Paul starts by declaring that he is an apostle of Christ chosen by God. Paul's apostleship is a major theme of 1 and 2 Corinthians, as is what it truly means to be an apostle. The term apostle is still used today in some sections of the church. Is this use valid? It definitely is not in the sense that the likes of Peter and Paul were apostles as the most important qualification was that they had to be direct witnesses of the resurrection (Acts 1:21,22). So there are no apostles today in that sense, and none with the same authority that they had (ie to write the Bible!). However, apostle can be used in a less constrained manner, and its root meaning is one who is sent out. So there can (and are) people who are given special missions to do by God, to play key roles in building up the church and breaking new ground. Even so, the term is still sometimes misused, as some who claim to be apostles are not. Later in the letters we will see some of the key features of Biblical apostleship, and also of pseudo-apostleship.
The letter is addressed to those "sanctified in Christ" and called to be His holy people, together with all the rest of the church. This hints at what will be some of the main themes of the letter, namely living a holy life, and being part of the whole church.
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