In these verses Paul seems to be saying, “You Corinthians are mistaken. When I resolved to come to Corinth, I did not resolve by myself or in myself; I resolved with the unchanging Christ of the faithful God.” In his vindication Paul speaks of God and of Christ, indicating to the complicated Corinthians that he was absolutely one with God and with Christ. God is faithful, and Paul also was faithful. Christ, the Son of God, is unchanging, and Paul, a person who was one with this Christ, was also unchanging. He resolved not according to human wisdom, but in oneness with the faithful God and the unchanging Christ. In these verses we have a strong indication that Paul was living absolutely in Christ and in God. He was one with God and with Christ.
First Corinthians is a revelation of what God is seeking today. God is seeking a people who live Christ and who are one with Him. Such a people eventually become the church. Do you know what the church is? The church is a collective people who live Christ and who are one with God. To have such a people is the desire of God’s heart, and it is what He purposed to have in eternity. It is revealed in brief in 1 Corinthians, where Paul was urging the believers to forget Judaism, Greek philosophy, and human wisdom and culture and realize that what God desires is a people who live Christ and who are one with God. Then in 2 Corinthians Paul shows them that he himself and his co-workers were such persons. All the apostles were people who were one with God and were living Christ. Therefore, even in the insignificant matter of resolving to go to a certain place, Paul resolved not in himself, but in Christ and with Christ. He did not have any intention which was apart from God or separate from Him. No, Paul was one with the faithful God, and he lived the unchanging Christ. His intention to come to the Corinthians was resolved in oneness with the unchanging Christ of the faithful God.
In verse 21 Paul goes on to say, “But He Who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” The apostles, who preached Christ according to God’s promises and lived Christ according to their preaching, and the believers, who received Christ according to the apostles’ preaching, are joined to Christ, becoming one with Him, through whom they say Amen before God to the great Yes of God’s promises, which is Christ Himself. However, they do not attach themselves, but God attaches them all together to Christ. Their being one with Christ is of God and by God, not of themselves and by themselves.
By the use of the word “but” in verse 21 Paul introduces a contrast. Paul has just indicated that he was one with the faithful God and that he lived the unchanging Christ. Why, then, does he introduce the next verse with a “But?” “But” used in this way often involves an unfavorable contrast. Paul uses “but” to indicate that even his being one with God and living Christ were not of himself or by himself. For this reason, Paul seems to be saying, “Yes, I am one with God and I live Christ. But this is not of me; it is of God, who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and who has anointed us. My being one with God and living Christ are of God, not of myself. I have no ground to boast concerning this. Any boast must be of God Himself.”
In verse 21 Paul speaks of being firmly attached with the believers unto Christ, the anointed One (Dan. 9:26; John 1:41). The Greek words rendered “firmly attaches us with you” can also be rendered “firmly connects us with you.” Literally, the word attaches means establishes. God establishes the apostles with the believers in Christ. This means that God attaches the apostles together with the believers unto Christ, connecting the apostles and the believers with Christ, the anointed One. Hence, the apostles and the believers are one not only with Christ the anointed One, but also with one another, sharing together the anointing of Christ which He has received of God. Since we have been attached by God unto Christ, the anointed One, we are spontaneously anointed with Him by God.
Verses 21 and 22 are deep and profound. Although the Greek word rendered attaches in verse 21 is establishes, the true meaning of the word here is not establish; it is attach. Here Paul is saying that God attaches us unto Christ; he does not refer to being established in Christ.
We should not take this verse for granted or assume that we understand it. What does Paul mean when he says that God “firmly attaches us with you unto Christ”? The word “us” denotes the apostles, and “you” refers to the believers. God attaches the apostles together with the believers not in Christ, but unto Christ. Apparently there is no difference in saying that God attaches us to Christ or unto Christ. Actually, the preposition “unto” used here is stronger than the preposition “to,” for “unto” implies a result, a particular end that is in view. For example, we have been justified unto life. This means that justification results in life, that justification is with a view to life. Here Paul is saying that God attaches the apostles with the believers with a certain result in view. This result is that we are unto Christ.
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