Paul is thankful for every recipient of God’s sovereign grace! Paul is not just thankful for the ones that come from his background, or the ones that agree with him, or the ones that are most holy and mature.

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:4).

There is a theological point to make from this verse, because Paul is thanking God for his grace to believers. As he does continually in his letters, Paul is reminding the saints at Corinth that their faith, and their faithfulness, is by God’s grace and through Jesus Christ.

Yet there is also a personal point not to be missed in this passage: Paul is thanking God for the saints at Corinth. And his gratefulness for genuine believers extends beyond just that church, as he has already in verse 2 included everyone who calls on the name of Jesus Christ as Lord.

Paul is thankful for every recipient of God’s sovereign grace!

Paul is not just thankful for the ones that come from his background, or the ones that agree with him, or the ones that are most holy and mature.

Paul’s passion was not to make little Pauls, but to make disciples of Jesus; so he was able to truly say, from his heart, that he was thankful for every believer in Jesus Christ — even though the very ones he is writing to in Corinth have messy problems and major maturity issues.