teaching notes : 1 cor. 1:1

1 cor. 1:1-3
paul, called as an apostle of jesus christ by the will of god, and sosthenes our brother, to the church of god which is at corinth, to those who have been sanctified in christ jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our lord jesus christ, their {lord} and ours: grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ.

the call of god (to paul and corinth)

paul's calling :

paul's calling is to the office of apostle

what is an apostle? the term seems to be used in a couple different ways in the new testament.
first, it is used in reference to the twelve apostles (of which many would argue that paul is one, being the replacement for judas [instead of matthias]). see rev. 21:14 for the absolute nature of 12 apostles (names of the 12 written on the 12 foundations of the new jerusalem)
secondly, it is used to refer to 'one who has been sent'. this is closer to the common (non-biblical) greek usage...

luke, in acts, refers to paul and barnabus as apostles - "but when the apostles barnabas and paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd"
paul, in 1 thess. 2:6 uses the term of he and silas - "nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of christ we might have asserted our authority".

most likely paul is here using the term in the first way. it's worth noting that this could be an establishment of authority given the trouble paul has had in terms of authority with the corinthian church; the first issue he brings up in first corinthians is factionalism, as they have divided along lines of allegience to various teachers (paul, apollos, cephas). perhaps more telling is that in 2 corinthians paul feels the need to defend his apostleship (chapter 11). so there is evidence that paul's authority was not secure with at least some members of the church at corinth, and it is possible that this statement on apostleship could be made with that in mind. it should also be noted however that paul usually opens his letters with such a statement; consider rom, 1cor, 2cor, gal, eph, col, 1tim, 2tim, and titus). this is my preferred reading here, though acknowledging the difficulties between paul and the corinthians is worth doing as the situation should be kept in mind throughout the book.

paul is an apostle of jesus christ one sent by jesus christ; without drifting into the obvious, acknowledging the nature of the one sending paul is important. paul is stating that he has been sent by the living god, an idea that inspires wonder (why involve humans?) and fear (be sure to do the job well).
it's worth noting that jesus christ or christ jesus is spoken of 4 times in the first 3 verses; paul's focus is very much on christ.

paul is an apostle by the will of god paul's call has been issued by god; he is an apostle because of god's design.

paul's calling is primary.he bears this in mind, as might be expected given his history, going from persecuter to promoter due to the direct intervention of christ. the story of paul's calling is in acts 9. in the beginning of romans, he speaks of his obligation to the gospel; it seems that this would parallel the idea of calling here...

rom 1:1 paul, a bond-servant of christ jesus, called {as} an apostle, set apart for the gospel of god
rom 1:14 i am under obligation both to greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

paul's calling is problematic on a (perhaps) related note, consider god's statement to ananias concerning paul (when aninias is told to go to saul to heal his vision)

act 9:15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;
act 9:16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake."

from the beginning, paul's calling was to "suffer for my name's sake" (for a sampling of what he went through, check out 2 cor 11:23-33). however, paul recognizes his role (rom 1:1 "bond-servant").

paul's calling is personal god intervened in the life of paul to bring him through grace into peace with god. god 'pursued' paul and called him by name (acts 9:4). our calling should not be perceived as any less specific. it's easy to lose the specificity of god calling us in an individual sense, but doing so lessens our understanding of god's personal concern for us.

paul's calling is passive it's worth noting that the concept of 'calling' makes god the active agent; paul shows that he is conscious of the active grace of god...

the church at corinth's calling :

saints by calling : paul, after stating his own calling, declares the corinthians 'called'
all christians are the recipients of the specific call of god
though paul himself received a direct call in the physical world from jesus, 'calling' to him is not limited to such circumstances. here he applies it to the entire church, many of whom would have 'called' in non-supernatural (in terms of manifestation) ways. either way, god's call was placed on the person; for those of us who did not recieve a call that was accompanied by a flash of light and a voice from heaven, his declaration here should provide us with confidence.
bear in mind how paul opens the book (calling them called, sanctified, etc) in light of the topics covered in the rest of the book (factionalism, immorality, confusion with gifts, 'love' feasts, etc). these problems do not negate the truth of their calling and sanctification (though it should also be noted that the statements of calling and sanctification are applied to the church as a whole; it would be an error to assume that the entire church was guilty of the errors paul addresses in the book)

sanctification : "to those who have been sanctified"

note that paul states that they "have been sanctified" (past action with present results). (sanctification is the process of becoming holy). the term may be correctly used in the past, present, and future tenses...paul uses the term in the past and present directly, and expresses the idea that the fulfillment of our sanctification (our complete regeneration) will yet occur in the future.
hebrews declares sanctification to be a requirement to "see god" (salvation)

hbr 12:14 pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

paul's past tense here is identifying the corinthians as made holy through the sacrifice of christ; the effects of their salvation continue to the present, and (as discussed earlier) provide them peace with god; this is fortunately true for all christians, so the peace which the corinthians enjoyed is also shared by us.
again, as with the 'called' concept, their sanctification should be placed in juxtaposition to the problems addressed in the rest of the book...

community : "with all who in every place call upon the name of our lord jesus christ"

paul expands the view from the corinthian church to the body of christ as a whole; this concept of 'all christians together' and the part fitting into the whole is borne out in a more local way in chapter 12...
this community aspect may be intended to reinforce the concept of the unity of the body of christ; viewing the church as a unified whole stands in opposition to the factionalism and divisions (by class/wealth) that paul addresses in the book.

1cr 12:14 for the body is not one member, but many.

grace and peace :

this is a reasonably standard opening statement for paul; it also follows the standard pattern of the time...

the basic form is culturally typical : the basic form followed in paul's epistles of "from -> to, thanks to.." is common to most letters of paul's time. his willingness to use commonly accepted forms should be noted, but not in preference to the content he places within the structure.

grace and peace : paul's letters nearly always include the direct phrase "grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ" (romans, 1 cor., 2 cor., gal, eph, phil., col., and philemon). 2 thes. says "god the father" instead of "god our father". 1/2 timothy have "grace, mercy, and peace...". titus has "our savior" instead of "our lord". the importance and primacy of grace and peace, given to us from god our father and christ, can not be over recognized. it is grace which makes peace with god (and each other) possible, and that the peace we enjoy with god originates from the grace of god should strike us as all the more wonderful.

Rom 5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath {of God} through Him.
Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Rom 5:11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

and sosthenes our brother : sosthenes might be the one mentioned in acts 18:17.

act 18:17 And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and {began} beating him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

paul frequently includes another person in the introduction to his letters; timothy is mentioned in 2 cor., phil., col., and philemon; timothy and silvanus are mentioned in the letters to the thesselonians.
he made a point of working in a team, and gave credit (probably beyond that which was due since his apostleship provided the authority and inspiration) to his coworkers. i don't think that any principles or commands should be drawn from his practice, but his inclusions should be noted as he bothers with the mention.

the importance of jesus christ

jesus christ / christ jesus is spoken of 4 times in these first three verses.
he is the one whom paul represents as an apostle
he is the one in whom we are sanctified
he is the one whom we call upon (provider of salvation).

"all who call upon the name of the lord" - this is a phrase referring to salvation, used throughout the old testament... consider :

gen 4:26 to seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name enosh. then {men} began to call upon the name of the lord.

psa 116:17 to you i shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the name of the lord.

joe 2:32 "and it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the lord will be delivered; for on mount zion and in jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the lord has said, even among the survivors whom the lord calls.

zep 3:9 "for then i will give to the peoples purified lips, that all of them may call on the name of the lord, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.

act 2:21 'and it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved.'

rom 10:13 for "whoever will call on the name of the lord will be saved."

he is the/our lord (authority)
he is the one who provides us grace and peace
paul's frequent use of jesus christ highlights the importance and supremecy of christ; this is in contrast to the allegience to men (i am of paul, i am of apollos) or to self (impurity etc) addressed in the book. the christian is to be christ centered :

1cr 2:2 for i determined to know nothing among you except jesus christ, and him crucified.