1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
As this was Paul’s fourth letter to the Corinthians, we see that he interacted more with them than any other church. (The evidence points to at least four letters Paul wrote to them, but only two survived and are included in inspired Scripture, which we call 1 and 2 Corinthians—see the Week 8, Day 5 notes on 1 Corinthians 5:9).
His introduction is similar to that in 1 Corinthians, only his co-author has changed from Sosthenes to Timothy, both frequent traveling companions to the apostles. Despite their propensity to sub-Christian behavior, the Corinthians are grouped together with the “saints throughout Achaia.” We do not know of specific churches in Achaia (southern part of present-day Greece), but their existence can be inferred. We do know there were believers in Athens (Acts 17:32). Those in Thessalonica, Berea, and Philippi were located in Macedonia (northern part of present-day Greece), to which Paul refers in 2 Corinthians. 8:1, and which was possibly from where Paul wrote this letter. The Christian movement was expanding pervasively out from the larger cities where Paul tended to focus his ministry. And only about twenty years had passed since the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ at the time of this writing!
Following his customary salutation, Paul greets them with, “Grace to you and peace” on behalf of “God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Skeptics who deny the Trinity are hard-pressed to explain how Paul can refer to Jesus Christ as “Lord” in the same sentence as he refers to “God the Father” and treats the two on the same level. Jesus is referred to as “the Son of God” (2 Cor. 1:19) in distinction to “God the Father” and “the Spirit of God” (2 Cor. 3:3). In 2 Corinthians 3:17, Paul writes, “The Lord is the Spirit.”
Putting them all together in his final summation to the Corinthians, Paul writes, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14). The concept of the Trinity is inspired truth taught in Scripture by the apostle Paul: the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. This is not an ecclesiastical dictum of men, but the profound Christian truth of one God existing in three persons, fully equal and fully in unity.
Lord, beyond our full comprehension because You are God, I believe in You as Father, Son,and Holy Spirit.
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