2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (ESV)
It is interesting to note the boldness of Paul in stating his calling as an apostle of Christ. I stop to think how unsure Christians today are of their calling. Where, in reality, we, just like Paul, are called to be apostles. The word apostle here, in the Greek, literally means “one sent forth with orders.” We must be as sure as Paul in our calling. We have been given a message of hope and love, with the order we have received being to spread this good news to all mankind (Matt. 28:19-20).
The people of Corinth were giving in to many of their old habits, yet Paul, yet knowing of their evil deeds, bid them grace and peace. He was not condoning their actions (as we see in the rest of 1 Corinthians), but encouraging them in the faith. Our Christian brothers and sisters are not perfect (nor are we), but that does not diminish the need for us to encourage them. Believers are attacked on every side and at every turn by those in the world. The worst thing we can do to our brothers and sisters, bruised and bleeding, is to add on to the attacks. We, like Paul, must encourage each other.
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