Paul to Believers

Paul to the Believers in Corinth
Paul to Believers today
“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: 
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.  
For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—  because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.  
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.  
He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” 
1 Corinthians 1:2-9
I like the phrase, “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy,”
This was it seems a church that was a good solid believing church. Paul referring to it as being “sanctified”.
He makes it clear that “For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—  because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.  
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” 
Such a church one commentator I read said also had to be morally holy. This must have been hard for the church in Corinth. It was surrounded by sin.
We are in many ways in the same situation as they were. Especially those of us who live in large cities and towns.
We do not live in a Christian world.
The cities of today while not filled with temples to the gods such as Aphrodite, Asclepius, and to Apollo still have gods.
One only has to walk down the financial district of Bay street in Toronto here in Canada or Wall Street in the United states to see temples to the god of money.
We don’t have to go far in any major city to find the seamy side of life. Prostitution, and illegal drugs, are everywhere.
As are the legal sins, stripper bars and taverns, x-rated movies and live shows. The writer of Ecclesiastes was right when he wrote,
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”
Ecclesiastes 1:9
It can be hard to be a Christian here even in the west as freedoms in the secular states of the west include the freedom to sin.
That is why Pauls letter to the Corinthians is so important to us today.
The Corinthian church was far from perfect and it made very real mistakes the same as we in the church do today.
It is precisely why we study such writings.
When Paul wrote this letter he aimed it at the Corinthians but he could just have easily written it to us.
“To the church of God in Corinth,” could just as easily been expressed as ‘to the church of the twenty-first century.
Paul say’s“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:” is something that can be said to us today. We are called to be holy together with believers around the world.
The question is however when it comes down to you as the individual and your church congregation could Paul say of you and your congregation,
“I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.”
Think about it.