Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 1:2

"unto the church of God which is at Corinth, [even] them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called [to be] saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their [Lord] and ours:" — 1 Corinthians 1:2 (ASV)

The believers in Corinth are designated as the “church [ekklesia; GK 1711] of God” (cf. also Ac 20:28; 2 Corinthians 1:1), a phrase that has OT associations, as in the expression “assembly [or congregation] of the Lord” (Numbers 16:3; 20:4, Dt 23:1; 1 Chronicles 28:8) and the “assembly of Israel” (Leviticus 16:17). For Paul, this church at Corinth was considered a part of the universal “church of God”; note his reference to Palestinian churches as also being a part of that same body (1 Corinthians 15:9; cf. 10:31–32). The apostle may have found it particularly useful in Corinth to distinguish the church from the secular ekklesia (assembly) of Greek cities, which was the gathering of the citizenry in a city-state to discuss and decide on matters of public interest (cf. Acts 19:39).

The Corinthian Christians are described as “sanctified” (GK 39), i.e., set apart and in a holy position before God because of their spiritual union with Jesus Christ. Paul goes on to emphasize that they are called to live as God’s holy people. They are on an equal footing with the people of God everywhere, who also call on the name of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (cf. Acts 9:14, 21). The unity of believers in Christ is shown by Paul’s emphatic words in v.2, “their Lord and ours.”