1 Corinthians 1:4-9 - "A Prayer of Thanksgiving"

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

"I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."

We are not always thankful. If we say that we are, we know our own hearts well enough to know better. When troubles, afflictions, and trials come, thanksgiving is not what rises naturally within us. And yet Scripture commands it: “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). The command does not rest on changing circumstances but on an unchanging Christ.

Thanksgiving grows where God is known as Sovereign—not merely as One Who sees all things, but as One Who orders, designs, and directs all things. Nothing enters the believer’s life apart from His Hand. When affliction comes, it does not arrive randomly; it comes measured, fitted, and appointed by the LORD Himself. To see this is to be brought, by Grace, to thanksgiving even in hardship. This is the spirit found in the opening of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. He begins not with correction but with praise: “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ” (v.4). Thanksgiving begins Godward. Paul does not thank the Corinthians for their progress or virtues. He thanks God for Grace, and that Grace given only “by Jesus Christ” (v.1).

This thanksgiving is not manufactured by resolve or discipline, nor is it sustained by reminders or projects. Thanksgiving, like prayer, must rise from the heart, and only the Spirit of Grace can produce these. The same Grace that sustained Paul in prison—so that he could write, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4)—is the Grace that sustains thanksgiving in every trial. Christ Himself is the example. Though He endured the contradiction of sinners against Himself (Hebrews 12:3), His recorded prayers are filled with thanksgiving to His Father. Thanksgiving flows from knowing God, and not dictated by being "happy" because of circumstances.

Paul’s thanksgiving unfolds around two great truths. First: “I thank my God” (v.1). Everything that follows rests on this Godward acknowledgment. Second: “God is faithful” (v.9). Thanksgiving rests not on human faithfulness, but on Divine Faithfulness. God is faithful to His Son, and all who are in Christ are beneficiaries of that faithfulness. Forgiveness, preservation, and hope rest on what Christ has accomplished, not on what believers maintain.

The Corinthians were mentioned with thanksgiving by Paul not because they were flawless, but because they were enriched in Christ. Paul writes that they were “enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge” (v.5). Growth in Grace does not mean growing self-sufficient; it means growing more aware of one’s need. The more Christ is known, the more Grace is cherished. No gift, no utterance, no knowledge comes apart from Him.

This thanksgiving looks back to the Grace that God has already given His elect in Christ, then upward to Him Who has given it, then outward to others who share in that same Grace and inward to the Grace working within, and onward to Christ Himself. Paul reminds them that they are “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end” (v.7,8). The believer’s Hope is not in his own ability to hold fast, but in Christ, Who will faithfully hold him to the end.

Blamelessness before God does not arise from personal effort or progress. It rests entirely in Christ. “Who shall confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.8). That blamelessness is found nowhere else but in His finished work accomplished at the cross, and imputed to the spiritual account of every elect child of God.

Paul will later correct, rebuke, and instruct in this letter to the Corinthians. But the Spirit directed him to begin with thanksgiving, knowing that any correction must flow from that Sovereign Grace given in Christ Jesus. Christ is the Subject of every verse, every blessing, every hope. Thanksgiving is not an exercise in personal attempts at optimism. It is the confession of Faith. God is faithful. Christ is sufficient. Grace has been given. And therefore, even in trial, thanksgiving rises—not from circumstances, but from God in Christ. In giving thanks, we rest in the Grace already given us in Christ Jesus. God enriches His people, confirms His testimony, and faithfully preserves them to the end. Our gratitude is anchored not in ourselves, but in His unchanging faithfulness and calling in Christ.