Read the passage and its setting
1 Corinthians 1:1–3, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Corinthians 1:1–3
Called People Receive Grace and Peace
The Main Point
Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
What Is Happening Here?
Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
What Came Before—and What Comes Next?
No earlier paragraph exists; this is the letter opening.
The thanksgiving names grace, speech, knowledge, gifts, waiting, and God's faithfulness before Paul corrects their misuse.
Follow the Letter's Movement
See why this section appears here and how the author's movement leads to its meaning.
Why Is This Passage Here?
The opening gives divine calling and shared allegiance priority over every party, status claim, and dispute that follows.
Follow the Movement
Paul names his call and Sosthenes as a brother.
The Corinthians belong to God, are sanctified in Christ, and share a calling with believers elsewhere.
Grace and peace come from the Father and Jesus Christ.
What Is the Author Saying?
Why This Interpretation Fits
Movement 1
Paul names his call and Sosthenes as a brother.
Movement 2
The Corinthians belong to God, are sanctified in Christ, and share a calling with believers elsewhere.
Movement 3
Grace and peace come from the Father and Jesus Christ.
Understand the Meaning and Its Boundaries
Clarify the words that matter and keep the conclusion no broader than the passage allows.
Words That Matter
assembly / church
ἐκκλησίᾳ · ekklēsia
The group belongs to God while remaining located in Corinth; neither the city nor a leader owns it.
What the Passage Is Not Saying
Reading 1 Corinthians 1:1–3 inside the whole Corinthian letter explicitly rules out these coercive, harmful, or context-breaking uses:
A divine call does not make Paul or a modern leader immune from testing and accountability.
Sanctified and called language does not deny the serious misconduct the letter soon names.
Shared Christian belonging does not authorize one congregation to dominate another.
Context check: Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
What Remains True Today
Identity received from God precedes allegiance to leaders and calls diverse communities into shared grace and peace.
Respond and Remember
Let the meaning shape life carefully, then practice explaining the section in context.
How This Should Shape Us
Why these applications follow
Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Identity received from God precedes allegiance to leaders and calls diverse communities into shared grace and peace.
How should this shape us today?
Begin communal correction from shared belonging under Christ, not from party ownership or rank.
A Concrete Example
Begin communal correction from shared belonging under Christ, not from party ownership or rank.
Teach It Back
Explain 1 Corinthians 1:1–3 in your own words. Include its place in 1 Corinthians, the unit's logic, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
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Go Deeper
The main explanation above stands on its own. Open these optional sections for fuller language, history, disagreements, and source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Movement 1
Paul names his call and Sosthenes as a brother.
Movement 2
The Corinthians belong to God, are sanctified in Christ, and share a calling with believers elsewhere.
Movement 3
Grace and peace come from the Father and Jesus Christ.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
assembly / church
The group belongs to God while remaining located in Corinth; neither the city nor a leader owns it.
How certain? probableWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
Corinthian setting and reconstruction limits
Pauline authorship is very strong; Sosthenes may be the Acts 18 figure, but the letter does not identify him beyond 'our brother.' The assembly likely met in multiple homes within Roman Corinth.
How certain? probableWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
KJV wording and material alternatives
KJV wording around "called to be saints, theirs and ours, grace, and peace" is read with the Greek clause and the complete unit rather than treated as a modern technical label.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Israel's Scriptures and Jewish background
Paul reasons from Israel's Scriptures and story where the verbal or conceptual connection is visible; the connection does not erase the passage's first-century Corinthian setting.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
Responsible canonical connections
Related biblical texts may clarify this unit after its own argument is established; they must not be used to bypass its limits or import a conclusion it does not state.
How certain? probableTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
Textual and grammatical care
No reported textual variant overturns the unit's central movement. The principal interpretive uncertainty is: The identity and scribal role of Sosthenes are uncertain; the opening itself strongly identifies Paul as author and the Corinthian assembly as recipient.
How certain? probableWhere careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The identity and scribal role of Sosthenes are uncertain; the opening itself strongly identifies Paul as author and the Corinthian assembly as recipient.
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
This movement contributes to the letter's cross-shaped repair of a gifted but divided assembly: Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
A divine call does not make Paul or a modern leader immune from testing and accountability.
A vivid line can be detached from the complete argument and its power setting.
Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Identity received from God precedes allegiance to leaders and calls diverse communities into shared grace and peace.
A divine call does not make Paul or a modern leader immune from testing and accountability.
Sanctified and called language does not deny the serious misconduct the letter soon names.
Readers may mistake an ancient practice or disputed reconstruction for an exhaustive modern rule.
Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Identity received from God precedes allegiance to leaders and calls diverse communities into shared grace and peace.
Sanctified and called language does not deny the serious misconduct the letter soon names.
Shared Christian belonging does not authorize one congregation to dominate another.
Certainty and control can be preferred to the text's stated limits.
Paul, called through God's will, and Sosthenes address God's Corinthian assembly as sanctified and called together with all who invoke Jesus, then announce grace and peace from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Identity received from God precedes allegiance to leaders and calls diverse communities into shared grace and peace.
Shared Christian belonging does not authorize one congregation to dominate another.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
1 Corinthians 1:1–3, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and original-language discussion.
SBLGNT official text file 1Cor.txt, 1:1–3
Supports: Verse-level syntax, KJV-era wording, textual variants, and interpretive alternatives.
NET Bible 1 Corinthians 1:1–3 print view with translator, study, and textual notes
Supports: Independent morphology and lexical-range cross-check for material Greek claims.
STEP Bible Data repository morphology and lexical records for 1 Corinthians 1:1–3
Supports: Whole-letter movement, Corinthian setting, bibliography, major alternatives, and verse-level interpretation.
Redmond, The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians, introduction and section on 1:1–3
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Corinthians 1:1–3, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and original-language discussion.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file 1Cor.txt, 1:1–3
Open the 1 Corinthians Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible - 1 Corinthians with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005-2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level syntax, KJV-era wording, textual variants, and interpretive alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Corinthians 1:1–3 print view with translator, study, and textual notes
Open the official NET 1 Corinthians PDFLexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Independent morphology and lexical-range cross-check for material Greek claims.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data repository morphology and lexical records for 1 Corinthians 1:1–3
Open source ↗modern open commentary
1 Corinthians
Eric C. Redmond
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: Whole-letter movement, Corinthian setting, bibliography, major alternatives, and verse-level interpretation.
Exact location: Redmond, The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians, introduction and section on 1:1–3
Open source ↗