1 Cor 1:1 Paul, called an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes.
Humility—by the confession of powerlessness and unworthiness—is a great commendation of grace; it obtains increase. There is nothing good in one who does not humbly acknowledge that every benefit received is undeserved and give thanks in the spirit of humility. For God gives grace to the humble. This, at the beginning of this Epistle, the Apostle Paul accomplishes when he says: “called an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.”
“I did not myself discover what I learned, nor did I grasp it by my own wisdom,” says Chrysostom; “but when I was persecuting and ravaging the Church, I was called” (Hom. 1). Here everything belongs to the One who calls; of the one who is called there is nothing except that he obeyed. By the will of God. This is the first and universal cause of every good that is in us. For we have done nothing good of ourselves, but through the will of God we have found salvation; and because it pleased Him, we were called—not because we were worthy.
Paul, called an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Blessed is he who, with the Apostle, can say that he is called to the sacred ministry—to the priesthood, to pastoral care, to the preaching of the divine word, to the guidance of souls—not by his own will, not by that of his parents, but by the will of God alone. Blessed is the minister of the divine word who does not take the honor to himself but is called by God, as Aaron was. Blessed is he who, with no regard to flesh and blood, no worldly recommendation, but by the election of God and the preparation of the Holy Spirit, is assumed to ecclesiastical dignities and to the care of souls: a participant in the priesthood of Christ and not only a participant but an imitator—he who, according to the order of Melchizedek, is established as a priest forever.
Of this divine priesthood, says Saint Leo (Sermon on the Anniversary), although the sacrament passes today into human functions, it is not obtained by the line of generations nor created by flesh and blood; but with the privilege of ancestry and family order set aside, the Church receives as her rulers those whom the Holy Spirit has prepared, so that in the people of God’s adoption—whose universality is both priestly and royal—the anointing is not secured by earthly prerogative but an antistite is begotten by the favor of heavenly grace.
“And Sosthenes, our brother …” Consider here the modesty of the Apostle, who does not disdain to associate with himself Sosthenes, a man far inferior to him in rank and merit. But if here, where so great a distance intervened, he joined to himself one who was inferior, what shall those say who despise those who are equal to them in honor? Hence let prelates learn not to domineer over the clergy, but to become a pattern to the entrusted flock by humility and Christian modesty no less than by the example of other virtues. Let them learn to govern presbyters and the rest of the clergy and the people not by arbitrary power but according to canonical order.
1 Cor 1:2 “To the Church of God which is at Corinth … sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.”
The very name Church is an exhortation to concord and harmony of minds, to unity and agreement. “He calls it the Church of God,” says Saint Chrysostom, “showing the grace of the calling” (Hom. 1). It ought therefore to be one; for if it is God’s, it is united and is one—not only at Corinth but throughout the whole world. The name Church is not a name of separation but of union, concord, and consensus.
Called saints. The Apostle insists that they were sanctified solely by the mercy of God. “For you did not come first,” he says, “but you were called.” Wherefore even this is entirely yours by gift. And even if you had come first, you would still have been liable to innumerable evils; thus even then it would not be yours but God’s grace. For this reason, writing to the Ephesians, he said: “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God.” For you did not first believe by your own profession, but being called you obeyed—grace itself, the grace of the One who calls, working faith and obedience in you and cooperating with those who obey.
Called saints. To be a Christian and to be holy are the same in status and profession. Yet let us not flatter ourselves about the holiness of the religion we profess unless the sanctity of our life and morals corresponds to it in every respect. Alas, we are worse than pagans—worse precisely because we ought to be better; if we are not better, we are worse. For guilt is more grievous where the state is more honorable; the higher the dignity of the sinner, the greater the odium of the sin. Theft is indeed an evil in anyone, but it is without doubt more blameworthy if a senator steals than if a lowly person does. Fornication is forbidden to all, but it is far more grievous if one of the clergy commits it than if one of the people does.
Thus we too, who are called Christians and Catholics, if we commit acts similar to the impurities of the barbarians, err more grievously. We sin more atrociously under the profession of a holy name. Where the prerogative is higher, the fault is greater. The very religion we profess accuses our errors. More culpable is the impurity of one who has promised chastity; more disgraceful is drunkenness when sobriety is pretended by one’s outward appearance. Nothing is more shameful for a philosopher than to pursue obscene vices, because beyond the deformity the vices have in themselves, they are more conspicuous under the name of wisdom.
We, therefore, who among the whole human race profess Christian philosophy, necessarily come to be believed and regarded as worse than all nations if, under so great a profession, we live badly and sin while placed within religion. It profits us nothing that the Law is good if our manner of life is not good. The Law is good—the gift of Christ; but a life not good is the accusation of our guilt. Indeed, we are all the more blameworthy if we revere a good law and are evil worshipers. Rather, we are not even worshipers if we are evil, for a bad worshiper cannot be called a worshiper; one does not worship who does not worship a holy thing in a holy manner. And thus the very law we worship becomes our accuser.
“With all who invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ …” All of us, insofar as we are Christians throughout the whole world, belong to one Lord. In the faith of His name, in the hope of His kingdom, all are united; all are called by His grace; all are sanctified by His Spirit. Therefore we must be bound together by one charity. For how can those who live in one place, yet have many and contrary lords, not be divided and opposed, with nothing in the place itself that can bring them to concord, since their different lords command different things and draw them to themselves? “You cannot serve God and Mammon.” But those who are in different places, if they do not have many lords but one alone, are not hindered by place from concord, since the one Lord unites them. “I do not say,” he adds, “that you must be in harmony only with your fellow citizens at Corinth, but with all Christians throughout the whole world, since you have a common Lord.”
1 Cor 1:3 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” God is our Father because we are members of His only-begotten Son. Christ Jesus is our Lord because we have been redeemed by the price of His blood. The eternal Father gave us to His Son that He might redeem us and sanctify us in Him by His grace; the Son offered us to the Father that He might grant us eternal peace in His bosom, making us blessed by the enjoyment of Himself. True peace is not without grace; peace is of no profit unless it is from God and with God. It profits us nothing if we have peace with all while waging war against God; nor does it harm us if we are attacked by all, provided we have peace with God. Again, it profits us nothing if we are approved and praised by all while offending the Lord. There is no danger if all hate us while we are acceptable and dear to God.
True grace and true peace are from God. He who is pleasing to God fears no one, even if he suffers countless evils—not man, nor even the devil. But he who offends God has everyone as suspect, even if he seems secure. David had grace before God; Absalom before men. You know which end each had and who was more approved. Abraham had grace before God; Pharaoh before men—for it was to please him that the righteous surrendered their wife. Which was more illustrious, which truly blessed, is clear to all. The Israelites had grace before God and were hated by all the Egyptians; yet they overcame those who hated them.
Therefore let us all strive for this: to have grace and peace before God. And by what other means shall we obtain this than by humility? For God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Humility merits the grace of God; a contrite and humbled heart He does not despise. It reconciles peace with God and fosters peace with men. Nothing makes a Christian more admirable than humility; no one has a loftier and more exalted spirit than one who is truly humble. See more in Saint Chrysostom.
1 Cor 1:4 “I give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God which has been given you in Christ Jesus.” Thanksgiving is the clearest testimony of grace. For thanksgiving would be mockery if thanks were given to God for something He neither gave nor did—just as it would be mockery, or flattery, or even derision rather than thanksgiving, if a man were thanked by another for what he neither bestowed nor performed. Not only, however, for particular benefits and graces bestowed upon us by God, but also for the gifts of grace that have been granted to other members of the Church and are bestowed daily—for the conversion of unbelievers and sinners, for the perseverance of the just, for all the good works that are done by the elect through God’s operation—we ought to give thanks to God, as members of the same Body. By this very title all those goods and gifts of God are ours.
I give thanks to my God always for you,” etc. Thanksgiving, which is the most sacred sacrifice of praise, was frequent on the lips of the first Christians, especially on the lips of pastors, who in a certain way are mediators and intercessors for the people before God. Why is it so infrequent among us? Do we owe God less than they did? Or is God less our God, or less beneficent toward us?
“I give thanks to my God.” Out of deep affection he takes what is common and makes it his own, as we are accustomed to say with the prophets: “O God, my God” (cf. Ps 63; 127). He exhorts them that they too may say this. For whoever calls the God of all men his own in a special way withdraws from all human things and advances toward Him, whom he names with great affection. This, indeed, can be said truly and sincerely by one who continually rises above earthly things toward God, always prefers Him to all else, and gives thanks perpetually—not only for grace already given, but if any good should later be added, he also pursues God with praise for that. Therefore he did not merely say “I give thanks,” but “always,” teaching them both to give thanks continually and to no one else except God alone.
“For the grace of God.” By recalling grace he again humbles the pride innate to corrupt nature. For where grace is, there are no merits; where merits are, grace is no longer grace. But if it is grace, why are you exalted and think so highly of yourselves? From where have you become inflated?
“Which has been given you in Christ Jesus.” Not through me or through another Apostle, but through Jesus Christ. There is no grace except through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ, because no one can be saved except through Him and in Him.
1 Cor 1:5 “That in everything you have been enriched in Him, in all speech and in all knowledge.” The word of God and the doctrine of truth are the treasury of the Church. All who love the truth and obediently listen are rich with this treasury—that which the Church received from the Apostles, the Apostles from Christ, and Christ from the Father. The dogmas of the Christian religion are explained and confirmed more and more each day.
1 Cor 1:6 “Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed among you.” But alas, the love and observance of the commandments of the Gospel diminish daily and grow cold.
1 Cor 1:7 “So that you lack nothing in any grace.” No grace by which God’s commandments may be made possible to the just is lacking; for when the command presses, help goes before it. Even to sinners sufficient helps are prepared by God—who wills all to be saved with a true and sincere will—and these are often given or at least offered through Christ, who died for all. As Saint Augustine says: God does not command impossibilities, but by commanding He admonishes you to do what you can and to ask for what you cannot, and He helps you so that you may be able.
If the commandments of God become impossible to some, it is the penalty of sin—either that which is drawn from a corrupted origin or that which is committed by one’s own will. But the just, to whom no necessary grace is lacking, are nevertheless not perfect in grace and justice, because there is always some infirmity in them until complete healing is perfected and God is shown as He is, in eternal truth. Therefore one must always run, struggle, pray, watch, and advance, “as you await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The time of revelation and manifestation is not to be anticipated by rash curiosity, nor is the time of blessedness to be forestalled by temporal and deceptive pleasure or by grave sin.
1 Cor 1:8 “Who will also confirm you to the end, blameless, on the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God of hosts, from whom comes all that is best, does not give grace and charity to the just because they are deserving, but gives them freely so that they may be just; and He likewise confirms us, though undeserving, with the gift of perseverance, so that we may be blameless until the end. Let us therefore strive that, although we cannot live entirely without sin—for “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8)—at least we may be without crime. A crime is a grave sin worthy of accusation and condemnation, such as murder, adultery, any impurity of fornication, theft, fraud, sacrilege, and the like.
When a man begins not to have these, and indeed every Christian man ought not to have them, he begins to lift up his head toward freedom; yet this freedom is begun, not perfected. It is partly freedom and partly servitude—not yet whole, not yet pure, not yet full freedom, because eternity has not yet come. For we have infirmity in part and in part we have received freedom. If infirmity had not remained, we would live here without sin. The first freedom is to be free from crimes. With this Christ has endowed all who have been justified through Baptism or through Penance; let them labor to diminish sin within themselves. That which is diminished in the life of those who are advancing is consumed in the life of the perfect.
If we strive with all our strength and act accordingly, and do not cease humbly to implore the help of God that He may deliver us from evil, He will confirm us to the end, blameless. Nothing, however, is so powerful in stirring our vigilance and constancy in good as faith in the coming of Christ for judgment—He who will condemn the wicked and crown the good, and those who have persevered to the end, “on the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Cor 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The faithfulness of God in His promises is the origin of the calling of the saints and the foundation of our hope. Let us do what He has commanded; He will most certainly render what He has promised. Let us be faithful by remaining in the fellowship of the Body, of the Spirit, of the life, virtues, and sufferings of Jesus Christ; and God will be faithful by receiving us with Him into the bosom and fellowship of His glory.
But since He is light and there are no darknesses in Him, “if we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6).
continue.
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