1Cor 1:14-16 | KingComments | STEP | . What Paul says in about the fellowship of Jesus Christ, is a starting point for the verses you have just read. He has to admonish the Corinthians because they have forgotten that there is only one Person through Whom they belong together. Paul underlines his admonition by adding: “By the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thereby he says that his admonition is completely supported by the authority of the Lord Jesus. You can imagine that the Corinthians should be impressed by this. That was necessary because the name of the Lord Jesus was no longer the only Name for them. Other names had become important to them as well: Paul, Apollos, Cephas ( ). As a result, they did not “all agree” or “all speak the same thing” [literal translation] anymore. ”Speak the same thing” does not mean saying things in the same tone or using the same words. It refers to the content of the conversations. That should be the same. The conversations should be about the same Person. The Lord Jesus wants to be unique for His own. He cannot be satisfied with a shared interest of the church. The result of a shared interest is the start of divisions. If the believers do not turn their eyes on Him only, it will cause division. They do not really form a unity anymore. From the outside, it might still look like a unity. The believers still come together in the same building, but inwardly there are ‘cracks’. A building that starts getting cracks in the inner wall has to be repaired because otherwise these cracks will become wider and the building will collapse. So, Paul continues with an appeal to ‘repair’: they have to be “made complete”. This can be accomplished by being “in the same mind and in the same judgment” again. All the things that brought division had to be put away and they had to start focusing on the One again. . Fortunately, there were also believers in Corinth who were sad about the division, like those of Chloe’s household. They were wondering what they should do about it. They must have prayed a lot. I think the Lord made it clear to them that they should write Paul about it. That is the best thing for us to do as well. When wrong things happen in the church, we should ‘ask Paul’. He has received special announcements from the Lord about the church. If you have certain questions about the church, you should read in the Bible the letters of Paul in particular. The Corinthians received an answer and you will get one as well. To act as if there are no problems or beat about the bush, is not the answer for the problems. If you run into problems, tell the Lord about it first and listen to what He has to say. I do not think that the believers of Chloe’s household wrote to Paul behind the back of their fellow believers because Paul mentions their name openly and says that he had heard from them about what is going on in Corinth. They were not gossipers. They must have been reliable people, of whom Paul could expect that they depict a truthful image of the situation in Corinth. If not, Paul would never have reacted this way toward the Corinthians. It is great that there were people like them then and that they still are now because such people are invaluable for the church. Often they are not appreciated in the church and they are seen as troublesome because they point out the wrong things. However, it is of great importance that it happens. At least something will be done about the wrongs. . There were conflicts among the Corinthians. The believers were flatly quarreling. The reason for this was the different groups that had come into being, each of which had a favorite preacher. One group felt drawn to Paul, he was their man. What mysteries he could reveal! Another group followed Cephas, that is Peter. What an ardent man he was! Another group stuck to Apollos. What a speaker he was! And then there were also those who said they belonged to Christ. These were the worst. It may sound strange to you, but it is the truth. Paul sums up four parties with each their own party leader. Imagine that Christ was one of them! How could He ever be put on a level with any human being? That was exactly what the Corinthians did. Christ was made a party leader, next to Paul, Peter and Apollos. What this party was saying by this was: ‘We are the only good ones. Those who have joined Paul, or Peter, or Apollos, do not belong to our group.’ But every believer belongs to Christ, even though he might (unfortunately) have joined some group that is called after a certain servant. Christ cannot be compartmentalized – like also His servants didn’t want to be a party leader. When Paul says that Christ is not divided, he indicates that Christ cannot be claimed by some group to be their party leader. You will surely recognize this picture in professing Christianity around you. What a dissension! One group is called after Luther, another after Calvin. There are also groups and churches where people come together, just because they agree on certain passages or subjects from the Bible, for example baptism, whilst others, who do not agree on this, cannot join this group. That the Lord Jesus is the only One through Whom Christians belong together has been pushed into the background more and more. With the foregoing I do not mean to say that we should ignore the church walls and groups. What you certainly should not be doing, is letting yourself be pigeon-holed. Show the people that you only want to belong to the Lord Jesus and that you feel united with all fellow believers, whatever church or group with a certain name they might belong to. . This division absolutely conflicts with Christ. How could He be “divided”, as if His work would have brought division and not unity ( )? Paul also did not want to be a party leader – it was not him who was crucified for the Corinthians. They did not owe their salvation to him. He only had to bring them the message of salvation. is the first time in this chapter that the cross is mentioned. This will be found more often. When you are reminded of the cross, you think back on the judgment that God executed on man. And if man has been judged, there is no more room for division because division is something made by man. They were not baptized in Paul’s name, were they? . If that were the case, there would only be a few people who belonged to him because he had only baptized a few. They could be counted on the fingers of one hand, so to speak. He can remember two cases. Oh yes, he also baptized the household of Stephanas. It is as if this name suddenly occurred to him. He does not boast with a lot of names as if they are trophies that magnify him. Paul does not say this to belittle the meaning of baptism, but he finds himself to be insignificant. Only Christ is important to him. On the other hand some people find it important by whom they are baptized. But it is totally insignificant who is baptizing or who you are baptized by. With baptism, someone is joined with Christ in His death. It is about Him and not about the one who is baptizing. . Paul did not receive an order from Christ to baptize. The twelve disciples, who had followed the Lord Jesus on earth, had received this order. The assignment that Paul got from Christ was to spread the gospel. This should not be done with wisdom of words because then the person of Paul would come to the foreground again and the cross of Christ would become powerless. It is all about the cross of Christ. There is much more related to it than your salvation as a sinner. When you look at the cross, you will see on the one hand how the holy God hates sin and you will see His adamant judgment on sin. On the other hand you will see His great love for you through the cross because there you see how the Savior in His endless grace did everything for you in His infinite suffering and His deep humiliation. On the one hand you will also see the demonic teamwork of the limitless evil of satan with man who has fallen into sin. On the other hand you see there how man in his pride is wiped out, how sin is done away and how satan is defeated and conquered. The cross is the place where the judgment has raged and is carried and where God is glorified in Christ. Yes, on the cross, the foundation has been laid for a new heaven and a new earth, where the glory of God shall shine in all eternity. Now read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 again. Reflection: Reflect on the miracle of the cross. (Do it often!)

‏ 1 Corinthians 1:14-16

Divisions in the Church

1Cor 1:10. What Paul says in 1Cor 1:9 about the fellowship of Jesus Christ, is a starting point for the verses you have just read. He has to admonish the Corinthians because they have forgotten that there is only one Person through Whom they belong together. Paul underlines his admonition by adding: “By the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thereby he says that his admonition is completely supported by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

You can imagine that the Corinthians should be impressed by this. That was necessary because the name of the Lord Jesus was no longer the only Name for them. Other names had become important to them as well: Paul, Apollos, Cephas (1Cor 1:12). As a result, they did not “all agree” or “all speak the same thing” [literal translation] anymore. ”Speak the same thing” does not mean saying things in the same tone or using the same words. It refers to the content of the conversations. That should be the same. The conversations should be about the same Person. The Lord Jesus wants to be unique for His own. He cannot be satisfied with a shared interest of the church.

The result of a shared interest is the start of divisions. If the believers do not turn their eyes on Him only, it will cause division. They do not really form a unity anymore. From the outside, it might still look like a unity. The believers still come together in the same building, but inwardly there are ‘cracks’. A building that starts getting cracks in the inner wall has to be repaired because otherwise these cracks will become wider and the building will collapse. So, Paul continues with an appeal to ‘repair’: they have to be “made complete”. This can be accomplished by being “in the same mind and in the same judgment” again. All the things that brought division had to be put away and they had to start focusing on the One again.

1Cor 1:11. Fortunately, there were also believers in Corinth who were sad about the division, like those of Chloe’s household. They were wondering what they should do about it. They must have prayed a lot. I think the Lord made it clear to them that they should write Paul about it.

That is the best thing for us to do as well. When wrong things happen in the church, we should ‘ask Paul’. He has received special announcements from the Lord about the church. If you have certain questions about the church, you should read in the Bible the letters of Paul in particular. The Corinthians received an answer and you will get one as well. To act as if there are no problems or beat about the bush, is not the answer for the problems. If you run into problems, tell the Lord about it first and listen to what He has to say.

I do not think that the believers of Chloe’s household wrote to Paul behind the back of their fellow believers because Paul mentions their name openly and says that he had heard from them about what is going on in Corinth. They were not gossipers. They must have been reliable people, of whom Paul could expect that they depict a truthful image of the situation in Corinth. If not, Paul would never have reacted this way toward the Corinthians. It is great that there were people like them then and that they still are now because such people are invaluable for the church. Often they are not appreciated in the church and they are seen as troublesome because they point out the wrong things. However, it is of great importance that it happens. At least something will be done about the wrongs.

1Cor 1:12. There were conflicts among the Corinthians. The believers were flatly quarreling. The reason for this was the different groups that had come into being, each of which had a favorite preacher. One group felt drawn to Paul, he was their man. What mysteries he could reveal! Another group followed Cephas, that is Peter. What an ardent man he was! Another group stuck to Apollos. What a speaker he was! And then there were also those who said they belonged to Christ. These were the worst.

It may sound strange to you, but it is the truth. Paul sums up four parties with each their own party leader. Imagine that Christ was one of them! How could He ever be put on a level with any human being? That was exactly what the Corinthians did. Christ was made a party leader, next to Paul, Peter and Apollos. What this party was saying by this was: ‘We are the only good ones. Those who have joined Paul, or Peter, or Apollos, do not belong to our group.’ But every believer belongs to Christ, even though he might (unfortunately) have joined some group that is called after a certain servant.

Christ cannot be compartmentalized – like also His servants didn’t want to be a party leader. When Paul says that Christ is not divided, he indicates that Christ cannot be claimed by some group to be their party leader. You will surely recognize this picture in professing Christianity around you. What a dissension! One group is called after Luther, another after Calvin. There are also groups and churches where people come together, just because they agree on certain passages or subjects from the Bible, for example baptism, whilst others, who do not agree on this, cannot join this group. That the Lord Jesus is the only One through Whom Christians belong together has been pushed into the background more and more.

With the foregoing I do not mean to say that we should ignore the church walls and groups. What you certainly should not be doing, is letting yourself be pigeon-holed. Show the people that you only want to belong to the Lord Jesus and that you feel united with all fellow believers, whatever church or group with a certain name they might belong to.

1Cor 1:13. This division absolutely conflicts with Christ. How could He be “divided”, as if His work would have brought division and not unity (Jn 11:52)? Paul also did not want to be a party leader – it was not him who was crucified for the Corinthians. They did not owe their salvation to him. He only had to bring them the message of salvation.

1Cor 1:13 is the first time in this chapter that the cross is mentioned. This will be found more often. When you are reminded of the cross, you think back on the judgment that God executed on man. And if man has been judged, there is no more room for division because division is something made by man. They were not baptized in Paul’s name, were they?

1Cor 1:14-16. If that were the case, there would only be a few people who belonged to him because he had only baptized a few. They could be counted on the fingers of one hand, so to speak. He can remember two cases. Oh yes, he also baptized the household of Stephanas. It is as if this name suddenly occurred to him. He does not boast with a lot of names as if they are trophies that magnify him.

Paul does not say this to belittle the meaning of baptism, but he finds himself to be insignificant. Only Christ is important to him. On the other hand some people find it important by whom they are baptized. But it is totally insignificant who is baptizing or who you are baptized by. With baptism, someone is joined with Christ in His death. It is about Him and not about the one who is baptizing.

1Cor 1:17. Paul did not receive an order from Christ to baptize. The twelve disciples, who had followed the Lord Jesus on earth, had received this order. The assignment that Paul got from Christ was to spread the gospel. This should not be done with wisdom of words because then the person of Paul would come to the foreground again and the cross of Christ would become powerless.

It is all about the cross of Christ. There is much more related to it than your salvation as a sinner. When you look at the cross, you will see on the one hand how the holy God hates sin and you will see His adamant judgment on sin. On the other hand you will see His great love for you through the cross because there you see how the Savior in His endless grace did everything for you in His infinite suffering and His deep humiliation. On the one hand you will also see the demonic teamwork of the limitless evil of satan with man who has fallen into sin. On the other hand you see there how man in his pride is wiped out, how sin is done away and how satan is defeated and conquered.

The cross is the place where the judgment has raged and is carried and where God is glorified in Christ. Yes, on the cross, the foundation has been laid for a new heaven and a new earth, where the glory of God shall shine in all eternity.

Now read 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 again.

Reflection: Reflect on the miracle of the cross. (Do it often!)