I Corinthians 1:9

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord (KJV)

Then: Finally got to it - the end of Letter Element #4 - thanksgiving greetings of 1 Corinthians. "Faithful, "fellowship, "Son" and "Jesus Christ. Commentators latch onto these four key words. "Faithful," the outstanding attribute of God, meant that his promises to stay with and forgive those who seek him are valid yesterday, today, and tomorrow. "Fellowship" meant a mutual inclusion of all believers in and followers of Christ. Everyone in the entire group - past, present, and yet to come - has Jesus' love and is enabled both to "love one another" and to shed love on the not-yet believers. "The word "Son" brings thoughts of Christ's death, his resurrection, and fulfillment of God's plan that Satan would not conquer. The Lord will. In his faithfulness, he already has.

[Dr. Magness points out three major precepts contained and intertwined in these verses - theological, Christological, and ecclesiological. The dominant thought of God as faithful culminates here. Paul makes the Corinthians remember Christ's love for themselves and for the church (ecclesiological).]

Now: Paul's teachings contrast with our daily lives just as much as they contrasted with the lives of the Corinthians. If you think about church as an activity, fellowship as coffee-time, and worship as a passive, sit-and-listen ocupation, then church today seems trivial and superficial. Paul's words "God is faithful," need renewed. Today's Christians are humbled and challenged by Paul's strength and desire to serve. May we, like Paul, come to know the Christ so well that his presence in our lives glorifies and honors him.

Extra sources: Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Episitle of St. Pauls to the Corinthians by Archibald Robertson and Alfred Plummer (Scribner's: 1911) online at
http://www.archive.org/stream/criticalexegetic33robeuoft#page/8/mode/2up
First Epistle to the Corinthians: ACommentary on the Greek Text by Anthony C. Thistleton (Eerdmans: 2000) online at http://books.google.com/books?id=IHG_DNLpmroC&dq=First+Corinthians+online+commentaries&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=oCDBSpeoKZ_e8Ab-zKzBAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12#v=onepage&q=&f=false