Paul has a bit of a flair for the dramatic! Can you imagine the Corinthian church listening to this, telling each other, "Yes, we get it, we get it." Paul is trying to lift them up, to show how Christianity isn't a matter of rank, where some are elevated above others, but it's a matter of grace, where we receive unimaginable riches simply due to the grace of God.
Where else in the world can such favor be granted so freely? None of us are in danger of getting freely selected into the royal family simply because it's our lucky Tuesday. None of us will get a check from Bill Gates simply because he's feeling generous. None of us will be granted a mansion on a golf course or a new grand piano just because the owner feels generous. Pretty much everything in this life must be earned, and so we grow accustomed to this line of thinking. And it wasn't any different two thousand years ago, which is why Paul goes over and over and over this, constantly trying to help the Corinthians see that they have received treasures as a free gift of grace.
It's a hard way to shift our minds... but it's worth it, it's so worth it, because it frees us to live in grace, given and received.
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