Daily Reading: Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The church at Corinth is the perfect example of individuals who do not understand what they have in Christ and so the results are not impressive. The problem was the people in Corinth were rich in grace but living as if they were impoverished and in great need because they weren’t tapping into what Christ made available to them. So, Paul is teaching them that Christ has made you a saint (verse 3) and Christ will produce fruit in your life but you have got to understand that it happens because of (verse 9) the fellowship of Jesus Christ.
Paul is able to always give thanks for them because of the grace given them in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:4). Everything has its true significance or insignificance in relation to God.
So, if things are not quite going according to plan, there is always a “for” that supersedes and brings victory in the circumstances- and that is “in Him” (1 Corinthians 1:5).
The partnership of Jesus Christ is the solution to the problems of life, that is why Paul writes about being in “fellowship with Christ” to the problem plagued people of the church of Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:9).
When you reflect on your past, know yourself as called by God into fellowship with Christ (verse 9). When you look forward, know yourself kept by God (verse 8). In your present, tap into the grace that He gives (verse 5) you so that you might bring glory to God as you bring Christ into other people’s lives.