Select Called Saints, Not Strays | 1 Corinthians 1:1–3

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

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Our text today is 1 Corinthians 1:1-3.

Have you ever forgotten who you are?
Not your name.
Your identity.
The core of who God says you are.

Because life has a way of chipping at that, doesn’t it?
One comment from someone who doesn’t really know you…
One failure you can’t stop replaying…
One season where you feel more worn out than useful…
And suddenly you’re questioning everything.

That’s exactly why Paul opens this letter the way he does.

He doesn’t start with correction. He starts with identity.

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Corinthians 1:1–3

Corinth was a moral circus.
A city where everything was loud, proud, fast, and compromised.
But Paul looks straight at this messy church and says,

You’re God’s people.
You’re sanctified.
You’re called saints.

Not because they earned it.
Not because their behavior proved it.
Because Jesus did the work and placed His name on them.

And here’s the takeaway for you today:

Culture doesn’t get to name you. Christ already did.

You are:

1. Sanctified — set apart by God.
2. Called — chosen for His purposes.
3. Blessed — grace and peace belong to you.

Paul says all that before addressing a single issue… because identity always comes before behavior.

When you remember who you are, you start living like who you are.

DO THIS:

Speak your identity out loud today.
“I am sanctified in Christ and called by God.”
Say it before you walk into work… before you see your family… before you face that thing that makes you doubt yourself.

ASK THIS:

1. Where have you let the culture tell you who you are instead of Christ?
2. What false label do you need to lay down today?
3. How would your decisions change if you fully lived like a “called saint”?

PRAY THIS:

Jesus, remind me today who I am in You.
Strip away every false label and anchor my heart in Your grace. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

“Who You Say I Am”