1 Corinthians 1:4-9: Enriched in all speech and all knowledge

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I don't know if I'll continue going through 1 Corinthians, but I just felt like sharing today. Sharing what I've learned helps me remember it!

Section Headings in Your Bible

My Bible titles this section of Scripture as "Thanksgiving". But did you know these titles are not actually part of biblical text? They don't exist in the Hebrew or Greek manuscripts. In fact, chapter and verse divisions are also later additions! They organize the text for clarity, and they can be helpful. But titles can also distract from the author's full intent.

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way--with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge--God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

When I see the title "Thanksgiving" for this section, I tend to skim it. "Paul is thankful for the Corinthian church. He says this in almost every letter."

What God Does

But this doesn't seem like a passage about Paul's thankfulness, nor about the Corinthian church and their actions. It's more than a greeting. It's a reminder about God: a succinct, confident statement of encouragement about what God does for the church - which means every believer. He:

  • Gives grace
  • Enriches us with speech and knowledge (my favorite phrase in this section). You don't have to be a good speaker to talk about God. You don't have to be a Bible expert to understand its message. Why? Because we do not enrich ourselves. He enriches us.
  • Uses spiritual gifts to confirm the gospel
  • Supplies the church with everything needed to function while waiting for Jesus to come back
  • Promises to keep us firm
  • Promises to keep us blameless in God's sight
  • Is faithful
  • Calls us to a relationship with Jesus

I already know "all this stuff" which is repeated over and over in the Bible, especially in the epistles. I just need to be reminded by reading the same concepts with different wording. Only then will my way of living look like Jesus.

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