1 Corinthians 1:2–3 (NKJV)
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
While “called to be saints” is the most common translation of the Greek words κλητοῖς ἁγίοις (klay-tois hag-i-ois)—it’s exactly the same in the ESV—the Greek words literally are “called holy.” The NIV says “holy people” instead.
Holy means separate or set apart. This is what Paul means by “saints.” The modern understanding of the word saints is something like “perfect Christians,” which is nice, but not what Paul means here.
Of course, the goal of every Christian is to behave in such a way that people might think of them as a saint in the modern meaning of the word. This has much to do with why Paul wrote this letter in the first place. His readers definitely aren’t there yet.
Being “separate” or “set apart” is important for the Corinthian Church, as they’re in a culture which is about as unchristian is it can be. The worship of Roman gods was part of every aspect of their lives—their government, their festivals, their guilds, and their social clubs.
But it gets worse. Above Corinth stood an acropolis, which included a temple to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Hundreds of temple prostitutes plied their trade in the temple and in the city below. This was perfectly legal and normal in their society. First-century Roman medicine had nothing to treat the medical consequences of this behavior. Other than pregnancy, it’s doubtful that anyone even understood the causes.
It’s hard for us to imagine living in such an environment, much less imagine trying to preach the gospel in one. One of Paul’s clear objectives in his writing to them was to at least keep this nightmare out of the church. That appears to have been a major focus of that mysterious letter from Paul that predates this one.
The problems the church faces in 21st century America are remarkably parallel to those of first-century Corinth. Pornography now has a dominant influence in our society. Everything seems to revolve around sex, to the point that most folks don’t even associate sex with parenthood.
Our civilization is crumbling. A huge number of seemingly intelligent people are confused about matters of basic biology that have been universally understood throughout history. They are so deceived that their attempts to bring justice and fairness to some people have actually done more to trample rights than to protect them. They desperately need the church to be a beacon of sanity in our insane world.
Thus, we have much to learn from Paul’s advice to the church in Corinth.
Their problems are our problems.
