1 Corinthians 1:2 - To the church of God

1:2

This is a little different from the normal introduction, though not massively so. Paul refers to the Corinthians as “the church of God '', as “those sanctified in Christ Jesus”, and those “called to be His holy people”. Given the state of the church in Corinth, and the issues that the letter goes on to address, this introduction seems somewhat out of place. One might reasonably think that the church was anything but holy and sanctified! However, Paul was reminding them of who they were in Christ, and therefore how they should be living. First, they are God’s church, not their own. The church is Christ’s body, not our body. We are part of the body, but the body belongs to Christ. We live for His sake. We have been sanctified in Christ and called to be holy. We have not been called to be like the world, but to be like Jesus. We are called for His purposes, not for the world’s purposes. Therefore we should live Christlike lives, not worldly lives. The church today badly needs to remind itself of this.

Paul then reminds them that they are part of the global church, i.e. “together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. We belong to and serve the same Lord.