1 Corinthians 1:2
1 Corinthians 1:22To 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:
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.
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 (, , ). Jewish translators chose this phrase 250 years before Christianity. Paul applies the identical phrase to Jesus in , describing all believers everywhere as "those calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Peter quotes — "everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved" — and applies it to Jesus in . Paul does the same in . 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 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 , , , 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.