1 Corinthians: No Divisions Among You - 1 Cor 1-4
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INTRODUCTION (UNBLACK SCREEN)
Today we are beginning a series of lessons going through the book of 1 Corinthians. My goal, Lord willing, will be to do about 10 lessons from this book over the next few months.
Paul had a lot of interaction with the church in Corinth. He was the one who we see in the book of Acts who first preached the Gospel in Corinth. For Paul it was an intimidating work. In , l says that he was before them with weakness, fear, and much trembling as he preached the Gospel to them. This was an ungodly society which was filled with every kind of immorality you can think of. In 6:9-10, we see a list of many of the sins that were prevalent among those who heard the gospel. But Paul still preached the gospel to them. It had (and still has) the power to convict them and bring them to Christ. Many were baptized into Christ. In this 1st trip to Corinth, he spent about a year and a half with them. But even after he left, he was still concerned about them. In 5:9, we see that Paul sent them a letter that we don't have (1/2 Corinthians), he sent this letter (1 Corinthians), then we learn in 2 Corinthians that there was at least one more time he visited them in between writing the two epistles. So in all, he sent at least 3 epistles to them and visited them two times (and possibly a third) because he was planning to visit them again after writing 2 Corinthians.
OUTLINE OF 1 CORINTHIANS
Here is a brief outline of the book
• 1-6 Reports from Corinth
• 1-4 Division Reported (1:11)
• 5-6 Immorality Reported (5:1)
• 7-16 Questions from Corinth
• Dealing w/ possible areas of disagreement in the church, as well as general questions that the brethren had...
• Paul opens each topic that answers questions on with “Now concerning…” (cf 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1)
THE MAIN ISSUE IN CORINTH – DIVISION
Let's go ahead and get into the epistle.
1:1-9 Paul opens up this epistle as he does many others, with the exception of having a thanksgiving section. In the first 9 verses, Paul gives them a reminder of the blessings that they have in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the focus of the first 9 verses, being mentioned about 10 times. Just look at some exampless of this:
v2 - The Corinthians were sanctified in Christ v5 - They were enriched in Christ in all speech and all knowledge vs6-7 - they were awaiting Jesus' return, and while they waited, we are told that Jesus would confirm them as blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus. v9 - They were called to be in fellowship with Jesus
There were so many blessings that they had from God in Christ which Paul reminds them of here, blessings that they were forgetting about, which was seen in many of the issues Paul will talk about in this letter.
1:10-12 One of the main examples of how they were forgetting what they had in Christ is dealt with beginning in v10. They were called into fellowship with Christ and His people, but they were not showing their devotion to the fellowship they had because there were divisions within the church. This issue I believe is really the main thought that goes throughout this epistle. He spends the first four chapters talking about it, but their division was seen in other areas that he talks about in the book - in their use of spiritual gifts, in their partaking of the Lord's Supper, brethren were taking other brethren to court, and the list could go on and on.
But then we have the division spoken of here in 1:10-12. Let's read there 3 verses.
[10] I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. [11] For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. [12] What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” (ESV)
There were divisions, or literally, sects w/in the Corinthian church based on allegiance to a specific teacher. This was a common thing in Corinthian society. There were so many respected teachers and philosophers in Greece and Achaia that they would become followers and disciples of, and this would naturally lead to quarrels among many of the groups.
But here, we have this happening within the church regarding preachers and teachers of the Gospel! And even Jesus was just thrown in as just one of the teachers that they could claim allegiance to…
We may look at this list and think, well at least one of these groups were right. At least one was saying, "I am of Christ." But I believe what we see in this passage was that they were all wrong. All of these groups had this sectarian spirit that was not just claiming to be part of one of these sects, but they were, as we see in chapters 3 and 4, were being arrogant and boasting about the teachers they were following, while looking down on those who were following another teacher...
These divisions were accompanied by:
· Boasting & arrogance (3:21-23; 4:6) Thinking they were somebody; that they had some kind of special status because they were following the better teacher, whether that be in the content of their teaching or how the teacher delivered the content.
· Jealousy and strife (3:3) Infighting among the different sects…
3:1-4 They were carnal/fleshly and immature in their thinking…
[1] But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. [2] I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, [3] for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? [4] For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
Claiming allegiance based on the wisdom of the world. Whether that be eloquence of speech… great amounts of knowledge of certain teachers/philosophers… The power or authority behind the words spoken… These are the kind of things that men are impressed by… All of these things would be how the wisdom of the world was used to make the choice of who to follow… But these ways of thinking are carnal… and the actions that they led to... the jealousy, strife, arrogance, and boasting, are all carnal attitudes. A carnal focus and the carnal attitudes that come from them don’t solve the world’s problems or make men truly great… Only the Gospel, which the wise of the world believed was foolish can do this…
CORRECTING THEIR THNKING
So to correct their thinking, Paul makes many arguments in these first 4 chapters.
1:13-17 First, he reminds them of who saved them and gave them hope. Paul asks these questions in 1:13:
[13] …Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Paul’s questions show that there was only One who was worthy of such trust and devotion… the One who was crucified for them. Paul, Apollos, Peter, and any other man was not crucified for them. We need to make sure that only One has our undivided trust and devotion: Jesus Christ. These men are not the ones who gave them all of the spiritual blessings that Paul speaks of in verses 1-9. It is Jesus!
1:18-2:5 Shows them the foolishness of the world’s way of looking at things. The wisdom of the world, from the perspective of God Himself is foolish…
“[19] I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. [20] Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? [21] For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe…”
All of the things that the world looks at as making one “wise,” “successful,” or “worthy” of a following are foolish standards… But these are often the things that we trust in, the things that even God’s people deem as making one wise and successful. But it is often these things that lead people to be proud of the accomplishments that they have had and the popularity that they have and not accept the truth… The Corinthians were looking at the wrong things… worldly things… carnal things, and because of this were dividing over it…
2:6-16 He reminds them of the source of true wisdom for all God’s witnesses… Peter, Paul, Apollos, etc… No matter who it is we are talking about, they all got their wisdom from the same source! The Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent to inspire His Apostles and prophets… This shows the foolishness behind exalting one teacher above another… Their source is the same… They all got the wisdom they are sharing from the same place… from Heaven… Yes, one teacher may be more eloquent or be a better speaker… But the focus needs to be on the One who gives the wisdom. On God’s Spirit… They were given the mind of Christ… the thoughts of God through these men. So instead of exalting the men while arrogantly diminishing the importance of others, boast in the One who has given the teaching.
3:5-9 He reminds them of the role of men like Apollos and himself.
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
It doesn’t matter who is doing the planting and who does the watering. It doesn’t matter. What matters is what is getting planted. You have Paul and Apollos mentioned here – one who was known for having a weak presence and one who was known for being eloquent and mighty in the scriptures… Both are servants. Servants of One who is much greater than themselves. What is most important is that the word of God is being planted, not how it is being planted. The planter and the waterer are merely servants. They are coworkers and not competitors. Their goal was not to get the world or those who were becoming Christians, to be impressed by them and boast in them. Instead, they wanted people to be impressed by the eternal purpose of God to give them hope through the cross.
APPLICATIONS
First, we have a principle in this passage that our goal as God’s people should be to be unified… to have no divisions in the church here.
Our goal should be, as Christians within a local church, to work together in unity and love for one another… Now this does not mean that we won’t ever disagree about how to apply the wisdom and principles that we find in scripture. We may not agree that certain principles are even taught in some passages. But our desire should be to work together and to understand that we are all servants of Christ. We are all valuable to the kingdom. We are in fellowship with one another and need to work together with love in spite of any differences we may have. Brethren can often be too quick to divide, and even to go a step beyond the brethren in Corinth in this passage - they just leave and worship somewhere else or start a new church… I just wonder sometimes if brethren today would be a member of the church in Corinth… it is more than likely the case that brethren today would feel justified to say, “We can’t worship with these people! We need to leave and start a new church down the road because the Corinth church of Christ is a bunch of erring liberals”… This is often what brethren do today… and in doing so, not be just as guilty of having a sectarian and divisive spirit.
ARE WE CARNAL?
What kind of things are we devoting ourselves to that lead to division within the body of Christ? Often can be just as carnal as the Corinthians are here in our churches.
Divisions happen because of preachers and teachers. It is discouraging how often I hear about splits within churches that go way beyond what we see here in Corinth. There aren't just sects that are created, but churches split into two completely different churches. One good thing that can be said of the Corinthians is that they didn't do that! When preachers leave a congregation, and take disciples with them, this is not too different than what is going on here in Corinth. Instead of submitting to the elders as they are commanded to in scripture and trusting they made the decision to let a preacher go for the good of the flock, they rebel against the authority of the elders and cause disputes in the church, and then leave after they made a mess of things.
Differences of opinion? One thing I appreaciate about the church here is how there are so many differences in opinion in certain areas, but there is still unity. Brethren often divide over some of the smallest differences of opinion, even on things that are not even mentioned in the New Testament. They divide, split churches, and leave churches instead of trying to work together in spite of their differences and without trying to find a way to stay and be able to work with the group.
Devotion to traditions or customs? There are churches who split on things such as how you do the offering on the Lord's day. If the elders in a group decide to put a box in the back that is locked and has a slot in it for putting your money and checks in, brethren divide and leave the congregation because they are devoted to the tradition of passing a plate because of the belief that we must have "5 acts of worship" during a single worship service. This is just one example.
Politics? Many brethren believe the ills of the world can be solved through through politics. We say, I am of this political ideology? Or I am of that political ideology. I am of this candidate or that candidate, and then we look down on brethren who are of the other candidate and ideology.
In all of these things, we can often cause division and look down on those who hold differing opinions, and go as far as name-calling and labeling those who have other opinions, saying they are liberals or they are erring brethren... Just because we aren't part of the group that causes the division or split and leaves does not mean we are innocent. We can be just as guiltof having a sectarian spirit by looking down on those who leave and think we are better then them because we stayed...
These are all areas that we need to be mindful of in which division, quarrels, and rivalry can arise. Knowing this can help us examine our own attitudes about preachers and teachers, and about our opinions and traditions so that we can have humble hearts and strive as a church family to have unity.