1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 1.
Salutation and Thanksgiving. 1 Cor. 1, 1—9.
The thanksgiving of the apostle: V. 4. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ, v. 5. that in everything ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance and in all knowledge.
In spite of the conditions which Paul knew to be existing in Corinth, he must break forth in a hymn of thankfulness. "The injury of the ungrateful Corinthians was great, but their ingratitude did not consume Paul's gratitude" (Besser, Bibelstunden, 8, 16).
Paul's manner of dealing in this instance is, incidentally, a fine example of love's believing all things; for he was sure that the abuses that were found in the Corinthian congregation did not represent their real spiritual selves, and that his admonition would readily be heeded. And therefore he was engaged in thanking God always, in blessing and praising His mercy, concerning the Corinthian Christians, for the grace of God which was given them in Christ Jesus. That was the reason for his continual thanksgiving. In spite of their many weaknesses they were yet believers; they had received from God, and were in possession of, His grace, as a free gift in Christ Jesus, a gift made possible through the merits of Christ in His vicarious office.
"That is also an unspeakable treasure of a Christian that he has of a certainty first of all the Word of God, which is the Word of eternal grace and comfort, Baptism, the Sacrament, the understanding of the Ten Commandments and of faith, and, in addition, also the certain refuge and assurance that He will hear us in trouble, if we will call upon Him" (Luther, 12, 904)
The apostle now shows in what way the grace of God has given practical evidence of its living power in the hearts of the Corinthian Christians: That in every point you have been enriched, abundantly blessed, in Him, namely, in every word and in every knowledge, in all doctrine and in all understanding.
"That is what St. Paul calls 'being rich,' first 'in all doctrine or wisdom,' which is the high spiritual understanding of the word which concerns eternal life, that is, the comfort of faith in Christ; also of calling upon Him and praying. And 'in all understanding,' that is, correct knowledge and distinction of the entire external physical life and being on earth" (Luther, 12, 905).
They had learned to know the way to eternal life, they were filled with the riches of the certainty of the grace of God, and they were rich in all understanding, they had an insight into the truth of the doctrine of God in its application to every-day life, to their needs in every condition of life.