<p>6:1 <i>And working together with him we entreat you not to receive the grace of God in vain</i>- God's desire for the salvation of the Corinthians involved Him working through Paul. And in that sense God and Paul became fellow workers (see on 1 Sam. 14:45). Paul seems to have the great commission in mind, when he wrote in 5:19-21 that to all of us has been committed the ministry of reconciliation, and in discharging it we are &lsquo;workers together&rsquo; with God- the very same word used in Mk. 16:20 concerning how the Lord Jesus &lsquo;worked with&rsquo; His men as they fulfilled the commission.</p><p>The &quot;grace&quot; in view is surely the<i> charis</i> of the Spirit. The Corinthians had been given the Spirit at baptism, but had not made use of it. They had received it in vain. The same word for &quot;received&quot; is used in 1 Cor. 2:14 to lament how the natural man does not receive the Spirit. And yet 1 Cor. 1 is clear that the Corinthians had received the Spirit. But they were not spiritual (1 Cor. 3:1). The Spirit had been received, but in vain. In contrast, Paul can say that he has not received God's grace in vain (1 Cor. 15:10); he is bidding them follow his example of transformation.</p>