Paul's Benediction and Commendation

Paul's salutation served to reassert to the Corinthians their identity as the saints of God, set apart to Him in Christ Jesus. In turn, his subsequent benediction and commendation reminded them of what their identity and calling afforded to them and demanded of them. Far from issuing a gratuitous greeting, Paul was purposefully laying the foundation for his treatment of the various issues that occasioned his letter. Whatever the particular mix of sin and malaise in the Corinthian church, Paul knew that the remedy was one and the same: The Corinthians needed to rethink what it means to belong to Christ and apply themselves anew to living into the truth as it is in Him.