Grace be unto you, &c. See on Romans 1:7. I thank my God always Whenever I mention you to God in prayer, or on every occasion; on your behalf On your account; for the grace of God which is given you, &c. For all those spiritual blessings which are freely conferred upon you by God, for Christ's sake. That in every thing With all kinds of spiritual gifts, pertaining to the knowledge and preaching of the gospel; ye are enriched by him That is, many among you are; in all utterance With great freedom of speech; and in all knowledge Namely, of the mystery of the gospel. These gifts the Corinthians particularly admired. Therefore this congratulation naturally tended to soften their spirits, and make way for the reproofs which follow. Even as the testimony of Christ The gospel, which testifies of Christ, and declares the will of God concerning the way of saving sinners, Matthew 24:14; was confirmed in Or among, you That is, was plainly proved to be from God, Revelation 19:10, by these gifts bestowed upon you. They knew they had received these gifts by the hand of Paul, and that long before the false teachers came among them, and that they had received none from them. And this consideration was highly proper to revive in them their former reverence and affection for their spiritual father, and to show them how much they were to blame for attaching themselves to teachers who had given them no proof at all either of their divine mission or of the truth of their doctrine. So that ye come behind Other churches, and are defective in no gift Namely, tending to edification and confirmation in the faith and hope of the gospel; waiting for the coming Την αποκαλυψιν, the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ A sure mark of a true or false Christian, to long for, or dread, the second glorious revelation of the Lord Jesus. The apostle speaks here, not of all individual believers at Corinth, but of the church there in general; as having in it many spiritual persons, who possessed all the different spiritual gifts which common believers could enjoy. Accordingly he asked them, 2 Corinthians 12:13, What is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches? Who shall also If you faithfully apply to him; confirm you In these gifts and graces; unto the end Of your lives, and of the time of your trial; that ye may be blameless Clear from the guilt of any known sin; in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ The time of his coming to judgment. Now it is our day, wherein we are to work out our salvation: then it will be eminently the day of Christ, and of his glory in the saints. God is faithful to all his promises, and therefore to him that hath shall be given: by whom ye were called By his word and Spirit; unto the fellowship of his Son
To partake, through him, of all the blessings of the gospel. And this calling, as if he had said, you should consider as a pledge of his willingness to save you unto the uttermost.