1 Corinthians 1: 10 – 17
Avoid Church splits
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
Have you ever attended a church where there is total harmony amongst all the people? You know no one who is causing problems by complaining or slandering someone else. If you attend such a fellowship, please let me know where this church is. I’ve got to come and see this for myself. I mention all of this in just because I do not believe this condition can ever exist. Nevertheless, this is something that we should continue to strive for as a body of believers. This problem has existed from the beginning of the church and continues to be a major problem.
Paul begins this section by revealing his concern that the Corinthian’s are in danger of splitting up into different parties around the teaching of certain leaders. The people had started to take sides in who they thought was the best and most important teacher. This caused everyone to forget the most important and central truth of Christ crucified, the one fact which is central to the Christian message, and around which all should be united, and which points to the One Who alone, by means of what He accomplished there, is effective in bringing about salvation through the power of God. This is the very foundation of the Christian faith.
Paul is going to point out that the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, has brought about the raising up of a wholly new situation. The world is now divided into two. On the one hand is ‘the natural man’, who is devoid of the Spirit, taken up with human wisdom, divided, rejecting God’s way, and who despises the cross. We see on the other side ‘the spiritual one’, who receives true wisdom from God, trusting fully in the word of the cross, enlightened, and becomes the temple of God indwelt by The Precious Holy Spirit.
The ‘natural man’ is the world in Adam, the first man, and as such earthy and without the Spirit and unable to discern the things of God, with no hope of the resurrection to life. The Spiritual One is the last Adam, the second man, the heavenly One, in Whom are found those who are heavenly, Who has given His Spirit to His own so that they might understand the things of God as manifested through the power of the word of the cross, and know the things that are freely given to them of God, and come finally to the resurrection of life.
Sadly, though the Corinthian church, while having become a part of the second, are revealing themselves as still very much taken up with the first. They are divided, looking to earthly wisdom, arguing about different teachers as though they brought different messages. Boy O boy have things not changed much since then.
Paul is going to tell them that they need to recognize that the teachers are in themselves nothing, ‘weak and foolish’ tools of God who must themselves account to God, whose task is to build on the One foundation which is Christ, for they are building the Temple of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is indeed the One Holy Spirit Who reveals through these teachers the crucified Christ and what He has done and is doing for them. For it is one Christ Who has been crucified and through Whom we are being saved.
I was watching this video called the ‘Elephant Room’ where a group of very popular Pastors had gathered together to discuss current issues within the church that exists today. I was shocked when they came up to the category of what they called ‘Campus Churches’. Here these guys have, in my opinion thought to highly of themselves. Because they think that they are God’s gift to the current Christian generation, they film themselves while they are teaching. At various locations people gather to watch these guys teach on a film screen. I think that there were 9 Pastors in this meeting and together they had around 90 campus churches. Are you kidding me? These guys cannot raise up some faithful men to go to another location and shepherd a flock. Does all spiritual wisdom abide only on them? All I can say is wow!
I had a new Pastor who was doing his first funeral ask me for my advice on how he do the service. I told him that it is not by our might nor power, but by the Holy Spirit that others are blessed. I told him to just pray that El Shaddai – Almighty God may be blessed by using him as His mouthpiece. If so, then God will put the right words into his mouth. In fact, if the Holy Spirit Is ministering then all this guy must do is say hello, open the word and then let the word do the right work.
What should therefore be all important to all the people living in the Corinthian area and for all of us is Christ and Him crucified, the word of the cross, foreordained before the creation, the central message they proclaim, and around which they must unite, for it is He who has been made to them the wisdom from God, even righteousness, sanctification and redemption. He is the one foundation on which they are built. The church is one and it is this message that separates them from the outside world which in its folly and blindness despises Him and what He came to accomplish. Thus must they maintain unity in Him, partaking in His one body, presenting a united witness to the world, recognizing that they are the one Temple of God, rather than splitting up into a group of different argumentative philosophical groups having lost the recognition that what they have come to believe in Christ is central to the whole future of all things. They need the grand vision.
Paul now brings up the first thing he has against them because of what he has been told by some familiar with the Corinthian church. And that is that they are in danger of splitting up into philosophical groups depending on which preacher’s message they favor, or on who baptized them, selecting out aspects of their message which were not central and treating them as though they were. This was clearly not just a matter of having a favorite preacher, but of falling out with others over the details and feeling themselves superior because of the name they connected themselves with, the secondary doctrines they seemed to emphasize, and the way such presented the Christian message. They were in danger of forming separate groups and bad mouthing the rest, and missing the main point of that message, the word of the cross and of the Crucified One. The church in Corinth could easily slip back into being a group of philosophical sects and lose the world view.
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”
Paul foresaw the great danger that, in becoming separated off they would all cease to trust in the resurrected Christ and Him, the crucified One, and would begin to trust rather only in the secondary teachings presented by one or another of these men, seen as ‘wisdom’ teaching and accepted as such to the exclusion of the grand picture. Their faith would become second hand and thus unreal. They would become simply members of another wisdom sect rather than believers who proclaim the Gospel.
Please note how Paul listed the term ‘Brothers.’ The word is significant here. He is reminding them that they are all members of Christ’s family and in that family are brothers. They should therefore appreciate and love one another.
In an awesome list Paul points out immediately the One Whom Is the Church Head, ‘Through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ It is in Him and what He Is that they are one. He is turning their thoughts to the One they should be concentrating on as the Lord of all, and reminding them of what The Lord Jesus Christ Himself had said on the issue of unity that we read in the Gospel of John chapter 17 verses 20-21, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”
Unless their faith is centered in Him it is nothing. It was because of their relationship and privileged position in Him that they should respond.
Paul wants them all as believers to do this - ‘That you all speak the same thing.’ In other words that they speak with one voice and present a united front to the world and to young Christians, demonstrating that they are united in Christ and at one with Him and with each other, as Jesus Himself had taught them, thus focusing all attention on Christ. Private discussion on secondary issues is fine, but public dissension is bad, for it dishonors the One Who gave His life for all.
We are to be at peace with one another, agreeing on the major central truths and being careful to differ in love on secondary interpretations. They are to concentrate on Jesus Christ and Him crucified, Who He Is revealed to be and what He came to do. Thus they will have the same mind and the same judgment both on the central truths of the Gospel and on how they should react on secondary matters. This will result in their being ‘perfected together’, having a full unity. Then the world will see one message, one Christ, one people.
Look again at the portion of the verse ‘That you be perfected together.’ It means to make complete, put in order, restore, put into proper condition, make fully trained. Thus, Paul wants them to be put right and ‘fully trained’ and taught in the Gospel, made perfectly at one. He wants them to be seen as a fully united body, all acting in unison.
In the church on many occasions people come and report things that other people are doing. On many occasions they want to be anonymous. If I cannot use their name as a reference then I do not deal with the issue. Note how Paul does the same. It is not something new as we read Paul’s remarks, ‘It has been signified (revealed, shown) to me.’ Paul is not speaking in the abstract. He has had specific information about their divisions, their disputes and their arguments. ‘By those of Chloe.’ It may thus indicate that Chloe was a well-known and influential person whose family members, or more probably her servants, had communicated with Paul about the situations going on in Corinth. By naming Chloe’s household, he was letting them know of the accuracy and reliability of his knowledge.
We now come upon the major list of popular leaders -‘I am of Paul -- Apollos -- Cephas (Peter) -- Christ.’ Some may have been carried away by Apollos’ eloquence like the popular Pastors who gathered to discuss current topics in today’s churches. We find out about Apollos’s popularity in the book of Acts chapter 18 verse 24, “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.”
Those who sided with Peter may have done so because of their response to preachers from Jerusalem who claimed Peter’s authority. They may have laid greater emphasis on Jewish aspects and have appealed especially to Jewish Christians. But if so there is no suggestion that it had become a specific problem, only that it was causing ‘division’ by diverting loyalties by exalting secondary matters. Those ‘of Christ’ may have insisted on limiting their understanding only to His actual words and have scorned the ‘expanded’ teaching of Peter and Paul, rejecting their interpretations, and even the interpretations of the Apostles as a whole.
So, Paul here expresses his longing and desire that they put such thoughts aside and concentrate on the full Christian message of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord. The preachers are to be nothing. He as Christ crucified Is to be everything.
The remainder of the letter does not suggest that this had reached the stage where any were specifically in conflict with essential teaching. Thus, it would seem that Paul was seeking to nip a dangerous tendency in the bud rather than having to combat heresy. He was fighting neglect and not specific heresy. He did not want them to deteriorate into a number of wisdom schools, with Christ becoming secondary, or simply another wisdom teacher.
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Paul now attacks their divisions at their root. There is only one Jesus Christ, and to Him, and to Him alone, should all look. It is not a question of either/or. The messenger is nothing. Christ is pre-eminent. He was the One Who was crucified for them and for us all. He was the One into Whose name they had been baptized. Let them then unite in Him and look only to Him, for from Him alone comes the grace and power to deliver. No man can give this power. Without His working men of God have no effectiveness whatsoever in things pertaining to God, and their words, while stirring men’s emotions, will have no real spiritual power. Let all then proclaim and look to Christ.
‘Is Christ divided?’ The Oneness of Christ should stress the need for them to be one in Him. All is centered on Him. He cannot be divided up. In Philadelphia we have a huge Catholic population, I have witnessed many do good[ers] try to tell these people how they are so deceived. I do not. I dwell on what we have in common and that is The Lord Jesus Christ.
‘Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?’ That they should look to Paul or anyone else is the second absurdity. It was Christ Who was crucified for them. It was Christ into Whose name they were baptized. It was from Him that came all spiritual benefits. It was from Him that they had received life and had received the Holy Spirit. How foolish then to look to Paul, or anyone else.
This is not to doubt that due respect should be paid to those who minister the word of God in their place, but the moment they seek to draw attention to themselves, or begin to think themselves as something, or to draw men away from the whole church of Christ because of the exclusivity of their message, or the moment Christians begin to fall out through loyalty to one man of God or another, or to their message, or esteem them in such a way that disunity is caused in the body of Christ, then too much respect is being paid to them, and their relatively inferior place in the scheme of salvation is being overlooked. If they are godly men it is to Christ that they direct men’s thoughts. It is to Christ and Christ alone that men must look, both for salvation and in respect to their whole manner of living. It is with Him that they must be taken up. It is He that they must venerate. Christ must be all. And then they will also be at one with their fellow Christians. They must beware of hiding Christ behind themselves. In the words of John the Baptist given to us in the Gospel of John chapter 3 verse 30, every godly minister says, “He must increase, and I must decrease”. He points away from himself to Christ.
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
We learn about Crispus in the book of Acts chapter 18 verse 8, “And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.”
We find out about Stephanas in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 15 through 17, “I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to everyone that helpeth with us, and laboureth. am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied.” It is quite possible that Stephanas may have been Paul’s first convert in that area, which was why he baptized him and his household. The influence of a man on his household is here stressed.
He is now grateful that he had himself baptized so few for it avoided the danger that any would consider that he baptized men in his own name. With these words Paul forever puts baptism into its rightful place, important but secondary. Baptism does not save, nor is it the Gospel. It was not his first consideration. We learn here that the effective power of Christ to save does not directly work through baptism, although it results in baptism. It is the word of the cross which saves, through proclamation that does not need to contain human methods of persuasion. Then once that word has done its work and brought men to salvation, working effectively in their hearts, they reveal their response by being baptized and by living in accordance with Christ’s teaching.
Paul is really concerned when he says, ‘I thank God that I baptized none of you, except --.’ It is clear from this that Paul in his ministry mainly left the work of baptizing to others. He was the instrument of God to bring men to salvation through His preaching of Christ. Baptism followed as a separating off from the world, as an open declaration of faith by those who were converted, and as a response to God and means of declaring that they were now dead to the world and alive to God. It depicted that those baptized were now drenched with the Spirit and members of the body of Christ, and in many it was the final seal on their burgeoning faith, resulting in their final reception of the Spirit. It depicted, as Paul has been driving home over and over, that they were one together in Christ. But it was not the saving instrument. It was a picture of what had happened, or what was happening within them, of what God had done in delivering them, portrayed by a physical act and a further spiritual response in front of the world. But it was the word of the cross which saved. Otherwise Paul would have delighted in baptizing as many as he could. If it was as central as some see it he would have made it central in his ministry.
That is not to say that clear explanation and emotion in the light of the message are to be derided, for the former is helpful and the latter understandable. Only that in the end it is the message of what Christ has done for men on the cross, coming home to the heart and resulting in effective response that alone will save. And without this the preaching is spiritually ineffective. Thus, Paul sought to make sure that his message was an effective one that would accomplish this, and carefully avoided anything that might detract from it.
Now all you great popular teachers take note of Paul’s advice, ‘Not in wisdom of word.’ The emphasis here is on wisdom revealed through words. Some great philosophers were famed for their wisdom, and many followed their teachings and eloquently used them to convince men to hold certain positions and attitudes. People of many nations were swayed by them. But this was not to be so with the Gospel. - Paul did not want swayed men but saved men.
The Gospel was the message of the effectiveness of the power of the cross and of the One Who died there and rose again. If this was hidden by eloquence, or men were ‘converted’ without reference to it, then its effect could not be achieved and it was thus rendered void. And whatever resulted would not be true salvation. The cross, which alone can save, would be negated. If men hear our words, and are impressed with what we say, and yet do not come to appreciate the significance of the cross, we have given them ‘wisdom of word’ and not the ‘word of the cross’, the word of the Gospel. And they will be lost, and we will be to blame.
Let me ask you a serious question to consider. Did our Master tell us to go out and evangelize the world? No, He said to go into the world and make disciples. I do not know all the facts if they are true or not but a report said that of all the people who come forward at evangelistic crusades only about 10 percent truly make a commitment to believe in and follow our Lord Jesus Christ. You might not know this but many use deceptions to trick people to respond to the evangelists message. The next time you watch one of these crusades and you see all the people coming down to walk forward, most are volunteers [counselors]. So, when you see the stream of people coming forward, these are not new converts. I like someone’s statement that evangelism without discipleship equals zero.
I advise these guys who do this to stop. They are spending millions and millions of dollars for unknown results. It is better to use the money to help the poor and needy which some people personally minister to than to gather thousands for worthless purposes.
Please write down this important fact from the apostle Paul - ‘Lest the cross of Christ be made void (or of none effect).’ In other words, excluded by men’s eloquence and therefore ineffective. The verb keno-o means ‘to empty’ (here ‘of effect’), ‘to render void’, ‘to make of no effect’. If it is not its message that comes home to the heart all else is useless from a Christian point of view. It is the Christian message to which all else is secondary.
This was part of the danger of looking to individual preachers. Men would begin to turn their eyes from Christ crucified to something less. May it not be so with us brothers and sisters.
