After Paul had concluded his standard greetings to Corinthian brethren, he went to the heart of the purpose of his letter to them. He had questions from them which he would address, but there were issues among them (which they had failed to disclose to him) which were serious and he dealt with them from the outset of the epistle. He wrote, “Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgement” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
The questions the Corinthians asked him are found in the latter part of his letter (chapters 7-15); the questions they had failed to ask are addressed in the letter’s beginning. Until these brethren all spoke the same things and were perfected in the same mind and the same judgment, there would be no harmony or unity among them. The divisions among them were clear evidence they would never be of the same judgment until they were all committed to respecting the same authority. Paul’s appeal to them was “by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” which showed the source of authority they should bow to if they were ever to be united in Christ. Division was inevitable, if each of them persisted, to say, “I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.”
Paul had brought the gospel to them; he had laid hands on them, imparting spiritual gifts to them. Apollos (when first we meet him) was an eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures but who was deficient in knowledge: he knew only the baptism of John. He came to Ephesus and Priscilla and Aquila met and heard him in the synagogue, and realizing his lack of knowledge, took him and “expounded unto him the words of the Lord more perfectly” (Acts 18:24-26). When he wanted to go into Achaia, the brethren in Ephesus wrote brethren in Corinth, recommending Apollos to them. His style of teaching would appeal to many and his style differed much from Paul’s whose critics charged that “his letters … are weighty and strong; but his bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account” (2 Corinthians 10:10).
Some claimed adherence to Peter. There is no historical record that Peter ever preached in Corinth but there were Jewish teachers who were converted to Christ but who believed and taught that Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Law. These would claim that Peter (Cephas) was he whom they followed.
Finally, some said they were “of Christ.” It is possible that one could claim to be of Christ and be a promoter of division by saying that false teaching is equal to the doctrine of Christ. But there is also the possibility that amid all the divisions, that men might recognize Christ as their authority and prove it by adhering both to His teaching and the manner of His life. Because there are division among men does not mean that those who follow Christ share responsibility for that division. Otherwise, no one could ever be saved for division among men will always exist.
Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). If Jesus is truly our Master we must follow His teaching ALONE, for it is His teaching ALONE that will unite all men and it will do that only when all recognize Him ALONE as their guide and teacher. So, let us be as Samuel of old who said to God when He called, “Samuel, Samuel,” “Speak Lord, thy servant heareth.”
Jim McDonald