This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to God’s church in Corinth and to all of His holy people throughout Greece. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. (2 Cor 1:1-2)
Note: that’s compare letter openings not letter openers! See Bible Gems 134 where I told you about the standard Greek letter.
The standard Greek letter makes more sense than our letter writing habit. What do we do if we get a letter and don’t know who it is from by looking at the envelope? We immediately look to the end of the letter to see who signed. It helps us with determining the context of the letter. Who is writing this letter to us? The Greek letter writing practice was to put the name of the sender at the beginning. Then the addressee, who was to receive the letter, then to finish the letter with a closing “Grace to you”.
Therefore note Paul’s standard letter intro:
- From Paul
- To the church at X
- Grace and Peace to you.
Yes 1 Thessalonians is the shortest but 2 Corinthians is not far behind. I used these at the beginnings of Romans so you would understand when Paul packs the opening of one his letter with lots more than the standard he has something to say. In the case of 2 Corinthians he gets straight to the point after the formalities. Remember this letter is one of a continuing series. It is like Paul comes straight to the point and as such does not dwell on the niceties of the introduction. To follow up more on this, read Bible Gem 134 and take note of the detail. In this case 2 Corinthians does not warrant a great deal of comment from me. You have enough input for you yourself to do some more study and comparison on the opening to the letter. You can also see what was said in Bible Gems 308 and 309.
Here is the opening to 1 Corinthians:
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes. I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be His own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as He did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
You can see for yourself where the differences lie and determine if there is anything there of significance for you to investigate. In this case I have taken the time to add the above for the benefit of the 2,000 plus people who have joined Gems since the start of 1st Corinthians. I also wondered what those of you who joined Gems within the last week would think when you have received nothing since you joined. That’s because, as you now know, you joined in a transitional week between finishing one biblical book and prior to starting another.
The Intake Of Bible Doctrine Is The Most Important Ingredient Of A Believer’s Life.
Robb Thompson
Nothing is ordinary. Life is an endless series of little miracles. The difference between living and existing is noticing.
Louie Giglio