1 Corinthians 1:7

1:1-9 All Christians are by baptism dedicated and devoted to Christ, and are under strict obligations to be holy. But in the true church of God are all who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, and who call upon him as God manifest in the flesh, for all the blessings of salvation; who acknowledge and obey him as their Lord, and as Lord of all; it includes no other persons. Christians are distinguished from the profane and atheists, that they dare not live without prayer; and they are distinguished from Jews and pagans, that they call on the name of Christ. Observe how often in these verses the apostle repeats the words, Our Lord Jesus Christ. He feared not to make too frequent or too honourable mention of him. To all who called upon Christ, the apostle gave his usual salutation, desiring, in their behalf, the pardoning mercy, sanctifying grace, and comforting peace of God, through Jesus Christ. Sinners can have no peace with God, nor any from him, but through Christ. He gives thanks for their conversion to the faith of Christ; that grace was given them by Jesus Christ. They had been enriched by him with all spiritual gifts. He speaks of utterance and knowledge. And where God has given these two gifts, he has given great power for usefulness. These were gifts of the Holy Ghost, by which God bore witness to the apostles.

Those that wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, will be kept by him to the end; and those that are so, will be blameless in the day of Christ, made so by rich and free grace. How glorious are the hopes of such a privilege; to be kept by the power of Christ, from the power of our corruptions and Satan's temptations!

Come behind (ὑστερεῖσθαι) See on Luke 15:14, and compare Romans 3:23. Contrast with were enriched. Gift (χαρίσματι) See on Romans 1:11. Its prevailing sense in this epistle is that of special spiritual endowments, such as tongues, prophecy, etc. Here of spiritual blessings generally. Waiting (ἀπεκδεχομένους) See on Romans 8:19. Denoting assiduous waiting. Dr. Thayer compares the phrase wait it out (ἐκ). Revelation (ἀποκάλυψιν) See on Revelation 1:1.

So that ye come behind in no gift; {10} waiting for the {f} coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: (10) He says along the way that there is no reason why they should be so pleased in those gifts which they had received, seeing that those were nothing in comparison of those which are to be looked for. (f) He speaks of the last coming of Christ.

7 . come behind ] should rather be translated fall short . No comparison with other Churches seems to have been intended. the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ] The word in the original and in the margin of the English version is revelation . But this is not always equivalent to coming . The ‘revelation of Jesus Christ’ unquestionably means (1) the Last Day in such passages as 2 Thessalonians 1:7 and 1 Peter 1:7 , and the same is the case with St Luke 17:30 . But on the other hand, in passages such as 2 Corinthians 12:1 ; Galatians 1:12 ; Galatians 1:16 ; Galatians 2:2 , it means (2) the fuller revelation of the mysteries of God’s kingdom; while in Revelation 1:1 , it signifies (3) the unfolding of things to come. The second of these three meanings would seem most appropriate here. The testimony of Christ, confirmed originally by the inward witness of the Spirit, receives additional confirmation by the gradual unfolding of things Divine, until the believer, fully grounded in the faith, stands without reproach before Christ at His coming.

(7) So that ye come. —Not exactly as in the English, “so that ye come behind” (or, are wanting ) “in no gift,” but “the result being that ye come behind others in no gift.” You have as fully as any others those spiritual gifts which sustain you and enable you to wait for the revelation ( i.e., the second visible appearance, which the early Church expected would soon occur) of our Lord Jesus Christ, not with fear, or with impatience, but with a calm trustfulness ( Luke 17:30 ; Titus 2:13 ).

1 Corinthians 1:7 . Ὥστε ὑμᾶς μὴ ὑστερεῖσθαι , So that ye are not behind ) This clause depends on ye are enriched by antithesis.— ἀπεκδεχομένους , expecting , [ waiting for ]) The character of the true or false Christian is either to expect or dread the revelation of Christ. [ Leaving to others their MEMENTO MORI, do thou urge this joyful expectation .—V. g.].

Verse 7. - So that ye come behind in no gift. The "gifts" are here the charismata , graces, such as powers of healing, etc., which were the result of the outpouring of the Spirit. The sequel shows that they were rather outward than inward; they were splendid endowments rather than spiritual fruits. Yet even these were not wholly wanting, as we see from 2 Corinthians 8:7 . The Greek may also mean "causing you not to be conscious of inferiority." Waiting ; expecting, not fearing it, This was the constant attitude of the early Christians ( Romans 8:19-25 ; Philippians 3:20 ; Hebrews 9:20 ; 1 Thessalonians 1:10 ; Colossians 3:4 ; Titus 2:13 ). Love for Christ's manifestation was a Christian characteristic ( 2 Timothy 4:8 ). The revelation. Three words are used to express the second advent: apokalypsis (as here and in 2 Thessalonians 1:7 ; 1 Peter 1:7, 13 ); parousia (as in Matthew 24:3, 27 , etc.; 1 Thessalonians 2:19 ; James 5:7, 8 , etc.); and epiphaneia , in the pastoral Epistles ( 1 Timothy 6:14 ; 2 Timothy 1:10 ; 2 Timothy 4:1-8 ; Titus 2:13 ). St. Paul, however, only uses parousia six times in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and once in 1 Corinthians 15:23 . All Christians alike expected the return of Christ very soon, and possibly in their own lifetime ( 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10 , etc.; 1 Corinthians 15:51 ; James 5:8, 9 ; 1 Peter 4:7 ; 1 John 2:18 ; Revelation 22:20 , etc.).

Their expectation was founded on the great eschatological discourse of our Lord ( Matthew 24:29, 30, 34 ), and on his express promise that that generation should not pass away before his predictions were fulfilled. They were fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem and the close of the old dispensation, though they await a stilt more universal fulfilment. 1 Corinthians 1:7

7. ye come behind—are inferior to other Christians elsewhere [Grotius]. in no gift—not that all had all gifts, but different persons among them had different gifts (1Co 12:4, &c.). waiting for … coming of … Christ—The crowning proof of their "coming behind in no gift." Faith, hope, and love, are all exercised herein (compare 2Ti 4:8; Tit 2:13). "Leaving to others their MEMENTO MORI (remember death), do thou earnestly cherish this joyous expectation of the Lord's coming" [Bengel]. The Greek verb implies, "to expect constantly, not only for a certain time, but even to the end till the expected event happens" (Ro 8:19, [Tittmann, Greek Synonyms of the New Testament]).

Not that every one of them was filled with all the gifts of the blessed Spirit; but one excelled in one gift, another excelled in another, as the apostle expounds himself, 1 Corinthians 12:7,8 ; neither doth the apostle assert them perfect in their gifts, but saith that they came behind-hand, or were defective, in no gift; but were all waiting for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to judgment, of which he mindeth them, to encourage them to go on as they had began.

1 Corinthians 1:7 describes the result of the firm establishment of the Gospel: ὥστε ὑμᾶς μὴ ὑστερεῖσθαι κ . τ . λ . ( ὥστε with inf[87] of contemplated result: see Bn[88] §§ 369 ff.), “causing you not to feel behindhand in any gift of grace”; the mid[89] ὑστερεῖσθαι implies subjective reflexion , the consciousness of inferiority (Ev[90]): similarly in Romans 3:23 , “ find themselves short of the glory of God” (Sanday and Headl.); and in Luke 15:14 , “he began to feel his destitution ”. The pr[91] inf[92] and ptp[93] of the vbs. bear no ref[94] to the time of writing; their time is given by the governing ἐβεβαιώθη : the strong assurance with which the Cor[95] embraced the Gospel was followed by a shower of spiritual energies, of which they had a lively sense. A χάρισμα (see parls.) is χάρις in some concrete result (see Cr[96] s. v. ),—a specific endowment of ( God’s ) grace , whether the fundamental charism, embracing all others, of salvation in Christ ( Romans 5:16 ), or, e.g. , the special and individual charism of continence ( 1 Corinthians 7:7 ). No church excelled the Cor[97] in the variety of its endowments and the satisfaction felt in them. Chaps. 12–14 enumerate and discuss the chief Cor[98] χαρίσματα , setting ἀγάπη in their midst; ethical qualities are included under this term, 1 Corinthians 1:8 f.— ἀπεκδεχομένους τ . ἀποκάλυψιν κ . τ . λ . “while you eagerly awaited ( or eagerly awaiting, as you did) the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.