THURSDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

25TH AUGUST 2022

There's a certain degree of optimism at the start of a new academic year. There are no late homework assignments or projects. There are no low results from tests, no absences and no detentions from bad behavior. In essence, there is a flawless report and a blameless record. The challenge naturally is from everything that follows. We know that we will not be perfect and that flawless record will not last.

This is the same challenge that every Christian has after Baptism. We start the Christian life with such optimism, but as we face challenges, we stumble into sin, strain relationships and leave a wake of pain in our path. If we are believers, we should feel a certain degree of guilt and remorse from this.

As a Congregation, the Church in Corinth pretty much got everything wrong that could go wrong.

Although the church was blessed with an exceptionally talented group of people (12:7–11, 27– 31), it was burdened by strife, divisions, moral problems, and irregularities in the worship services. When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, he pastorally approached the readers by thanking God, who had called them to a life of holiness. Many of them had lived in spiritual darkness but by God’s grace now had fellowship with Jesus Christ. Paul rejoiced in their salvation. In a positive manner, he reminded the Corinthians of their commitment to Christ and urged them to ascend to a higher level of serving Christ in church and society. In his thanksgiving to God, he addressed the people positively in spite of their lack of love to God and their fellow believers

When our failings and sins are before us how can we cope? When relationships are strained and the weight of sin is before us, how do we deal with this burden? The solutions that the Apostle Paul presents the Corinthians Church can help us to see how to effectively deal with the sins that so easily beseech us. Paul takes the first nine verses of 1 Corinthians to show believers who they are—saints, holy ones, sanctified ones. The rest of the letter is built on this foundation. “You are holy; therefore, act holy. Live a life commensurate with who you are.”

1 Corinthians 1:3 says “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. The first benefit of being a believer is the grace of salvation. In verse three, Paul used a common form of Christian greeting (cf. Rom. 1:7; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:2; 2 John 3; Rev. 1:4; etc.). Grace is favor, and peace is one of its fruits. The peace of which Paul speaks here is “the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension” (Phil. 4:7). It is the peace that only Christians can have, for only Christ can give it (John 14:27). The world does not have and cannot give that kind of peace. Grace is always first, peace always second. This is due to the fact that grace is the source of peace. Without grace there is and can be no peace; but when grace is ours, peace must of necessity follow.

In a world of noise, confusion, and relentless pressures, people long for peace. Many give up the search, thinking it impossible to find, but true peace of heart and mind is available through faith in Jesus Christ. Grace and peace” express his deep theological convictions about what God had accomplished in Christ: “grace” is the source of Christian life, and “peace” is its consummation. In a world of war, corporate espionage, civic and labor strife, family breakdown and personal grief, only a life submitted to Christ will ever know God's favor of true and lasting peace. May we submit our lives to Him, so that we may enjoy true peace.