1 Corinthians 1

1 Corinthians 1:1-3

I Paul, who have not thrust myself into this apostolic office which I claim, but was graciously, sovereignly, and immediately, called to and qualified for it by Jesus Christ,—and Sosthenes, my dear and faithful assistant in the ministry, though not an apostle,—do, in the most earnest and affectionate manner, wish to all you at Corinth, who are regularly united in church fellowship, set apart for and spiritually joined to Christ, as your Head of influence and government, and, by the effectual call of his Spirit, rendered like him in holiness,—and to all those who any where profess and adore him, our common Lord, as the object of their faith, worship, and obedience,—all the riches and the blessed effects of redeeming favour, love, and mercy, and an abundant peace with God, with your own consciences, and with one another, from God the Father, as the original spring and deviser of every blessing, and through Jesus Christ, as the purchaser, store-house, and bestower, of them

1 Corinthians 1:4-6

I heartily congratulate you on your happiness and honour upon every remembrance of you, and bless my infinitely gracious God for the manifold favours, gifts, and graces, which, on Christ’s account, he has bestowed upon you, enriching you not only with such spiritual habits and tempers as are necessary to salvation, but with remarkable knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel; and a ready ability to communicate them to others;—the Spirit of God thereby confirming to your hearts and consciences the truth of the gospel of Christ, which we preached and ye believed

1 Corinthians 1:7-9

So that ye are not remarkably deficient, or inferior to other Christians, in any spiritual gifts which could render you useful in Christ’s church, in which ye continue praying, preparing, and patiently and hopefully waiting, for his second coming,—who, by a constant supply of necessary gifts and graces, will more establish you in the faith, hope, and holiness, of the gospel; that, when others are condemned, ye may appear perfectly righteous, holy, and irreproachable, at his tribunal; for God, who has effectually called you into a state of union and fellowship with his dear Son, being unchangeably faithful to his character, covenant, and promises, will infallibly render you partakers of eternal glory

1 Corinthians 1:10-12

If then God hath done, and will do, so much for you, and if Jesus will, in a little time, judge you at his awful bar, let me beseech you, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, by his excellencies, relations, and works of love, and by your profession of him, to lay aside your contentions and alienation of affection from one another, and to study the most cordial harmony in sentiment, affection, and holy practices;—for, to my great grief, I have been informed that ye, whom I truly esteem, and of whom I hoped better things, have, by uncharitable divisions, been thrown into different parties, under different leaders,—some of you ranking yourselves under me, as the apostle of the Gentiles, or instrument of your conversion; others under Apollos, as the most eloquent and fervent preacher; others under Peter, as the apostle of the circumcision; while others pretend to be immediately directed by Christ alone, needing no other instructor

1 Corinthians 1:13-16

To convince you of the absurdity of your conduct, let me ask even you who pretend to be solely for Christ, overlooking his ministers and ordinances, is his person to be divided from his offices? or his offices from the execution thereof by the ministry of his servants, who labour in the church by his authority, and according to his will?—Why set up me, or any other minister, for your spiritual head? Did I, or my brethren, make atonement for your sins? Or were ye baptized by the authority, or into the faith, worship, and obedience, of us?—I thank God that, though I was the instrument of conversion to many of you, I baptized but very few of you, lest any should have thence taken occasion to insinuate that I had acted by my own authority, and bound the persons whom I baptized to acknowledge me as their spiritual master

1 Corinthians 1:17

For indeed Christ sent me not chiefly to baptize, but to preach the glad tidings of salvation through his blood; and that not dressed up in flowers of rhetoric or maxims of philosophy, for the promoting of my own selfish honours, but in the most plain language and style, that the native majesty, spirituality, glory, and power, of the gospel doctrine, of and concerning a crucified Saviour, might be the more clearly manifested in the humbling and conversion of sinners

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the plain preaching of salvation through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, received by faith, appears quite despicable, foolish, and absurd, to them who live and die in their sins; but to us, who are eternally saved from our sins and miseries, it is the marvellous mean through which the almighty influences of God’s Spirit are conveyed for illuminating, sanctifying, supporting, and comforting, our hearts. 19, 20. This, according to the scripture, quite confounds the notions of the learned of this world, and exhibits a method of salvation directly contrary to whatever they could have imagined. None of them, Jews or Gentiles, could ever contrive a method of saving sinners, or of reconciling them to God; and herein he hath stamped disgrace upon all the wisdom of philosophers and others, and manifested their schemes for appeasing an offended God, and reconciling guilty sinners to him, as altogether vain, foolish, and ineffectual

1 Corinthians 1:21

For after he, in the manifestation of his own infinite wisdom, had plainly shown that neither the works of creation, nor of common providence, nor any powers of human reasoning, could lead to a saving and satisfying knowledge of himself, or the way of salvation, it pleased him, by the much despised plain preaching of a crucified Christ, and the way of salvation through his blood, to save them who by faith receive and rest upon him for their eternal redemption, as therein offered to them. 22, 23. Notwithstanding all the proofs that Christ has given of his Godhead and saving offices, the obstinate Jews still persist in demanding a sign from heaven to prove them, and the learned Greeks insist upon philosophical demonstrations of the method of salvation. But, regardless of these prejudices, we faithful ministers proclaim a full, eternal, free, and offered, salvation to sinful men through the obedience and death of Christ, which the Jews condemn, to the infinite hazard and ruin of their souls, and the learned Greeks account highly foolish and absurd

1 Corinthians 1:24

But, let others think as they will of Jesus Christ, or of the doctrine of salvation through his blood, we, who are effectually called, discern and experience therein the great power and manifold wisdom of God, clearly exhibited in his whole person, offices, and saving effects

1 Corinthians 1:25

For what ignorant, carnal, and prejudiced, men, reckon absurd folly, infinitely transcends in wisdom all the boasted schemes of the most sagacious, prudent, and learned, philosophers: and what they account weak and unavailing is found, by experience, to have an incomparable energy in destroying the works of the devil, renewing the heart, and reforming the lives, of men

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

And, to manifest the sovereignty of his grace, and, as it were, to mark the insignificance of men’s natural or acquired advantages, ye cannot but observe that very few of the learned, the eminently sagacious, great, or powerful are converted to Christ: but he has generally fixed his love upon, and effectually calls, such as are comparatively foolish, weak, mean, or contemptible;—that none, Jews or Gentiles, might have any pretence to glory before him of their natural parts, accomplishments, or external privileges, as if these could recommend them to his favour, or qualify them to receive the gospel. 30, 31, Yea, on the contrary, by a mere act of his own gracious and sovereign will, he has chosen you in, and called and united you to, Christ Jesus, who, by his divine appointment, is constituted and made over to us in the gospel offer, and effectually granted to us in the day of power, as an infinitely well furnished and effectual teacher, to render us wise unto salvation; a law-fulfilling surety, through whose finished obedience and suffering we may be completely justified; and not only as a purchaser, but as an effectual giver, of all renewing, quickening, and sanctifying, grace, by his Spirit dwelling in us; and a full deliverer from sin and misery, and bestower of that eternal happiness which he hath obtained for us;—that, as the scripture directs, he who has any honours and blessings bestowed upon him may centre all his joy and boasting entirely in the Lord Jesus, and in the free grace of God through him

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAP. I.—With great prudence, but with plainness and courage, ought ministers, on some occasions, to assert their mission and the dignity of their office. And with firm assurance should we receive the apostolic writings and doctrines, as indeed of divine authority. Divine power and grace are necessary to render men saints, while fervent prayer and religious worship evidence them such. And it is absurd to hold profane, prayerless persons for church members. With holy reverence ought we to address Jesus Christ and his Father for the gifts and mercies which we need. And with pleasure may we reflect on what he has bestowed on others as an earnest of their perfect holiness and happiness. Yea it is a great mercy that God’s faithfulness secures the eternal salvation of all those whom he hath effectually called by his grace. It is shameful and absurd for Christians to be divided about ministers, as if all Christ’s faithful servants were not embarked in one common cause. And it is a comfort for a minister to have had no hand in such carnal rendings of Christ’s church; and an honour to have avoided honouring himself at Christ’s expense. Very corrupt and darkened by sin must be the hearts of unregenerate men, to whom the mystery and offers of a crucified, a divine, Redeemer appear contemptible and absurd. And the enlightening and renewing power of the Holy Ghost is absolutely necessary to make us apprehend it as every way worthy of God, and calculated to render us wise, holy, and happy. Amazing is the sovereignty of God’s redeeming grace in respect of its objects and manner of influence. And exactly answerable is Jesus Christ to all our need, who are ignorant and foolish, guilty and naked, polluted and plagued, enslaved and self-ruined, sinners. Yea the whole work of our redemption delightfully promotes the highest glory of God. In this let my soul rejoice, and daily think what Jesus is, and what JERROYAH is in him to my heart