Unity and Divisions
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1 Corinthians 1
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1 From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Sosthenes, who is also a follower.
2 To God’s church in Corinth. Christ Jesus chose you to be his very own people, and you worship in his name, as we and all others do who call him Lord.
3 My prayer is that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
4 I never stop thanking my God for being kind enough to give you Christ Jesus, 5 who helps you speak and understand so well. 6 Now you are certain that everything we told you about our Lord Christ Jesus is true.
7 You are not missing out on any blessings, as you wait for him to return. 8 And until the day Christ does return, he will keep you completely innocent. 9 God can be trusted, and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
10 My dear friends, as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you to get along with each other. Don’t take sides. Always try to agree in what you think. 11 Several people from Chloe’s family have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other. 12 They have said that some of you claim to follow me, while others claim to follow Apollos or Peter or Christ. 13 Has Christ been divided up? Was I nailed to a cross for you? Were you baptized in my name? 14 I thank God that I didn’t baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius. 15 Not one of you can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 I did baptize the family of Stephanas, but I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else. 17 Christ did not send me to baptize. He sent me to tell the good news without using big words that would make the cross of Christ lose its power.
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Read I Corinthians 1:1-17
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In Publishers Weekly, 1/12/2004, Marcia Ford reported that surveys show that few people actually read the Bible. Instead they are reading books about the Bible.
Then there are internet, i-Pods, television, CDs and DVDs. It is becoming increasingly easy to set aside the Bible, kick back, and let someone else do the hard work of understanding the Bible. Let those take time to pray. The rest of us can just learn from their experience.
As I listened to the man on TV expound on impartations, I was cautious. This man claimed that those who touched him were used by God to heal and perform miracles. He detailed an out of body experience. A young man touched the preacher’s wrist and joined the TV preacher in his out of body experience. The man did not use the Bible. He simply talked a lot about wonders and miracles done because someone touched him—receiving the impartation in gifts of healing.
The Bible does not say that we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit by touching someone. As a matter of fact, Peter rebuked Simon when he offered to buy the gift. (Acts 8:19-23) True, people were healed as Peter’s shadow fell on them (Acts 5:15, 16) and the sick who touched Paul’s apron or handkerchief were healed (Acts 19:11, 12). But these were not doctrinal teaching.
How could I know that man’s teaching wasn’t right if I didn’t read the Bible and ask God?
When we give up our right to read the Bible, we become very vulnerable. Without the living and active Word of God judging the thoughts and actions of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12), we easily find teachers who tell us what we want to hear. Allegiance to people begins to override allegiance to God’s truth.
This is what had happened to the Corinthians. They picked their favorite teacher and claimed to do what he taught. As a result, the congregation divided. They had arguments about what they thought their preferred teacher was saying. It seems that there may have even been some arrogance in those who claimed to follow Christ.
Paul begins his letter by establishing his credibility as an apostle. He has a right to correct error in the church, but he does not encourage people to follow him. His wants them to hear God’s wisdom through him and to know Christ better. Paul then reminds the people of the good things he sees in the Corinthians. These are the things they should build on so they can stop the quarrels among them.
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Questions
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Read verses 2, 4-9. How does Paul describe the Corinthians? What has Christ done for them? What will Christ do for them?
Read verse 10. What does Paul want for the Corinthians?
Read verse 11. How did Paul find out about the troubles in Corinith?
Read verse 12. Paul preached mostly to the Gentiles. He said that becoming Jewish was not necessary to becoming a Christian. Peter preached primarily to the Jews. Although Peter agreed with Paul, it was hard for him to set aside his Jewishness to speak to Gentiles (Galatians 2:11-13). Appolos knew the Scripture well and was an excellent speaker.
How could allegiance to these men cause quarrels in the church?
Read verses 13-17. What does Paul mean when he asks, “Has Christ been divided up?” Why did Paul think it was important that he baptized very few people?
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OK, now that we have looked at “What did it mean?” let’s look at “What does it mean?”
1. How can you use Paul’s description of the Corinthian church to talk about your church?
2. If an outsider were to go to your church, what would he/she see? What would he/she want for the church?
3. How do others find out about the problems in a church? What are the positives and negatives of others finding out about a particular church’s problems.
4. How can we discourage people from having more devotion to a teacher than to God?
5. How does Paul’s example of baptism apply to the church today?
