1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia.
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
church (v.1) — here referring to the local assembly in Corinth
Again and again, in his epistles, Paul stresses his divine apostleship … He had never been trained for such a ministry as this; it was entirely God’s doing. God chose, him, called him, prepared and equipped him for it. He had been trained for leadership in Judaism, partly under the great Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). He, like his father before him, had been a Pharisee (Acts 23:6), with all the riches, prestige and power of a position on the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court of his nation. but as such he was a bitter enemy of Christ in His lowly followers, having them scourged and imprisoned, and even put to death for professing faith in Christ. — Stam, page 24.
will of God (v.1) = The Greek word translated will refers to the result hoped for. It’s nearly always used of God and refers to something God has determined shall be done.
Except for [Luke’s] one brief statement in Acts, we would not have known that at this time Paul was evidently accompanied by a considerable number of co-workers. In Acts 20:4Luke testifies that after three months’ stay in Greece, “there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.”
How do we know that Luke was with Paul at this time? By the pronouns “us” and “we,” now found again in the Acts record: “These … tarried for us … we sailed away” (Acts 20:5-6). — Stam, page 26.
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Paul’s inclusion of Timothy in his salutation does not, of course, imply that Timothy was in any sense or to any degree a co-author of this epistle, any more than Sosthenes was a co-author of 1 Corinthians. (See 1 Corinthians 1:1.) Paul is the writer, but he includes Timothy in his salutation because they knew him so well and could not but respect him. Also, Timothy might well have supplied Paul with important information about the situation at Corinth. — Stam, page 26.
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As we know, the unbelieving Jews were lying in wait for Paul at this time (Acts 20:3). They sought to kill him. Thus Paul decided to return to Asia through Macedonia with Luke, and to sail to Troas from Philippi, or Neapolis, its nearby port.
Perhaps the two hastened to Philippi on foot, though it is very possible, if not probable, that as the seven [others who traveled with Paul] boarded a ship bound for Troas (as though there had been no change in plans) Paul and Luke simply boarded another ship, bound for Philippi, from whence they would then sail to Troas to meet the others.
Thus, in either case, the plot to murder Paul was effectively foiled, the Jews naturally supposing that Paul was one of the seven who had boarded the ship bound for Troas! — Stam, page 27.
all the saints who are in all Achaia (v.1) — There is no record of other churches in Achaia, except at Cenchrea. Paul was probably addressing his letter here to individual saints who lived throughout the area.
According to Psalm 2:4-5; Psalm 110:1 and many other Old Testament Scriptures, judgment and war were to be—and they will be—visited upon man for his rebellion against God and his rejection of Christ (cf. Revelation 19:11).
But just when, prophetically speaking, God was ready to pour out the vials of His judgment in the Great Tribulation, He did a most wonderful thing. He interrupted the prophetic program, saving Saul of Tarsus, the leader of the rebellion, and sending him forth as Paul the Apostle, to proclaim “grace and peace” to all men. Thus was ushered in the present “dispensation of the grace of God” (Ephesians 3:1-3).
The “grace and peace” of Paul’s “mystery,” has been God’s message to this guilty world now for nearly 2,000 years, while “judgment and war” continue to await fulfillment. — Stam, page 30.
