seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Check out verse 1. I'm not the only one that thinks Paul was not an Apostle. He was a Disciple... but not an Apostle IMHO. According to the commentary, someone named Sosthenes got a beating over it. At any rate, Sosthenes was reported to be Paul's scribe so Sosthenes probably believed Paul was an Apostle, since Paul says Jesus knocked him down and blinded him. [No one with him saw it... but Paul claims it to be true].
This is from the commentary.
Which is at Corinth: Corinth was one of the great cities of the ancient world, and a community very much like Southern California. It was prosperous, busy, and growing; it had a deserved reputation for the reckless pursuit of pleasure. Corinth had a rich ethnic mix, and it was a center for sports, government, military, and business.
To the church of God which is at Corinth: Notice the contrast: The church of God (something good), which is at Corinth (someplace bad). Understanding the tension between the church and the city is important to understanding the letter of 1 Corinthians. The bottom line is this: is the church influencing the city, or is the city influencing the church?
There was a problem in the church. They had too many chiefs. They were split over who would lead the "church".That there be no divisions among you: The ancient Greek word for divisions is “schismata.” Although we derive our English word “schism” from this Greek word, it does not really mean a “party” or a “faction”; it properly means “tear or rend.” Paul’s plea is that they stop ripping each other apart, tearing up the body of Christ.
Contentions among you: The Corinthian church suffered under quarreling and conflict. This conflict had made them divide up into “parties” or “cliques,” each party having its own “leader.”
Is Christ divided? Jesus does not belong to any one “party.” These cliques ignore the truth of unity over all diversity in the church, even if they were all in the name of spirituality.
Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul: Even more foolish than “dividing Jesus” is to center parties in the church around men. When Paul explained it like this, it shows how foolish it is to focus on anyone but Jesus.
And then along came Paul... Have you been in a splitting church? I have been. It's not good. One church I attended had four [4] morning worship services because they didn't want to offend anyone. The preacher led all four [4] services. I could choose the old standard, the new repeat the verse fifty times throwing your hands in the air, only KJV, and I think one was in a different language. That's how they "held the church together". I don't remember what they preached about. I do remember they had a really good Sunday Night Bible Study, though. The preacher actually read out of the Bible and taught us what we were reading. He really liked the Old Testament characters and made them come alive.
So, from this letter, we can take solace in the fact the "church" was having splitting problems long before Martin Luther decided to post his thoughts on the door. The church had problems from the beginning. Without Jesus to feed the sheep.... People had to step up, and not everyone liked what others taught.
Does anyone see Peter in the crowd? Peter was still hanging with the Jewish people. Paul wandered over to the Gentile part of the world. Yep.... the Christian Church started as a split church. I keep thinking of Almond Joy. Sometimes you feel like a nut.... Which church had the nuts, and which church didn't?
Jesus told Peter, feed my sheep. Paul claimed Jesus knocked him down and told him to go preach to the Gentiles.
Sometimes you feel like a nut....
