I Corinthians 1:1  Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
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:
3  Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

God often directed the apostle Paul to remind the readers of who he was. This was not a matter of the apostle Paul blowing his own horn. The readers needed to know under what authority he was writing.
We see here that he was called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. The word translated as “apostle” means “a delegate, an ambassador of the Gospel, a commissioner of Christ with miraculous powers”. The apostles were given the power to heal and do other miracles to prove they were genuine apostles. This was necessary because there were false apostles at that time, just as there are now. We see here as well that Paul’s calling was through the will of God. We see again how the Godhead works together.
We know from Acts 9 that Paul had no intention of being an apostle of Jesus Christ. He was intent on destroying Christianity. He had trained under Gamaliel in the art of being a Pharisee, a deceiver of the truth. He had no intention of promoting the truth. He wrongly assumed he was doing the will of God as a persecutor of Christians. He learned that he was fighting against the Lord Jesus Christ. We learn here again of the amazing change that God brought about in Paul’s life after he was saved. He was a changed man and he submitted to the will of God after he was saved. That is important to note.
We read of Sosthenes here as well. He was a companion of Paul’s in this letter. We first read of Sosthenes in Acts 18:17.

Acts 18:17  Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

He was the chief ruler of the synagogue and he was beaten by the unruly crowd. Gallio, who had the authority to stop this beating, did not care about that. It was a difficult time for religious people at that time. We are not told of when Sosthenes was converted but obviously he was a saved man at the time of the writing of this letter.
In verse 2 we are told that this letter was directed to the church of God which was at Corinth. We are again reminded of the local church teaching in the Bible. This church had a specific location. We are also told who made up this church. It was not all who entered into the church, but those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. To be sanctified is to be made holy. Those who are born again are called to be holy. We have seen this so often throughout our study of God’s Word. Christians are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. They are different from the moment of salvation and they continue to be different throughout their life from that moment on. The difference is the result of the gift of salvation they received through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The sanctified are called to be saints. Biblical saints are declared to be so when they are saved. The Catholics make saints of some of their people after they are dead. They wrongly teach their people to pray to these dead people. God never teaches us to pray to any person. A dead person cannot help us.
These saints joined the greater family of God because all saved people are saved by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. We are reminded early in this letter that the saved person not only has a Saviour in Jesus Christ, but He is also the Lord of the saved person. The Greek word translated as “Lord” speaks of the supremacy of Jesus Christ in the saved person’s life. That is why Peter and John could stand before the counsel and declare they must obey God rather than man. God had the supreme place in their lives. That must be true of all Christians. Just as the first century Christians suffered persecution for this fact, we today can also expect to suffer persecution for trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. The world wants loyalty to itself. They cannot stand to have opposition. They are far too insecure to allow for alternative voices. Then to top it all off, the true God/Godhead is far too powerful for the measly voices of humanity.
We see as well that Jesus Christ our Lord is the same Saviour and Master of all saved people. True churches are not cookie cutter churches and yet with regard to doctrine they should be just that. Every true church has the same Head — the Lord Jesus Christ. He says the same thing to every true church. He judged the seven churches in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ and He pointed out the need of every church. The specific problem was different with each one, but the solution was always the same. The need is for true churches to submit to the absolute authority of the Lord Jesus Christ in all things. When we stray from that, we are in trouble.
I have mentioned before that it is wrong for people to choose to remain at home rather than attend a good church. It is sad that too many churches have encouraged this attitude because they have chosen to ignore God’s Word and they purposely defy the Headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. In spite of the defiance of many churches, God has still remained true to His Word. Until the time of the Tribulation there will be true churches on this earth. Jesus made that promise and He keeps His Word.
In verse 3 we see a very familiar greeting to the saved. We, those who are saved need God’s grace. We need the help of God in order to walk with Him. We cannot live the Christian life on our own. There are too many professing Christians who keep their sins and claim they cannot overcome them. That is simply not true for the true child of God. God is greater than all.

I John 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

When we draw from God’s grace, we will also know His peace in our hearts. We are reminded that these precious gifts are from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. The lost person must turn to God in repentance and must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Apart from that there is no hope for man. When a person is taught the truth and follows through in believing the truth, he/she will find all the strength needed to live right.
We have often talked of the fact that every Christian will sin. We sin, but we do not live in sin. We seek to honour God and the Spirit of God indwelling in us. As we move into the book of I Corinthians we will see that the saints there needed to draw on God’s grace and they needed to stop sinning. There were sins that Paul was told to point out and he also provided the solution to their sin. God’s Word also shows that the saints in Corinth did hear and act upon what God declared. This must be true of true saints today. We must honour God in our lives if we are saved. That “must” is not a drudgery for the true saint. It is necessary and also possible.
It is not a discouragement to know God and follow Him. It is a challenge that is achievable for the true child of God.
Pastor Bartel