1 Corinthians 1:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"Called saints." Even the fact that you are saved by faith is not from yourselves, he says. You did not come first, but were called, so that even this small thing does not fully belong to you.

Although you came while burdened with many evils, even for this you are indebted not to yourselves, but to God. Therefore in the Epistle to the Ephesians he says, "By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves" (Eph 2:8).

Even faith does not fully belong to you. You did not believe on your own, anticipating God, but obeyed when you were called.

"With all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." The name not of this or that person, but of the Lord. "In every place, theirs and ours."

Although the Epistle was written only to the Corinthians, he mentions all believers throughout the whole inhabited world. He shows that the Church must be one everywhere, though it is in different places, and all the more in Corinth.

Place divides, but the Lord unites them, since He is common to all. Therefore, in order to instill unity in them, he added, "ours and theirs." The latter is more important than the former.

Those who are in one place, when they have many masters who disagree among themselves, are divided. Place does not help them toward unity, because their masters give them different commands and each demands his own.

It is said, "You cannot serve God and mammon" (Mt 6:24). So too, those who are in different places, when they have not different masters but only one, do not lose concord because of places, for the one Lord unites them.

Therefore, he says, you Corinthians must be in concord not only with the Corinthians, but with all throughout the inhabited world, since you have a common Master. Therefore he added "ours" a second time.

Lest any foolish person think that he admits division when he said, "the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," he again adds, "our Lord and theirs."

To make this clearer, I will read it as the sense of the speech requires: Paul and Sosthenes to the Church of God which is in Corinth. And to all who call upon the name of our Lord and theirs in every place, whether in Rome or wherever they may be, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Or it may be read this way, and I think it is still more exact: Paul and Sosthenes to those in Corinth who are sanctified, called saints, with all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours.

That is, grace to you and peace to you who are in Corinth, sanctified and made called ones, not to you alone, but together with all in every place who call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and theirs.

"With all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Grace, he says, and peace be not only with you Corinthians, but also with all who call upon the name of Christ, and not of this or that man.

"In every place, theirs and ours." He mentions believers in every place to show that all believers make up one Church, wherever they may be. How then have you, living in one city, become divided?

On the other hand, he added "our." For after saying, "our Lord Jesus Christ," and placing "in every place" in the middle, he repeated and said, "both theirs and ours," to show that the Master is one for all.

Some, however, understand the words as they stand: "in every place, theirs and ours," that is, in the place where both we and they live.

Through His mediation, they have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. They strive to conquer sin, mortify the passions, and, by fulfilling virtue, advance day by day in their sanctification and renewal.

"Called to be saints." The Apostle not only calls Christians sanctified by the Blood of Christ. He also gives them another title, calling the Corinthians called saints. This is because they were called by the preaching of the Gospel to be justified by the Blood of Christ and to serve Jesus Christ all the days of their life in holiness and righteousness.

Since the holy Apostle wrote this epistle not for the Corinthians alone, but for all Christians, he adds the following words: "With all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." That is, my epistle belongs to all Christians who confess the name of Jesus Christ.

This instruction applies to the whole blessed assembly of the faithful, wherever they may have their dwelling.

"With all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in every place, theirs and ours" means that the Apostle joins the Gentiles also. Since salvation is from the Jews, the salvation of the Jews is everywhere the nations call upon the name of Jesus Christ.

Where true Jews and Gentiles are, both are united in Him. Wherever Jews are mentioned, they everywhere form one.

The false apostles, on the contrary, preached the name of Christ according to worldly wisdom, mixing in philosophy. They criticized the Old Testament and the prophets. Like Marcion and Mani, they said that Christ was not truly crucified, but only seemed to be crucified.

Against this the Apostle said: "We preach Christ crucified" (1 Cor 1:23).

The false apostles also did not admit the resurrection of the body, concerning which Isaiah prophesies, saying: "Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust" (Isa 26:19).

The Apostle calls Christians sacred and even holy (cf. 16:15), because the grace of the Holy Spirit, which had dwelt in them through baptism and the other mysteries, cleansed them from sins and called them to holiness.

They believed this calling. This was reckoned to them as righteousness, so that in the epistle to the Ephesians the Apostle says: "By grace you have been saved through faith" (2:8).

"To the Church of God which is in Corinth." "The Church not of this one or that one, but of God. Do you see how by every expression he casts down their arrogance, raising their mind in every way to heaven?

He calls the Church God’s, showing that there must be unity in it. For if it is God’s, it is united and is one, not only in Corinth, but also throughout the whole inhabited world.

The name of the Church is a name not of division, but of unity and concord" (Chrysostom). Moreover, "if you are the Church of God, how can you distribute yourselves according to men?" (Oecumenius).

"To those sanctified in Christ Jesus." This explains why they are the Church of God. It is because they have been sanctified. They were sanctified when, after believing, they received holy baptism and the laying on of hands, or chrismation.

The grace of the Holy Spirit that came to dwell in them made them sanctified. "What is sanctification? Washing, cleansing. He reminds them of the uncleanness from which He delivered them, and teaches humility.

For they were sanctified not because of their own good works, but by God’s love for mankind" (Chrysostom). "This is what is important, not earthly wisdom, in which you boast" (Theophylact).

"Called saints." They were called to holiness. They gave their word to live in holiness, and in the Mysteries they received the grace of the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill this word exactly. Those who fulfill it are saints.

But the source of everything is the calling. The calling came from above, they believed, and as a result became saints.

"Even the fact that you are saved by faith is not from yourselves, he says. For you did not come first, but were called, so that even this small thing does not fully belong to you.

Although you came while guilty of many evils, even for this you are indebted not to yourselves, but to God. Therefore in the Epistle to the Ephesians he says, 'By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves' (Eph 2:8).

Even faith does not fully belong to you. For you did not believe on your own, anticipating God, but obeyed when you were called" (Chrysostom).

"With all who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus in every place." "The name not of this or that person, but of the Lord. 'In every place.'

Although the Epistle was written only to the Corinthians, he mentions all believers throughout the whole inhabited world, showing that the Church must be one everywhere, even though it is in different places.

Place divides, but the Lord unites, since He is the common Lord of all. Those who are in one place, when they have many masters who disagree among themselves, are divided.

Place does not help them toward unity, because their masters give them different commands, and each demands his own. So too, those who are in different places, when they have not different masters but only one, do not lose concord because of places.

For the one Lord unites them. Therefore, he says, you Corinthians must be in concord not only with the Corinthians, but with all believers throughout the inhabited world, since you have a common Master" (Chrysostom).

The words "both theirs and ours" seem at first to refer more closely to "in every place," as an explanation. Some understand them so, and let them understand them so.

But the words "in every place" are clear enough by themselves, and their explanation is unnecessary. Therefore our holy interpreters refer αυτων τε και ημων, "theirs and ours," not to "in every place," but to "with all who call upon the Lord."

From this they draw an important thought as an inducement to unity: the Lord is equally the Lord of them, that is, of all who call upon Him, and our Lord with you.

Chrysostom says that this whole passage should be understood as though it read: "Grace and peace to you who are in Corinth, called saints, not to you alone, but together with all in every place who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours."

The Apostle added "ours" a second time lest any foolish person think that he admits division when he said, "the name of our Lord." Therefore at the end he again added αυτων τε και ημων, to make known that he means "our Lord and theirs."

So also Theodoret, Oecumenius, and Theophylact.