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

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

This passage is an excellent example of Christian charity and balance in our dealings with our fellow man.  This church was spiritually deficient in several ways.  And yet, before addressing their sins God inspired Paul to give his brethren encouragement and support before “stepping on their toes.”  We can learn from this.

Paul first informs them that he continually thanks God for them.  This divisively cliquish collection of Christians who support immorality which even the pagans would frown upon and selfishly sue each other within pagan courts over petty matters …….and yet Paul still thanked God for them.  For him to do that, he would have had to have focused not only on their numerous faults; he would have had to have given serious attention to their positive attributes also.  We must do the same in our dealings with each other.

He tells them the reason he thanks God for them.  They had received grace from God because they were in Christ.  Again, despite all their problems, God had granted to them favor which they did not deserve.  Yes, their salvation was in jeopardy because of their sins, but God would be willing to forgive them if they heeded Paul’s admonitions and repented.  The same is true for you and me, Christians.  Praise God for that!

God’s grace had been given to them not just concerning salvation from sins.  He had also granted them undeserved favors by “enriching” them “in all speech and knowledge” to the point that they were “not lacking in any gift.”  This is a reference to the miraculous spiritual gifts about which Paul would later expound (12-14).  Wayne Jackson notes that “speech and knowledge” were “two qualities the Greeks highly prized, but of which their philosophers were bankrupt.”  Thus, these spiritual gifts – including the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy which were crucial to helping these Christians be completely adequate in all speech and knowledge – would help them bring the gospel to the Greeks in Corinth in ways that would make a positive impression, as well as edify those Greeks whom they converted to Christ.  These miraculous gifts were given to confirm the gospel which the early church preached to the lost (Mk. 16:20; Heb. 2:3-4), which is why Paul spoke of how “the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you” while speaking of them.  It’s noteworthy that despite their immature regard of these miraculous gifts (about which we will study more), God still gave them to the Corinthian church and thus equipped them with what they needed to help others come to Christ.  Remember this the next time you think you could not possibly serve God’s cause in any helpful way because of your shortcomings.

Paul also acknowledged that they were waiting for the day Jesus would be revealed from heaven on the last day (cf. 2 Thess. 1:7-10).  They were waiting for their Lord…even though they had a lot of growth to do.  (That describes you and me, doesn’t it?)  He also encouraged them by informing them that Jesus would “sustain you to the end,” to the point that they would be found “guiltless” on Judgment Day.  Granted, they would need to repent of the sins he would address to them; still, notice how before rebuking them he spoke to them about being saved on Judgment Day as if it were a done deal.  Notice also how he reminds them of the faithfulness of God and how God had called them into fellowship with Jesus.  When we need to tell a fellow Christian that they need to repent, it will help their minds to be more open to our rebuke if we first speak to them and about them in ways that would give them hope and remind them that they still had a lot going for them.

— Jon