---
title: 1 Corinthians 1:2
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-1-2/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-1-2.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 1 Corinthians 1:2
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 1 Corinthians 1:2

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "to the congregation of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in union with Christ Jesus, called to be holy ones, together with all those everywhere who are calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:"

## JW Usage

JWs understand "calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" as expressing faith in Jesus as God's appointed Messiah and obeying his commands — not as prayer or worship directed to Jesus. The Watchtower maintains that worship and prayer belong exclusively to Jehovah; Jesus is the channel through whom prayers reach God, not their proper recipient.

## Protestant Usage

The phrase "call upon the name of" (Greek: epikaleo to onoma) is the Septuagint's standard rendering of the Hebrew worship formula used exclusively for YHWH in the Old Testament (Psalm 116:4, Joel 2:32, Genesis 4:26). Jewish translators chose this phrase 250 years before Christianity. Paul applies the identical phrase to Jesus in 1 Corinthians 1:2, describing all believers everywhere as "those calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Peter quotes Joel 2:32 — "everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved" — and applies it to Jesus in Acts 2:21. Paul does the same in Romans 10:13. The entire Corinthian church is defined by this practice — it is not an exception but the identifying mark of early Christian devotion. The OT worship language reserved for YHWH is deliberately transferred to Christ without qualification or apology.

## NWT Issue

NWT renders *en Christō Iēsou* as "in union with Christ Jesus" rather than the locative "in Christ Jesus" — the systemic NWT pattern for Pauline *en Christō* texts (also at John 14:10-11, Romans 8:1, Philippians 3:9, and throughout Paul). "Sanctified in union with Christ Jesus" reads as a relational status (union-as-membership) rather than the locative Protestant sense that the believer's sanctification is *located* in Christ's finished work.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Call Upon the Name of the Lord Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/call-upon-name.md) — The OT worship phrase applied to Jesus [Deity of Christ]
- [Prayer to Jesus in the New Testament](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/prayer-to-jesus.md) — Acts 7:59, Revelation 22:20, 2 Corinthians 12:8 [Deity of Christ]
- [No New Testament Command to Use 'Jehovah'](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/jehovah-name-no-NT-mandate.md) — The NT's only command about the saving name redirects it to Jesus [Deity of Christ]
- [Until Now You Have Not Asked in My Name](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/john-16-23-26-prayer-trap.md) — John 16:23-26 — the unitarian collapse on prayer [Deity of Christ]