Spirit of grace. It is most probable, that St. Paul intended this Epistle for the whole body of those that professed the Christian religion in Corinth, though in writing of it he had a more special respect to those who were truly sanctified in Christ by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Nor doth Paul only respect those that lived in Corinth, but he directs his Epistle to all those who in any place of Achaia called upon the name of Jesus Christ, whom he calleth their Lord, and our Lord: which is an eminent place to prove the Divine nature of Christ; he is not only called our Lord, our common Lord, but he is made the object of invocation and Divine worship: and it teacheth us, that none but such as call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, are fit matter for a gospel church; which both excludes such as deny the Godhead of Christ, and such as live without God in the world, without performance of religious homage to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and owning him as their Lord.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

To the church of God which is in Corinth - St. Paul, writing in a familiar manner to the Corinthians, as also to the Thessalonians and Galatians, uses this plain appellation. To the other churches he uses a more solemn address. Sanctified through Jesus Christ - And so undoubtedly they were in general, notwithstanding some exceptions. Called - Of Jesus Christ, Rom. i, 6 And - As the fruit of that calling made holy. With all that in every place - Nothing could better suit that catholic love which St. Paul labours to promote in this epistle, than such a declaration of his good wishes for every true Christian upon earth. Call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - This plainly implies that all Christians pray to Christ, as well as to the Father through him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

2. “To the church of God being in Corinth.” This word ecclesia, from ek, “out,” and kaleo, “to call,” simply means the people who have heard the call of the Holy Ghost, come out of the world and identified themselves with God. This is done only in the supernatural birth of the Holy Spirit. Modern church-joining has done much to deceive and debauch the popular mind, thus alienating the people from the correct apprehension of the essential character of God’s Church. You can not get into it by joining. God’s children are all born into His family, which is His Church. You would as well call a sable Ethiopian a blonde Caucasian as to pronounce a person a member of God’s Church who has not been born from above. It is simply an abuse of language, flatly contradictory of facts and calculated only to deceive and send people to hell. “To those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and have it yet better than ever” this translation is necessary to bring out the force of the Greek perfect tense which here occurs, and unlike the English, which means an action complete in past time and developing a state which continues down to the present, but laying the emphasis on the past. The Greek, having the same definition, lays the emphasis on the present, hence it means that these persons have not only been sanctified in time past, but have it yet better than ever. “To the elect saints,” — E.V., “called to be saints,” “to be” not in the original. As above explained, we are nominated in conversion and elected in sanctification. We find these two prominent classes addressed in this epistle, i. e., “the elect saints who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and have it yet better than ever.” Paul first addresses this class as above. Then follows another class, i. e.. , “with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus in every place, theirs and ours.” This class includes all the people who are in a state of grace; not only the converted who are not sanctified, but all truly convicted people, because such call upon the name of the Lord. Hence we find this epistle not only addressed to “the elect saints who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and have it yet better than ever,” but to all of the praying people at Corinth. If you will remember these facts, you will have no trouble in the application of this letter to all of the diversified spiritual grades and classes which follow.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. Unto the church of God. This designation of the church appears oftener than any other in the New Testament. To them that are sanctified. All of “the church of God at Corinth” were “sanctified in Christ Jesus;” that is, they were set apart from the world and consecrated to God. All Christians are “sanctified” in the sense of the term in the New Testament, and “called to be saints.” The humblest Christian is a saint, as well as Peter or Paul. With all that in every place call, etc. The letter is intended for all Christians, as well as for those at Corinth. Call upon the name of Jesus Christ. Recognize him as their divine Savior. Both theirs and ours. The Lord of the saints everywhere as well as ours (8:6; Eph. 4:5). Since there is only one Lord and Master, all Christians should be brethren.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

2. τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐκκλησία signifies an assembly. St Paul adds the words ‘of God’ to shew that it should be one in Him, ‘For the Church’s name is not one of separation, but of unity and concord.’ Chrysostom.

ἡγιασμένοις. Literally, to them that have been sanctified. The word here rendered sanctify means (1) to consecrate to the service of the Deity, and hence (2) to purify, make holy. The word here partakes of both senses. Those who have become united to Christ by faith have not only been dedicated to Him, but have been made partakers of His holiness by their participation in the Life that is in Him. But such persons were by no means as yet free from actual sin, as chapters 5, 6, 8, 11 conclusively prove. ‘The Church of Christ, abstractedly and invisibly, is a kingdom where no evil is; in the concrete, and actually, it is the Church of Corinth, Rome, or England, tainted with impurity. And yet, just as the mudded Rhone is really the Rhone and not mud and the Rhone, so there are not two churches, the Church of Corinth and the false church within it, but one visible Church, in which the invisible lies concealed.’ Robertson, On the Corinthians, Lect. 2. The change of construction from the singular to the plural here, from the idea of the Church as a collective whole to the aggregate of the persons that compose it, should be noted. This construction is not uncommon in Greek, as ‘the liveliness of the Greek language’ (see Kühner, Grammatik der Griech. Spr. sec. 371, 5 a) would lead us to expect. If, with Lachmann and Tregelles, we place τῇ οὔσῃ ἑν Κορίνθῳ between ἡγιασμένοις ἐν Χ. Ἰ. and κλητοῖς ἁγίοις the construction is harsher than that in the text.

κλητοῖς ἁγίοις. See note on κλητός above. The Corinthians were designed by God’s appointment for holiness. That was the purpose of His call (κλῆσις). ἁγίοις differs from ἡγιασμένοις in this, that the latter expression refers to the past act of God’s mercy in cleansing believers from sin and imparting holiness to them, the former to the abiding condition into which that act introduced them.

σὺν πᾶσιν. This is added, either (1) because the Epistle, which dealt with so many and such weighty truths, was not to be treasured up as the peculiar heritage of the Corinthian Church, but was to be regarded as the common possession of the universal Church of Christ. Or (2) perhaps it is better, with Olshausen, to regard the Apostle as reminding the Corinthians that they form only a part, and that but a small one, of the whole Church of Christ, a consideration which their self-satisfaction was leading them to forget.

ἐπικαλουμένοις is rightly rendered in A.V. of the habitual calling on the name of Christ.

αὐτῶν καὶ ἡμῶν. Their Lord and ours. This addition tends to confirm the second of the two interpretations given in the last note but one.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2.] The remarks of Calvin on τῇ ἐκκλ. τ. θεοῦ, κ.τ.λ. are admirable: “Mirum forsan videri queat, cur eam hominum multitudinem vocet Ecclesiam Dei, in qua tot morbi invaluerant, ut Satan illic potius regnum occuparet quam Deus. Certum est autem, eum noluisse blandiri Corinthiis: loquitur enim ex Dei Spiritu, qui adulari non solet. Atqui inter tot inquinamenta qualis amplius eminet Ecclesiæ facies? Respondeo, … utcunque multa vitia obrepissent, et variæ corruptelæ tam doctrinæ quam morum, extitisse tamen adhuc quædam veræ Ecclesiæ signa. Locus diligenter observandus, ne requiramus in hoc mundo Ecclesiam omni ruga et macula carentem: aut protinus abdicemus hoc titulo quemvis cœtum in quo non omnia votis nostris respondeant. Est enim hæc periculosa tentatio, nullam Ecclesiam putare ubi non appareat perfecta puritas. Nam quicunque hac occupatus fuerit, necesse tandem erit, ut discessione ab omnibus aliis facta, solus sibi sanctus videatur in mundo, aut peculiarem sectam cum paucis hypocritis instituat. Quid ergo causæ habuit Paulus, cur Ecclesiam Corinthi agnosceret? nempe quia Evangelii doctrinam, Baptismum, Cœnam Domini, quibus symbolis censeri debet Ecclesia, apud eos cernebat.” On τοῦ θεοῦ, Chrys. remarks, οὐ τοῦδε καὶ τοῦδε, ἀλλὰ τοῦ θεοῦ,—and similarly Theophyl., taking the expression as addressed to the Corinthians to remind them of their position as a congregation belonging to God, and not to any head of a party. Perhaps this is too refined, the words ἡ ἐκκλ. τ. θεοῦ being so usual with St. Paul,—see reff.

The harshness of the position of ἡγιασμένοις ἐν χρ. Ἰης. is in favour of its being the original one:—hallowed (i.e. dedicated) to God in (in union with and by means of) Jesus Christ.

τῇ οὔσῃ—‘which exists,’ ‘is found, at Corinth.’ So ἐν Ἀντιοχ. κατὰ τὴν οὖσαν ἐκκλησίαν, Act 13:1.

κλητοῖς ἁγίοις] See Rom 1:7, note.

σὺν πᾶσιν κ.τ.λ.] These words do not belong to the designations just preceding, = ‘as are all,’ &c., but form part of the address of the Epistle, so that these πάντες οἱ ἐπικαλ. are partakers with the Corinthians in it. They form a weighty and precious addition,—made here doubtless to shew the Corinthians, that membership of God’s Holy Catholic Church consisted not in being planted, or presided over by Paul, Apollos, or Cephas (or their successors), but in calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Church of England has adopted from this verse her solemn explanation of the term, in the ‘prayer for all sorts and conditions of men:’ “More especially, we pray for the good estate of the Catholic Church; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life.”

ἐπικαλ.] not ‘calling themselves by’ (though in sense equivalent to this, for they who call upon Christ, call themselves by His Name): the phrase ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου was one adopted from the LXX, as in reff.; the adjunct ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ χρ. defines that Lord (Jehovah) on whom the Christians called, to be Jesus Christ,—and is a direct testimony to the divine worship of Jesus Christ, as universal in the church. The ὄνομα ἐπικληθὲν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς (Jas 2:7) is not to the point, the construction being different.

ἐν παντὶ τόπ. αὐτ. [τε] κ. ἡμ.] In every place, both theirs (in their country, wherever that may be) and ours. This connexion is far better than to join αὐτ. [τε] κ. ἡμ. with κυρίῳ, thereby making the first ἡμῶν superfluous.

αὐτῶν refers to the πάντες οἱ ἐπικαλ., ἡμῶν to Paul, and Sosthenes, and those whom he is addressing. Eichhorn fancied τόπος to mean ‘a place of assembly:’ Hug, ‘a party’ or ‘division:’ Beza, al., would limit the persons spoken of to Achaia: others, to Corinth and Ephesus:—but the simple meaning and universal reference are far more agreeable to the spirit of the passage. I may as well once for all premise, that many of the German expositors have been constantly misled in their interpretations by what I believe to be a mistaken view of ver. 12, and the supposed Corinthian parties. See note there.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. τῇ ἐκκλησία τοῦ Θεοῦ. The genitive is possessive: 10:32, 11:16, 22, 15:9; 2Co 1:1; Gal 1:13; etc. Cf. Deu 18:16, 23:1; etc. As Chrysostom remarks, the expression is at once a protest against party-spirit; ‘the Church of God,’ not of any one individual.

τῇ οὔσῃ. See Act 13:1.

ἡγιασμένοις ἐν Χρ. Ἰ. The plural in apposition to the collective singular throws a passing emphasis upon the individual responsibility of those who had been consecrated in baptism (6:11) as members of Christ. The perfect participle indicates a fixed state.

κλητοῖς ἁγίοις. Called by God (Gal 1:6; Rom 8:30, Rom 8:9:24; etc.) to the Christian society through the preaching of the Gospel (Rom 10:14; 2Th 2:14). See note on Rom 1:7 and separate note on ἅγιοι; also Chadwick, Pastoral Teaching, pp. 96, 98. The active καλεῖν is never used of the human instrument, but only of God or Christ. Admonet Corinthios majestatis ipsorum (Beng.).

σὺν πᾶσι. This is generally connected simply with τῆ ἐκκλησίᾳ, as if St Paul were addressing the Corinthian Church along with all other Christians. But this little suits the individual character of this Epistle, which (much more than Romans, for example) deals with the special circumstances of one particular Church. It is therefore better, with Heinrici, to connect the words with κλητοῖς ἁγίοις (contrast 2Co 1:1). Euthymius Zigabenus takes it so. St Paul is not making his Epistle ‘Catholic,’ nor is he “greeting the whole Church in Spirit,” but he is commending to the Corinthians the fact that their call is not for themselves alone, but into the unity of the Christian brotherhood, a thought specially necessary for them. See 14:36. Throughout the Epistles it is the Corinthians alone that are addressed, not all Christendom.

τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις. This goes back to Joe 2:32, and involves the thought of faith, the common bond of all. See Rom 10:12, Rom 10:13. Here, as there, St Paul significantly brings in the worship of Christ under the O.T. formula for worship addressed to the Lord God of Israel. To be a believer is to worship Christ.

ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ. Cf. 2Co 1:1b; but it is hardly possible to read into the present expression the limitation to Achaia. This consideration confirms the view taken above of the force of σὺν πᾶσι κ.τ.λ., in spite of the parallels given by Lightfoot of Clem. ad Cor. 65, and the Ep. of the Church of Smyrna on the death of Polycarp, καὶ πάσαις ταῖς κατὰ πάντα τόπον τῆς ἁγίας καὶ καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας παροικίαις. Cf. 2Co 2:14; 1Th 1:8.

αὐτῶν καὶ ἡμῶν. Connected either with τόπῳ or with Κυρίου. The latter (AV., RV.) would be by way of epanorthosis; ‘our Lord’—rather ‘theirs and ours.’ In itself ἡμῶν is general enough to need no such epanorthosis: but the thought of the claim (v. 13) of some, to possess Christ for themselves alone, might explain this addition. The connexion with τόπῳ (Vulg. in omni loco ipsorum et nostro) is somewhat pointless, in spite of the various attempts to supply a point by referring it either to Achaia and Corinth, or to Ephesus and Corinth, or to Corinth and the whole world, or to the Petrine and the Pauline Churches, etc. etc. He may mean that the home of his converts is his home; cf. Rom 16:13.

B D* E F G place τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορίνθῳ after ἡγιασμένοις ἐν Χρ Ἰησοῦ. א A D 2 L P, Vulg. Syrr. Copt. Arm. Aeth. place it before. A omits Χριστοῦ. א3 A* D 3 E L P, Arm. Aeth. insert τε after αὐτῶν, probably for the sake of smoothness. Such insertions are frequent both in MSS. and versions.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Corinth. The Corinth of this period owed the beginning of its prosperity to Julius Caesar, who, a hundred years after its destruction by Mummius (B. C. 146), rebuilt and peopled it with a colony of veterans and freedmen. It was situated on the isthmus which divided Northern Greece from the Peloponnesus. It had three harbors, Cenchreae and Schoenus on the east, and Lechaeumn on the west. The isthmus, forming the only line of march for an invading or retreating army, was of the greatest military importance. It was known as "the eye of Greece." By Pindar it was called "the bridge of the sea;" by Xenophon, "the gate of the Peloponnesus;" and by Strabo, "the acropolis of Greece." In more modern times it was known as "the Gibraltar of Greece." Hence, at least as early as the march of Xerxes into Greece, it was crossed by a wall, which, in later times, became a massive and important fortification, especially in the decline of the Roman Empire. Justinian fortified it with an hundred and fifty towers. The citadel rose two thousand feet above the sea - level, on a rock with precipitous sides. In the days of the Achaean league it was called one of the "fetters" of Greece. "It runs out boldly from the surging mountain chains of the Peninsula, like an outpost or sentry, guarding the approach from the North. In days when news was transmitted by fire - signals, 76 we can imagine how all the southern country must have depended on the watch upon the rock of Corinth" (Mahaffy, " Rambles and Studies in Greece ").

At its narrowest part the isthmus was crossed by a level track called the diolcus, over which vessels were dragged on rollers from one port to the other. This was in constant use, because seamen were thus enabled to avoid sailing round the dangerous promontory of Malea, the southern extremity of the Peloponnesus. A canal was projected and by Nero, but was abandoned. The common title of the city in the poets was bimaris, "the city of the two seas."

The commercial position of Corinth was, therefore, most important, communicating with the eastern and the western world, with the north and the south. The isthmus was one of the four principal points for the celebration of the Grecian games; and in Paul 's day great numbers flocked to these contests from all parts of the Mediterranean.

On the restoration of the city by Julius Caesar, both Greek and Jewish merchants settled in Corinth in such numbers as probably to outnumber the Romans. In Paul 's time it was distinctively a commercial center, marked by wealth and luxury. "It was the 'Vanity Fair' of the Roman Empire, at once the London and the Paris of the first century after Christ" (Farrar). It was conspicuous for its immorality. To "corinthianize" was the term for reckless debauchery. Juvenal sarcastically alludes to it as "perfumed Corinth;" and Martial pictures an effeminate fellow boasting of being a Corinthian citizen. The temple of Aphrodite (Venus) employed a thousand ministers. Drunkenness rivaled licentiousness, and Corinthians, when introduced on the stage, were commonly represented as drunk.

Paul 's impression of its profligacy may be seen in his description of heathenism in the first of Romans, and in his stern words concerning sensual sin in the two Corinthian Epistles. "Politically Roman, socially Greek, religiously it was Roman, Greek, Oriental, all in one. When, therefore, the apostle preached to the Corinthians, the Gospel spoke to the whole world and to the living present" (Edwards).

Called to be saints. See on Rom 1:7.

Call upon the name [επικαλουμενοις το ονομα] . Compare Rom 10:12; Act 2:21. The formula is from the Septuagint. See Zec 13:9; Gen 12:8; Gen 13:4; Psa 115:17. It is used of worship, and here implies prayer to Christ. The first christian prayer recorded as heard by Saul of Tarsus, was Stephen 's prayer to Christ, Act 7:59. The name of Christ occurs nine times in the first nine verses of this epistle.

Theirs and ours. A. V. and Rev. connect with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Better with in every place. Every place in the province where Christians are is our place also. The expression emphasizes the position of Paul as the founder and apostolic head of Christianity in Corinth and in all Achaia.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vv. 2. “To the Church of God, the sanctified in Christ Jesus, which is at Corinth, saints by call, with all that in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is theirs and ours.”

The term ἐκκλησία, Church, formed of the two words, ἐκ, out of, and καλεῖν, to call, denotes in ordinary Greek language an assembly of citizens called out of their dwellings by an official summons; comp. Act 19:41. Applied to the religious domain in the New Testament, the word preserves essentially the same meaning. Here too there is a summoner: God, who calls sinners to salvation by the preaching of the gospel (Gal 1:6). There are the summoned: sinners, called to faith thenceforth to form the new society of which Christ is the head. The complement of God indicates at once Him who has summoned the assembly, and Him to whom it belongs. The term, the Church of God, thus corresponds to the ordinary Old Testament phrase: Kehal Jehova, the assembly (congregation) of the Lord; but there is this difference, that the latter was recruited by way of filiation, while in the new covenant the Church is formed and recruited by the personal adherence of faith.

According to the reading of several Mjj. (Vatic., Clarom., etc.), the apostle immediately adds to the words: the Church of God, the apposition ἡγιασμένοις ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ, the sanctified in Christ Jesus. As the Church is composed of a plurality of individuals, the apostle may certainly, by a construction ad sensum, join to the singular substantive this apposition in the plural. The received reading separates this substantive from its apposition by placing between the two the words τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορίνθῳ, which is at Corinth. This arrangement seems at first sight more natural; but for that very reason it has the character of a correction. It seems to me probable that, thinking already of the moral disorders which stained this Church, the apostle felt himself constrained to characterize the community he is addressing rather morally than geographically. God is holy, and the Church of God ought to be holy like Him to whom it belongs. The perfect participle ἡγιασμένοις indicates not an obligation to be fulfilled, but a state which already exists in them, and that in virtue of a previously accomplished fact. That fact is faith in Christ, which implicitly contains the act of total consecration to God. To embrace Christ by faith is to accept the holiness which He realized in His person; it is to be transplanted from the soil of our natural and profane life into that of His Divine holiness. The regimen, in Christ Jesus, expresses this idea,—that our holiness is only participation in His in virtue of the union of faith with Him: “For their sakes I sanctify myself,” says Jesus (Joh 17:19), “that they also might be sanctified in truth.” Several Fathers have applied the expression, sanctified in Jesus Christ, to the fact of baptism; their error has been confounding the sign of faith with faith itself.

After having thus characterized the assembly of God as composed of consecrated ones, the apostle adds the local definition: which is (which really exists, οὔσῃ) at Corinth. He had passed from the unity of the Church to the plurality of its members; he returns from this plurality to the unity which should continue. One feels that his mind is already taken up with the divisions which threatened to break this unity. When we think of the frightful corruption which reigned in this city (Introd. p. 6), we can understand with what inward satisfaction the apostle must have written the words, “the Church of God...at Corinth”! Bengel has well rendered this feeling in the short annotation: Ecclesia in Corintho, laetum et ingens paradoxon.

Immediately after the words: sanctified in Christ Jesus, it is surprising to find: saints by call, which seem after the preceding to form a pleonasm. The solution of this difficulty is involved in the explanation of the regimen which follows: with all those who call upon...This regimen has been connected with the dative τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, as if the apostle meant: I address my letter, or I address this salutation, to the Church which is at Corinth, and not only to it, but also to the Christians of the whole world (Chrysostom, Theodoret, Calvin, Osiander, Reuss). But, on the contrary, no apostolical letter has a destination so particular and local as the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Meyer limits the application of the words: with all who call upon, like the similar address of 2Co 1:1: “with all the saints who are in all Achaia,” and thinks that those referred to here are simply all the Christians scattered throughout the province of Achaia, and who are grouped round the Church of the metropolis; so, after him, Beet, Edwards, and others. But the passage quoted proves exactly the contrary of the conclusion drawn from it. For it shows how Paul would have written here also, if such had been his meaning. Holsten, feeling the impossibility of importing such a restriction, imagines another less arbitrary. He refers the words to the Christians of other Churches, who might be at present staying at Corinth, especially to the emissaries who had come from Jerusalem (those of Christ), of whose presence Paul was well aware. But the phrase used is far too general to admit of so limited an application. Mosheim, Ewald think that Paul means by it expressly to include in his salutation all the parties which were formed. But the preposition σύν, with, would imply that one of the parties was already separated from the Church itself, while the whole letter proves that they still formed part of it. We must therefore give up the attempt to make the regimen “with all them who...” dependent on the term: the Church of God, and connect it, as is in itself more natural, with the preceding words: “saints by call.” The meaning is: “saints in virtue of the Divine call, and that in communion with all them who invoke the name of the Lord in every place.” Thus the tautology disappears which is implied in the words: “saints by call,” with the preceding: “sanctified in Christ Jesus.” There is not here a new synonymous epithet needlessly added to the preceding. The sainthood of the faithful is expressed a second time to connect this new feature with it: that sainthood is the common seal of the members of the Church universal. The words κλητοῖς ἁγίοις are there solely as the point of support for the following regimen: σὺν πᾶσι, with all them who...This construction also explains quite naturally the two adjectives, πᾶσι, all, and παντί, every (place), which follow. More than once in this letter the apostle will have to censure the Corinthians for isolating their course from that of the rest of the Church, and for acting as if they were the only Church in the world (comp. especially 1Co 14:36); and therefore in the very outset he associates them with a larger whole, of which they are only one of the members, and with which they ought to move in harmony. Heinrici, while explaining the σύν exactly as we do, thinks he can separate κλητοῖς from ἁγίοις by a comma, and connect the σύν with κλητοῖς alone: “saints, called with all them who...” This translation is grammatically forced, and besides it leaves the pleonasm of “saints” and “sanctified” as it was.

Holiness is the normal character of all them that call on the name of the Lord, says the apostle. This expression is evidently in his view the paraphrase of the term “believers.” A Christian is therefore, according to him, a man who calls on the name of Jesus as his Lord. The term ἐπικαλεῖσθαι is applied in the Old Testament (by the LXX.) only to the invocation of Jehovah (Isa 43:7; Joe 2:32; Zec 13:9). Immediately after Pentecost, the name for believers was, “they who call on the name of the Lord” (Act 9:14; Act 9:21; Rom 10:12-13); the name of Jesus was substituted in this formula for that of Jehovah in the Old Testament. The very word NAME, applied, as it is in these passages, to Jesus, includes the idea of a Divine Being; so when the Lord says of His angel, Exo 23:21, “My name is in him,” that is to say, He makes this being His perfect revelation. The title Lord characterizes Jesus as the one to whom God has committed the universal sovereignty belonging to Himself; and the Church is, in the apostle’s eyes, the community of those who recognise and adore Him as such. It is therefore on an act of adoration, and not on a profession of faith of an intellectual nature, that he makes the Christian character to rest. The words: ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ, in every place, designate the universality of the Christian Church in point of right (and already, in part, of fact, when St. Paul wrote); comp. 1Ti 2:8. This idea accords with the πᾶσι, all, which precedes, and, as we have seen, it agrees with the context. But a large number of commentators endeavour to limit the sense of this expression, by assigning to it as its complement the words following: αὐτῶν καὶ ἡμῶν, “of them and of us,” or “theirs and ours.” But what would the expression signify: “their and our place”? De Wette, Osiander, Rückert understand thereby Corinth and Ephesus; Paul would mean: all them that call upon the Lord on your side of the sea, as well as on ours. But to what purpose is this distinction? Besides, the Church of Corinth had already been sufficiently described at the beginning of the verse. Mosheim and Ewald think that by “our place” the apostle means to denote the place of worship of his own partisans, and by “their place” the rooms where the other parties assembled. This explanation is already refuted by our foregoing remarks (p. 44). And Paul would have carefully avoided legalizing in any way the separation which he blamed so severely. Meyer’s explanation, followed by Beet and Edwards, seems to me still more forced; the expression, our place, denotes the Christian communities of Achaia, in so far as morally the property of the apostles; here of Paul and Sosthenes, who preached the gospel in them; and the expression, their place, refers to those same communities, in so far as they depended on the Church of Corinth, their metropolis. Does such an exegetical monstrosity deserve refutation? Yet it is surpassed still, if that be possible, by Hofmann’s explanation, according to which Paul means that Christians (them), more especially the preachers of the gospel (us), are found everywhere among those by whom Christ is invoked! We must, with Chrysostom, Calvin, Olshausen, etc., simply give up the attempt to make the complements of them and of us depend on the word place; and leave the phrase, in every place, in its absolute and general sense. As to the two pronouns, αὐτῶν and ἡμῶν, of them and of us, they depend on the word Lord, and are the more detailed repetition of the pronoun ἡμῶν (our Lord), which preceded: “Our Lord, who is not only yours, our readers, but also ours, your preachers.” There is here, as it were, a protest beforehand against those who, forgetting that there is in the Church only one Lord, say: “As for me, I am of Paul; I, of Apollos; I, of Peter!” “Who is Paul, who is Apollos, other than servants by whom ye believed, by each of them according as the Lord gave to him?” (1Co 3:5; 1Co 3:22-23). So thoroughly is this the prevailing concern in the apostle’s mind, from the very beginning of this letter, that six times, between 1Co 1:1; 1Co 1:10, he repeats the expression: of our Lord Jesus Christ. The received reading, τε καί, instead of the simple καί, may certainly be maintained, though it has against it several important manuscripts; it dwells a little more strongly on the fact that believers have Jesus Christ for their only Lord, as well as preachers, and thus better justifies the repetition of the preceding ἡμῶν in these two pronouns.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.