Corinth was a city infamous for its immorality and disregard for the true God of the Bible. Perhaps it was referred to as “sin city”, the Vegas of its day. Despite this raunchy reputation, God used the Apostle Paul to plant a Christian church in this environment. However, the Corinthian church was far from perfect. Much like the society that surrounded the church, the Corinthian church struggled with moral, ethical, doctrinal, and relational problems. The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthian church to lovingly guide them toward God’s truth and righteous way of living. We too have much we can learn from this letter.
Despite their flaws, God inspired Paul to begin his letter to this imperfect church by saying, “I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as He did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace” (1 Corinthians 1:2-3).
God wanted to remind this church that was being influenced by the surrounding culture of the impact that Christ had made in their lives. Despite their many flaws, in God’s eyes, they were washed, cleansed, made holy, and had grace and peace with God because of their trust in Christ. I love that these verses also remind us that this is true for all people everywhere who call on the name of Jesus. Regardless of the current state of your life, your past story, or your many shortcomings, you are cleansed by faith in Christ. And when we trust in Jesus, we are called to live in accordance with the impact Jesus makes instead of the influence of our surrounding culture.
The Corinthian church was a work in progress. So are each of us. There is the old saying that goes something like, “If you find the perfect church don’t join it because you will ruin it.” None of us are perfect and no church is perfect either. Isn’t it encouraging that God didn’t abandon us to our sin before we became Christians and He won’t do it after we became Christians either? Like the Corinthian Church, God will graciously remind us of who we are in Christ and that we are called to a life of love and transformed living. God won’t give up on you, don’t give up on pursuing the better and transformed life that He has called you to through faith in Jesus Christ.