10 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose.
11 For members of Chloe's household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you.
12 Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, "I am with Paul," or "I am with Apollos," or "I am with Cephas," or "I am with Christ."
13 Is Christ divided? Paul wasn't crucified for you, was he? Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name!
16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.)
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel - and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless.
This section of this letter, verses 1:10-19, Paul addresses some quarrels and divisions in the Corinthian church, and the same theme is repeated in 2:3-9. Paul had a “target-rich environment” when dealing with this congregation’s problems. Some of the issues Paul addressed in this letter are:
- Divisions among members based on pastor or evangelist;
- Worldly wisdom;
- Fleshly behavior;
- Immorality;
- Airing differences before non-believers;
- Marriage;
- Idols and Arrogance;
- Husbands and wives;
- Communion;
- Spiritual gifts,
- including Tongues; and
- Other Doctrinal issues.
V. 10 - “I urge you, brothers and sisters” - After the opening of the letter, Paul gets right to it. He is not invoking his own reputation, or bragging that he was called by Jesus (It would be easy to imagine Paul could say, “You know that Jesus spoke to me on the road to Damascus. Jesus Himself called me, and taught me!” But, he doesn’t do that.)
Paul is not commanding them to get along with each other; he is not demanding. He is asking, begging, urging them to put aside differences.
"by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" - This mantra, "by the name of..." is not placing some 'magic formula' on the name "Jesus Christ". It is a recognition of an authhority, that the speaker (in this case, Paul) is not stating an opinion or feeling. He is conveying what the One in power is stating as the desired outcome. For example, if someone you know is from the United States government comes to you, and tells you this is what the President wants; the President has asked him to convey this. You immediately pay attention. Essentially you are being addressed by the United States, the power and authority is behind the one speaking to you.
“end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose” - This is fairly straightforward - stop arguing with each other. It is damaging your witness to the world. Paul is not advocating a ‘Stepford Wives’ mechanical recitation of dogma. He is urging them to focus on the correct and proper issues.
Remember, Jesus prayed that His followers, the church, would become 'one', just as He and the Father were one. (John 17:17, 20-21)
V. 11 - “members of Chloe's household have made it clear” - Nothing is known about Chloe - this is the only place she is mentioned. I assume Chloe was a Christian in Corinth. She and people in her household had contacted Paul about the problems that had arisen in the Corinthian church. She was sufficiently well-known in the church there that Paul was able to refer to her directly, not just as the wife of so-and-so. Women are shown throughout the New Testament as significant and valuable witnesses to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, not second-class members.
“there are quarrels among you” - These disagreements are disrupting the church body. As we will see in other chapters these quarrels are not doctrinal in nature.
V. 12 - “Now I mean this” - And so it begins. From this point in this letter to the end of chapter 13 Paul deals with the quarrels stirring up the church.
“I am with...” - Three prominent apostles or missionaries in the early church - Peter. Paul, and Apollos. Of course we know that Peter and James, the brother of Jesus, were the main leaders of the church in Jerusalem. Paul was chosen by Jesus - see Acts 9:1-22. Apollos was a convert (as were they all) and a dynamic preacher/teacher who was taught and trained by Priscilla and Aquila. (Acts 18:24-28).
Is this the beginning of denominations? People were claiming the preacher/teacher they prefer has the one true message. That’s like saying, “I only listen to J. Vernon McGee;” or, “Pastor Gene Curtis is the best!”; or “You think he is good? You should listen to Dale Ebel.”
“I am of Christ.” - Paul may have left the reference to Jesus Christ last in his list because Jesus is the most important one to follow.
V. 13 - “Has Christ been divided?” - The answer is, “No!” This is the key. Christ is one, not many. He himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 ) And Peter preached, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12 )
Paul emphasizes this in the next two questions: “Was Paul crucified ?”, or “baptized in the name of Paul?” He may be preaching the gospel, but Paul is not the gospel. Jesus said, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem." (See: Luke 24:46-48 )
V. 14-16 - “I thank God that I did not baptize any of you...” - (Except Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas) Paul fully understood that salvation was in Jesus, and in Jesus alone. He wanted no one to claim they were saved through him.
V. 17 - “For Christ did not send me to baptize” - Called to be a missionary. See: Acts 9:15-16.
“To preach the gospel” - See: 2 Cor 10:16: Gal 1:16. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He took the penalty for your sin upon Himself, was resurrected and ascended into heaven.
“not with clever speech” - The message is simple and straightforward. There is salvation in no one or nothing else by which you can be saved. Philosophical discussion, sociological explanations, parsing semantics do not clarify, or make the gospel clearer. Faith in the grace given you. Grace because you cannot earn salvation, cannot work it out. Faith because you trust the Lord to do what He promises. Salvation is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (See: Col. 1:27)
“So that the cross of Christ would not become useless” - If a preacher/teacher focuses his message on anything that makes salvation an admixture of “Christ plus...” he diminishes the sacrifice of Jesus. A diminished Christ is a failed salvation - His death for you becomes useless to you. You don’t believe solely in Him, you are not, cannot be, saved. It is a binary equation.
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