Paul writes of the first “bright spot” in the Corinthian church in verse 2: “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He says that the Corinthians are sanctified, or holy. It is worth pointing out that in the Greek language, in which Paul was writing, those are actually the same words. In English, because of our rich heritage of words from the Germanic languages on the one hand and the Romance languages on the other, we have in English two different words that are virtual synonyms. So we have the Greek word hagios which in English we will translate as “holy” in some instances, coming to us from German. But then, at other times, we will take hagios and translate it as “saint” or “sanctified” as you have in the Romance languages.
Both English words mean the same thing, and that is what we have here in verse 2. Both “holy” and “sanctified” or “saint” are talking about those who are separated unto Christ and who are both holy and are also on their way to holiness as a result. They are already sanctified, that is, called by God to be separated for Christ and His service. Now they must go on and live in a way that is consistent with that holy calling. That is what it means to be a Christian. Before your conversion you served yourself. You were set apart to your own interests. But when you became a follower of Christ, you were set apart to Him. And this is what Paul says was true of the Corinthians as well.
Second, in verse 5 he talks about something else, and here too we have to give just a little attention to the words he uses. Paul says, “For in him you have been enriched in every way in all your speaking and in all your knowledge.” Now there are different translations of this. This is because the word for “speaking” comes from the Greek word logos. And the word for “knowledge” comes from the Greek word gnosis. Those are two key words in the New Testament vocabulary.
I think that when those two words occur together, there is a contrast between pure doctrine on the one hand, and the understanding or perception of it on the other. You have to remember that the word logos means far more than “word” in its fullest New Testament meaning. It is also used of Jesus Christ, for example, in John’s gospel. This means that Jesus is the embodiment of all the truth of God. It is this word logos that is found in our English words “theology” (“the doctrine of God”) or “soteriology” (“the doctrine of salvation”).
Given the full meaning of the word logos in the New Testament, what Paul is saying here in verse 5 is that these Corinthians were not short in their understanding of spiritual things. They knew the doctrines of the faith; and more than that, God had at the same time also given them a full measure of understanding or perception where these things were concerned. That is, the Corinthian believers were not simply able to quote Christian doctrine off the top of their head like an unbelieving professor, for example, might very well do teaching a class in theology in a secular university. In addition to that intellectual understanding, they really did perceive in a spiritual way what it was all about. They were able to encourage one another in spiritual things, as Paul says they did do later on in the epistle.
Thirdly, in verse 7 he says that they had spiritual gifts, and, in fact, did not lack any spiritual gifts. That is really quite a statement Paul makes, given the number of gifts that are mentioned later in 1 Corinthians. Then finally, in the second half of that same sentence, they are those who eagerly wait for the Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. They were not just content with where they were; they were looking for Christ’s second coming.
