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Divisions In Corinth I Corinthians 1:1-16 (KJV)
SCRIPTURES
1. Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2. Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their’s and our’s:
3. Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. I thank my God al- ways on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
5. That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;
6. Even as the testi- mony of Christ was con-
firmed in you:
7. So that ye come be-
hind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:
8. Who shall also con- firm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
10. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11. For it hath been de- clared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12. Now this I say, that
every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apol- los; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
14. I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15. Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
16. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
Our lesson begins with Paul addressing the issue of divisions in the church.
The church at Corinth had many problems—problems that are often seen in our churches today. They were a church in- fected with sexual immorality, split into factions, taking each other to court and debating over which spiritual gifts were more important.
The members of the Corinthian church were true be- lievers, but they had a lot of growing up to do. (I Corinthi- ans 3:1-3). Far too many Christians have experienced the pain of division within a church.
Often trouble starts over is- sues of personality rather than
issues of principle. People rush to the defense of their friends and the church is polarized or divided. The church at Corinth was a divided church. People were lining up behind their fa- vorite preachers at the expense of unity in Christ.
In this week’s lesson the Apostle Paul attacked the prob- lem of division in the church. He strongly warned against di- viding the church around per- sonality issues.
Paul’s Greeting
(I Corinthians 1:1-3)
It is implied in I Corinthians 15:1-8 that an “apostle” was an eyewitness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ meaning that he must have seen the rsien LORD. Although Barnabas is called an “apostle” in Acts 14:14, there is no record that he saw Jesus after His resurrection, but if such a qualification is implied in apostleship, he must have been an eyewitness to the risen LORD. We must remember that more than five hundred people saw Jesus after His res- urrection and Barnabas must have been among those and later he was like “Paul” also “called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God.”
God’s Call For Unity
(I Corinthians 1:10-16) There is a difference be-
tween having different view- points and being divisive. Even though a group of people may not agree on every issue, they can certainly work together in harmony if they agree on what truly matters — Jesus Christ is LORD of all. In our churches we must speak and behave in a way that will reduce arguments and increase harmony.
Paul is appealing to believ- ers for harmony, not the elimi- nation of differences. Unity allows for our differences of opinion and the use of our indi- vidual differences.
It can be helpful to the church leaders to be made aware of cer- tain situations among the be- lievers that can become problematic. Like Paul, church leaders must have knowledge of, and fully trust the source of such reports before confronting the believers. Remember, the goal is unity. The purpose is that the saints might be per- fectly fitted together.
Unfortunately, even today churches may develop factions when certain people gravitate to one leader more than another. More often than not, power struggles are at the root of divi- sion when one person or group wants to control others. In this large and diverse Corinthian church, the believers favored different preachers. Since there was no written New Testament yet, the believers depended heavily on preaching and teach- ing for spiritual insight into the meaning of the Old Testament.
As noted, some followed “Paul” who founded this church; some who may have heard Peter (Cephas) in Jerusalem followed him, while others listened only to “Apol- los,” an eloquent and popular preacher who had a dynamic ministry in Corinth.
Although these three preachers were united in their message, their personalities at- tracted different people. At this time, the church was in danger of splitting. By mentioning Jesus Christ ten times in the first ten verses, Paul makes it clear that Jesus is the One that all preachers and teachers should emphasize.
Conclusion
A divided church is a power- less, directionless church. Paul had received disturbing news from the church at Corinth. It had been dividing over person- alities. Christians were allowing their loyalties to favorite church leaders to pull them apart from one another.
In this lesson text, the Apos- tle Paul sought to reunify the church by calling upon Chris- tians to refocus on Christ. Christians today also need to be challenged not to be distracted by people, but to keep Jesus Christ central and His gospel the top priority.
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