Thanksgiving Period (1:4–9)
After writing the prescript our apostle expresses gratitude by stating, I thank my God always for you. He typically includes a thanksgiving paragraph after his letter openings, though Galatians and 2 Corinthians are notable exceptions, and both these letters happen to be his most confrontational.67 Paul’s thanksgivings feature five elements—the giving of thanks, mention of the person thanked (God), an adverbial “always,” mention of the recipients, and reason for giving thanks, which is then unpacked.68 Paul is thankful that the congregation members have been made rich in Christ, in all speech and all knowledge. He possibly knew that the origin of the formulaic phrase “speech and knowledge” arose from clashes between philosophers and sophists.69 What Paul stresses here is that speech and knowledge is God given, and doubtless the content of these terms includes prophecy, tongues, teachings, discernment, and revelations experienced by the Corinthians (cf. 12:8; 13:1–2; 14:26). His recipients are thus presented with a better way of perceiving the value of their spiritual gifts—these gifts come from God, and this should prompt them to praise their Divine Benefactor instead of human agents. The use of all, any, always, and everything in these verses highlights the total and abundant way they have been enriched by God who works favorably through them.
They have also received the benefit of salvation due to God calling Paul and sending him to proclaim the gospel, the testimony concerning Christ (cf. 1:18; 15:1–4). That message was confirmed as effectual among them by their acceptance of it, conversion, and spiritual gifts in which they now operate. They receive saving grace as a result of the accomplishments of Christ’s death and resurrection, and they are being transformed through their continued fellowship in Christ. The designations of Son, Lord, Christ, Jesus, or “in him” appear in every verse of 1:1–10, which suggests for Dennis Stamps that “a christological premise is an essential part of Christian rhetoric, particularly as it is practiced by Paul.”70
Their relationship in Christ will culminate with Christ confirming them to be blameless on the day of the Lord.71 That day signifies a time in the prophetic calendar when God will deliver the faithful and judge the wicked (Isa 13:6–9; Amos 5:18; Joel 2:1, 31; Obad 15). It marks for Paul the second coming of Jesus and judgment day, when all humans must give account of their deeds (1:7b–8; 3:13; 4:4b–5; 5:5; cf. 2 Cor 5:10). The image envisioned here is one in which Jesus sits on the tribunal and declares the Corinthians innocent of anything worthy of eternal punishment. At that time the sanctification to which they had been called as saints finds its full realization.
Paul’s thanksgiving ends by stressing that God is faithful, which recalls divine fidelity in relation to the covenant people (Deut 7:9; 32:4).72 With this background in view the phrase implies praise and thanks to God who can be relied on to bless, protect, deliver, and maintain agreements with His own people. God called them into fellowship with His son Jesus Christ, which not only reflects their being set apart as a holy people but also their becoming partners with Christ, the one who died for them and now shares a dynamic relationship with them. They can be assured that God is faithful to the saints and will bring to pass the anticipated second coming of Christ and final salvation pertaining to it.
Minus Paul’s attempt to win the goodwill of his recipients in this section, I suspect the apostle would qualify more explicitly that the congregation’s blamelessness on judgment day is contingent on its members persevering in faith (see Col 1:22–23). It will become clear in the remainder of this letter that the opening verses provide no guarantee that every individual who once had faith will necessarily receive final salvation, let alone be declared blameless, at the second coming if he or she abandons that faith or lives an unrepentant and immoral lifestyle that desecrates one’s confession.73 Final salvation will be the inevitable outcome for those who are “in Christ” (1:2, 4; cf. v. 9), that is, those who belong to and remain in the corporate body of Christ, maintaining spiritual fellowship with him. As we will notice in this letter, among the destructive vices threatening the Corinthians’ new identity are divisions, idolatry, and fornication. They are also influenced by the ideology of Roman elitism and civic identity, which are set in opposition to the message of the cross.74 It will turn out that Paul’s commendation of God working through the Corinthians with regard to their knowledge, speech, charismatic gifts, and prospective final salvation sets him up to exhort and correct them on these very issues later on in the letter.
52. See Aristotle Rhet. 3.14.1; Kennedy 1984:23–24.
53. e.g., 2 Cor 1:1; Gal 1:1; Weiss 1910:2.
54. See Thiselton 2000:66–67.
55. If Sosthenes is Paul’s amanuensis, this would be unusual because secretaries are frequently anonymous and do not appear as coauthors (see Richards 2004:105). The secretary’s mention in Rom 16:22 appears at the end (not beginning) of that letter.
56. So Schrage 1991:1.100.
57. See Oropeza 2016:53–55.
58. On saints as God’s people in apocalyptic literature, see: Dan 7:21; 1 En. 62:8; 1QM 3.5; 1QSb 1.5; further, Schrage 1991:1.103–4. For non-apocalyptic references, see Lev 11:44–45; Exod 12:16LXX; Zeller 2010:73.
59. Cf. Fitzmyer 2008:122.
60. LXX uses κύριος (“Lord”) for the Hebrew יהוה (YHWH). On Christ’s deity in this regard, see Tilling 2012.
61. Thiselton 2000:79.
62. Cf. Horsley 1997:244–45.
63. Ciampa/Rosner 2010:57–58. Here again Paul interprets κύριος/YHWH as Jesus.
64. See further Hvalvik 2005:123–43.
65. Cf. Hays 1997:17.
66. See discussions in Doering 2012:407–15; Lieu 1985:168–69. I suggest that Paul originally adopted “greetings and peace”