John Calvin 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)

To the Church of God which is at Corinth. It may perhaps appear strange that he should give the name of a Church of God to a multitude of people who were infested with so many disorders, that Satan might be said to reign among them rather than God.

It is certain that he did not mean to flatter the Corinthians, for he speaks under the direction of the Spirit of God, who is not accustomed to flatter. But among so many pollutions, what appearance of a Church remains? I answer, the Lord having said to him, “Fear not: I have much people in this place” (Acts 18:9–10); keeping this promise in mind, he conferred upon a godly few so much honor as to recognize them as a Church amid a vast multitude of ungodly people.

Further, notwithstanding that many vices had crept in, and various corruptions both of doctrine and conduct, there were, nevertheless, certain signs still remaining of a true Church. This is a passage that should be carefully observed, so that we may not require that the Church, while in this world, should be free from every wrinkle and stain, or immediately pronounce unworthy of such a title every society in which everything is not as we would wish it.

For it is a dangerous temptation to think that there is no Church at all where perfect purity is not to be seen. For the person who is prepossessed with this notion must necessarily in the end withdraw from all others, and look upon himself as the only saint in the world, or set up a peculiar sect in company with a few hypocrites.

What ground, then, had Paul for recognizing a Church at Corinth? It was this: that he saw among them the doctrine of the gospel, baptism, the Lord’s Supper—signs by which a Church should be judged. For although some had begun to have doubts as to the resurrection, the error not having spread over the entire body, the name of the Church and its reality are not thereby affected.

Some faults had crept in among them in the administration of the Supper; discipline and propriety of conduct had very much declined. Despising the simplicity of the gospel, they had given themselves up to show and pomp, and in consequence of the ambition of their ministers, they were split into various parties.

Despite this, however, inasmuch as they retained fundamental doctrine—as the one God was adored among them and was invoked in the name of Christ, as they placed their dependence for salvation upon Christ, and had a ministry not altogether corrupted—there was, on these accounts, a Church still existing among them.

Accordingly, wherever the worship of God is preserved intact, and that fundamental doctrine of which I have spoken remains, we must without hesitation conclude that in that case a Church exists.

Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. He mentions the blessings with which God had adorned them, as if by way of reproaching them, at least if they showed no gratitude in return. For what could be more shameful than to reject an Apostle through whose instrumentality they had been set apart as God’s special possession?

Meanwhile, by these two epithets, he points out what sort of people should be considered among the true members of the Church, and who they are that rightly belong to her communion. For if you do not by holiness of life show yourself to be a Christian, you may indeed be in the Church, and pass undetected, but you cannot be of it.

Hence all must be sanctified in Christ who are to be reckoned among the people of God. Now the term sanctification denotes separation. This takes place in us when we are regenerated by the Spirit to newness of life, so that we may serve God and not the world. For while by nature we are unholy, the Spirit consecrates us to God.

However, as this is accomplished when we are engrafted into the body of Christ, apart from whom there is nothing but pollution, and as it is also by Christ, and not from any other source that the Spirit is bestowed, it is with good reason that he says that we are sanctified in Christ, inasmuch as it is by Him that we cleave to God, and in Him become new creatures.

What immediately follows—called to be saints—I understand to mean: As you have been called to holiness.

It may, however, be taken in two senses. Either we may understand Paul to say that the ground of sanctification is the call of God, inasmuch as God has chosen them (meaning that this depends on His grace, not on the excellence of people); or we may understand him to mean that it accords with our profession that we should be holy, this being the design of the doctrine of the gospel.

The former interpretation appears to suit the context better, but it is of no great consequence in which way you understand it, as there is an entire agreement between the two following positions: that our holiness flows from the fountain of divine election, and that it is the end of our calling.

We must, therefore, carefully maintain that it is not through our own efforts that we are holy, but by the call of God, because He alone sanctifies those who were by nature unclean.

And certainly it appears to me probable that when Paul has pointed out, as it were with his finger, the fountain of holiness thrown wide open, he mounts up a step higher, to the good pleasure of God, in which Christ’s mission to us also originated. However, as we are called by the gospel to harmlessness of life (Philippians 2:15), it is necessary that this be accomplished in us in reality, so that our calling may be effectual.

It will, however, be objected that there were not many such among the Corinthians. I answer that the weak are not excluded from this number, for here God only begins His work in us and little by little carries it forward gradually and by successive steps.

I answer further that Paul deliberately looks rather to the grace of God in them than to their own defects, so that he may put them to shame for their negligence if they do not act accordingly.

With all that call. This, too, is an epithet common to all the pious; for as it is one chief exercise of faith to call upon the name of God, so it is also by this duty chiefly that believers are to be assessed. Observe, also, that he says that Christ is called upon by believers, and this affords a proof of His divinity—invocation being one of the first expressions of Divine homage.

Hence invocation here by synecdoche (κατὰ συνεκδοχήν) denotes the entire profession of faith in Christ, as in many passages of Scripture it is taken generally for the whole of Divine worship. Some explain it as denoting mere profession, but this appears to be inadequate and at variance with its usual meaning in Scripture.

The little words nostri (ours) and sui (theirs) I have put in the genitive, understanding them as referring to Christ, while others, understanding them as referring to place, render them in the ablative. In doing so I have followed Chrysostom. This will, perhaps, appear harsh, as the expression in every place is introduced in the middle, but in Paul’s Greek style there is nothing harsh in this construction.

My reason for preferring this rendering to that of the Vulgate is that if you understand it as referring to place, the additional clause will be not merely superfluous but inappropriate. For what place would Paul call his own? Judea, they understand him to mean; but on what ground? And then, what place could he refer to as inhabited by others?

“All other places of the world” (they say). But this, too, does not fit well. On the other hand, the meaning that I have given it is perfectly suitable; for, after mentioning all that in every place call upon the name of Christ our Lord, he adds, both theirs and ours, manifestly to show that Christ is the one common Lord, without distinction, of all that call upon Him, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

In every place. This Paul has added, contrary to his usual manner, for in his other Epistles he mentions in the salutation only those for whom they are designed.

He seems, however, to have intended to anticipate the slanders of wicked people, so that they could not allege that, in addressing the Corinthians, he assumed a confident air and claimed for himself an authority that he would not venture to assert in writing to other Churches.

For we shall see presently that he was unjustly loaded with this reproach too, as though he were preparing little nests for himself in order to shun the light, or were withdrawing himself in a clandestine way from the rest of the Apostles.

It appears, then, that expressly to refute this falsehood, he places himself in a commanding position, from which he may be heard from afar.