Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Paul is opening a letter to the church in Corinth, a prosperous and culturally diverse city in ancient Greece known for its moral permissiveness. If you read the rest of this letter, you discover the Corinthian church was deeply troubled — members were divided into factions, suing each other in court, tolerating sexual immorality, and abusing the Lord's Supper. Paul knew all of this. Yet he opens the letter by calling them "sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy." "Sanctified" means set apart and made holy — it is something that has already happened to them in Christ, not a status they have earned. Paul also connects them to every believer everywhere, making clear that this identity is shared across the whole church.
Lord, I find it far easier to believe in my failures than in what you have already done in me. Help me receive the identity you have given me — not as permission to stay the same, but as solid ground to grow from. Amen.
If you knew what was actually happening inside the Corinthian church, you'd raise an eyebrow at Paul's opening line. This was a congregation with serious, public failures — the kind that would end careers and split churches today. Paul knew every detail. He addresses it all in the chapters that follow. And yet he leads with their identity, not their record. "Sanctified in Christ Jesus." It reads almost like Paul is planting a flag in the ground before the hard conversation begins: this is who you are, regardless of what you've been doing. Here's the thing about being "called to be holy": the calling arrives before the holiness. Paul doesn't say "once you clean up your act, God will consider you sanctified." He says you already are — in Christ — and now you're invited to live from that reality rather than toward it. That is a completely different starting place than shame or self-improvement. You are not striving for something you don't yet have. You are learning to walk in something already true. What would shift about how you face today if you actually believed that about yourself first?
Paul calls the Corinthians "sanctified" even though their church was a mess. What does that tell you about how God sees his people — and what the word "sanctified" actually means?
Is there a gap between who you feel you are spiritually and who Scripture says you are in Christ? What does that tension feel like in your everyday life?
The harder question: is it possible to use "I'm already accepted by grace" as an unconscious excuse not to grow or change? How do you hold the tension between identity and responsibility honestly?
Paul writes to "all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord" — connecting the Corinthians to the whole global, historical church. How does sharing that identity with Christians across culture and time affect how you treat fellow believers you strongly disagree with?
What is one specific way you could act from your identity in Christ today — rather than react from your insecurities, your failures, or your comparison to others?
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Acts 20:28
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
2 Timothy 2:19
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:11
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 1:1
And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
1 Chronicles 4:10
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Romans 8:30
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1 Corinthians 1:30
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified (set apart, made holy) in Christ Jesus, who are selected and called as saints (God's people), together with all those who in every place call on and honor the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
AMP
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
ESV
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:
NASB
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—their Lord and ours:
NIV
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
NKJV
I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
NLT
I send this letter to you in God's church at Corinth, Christians cleaned up by Jesus and set apart for a God-filled life. I include in my greeting all who call out to Jesus, wherever they live. He's their Master as well as ours!
MSG