Church life is messy. There are no perfect churches because they are no perfect people. The church at Corinth demonstrated the possibility of imperfection better than any other church in the New Testament. Their disarrayed congregation fell prey to the cult of personality (1:10-17), sexual immorality (5:1-13; 6:12-20), confusion about marriage (7:1-40), misuse of Christian liberty (8:1-11:1), dishonorable practices surrounding the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34), unhealthy practices concerning spiritual gifts (chs 12-14), and incorrect views on the resurrection (ch. 15).[1] A mess indeed.

Nevertheless, they remained God’s church. And the beginning of Paul’s letter to them tells us just how God builds, strengthens, and sustains His church, despite the mess they may create. He helps us clean up our mess by re-directing our attention to His work and to the ways that He builds, strengthens, and sustains His people.

1. God calls leaders to shepherd His people (1 Cor. 1:1).

¹Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes (1:1)

God does not desire for His church to function as an anarchic democracy. He raises up leaders to shepherd His people. Paul identifies Himself as one of these leaders in the opening verse of the chapter-as an “apostle” who was “called” to His assignment according to “God’s will.” It is the same with all church leaders- God appoints shepherds to lead His flock. “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,[2] to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The church should pray for, support, and follow the leadership of her shepherds, as they follow the Chief Shepherd.

2. God saves sinners and sanctifies saints (1:2-3).

²To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: ³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:2-3).

God’s church is the place where sinners become sanctified saints. It is where the gospel is preached, where sin is repented of, and where Christ is believed (i.e. “called upon”). Those in Christ are sanctified- a word that is in the perfect tense in Greek, emphasizing the resultant state. In other words, members of Christ’s church have been made holy in Christ, and are currently holy in Him. As such, the Scriptures call us saints.

The church is God’s primary means of the on-going sanctification (becoming more holy) in His people. Through corporate worship, the preaching of the Word, and the observation of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, God strengthens our faith and conforms us to the image of our one Lord, His Son (Romans 8:29). Though we are already saints, God continues His work of sanctification in the lives of those who make up His church through the church. All of this finds its source in God’s grace and peace (1:3)

3. God gives gifts and promises (1:4-9)

⁴ I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, ⁵ that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— ⁶ even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— ⁷ so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸ who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1:4-9).

God gives His church His grace (v. 4) and His gifts (vv. 5-7) “in Christ Jesus.” He grants us His unmerited favor, giving us far more than we deserve: salvation, redemption, fellowship with God, the opportunity to be a part of building His kingdom, an eternal inheritance, etc. And if that were not enough, He gives us spiritual gifts to sustain us, build up the body, and bring Him glory as we “do church” together.

Not only does God give us His grace and His gifts to sustain us, but He gives us His promises to strengthen us. He promises that Jesus will return and complete His work in His people (v. 7-8). He also promises that God is faithful and will sustain His people until the end (v. 8-9). What God begins, God completes, even though there may be bumps along the way.

Though the church may be messy, God is at work- calling out sinners to be saints, sanctifying His people, giving them gifts to build up the body, and keeping His promises to sustain them to the end. The church that is poised to be used the most by Him is the church that recognizes and rests in these things!

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[1]Daniel L. Akin and James Merritt, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Brentwood, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2023), 3.

[2] Emphasis mine.