Devotional 11 October 2025

October 11, 2025 • Steve Torres

1 Corinthians 1:9.jpg

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:4–9, ESV)

Paul reminds the Corinthians that in Christ they already possess all that is needed, not only for salvation but for the knowledge and gifts that will sustain them until the day of Christ. Their coming correction will not signal any failure in God, for the Lord remains faithful even when they falter. His faithfulness is the power that sustains their calling to be saints together, set apart from the world yet united in the fellowship of His Son. Therefore, our confidence rests not in our wisdom or strength but in the unchanging faithfulness of the One who called us.

This truth echoes Peter’s words that God “has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). The believer’s life begins and continues in the sufficiency of Christ. Paul thanks God not because the Corinthians are perfect, but because grace is already at work within them. Even their gifts (speech, knowledge, discernment) are tokens of divine generosity (James 1:17). Though Paul will later correct their misuse of these gifts, he starts by affirming their source: everything good they have comes from the faithful God who called them.

The Lord’s faithfulness is the thread that runs through the entire passage. Just as God sustained Israel through the wilderness despite their failings (Deut 7:9; Neh 9:17), so He now sustains His church. Christ Himself guarantees our perseverance: “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6).

To be “guiltless in the day of our Lord” is not the result of flawless living, but of faithful grace. Christ “will sustain you to the end” because He is the faithful One (2 Thess 3:3). The call to be “saints together” is not a burden of performance but an invitation to trust. God is not waiting for our success to prove His faithfulness; rather, His faithfulness is what makes our endurance possible.