In my early study concerning the church, 1 Corinthians 1:2-9 was very striking to me and stirred up the appreciation of the holy Word in my spirit. No other portion of the Word contains such a portrait of what a local church is. This portion is very short; yet, in these eight verses every feature of a local church can be seen, including its nature, standing, element, sphere, and relationship. There are twelve significant items presented in these eight verses, each of which deserves our full attention. These items are very mysterious and full of spiritual implications and spiritual, hidden, mysterious, and divine secrets.
First Corinthians is a long book consisting of sixteen chapters. Chapter one, verses 2-9, is a condensation of the entire book, giving us a skeleton of its structure. Although in these verses Paul speaks concerning the church in Corinth, he does not speak about its condition. Many times when we speak concerning a church, our speaking is mainly about the church’s condition. This may be compared to the way we describe a person. When we describe a person, we usually speak about his condition and appearance. Very few of us would describe a person according to his nature and standing. However, if we do not avoid speaking about a person’s condition, it is hard to present a genuine portrait of what that person really is; we may not express what the real nature of that person is. Likewise, whenever we speak about a church, it is easy to center on the condition of that church. It is not common to hear someone speaking about a church according to its nature, essence, and element. However, if our speaking is centered on the condition of a church, we may spread rumors and give others an inaccurate impression of that church.
When Paul dealt with the church at Corinth, the condition of the church was negative and miserable, full of divisions, confusion, errors, and even heresies and rebellion. According to the New Testament record, no other church’s condition may have been as negative as that of the church in Corinth. However, Paul was wise and logical. Paul loved the church, and he would never depreciate or defame the church. Often biographers place a handsome portrait of the subject of their book on the opening page in order to give the reader a positive impression of that person. In the same way, Paul, in the opening of his epistle to the Corinthians, presented a beautiful, marvelous, and excellent portrait of the church of God.
Verse 2a says, “To the church of God.” This expression indicates that the church not only is being possessed by God, but that it has God as its nature and essence, which are divine, general, universal, and eternal. Paul does not refer to the church in Corinth as a pitiful church with troublesome Jewish teachers and proud philosophical Greeks. Although others may have looked at the church according to its condition, Paul knew the real nature of the church, so he had the boldness to call it “the church of God.”
As the church of God, the church is not only being possessed by God, but has God as its nature and essence, which are divine, general, universal, and eternal. Every element has its nature, and in the nature of the element is its essence. God is the nature and essence of the church. Therefore, the church is divine.
“The church...in Corinth” (v. 2b) was a church in a city, remaining in a definite locality and taking it as its standing, ground, and jurisdiction for its administration in business affairs. As such, it was physical, particular, local, and temporal in time. The church of God to whom Paul wrote was not in the heavens but in Corinth. Corinth was a very sinful, modern Greek city, which was famous for its fornication. However, the church remained in that locality for a local testimony of Christ. A local testimony of Christ is a part of the universal testimony of Christ. The universal testimony is composed of and constituted with the local testimonies.
The church takes a locality as its standing, ground, and jurisdiction for its administration. A local church has an administration which has a jurisdiction for business affairs. The standing, ground, and jurisdiction of the church is physical rather than divine, particular rather than general, local rather than universal, and temporal in time rather than eternal. These are the local aspects of the church.
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