The Work of God

 DEVOTION

THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

THE WORK OF GOD

1 Cor 1:1-3

 Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 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: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV

First of all, let us consider this letter as written directly to us, as we are among those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus and are called holy, as we also are among those who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We somewhat have difficulty with this word sanctified, as though it has something to do with us, or what we do, or don’t do. But that is not the case, for this Greek word, hagiazoo, means to be rendered, or declared sacred or holy, and that can only be done by God which is a result of us being in Christ, or accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That is why Paul makes the point that we are rendered as sacred, or holy because we are in Christ Jesus, and called hagios, saints, or set apart for God. It is interesting the “to be” in the called to be holy is not in the Greek, but added for clarification, but whoever felt that we should be called to be holy, would mean, it is what we have been called to be, thus a work by us to be holy, not that we have been rendered as saints or rendered as set apart for God, by God. But that is exactly what the more wooden translation of the Greek is. We are declared or rendered as sacred or holy because we are in Christ Jesus and we have been rendered as saints, set apart for God, by God. It is all about what God has done in us, and has nothing to do we how we need to be in order to be acceptable to God, proving our holiness, or purity by our righteous acts. Our part is but to call upon the name of the Lord. His part is to do all the declaring us sacred and holy and setting us apart for himself. Because we have been declared sacred, holy, and saints of God, he bestows his grace and peace upon us. Once again, his grace, in this context, is this goodwill, this act of graciousness or favor or loving-kindness of the Lord. Now, what is due to this act of grace is revealed in our spiritual condition because we are powered, or influenced,  by his divine grace. Once again, this spiritual condition is not to be confused with works, for they are physical and this grace is revealed within us in our spiritual condition, that which is within the innermost core of our being, which is rendered by God, as sacred and holy. This peace is  also something that is bestowed upon us, and it creates within us a tranquil state in which we are assured of our salvation thus we fear nothing from God and we are content with our earthly lot, whatsoever that is. We live in perfect peace, without anxiety, stress, and joylessness. If we believe that God gives us his peace, not as the world gives, but as he gives, then we are free to live joyfully, secure, and full of his peace. Although we may see results in our lives, in some physical sense, it is not because of our work because this is all the work of God.