Paul addresses his letter to "the church of God... at Corinth... with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord." So the letter is addressed to the Church of God (through the local expression of it in Corinth) and embraces all who are in the house of God by profession. The former company is sanctified (separated) by Christ Jesus and represents the Church in the true sense of the one body.
The Apostle Paul's ministry was to all believers, everywhere, his gospel to the whole creation.
At Corinth there were many believers, because God had said to Paul at the time of his first visit to Corinth, "I have much people in this city." There might have been several places in Corinth where saints were gathered because of distance, but they were of the same body and in fellowship with each other, expressing the truth by being gathered to the alone precious name of the Lord Jesus.
"There is one body" (Eph. 4:44There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (Ephesians 4:4)) and Christians should gather on that divine ground, not as a sect. The present truth for God's people is the truth of the one body. It is largely lost today. Man's will has set up divisions of which this chapter speaks. Very few are gathered on divine ground. Only those separated and gathered on that ground set forth the truth of the one body.
The apostle commended the saints and spoke of the various gifts in the assembly. They were waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ who will confirm them unto the end so that they will "be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." The apostle recognized everything of good that he could in that assembly before he began the different subjects that were on his heart.
There were divisions which have always been a sad thing among God's people. In the assembly at Corinth there were men of stature, good speakers, perhaps some wealthy in worldly goods, gifted in prophecy, speaking in tongues. The enemy used these traits to form schools around certain men, even Christ and Paul were supposed heads of parties. In the last instance it was more a reproach because Christ and Paul were ignored. Paul asked, "Is Christ divided?" He renounced it all; there was only one body.
Before any charges were made by the apostle, he was careful that there were witnesses who could substantiate these claims as to these divisions. The house of Chloe had borne testimony to this fact in the ears of the apostle. Paul's mission was not to baptize but to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and especially to declare the truth of the one body and the mystery. He showed that in Christianity it was not a question of gift or wealth that the saints were to recognize, but the truth itself. One was to speak and the others were to judge.
God has made foolish the world's wisdom. The cross of Christ and the poor and weak things are what God uses for His work and glory in this present day. To those who are called, Christ is the power and wisdom of God. "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men," that no flesh should glory in His presence. Christ Jesus "is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." The redemption of our bodies is yet to come. So we glory in the Lord.