Lessons #13 and 14
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Assurances you can trust (1 Cor 1:8-9)
8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
These two verses are concerned with assurances the Holy Spirit gave through Apostle Paul to the Corinthians and so to the church of Christ. But before we get to the assurances of this section of 1 Corinthians, there are two problems that we need to deal that are important in the interpretation of the section.
A first problem is the relationship of this section to the preceding section that was concerned with the reasons for the apostle’s thanksgiving to God for the Corinthians, especially verse 7, that indicates the Corinthians and so the universal church of Christ does not lack any spiritual gift that it needs to function until Christ returns. This problem arises because of a Greek conjunction (kai) that is not translated in the 1984 edition of the NIV but translated also in the 2011 edition of the NIV. The Greek conjunction has several usages but two of these are possible in our passage. It could be used as a marker to indicate an additive relation that is not of equal rank and importance to another clause, in which case, it may be translated “and, and also, also.” The implication will be that the apostle makes an additional statement to his declaration that the Corinthians do not lack any spiritual gift or that they are enriched spiritually. Many of our English versions adopt this interpretation as reflected in the English versions that used the word “also” or “and” in their translation. Of course, the English versions such as the CEV that began the verse with the word “and” could have interpreted the conjunction as a marker that joins two clauses of equal rank and importance, implying that what the apostle states in verse 8 is of the same importance as what he stated about spiritual enrichment. Another interpretation of Greek conjunction is as a marker that introduces something new with a loose connection with the clause that precedes it in which case it is left untranslated. This seems to be the interpretation adopted by majority of our English versions. The implication of this interpretation is that the apostle moved from thanksgiving concerning the spiritual enrichment of the Corinthians to something else that is loosely related to the apostle’s reasons for thanksgiving to God for the Corinthians or that it has no meaning since it follows a relative pronoun translated “He” in the English of our verse.
Which of these interpretations was in the mind of the apostle as he wrote the passage we are about to consider? It is difficult to be certain since the interpretations we have considered make sense in the context. This notwithstanding, it seems that it is the interpretation that sees a loose connection between the present section and the preceding that was in the mind of the apostle. The reason for this assertion is that it is this interpretation that is more fitting in what the apostle wrote next when he stated He will keep you strong that introduced the second problem we will deal with shortly. You see, there are two actions that the apostle had thanked God for the Corinthians related to spiritual enrichment and confirmation of the testimony about Christ among them. Both actions imply that God, without specifying the member of the Godhead in Paul’s mind, was responsible since the passive voice is used in the sentence you have been enriched in every way of verse 5 of 1 Corinthians 1 and the verbal phrase was confirmed in you of verse 6 of 1 Corinthians 1. However, in our present passage, the member of the Godhead that is responsible for the first action stated is implied, which brings us to the second problem of our passage. Because of the second problem we will consider shortly, it is probably that the apostle intended to indicate that what he writes next is loosely connected to the reasons for the thanksgiving to God that he had written in preceding section.
The second problem of our passage concerns the sentence He will keep you strong to the end of 1 Corinthians 1:8 that literally reads in the Greek and who will confirm you. The use of the word “and” in the literal translation is based on the interpretation that the Greek conjunction used in the verse is often translated “and.” That aside, the second problem is to determine the referent of the pronoun who in the Greek, that is, to whom does the apostle refer when he used the Greek word translated “who” in the literal translation? The rule of Greek grammar requires that the pronoun should refer to the last-mentioned subject in verse 7, who is Christ Jesus, so that the pronoun refers to Jesus Christ. This interpretation is reflected in all our English translations although the NCV is more direct in that instead of the use of the pronoun “He” its translators used the word “Jesus” so that the first sentence He will keep you strong in the NIV is translated Jesus will keep you strong. As we indicated, the rule in Greek grammar requires that we interpret the relative pronoun “who” used in the Greek as a reference to Jesus Christ but it is equally possible to take it as a reference to God who was mentioned in the introduction of the thanksgiving of the apostle for the Corinthians. Furthermore, in verse 9 the apostle referenced God so that it is possible that he was thinking of God and not a specific member of the Godhead as he wrote verse 8.
There is no doubt that following the rule of Greek grammar that the relative pronoun “who” used in the Greek refers to Jesus Christ but its use in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:8 is probably a subtle way the apostle wanted to acknowledge the deity of Jesus Christ. The apostle’s thought was focused on Christ as evident in his repeated use of the word “Christ” since verse 1 of chapter 1. Thus, when his thought went to God, he immediately thought of the second member of the Godhead, Christ, that he has been focusing on since verse 1. We are saying that as the apostle wrote the Greek sentence translated He will keep you strong in the NIV, his mind reflected on the fact that Jesus Christ is God. This should not be strange to us since what the apostle was concerned with in 1 Corinthians 1:8 is the preservation of believers. It is the same function that he assigned to God in his epistle to the Philippians when he wrote in Philippians 1:6:
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
The One who began good work in the Philippians is God that is the reason the translators of the TEV were more direct in that instead of the clause he who began a good work in you of the NIV, they translated God, who began this good work in you. There is no misgiving that the apostle meant God in Philippians 1:6 because his apostolic prayer began with thanksgiving to God, as we read in Philippians 1:3:
I thank my God every time I remember you.
Anyway, the point is that the apostle had in mind the fact that Jesus Christ is God when he wrote the literal Greek of 1 Corinthians 1:8 and who will confirm you. With the consideration of the two problems of the beginning portion of our passage of study, we proceed to consider the assurances the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul gave the Corinthians that are the assurances that you, as a believer, should trust as well.
A first assurance of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul to the Corinthians and so to all believers is indeed that of security of salvation. Because believers still have sinful nature, it becomes important for us to have the assurance of how secure our salvation is. I mean that because we still sin that there is the possibility that we may forget that eternal life is a gift of God to us and not something we merited or that we obtained, so we may be filled with uncertainty as to our salvation, especially when we sin. In other words, a believer who sins may wonder if sin will cause the individual to lose his/her salvation. This problem is complicated by the fact that there are a handful of passages of the Scripture that on a surface reading may appear to suggest that it is possible to lose one’s salvation. Two passages in Hebrews that say essentially the same thing provide good examples. The first is Hebrews 6:4–6:
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
The other is Hebrews 10:26–27:
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
These two passages on a surface reading may suggest that a believer could lose his/her salvation because of sin but a detail study of these two passages indicates that they are concerned with God’s punishment on the apostate believer and not eternal punishment of a believer (see our study of this on the website). This notwithstanding, there are several passages of the Scripture that help us to be certain that our salvation is secured based on God’s promises. These passages of Scripture that deal with assurance of our salvation may be viewed as either those that enable a more direct deduction of security of believer’s salvation or those that along with other passages may be used to deduce the security of believer’s salvation. Let me provide examples of both types of passages.
The first example of passages that enable more direct deduction of eternal security of believers’ salvation are those where the Lord Jesus directly made statements that imply security of believer’s salvation and where the Holy Spirit through the apostles makes statements that enable us to reach the conclusion of the security of believer’s salvation. Consider first, the declaration of the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry, as recorded in John 6:39–40:
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Those that the Father had given Jesus Christ are those who believe in Him and so have received eternal life, as we can gather from His priestly prayer in John 17:2:
For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
If the Lord Jesus declared that He would not lose anyone that has been given Him by the Father in John 6:39-40 but will raise the person up at the last day, that means that there is no way that a believer, that is, one who is saved would ever be lost. For anyone who is raised to be with Jesus Christ in the eternity is one that is saved. On another occasion, Jesus stated that believers are secured in His hand in John 10:28–29:
28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
The Lord by asserting that those who have eternal life will never perish, has absolutely declared that believers’ salvation is secured. Satan cannot touch the one that is secured in Christ’s hand in the sense of sending the individual to hell or eternal destruction. Therefore, Jesus’ declaration is as direct a statement that one has regarding the security of believers.
Let us take another example of the passages that contain statements that enable us to deduce that believers’ salvation is secured from the information the Holy Spirit gave to the apostles in their epistles. Apostle Paul implied the security of believer’s salvation in Romans 8:38–39:
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When the apostle indicates that anything else in all creation will not separate us from the love of God in Christ, that is, a way to indicate that there is nothing, including sin, that is going to affect the believer’s eternal relationship with God. While sin affects a believer’s relationship with God on this planet but because of Christ’s sacrifice that took care of the penalty of sin forever, sin does not affect the believer’s eternal relationship with God. The implication is that believers are secured in their relationship with God because they are in Christ. Therefore, they could never lose their salvation. Apostle Peter writes the same concept in 1 Peter 1:3–5:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
That believers’ salvation is secured is certainly implied in the verbal phrase shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation. If the believer is shielded by God’s power, then the implication is that believer’s salvation is secured since no one is greater than God. Therefore, a person protected by God is secured in his/her salvation. Of course, it is not the believer that secures his/her salvation but God. Anyway, these two passages from Apostles Paul and Peter enable us to deduce that the salvation of the believer is secured.
We have given examples where a single passage may be used to deduce the security of believer’s salvation but there are other passages that may be combined to deduce that a believer’s salvation is secured. Let us consider two such passages as given by the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul. The apostle indicates that eternal life is a gift from God to those in Christ, as recorded in Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In another passage of the same epistle to the Romans, the Holy Spirit directed the apostle in his teaching of doctrine of election, as it applied to Israel, to make a comment regarding the nature of gift from God in Romans 11:29:
for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
God’s gifts within the context of this passage refer to all the blessings enjoyed by those who are called by God, that is, the elect. These blessings certainly include eternal life that was described in Romans 6:23 as a gift. But, the apostle indicates that the gifts which include eternal life are irrevocable. The word “irrevocable” is translated from a Greek word (ametamelētos) that basically means “without a change of mind” so the word pertains to not feeling regret as the result of what one has done. The implication is that the word has the meaning of “irrevocable” in the sense that one does not take back what the person has done. This understanding means that God not only does not regret giving eternal life to any of the elect, but He will never recall the gift of eternal life despite any failure on the part of the recipient of eternal life. If God will never recall any of His gifts, then we can be certain that a believer would never lose his/her salvation. God’s knowledge is such that He knew well in advance that those He will give eternal life will still sin while on this planet, but He went ahead with the gift because of His plan in election. He is not like us that may regret giving gift to someone who misuses it. Thus, by combining two passages, we come to the firm conclusion that a believer will never lose his/her salvation.
Be that as it may, as we indicated, there are single passages from which we can deduce that a believer’s salvation is secured. The passage of 1 Corinthians 1:8 that we are considering falls into this category. The security of believer’s salvation is implied in the sentence He will keep you strong to the end.
The expression “keep...strong” is translated from a Greek verb (bebaioō) that we encountered in 1 Corinthians 1:6. Let us review what we said previously about the Greek word. It is a word that has two general meanings. The first is that of putting something beyond doubt, hence means “to confirm, establish.” It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used the word to indicate that there can be no doubt that the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have indeed been fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ to the world to die for our sins, as he we can gather from Romans 15:8:
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs.
It is with this meaning of “to confirm” that the author of Hebrews used it in Hebrews 2:3:
how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
The second meaning of our Greek word is to make a person firm in commitment so means “to establish or make firm, to strengthen.” It is with the sense of “to make firm” that the Greek word is used in God’s assurance to the apostle and the Corinthians that they are firmly united to Christ in 2 Corinthians 1:21:
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
It is with the meaning “to strengthen” that the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe what should happen to the Colossians because of being taught the word of God; they are to be strengthened in their faith, as we read in Colossians 2:7:
rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
It is with the meaning “to strengthen” that our word is used in Hebrews 13:9:
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
It is in this second sense of “to strengthen” or “to make firm” that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 1:8. This meaning is supported by the fact that unlike in 1 Corinthians 1:6 that that apostle used the aorist tense, he used a future tense in this verse that implies the apostle puts emphasis on the progress of the action of the verb. Strengthening or making firm the believer is that which continues until the believer departs from this life while confirmation through actions are not necessarily continuous once a person has been established in the faith. Furthermore, the phrase to the end of our passage supports the concept of strengthening or making firm the believer than confirming him/her.
When the Holy Spirit through the apostle states that Jesus Christ will make firm or strengthen the Corinthians, that is a way to speak of the protection from the evil one that Jesus referred in His priestly prayer. He indicated He had kept the disciples safe so that none of them is lost except Judas Iscariot who was not a believer to begin with. This assertion is declared in John 17:12:
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
The Lord petitioned the Father to continue to do the same in John 17:15:
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
The protection that is to be given to believers involves not merely physical protection but more importantly the protection from the corrupting influences of Satan. In effect, the protection includes the handling of believers’ sins in such a way that we are constantly cleansed from our sins. Jesus Christ is continually pleading with the Father about our sins that there is no time we are on this planet without our sins being taken care of by the Lord Jesus Christ even when we have not yet confessed the sin. This statement is implied in the priestly function of Jesus Christ in heaven for us, as stated in Hebrews 7:25:
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
The human author of Hebrews writes concerning Jesus Christ as our high priest, he always lives to intercede for them which means that there is no elapse of time in dealing with our sins since the word “always” is translated from a Greek adverb (pantote) that means “at all times.” Hence, because Jesus is at all times interceding for believers, then He continuously assures that God will never deal with believers’ sins in such a way as to keep them from having eternal relationship with Him. Thus, strengthening or keeping firm believers most certainly involved dealing with our sins. This is implied in the fact that strengthening of believers is associated with keeping us from the evil one as we can gather from the declaration of Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 3:3:
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
There is also in the sense that this keeping firm refers to the preservation of the church of Christ since the pronoun “you” in the sentence He will keep you strong to the end is in the plural. This being the case, the apostle could be thinking of the universal church as well as the individual believers that constitute it.
We are certain that this strengthening or keeping strong has to do with dealing with our sins first because of the phrase to the end and then because of the reason given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 1:8 so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. But for the moment, let us focus on the phrase to the end or more literally until end.
What end does the apostle mean? To answer this question, we need to consider the word “end” which is translated from a Greek word (telos) with several meanings. The word may refer to a point of time marking the end of a duration hence means “termination, cessation, end” as it is used to describe Christ as it relates to the Law in Romans 10:4:
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
Law here refers to Mosaic law; so, to say that Christ is the end of the law means that He is the goal and termination of the law so that since the law was perfectly fulfilled in Christ, it is no longer to be regarded as a means of acquiring good standing or righteous status before God. That aside, the point is that the Greek word translated “end” here in Romans has also the sense of “termination” or “cessation.” It is in the sense of “termination” or “cessation” that Apostle Peter used our Greek word for the termination of all activities of this planet in 1 Peter 4:7:
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
The Greek word translated “end” in our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:8 may refer to the last part of a process and so means “close, conclusion.” It is in this sense that the word is used to reference last things in the prediction of the Lord Jesus recorded in Luke 21:9:
When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
The word is used as a reference to end of life on this planet, as with that of the Lord Jesus before He departed from this earth, as in John 13:1:
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
The clause he now showed them the full extent of his love is more literally loved them to the end. The end here refers to the end of the life of Jesus on earth. To convey this understanding, the UBS handbook on John’s Gospel suggest that the literal phrase to the end could be translated fully as “to the end of his life.” Under the general meaning of last part of a process, the word in some context may mean “finally”, as in 1 Peter 3:8:
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
The Greek word translated “end” may refer to revenue obligation and so may mean “tax, custom duties” as Apostle Paul used it in Romans 13:7:
Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
The word revenue refers to “custom duties,” that is, probably the reason the translators of the Authorized Version used the word “custom” in their translation. The word may mean “goal, outcome.” It is in the sense of “goal” that the word is used in 1 Timothy 1:5:
The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
The word is used with the meaning “outcome” in 1 Peter 4:17:
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
We have considered the various meanings of the Greek word translated “end” in 1 Corinthians 1:8, so we return to the question: What end does the apostle mean in our passage? Since the apostle used the plural in the sentence He will keep you strong to the end, it is probably the cessation of the church as we know it on this earth which implies the second coming of Christ that was primary in his mind. But the apostle would also have implied the end of life for each member of the local church in Corinth since each member needs continuous cleansing from sin while on this planet. We are saying that the phrase to the end refers primarily to the second coming of Christ but applies also to the end of life of believers who die prior to the second coming of Christ. In any event, the phrase to the end implies that strengthening or keeping strong the apostle meant, is concerned with sins since only while a person is on this planet that sin is an issue. This is true also of the church, as the body of Christ. So long as the church is on this planet, its purification is necessary just as it is for the individual believer.
Another reason we are certain that this strengthening or keeping strong has to do with dealing with our sins, is, as we have stated previously, the clause of 1 Corinthians 1:8 so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. This clause in the NIV and majority of our English versions convey the sense of either the result or the purpose of the strengthening or keeping believers strong as an interpretation of what the Greek phrase conveys. This is because we do not have the clause so that you will be in the Greek instead we have a phrase blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek implies that the Greek verb translated “keep strong” in the NIV governs the word “blameless” so that the assurance given to believers regarding strengthening them or keeping them strong involves keeping them blameless. It is probably because of this understanding that majority of our English versions consider the literal phrase as expressing result or purpose associated with the Greek verb translated “keep strong” in the NIV. This aside, the issue is that the Holy Spirit through the apostle is concerned with the concept of being blameless.
The word “blameless” is translated from a Greek adjective (anegklētos) that pertains to one who cannot be accused of anything wrong hence means “blameless, irreproachable, without accusation.” It is a word used four other times in the Greek NT, all by Apostle Paul. It is used to describe result of believers being reconciled to God in Colossians 1:22:
But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
The translators of the NIV rendered our Greek word with the phrase free from accusation. Our Greek word is used to describe qualifications of spiritual leaders of a local church. Thus, it is used to describe deacons in 1 Timothy 3:10:
They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
The clause if there is nothing against them is literally being blameless. It is used to describe elders in Titus 1:6:
An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.
Similarly, it is used to describe qualifications of overseers or pastors of local churches in Titus 1:7:
Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.
It is in the sense of being free of any accusation, that is, blameless that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 1:8. Since being blameless is a state that involves dealing with sin, we are confident that the strengthening or keeping believers strong, the apostle assured has to do with continuous cleansing from sin. The only way we can be free of accusation is if our sins are continuously cleansed. We know that Satan continues to accuse us before God, but we also know that Jesus Christ continues to defend us before God the Father, as indicated in 1 John 2:1:
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
It is because the Lord Jesus continues to defend us before the Father that we are assured that we will be blames or free of accusation before God. We want to emphasize that it is because of the work of Christ that we have this assurance. Certainly, we are to strive to live a blameless life, as indicated in Philippians 2:14–15:
14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.
But if we depended on ourselves we cannot have the assurance of being blameless before God, so our assurance is based on what Christ has done as He is the one that will present us blameless before God, as the Holy Spirit states through Jude in Jude 24–25:
24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
The concern of being blameless is with regards to the Second Coming as indicated in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 1:8 on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word “day” is translated from a Greek word (hēmera) that may refer to a period between sunrise and sunset. However, it is used to describe a day appointed for very special purposes. Thus, the Greek word that means “day” could mean “court of justice” as in 1 Corinthians 4:3:
I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.
The phrase by any human court is more literally by human day that may be understood as a day appointed by a human court. It can refer to the day of God’s final judgment, as it is used in 2 Peter 3:12:
as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
However, in our passage, it is used in the sense of the Second Coming so the phrase on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ refers to the return of Christ that is essentially the same as the phrase to the end we considered previously. Anyway, we have the assurance that we will be standing before Christ free of any accusation of sin because of what He has done for us.
Another assurance we can trust to be confident of security of our salvation that the Holy Spirit gives through Apostle Paul in the passage we are studying, concerns the character of God, specifically His faithfulness, as the apostle states in 1 Corinthians 1:9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. The emphasis of this sentence is on God’s character of faithfulness. The Greek text begins literally with the sentence God is faithful. To say that God is faithful is to say that He can be fully trusted to do what He promised; He will never fail us, so we can depend on Him without fear that something will go wrong regarding His promise. The implication is that we can be assured that whatever He promised He will deliver. We have been assured that our salvation is secured and so, that we will be blameless when Christ returns, we can count on that being the case without any fear or doubt.
The Holy Spirit wants us to recognize that our salvation is secured so after referring to the character of God, reminds us that our salvation began with Him and ends with Him. It is this reality that is conveyed in the clause of 1 Corinthians 1:9 who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
The word “called” is translated from a Greek word (kaleō) that may mean to identify by name or attribute hence “to name, to call by name” as it is used in Luke 1:59:
On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah,
The Greek word may mean to request the presence of someone at a social gathering, that is, “to invite” as the word is used in 1 Corinthians 10:27:
If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.
The word may be used in a legal sense of “to summon before a court” or “to call in”, as in Acts 24:2:
When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation.
From the meanings “to summon” and “to invite” develops the meaning “to call” in the sense of “to choose for receipt of a special benefit or experience.” Thus, it is this sense that it is used for the choice of persons for salvation in terms of having eternal life, as stated in 1 Timothy 6:12:
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
It is with this special meaning of choosing someone for salvation that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 1:9. In effect, God summoned believers to Himself so that they belong to Him and to serve Him in this world. However, the emphasis on this passage is that of communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, as in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 1:9 into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
The word “fellowship” is translated from a Greek word (koinōnia) that may mean “communion, association, close relationship.” It may refer to a sign of fellowship or proof of brotherly unity so that it means “gift, contribution” as in Romans 15:26:
For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
It may mean “participation, sharing”, as in 1 Corinthians 10:16:
Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 1:9, it is in the sense of “communion, close relationship, fellowship” that the word is used although there is also the implication of the meaning “participation” or “sharing.” Believers have been summoned to be in communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. The implication is that we are in Him and He is in us. We are sure of this because of what the Holy Spirit says through Apostle Paul in relationship to Jesus Christ in Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
That Christ lives in the apostle indicates He lives in all believers. This living in us is the implication of the communion or fellowship with Him. Christ as eternal God lives forever. Therefore, we will live forever with Him. Hence, our communion with Him is an assurance that our salvation is secured since our communion or fellowship with Him implies we are in Him. Furthermore, the sharing or participation in Christ that is intended in our passage implies that we share in His life, that is, in eternal life.
In any event, the Holy Spirit has assured us that our salvation is secured by informing us that there is a continuous cleansing of believers so that there is no possibility of appearing before Christ after death with sin. Furthermore, God’s faithfulness means that we can depend on Him to preserve us so that we will be without accusation of sin before Him since we are in communion with the Lord Jesus Christ.
01/12/18