1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Taught 3/15/2009

Dismantling Division

Open your Bible to…

1Cor. 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Pray

Intro

√ Problems in the Pews

In our opening study of 1^st Corinthians we learned that there have always been problems in the Church because it is made up of imperfect people.

Perhaps the worst example in the 1^st Century was the church at Corinth.

They were…

Defiled by the open practice of sin in the fellowship.

Divided over petty issues and by personal agendas.

Disgraced as a witness for Jesus because their sin, pride, and selfishness had spilled out into the world.

The church at Corinth was in bad shape!

Paul’s purpose in writing to them was to deal with the many problems in the church so that they could be returned to a Christ-like witness in their city.

So, beginning in vs. 10 Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit starts to deal with the ugly situation at the church in Corinth.

√ Dismantling division

The first step toward restoration in this fellowship was to dismantle the division in the fellowship.

The congregation was divided over petty issues, personal agendas and a legalistic view of salvation.

Paul’s words here remind us that the spiritual health of a church is directly tied to the unity among the believers in the church and their love for one another.

Ap. Your greatest contribution to this church

Is to love one another! Without love it is impossible to be create the unity necessary to do the work of God.

Called to Fellowship (vs. 10-13)

1Cor. 1:11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.

1Cor. 1:12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”

1Cor. 1:13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

√ Called to be saints

You’ll remember from our study last week that Paul began his letter by reminding the believers in Corinth that they were called to be saints.

That is, when they put their trust in Jesus for salvation that they had been “set apart” from the world and all it’s sin so that they might live a holy life for Jesus!

One of the primary evidences that they were not living a holy life was that there were divisions among the people in the church, note vs. 10…

“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

Divisions and contentions in a church reveal that the people involved were still thinking with a carnal mind…

That is a mind that is egocentric, which is a nice sounding way of saying that they were still stuck on themselves rather than on Christ and other people.

That’s strong evidence that the believers at Corinth were still thinking like the people in the world…

…not like Spirit-filled followers of Jesus they were called to be.

Ex. The Spirit filled life

Jesus said that His disciples would be marked by an “others-centered life”…

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

Matt. 16:24

The problem at Corinth was that many in the church were promoting themselves rather than denying themselves!

√ Divided by pride

You might wonder what important issues the believers at Corinth were divided over, perhaps…

Questions about a Christians’ obligation to the Law?

Some doctrinal point regarding the deity of Christ!

Color of the church carpet?

Nope, these people were divided over bragging rights about who had baptized them!

“For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” ~ vs. 11-12

You may recall that Paul was the first to preach the Gospel at Corinth (Acts 18), then Apollos was sent there to continue teaching the saints (Acts 19).

Apparently both Paul and Apollos baptized some of the believers there.

Others at Corinth had been baptized by Cephas (Peter) perhaps at Pentecost (Acts 2).

So, the folks at Corinth somehow got it in their minds that who it was that baptized them was important and had some spiritual significance!

You can imagine a typical conversation in the fellowship hall around the doughnuts…

”Baptized by Paul were you, that’s nice I suppose but I was baptized by the Pope himself!”

Then each person would try to outdo the other and eventually the whole congregation broke up into groups identified by who it was that baptized them!

Pretty silly!

The root cause of this contention, or any such dispute, is simply pride!

That is, the unhealthy fleshly desire to promote oneself as superior to another based on some arbitrary criteria like who it was that baptized you.

The foolishness of such contentions is that none of us have any boasting rights at all because we’re all just sinners saved by God’s Grace…

…not by who it was that dunked us!

√ Called to fellowship

Paul’s solution to the division in the church was to ask a series of questions that would demonstrate the foolishness of their boasting!

“Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” ~ vs. 13

In the Greek language this kind of rhetorical question was always written with the understanding that the only answer possible was no!

Is Christ divided? ~ NO!

Was Paul crucified for you? ~ NO!

Were you baptized in the name of Paul? ~ NO!

Paul’s point to the Corinthians is that their arguing and subsequent divisions in the church were based on totally ludicrous and childish issues!

Ex. Arguments between spouses

Haven’t you ever got yourself into an argument with your spouse and about one minute into it realized that you were fighting over something that wasn’t even important to you!

“No I’m sure that great grandma’s Buick was silver, not platinum.”

But, because your pride got involved you felt like you had to defend your position even if it meant ruining the nice evening you had planned with your spouse!

Stupid wasn’t it? Especially since you’re color blind!

That’s the kind of foolishness that was causing divisions at the church in Corinth and Paul demonstrates though his questions that they had missed the mark of Christian unity by a mile.

Ap. Don’t glorify the messenger!

We humans, even Christians, have a bad habit of exalting and glorifying other human beings.

Such was the case at Corinth where we find the believers glorifying the messengers…

…rather than the One who sent the messenger!

The point is that Paul, Apollos and Peter were nothing without Jesus!

Because the message is supposed to point us to Christ who saved us by His death on the Cross…

…not to His messenger boys who served Him.

Well the sad truth is that we’re still doing it in the Church today!

We have created mega-personalities in the Body of Christ that all too often rob Jesus of the glory that only He deserves.

From TV preachers to worship leaders we wrongly associate spiritually to those who are gifted communicators, or captivating storytellers, or inspirational musicians and get excited about them rather than Jesus and build ministries around a man.

Please don’t misunderstand ~ many of those popular people are wonderful Christians, my point though is that all too often we in the pews align ourselves with a pastor, a preacher, or worship leader rather than with Jesus.

Ex. CODE 76 ~ the Billy Graham haircuts

The application for us is to remember that we’re called to fellowship with other believers around the Person of Jesus Christ…

…not around the personality of a man or a woman who is called to bring the message to the people.

Called to the Cross (vs. 14-17)

1Cor. 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,

1Cor. 1:15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name.

1Cor. 1:16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.

1Cor. 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

√ Called to the Cross

As we review Paul’s comments and instructions here keep in mind that water baptism was a very important part of the Christian experience in the 1^st Century.

To be baptized as a believer in Jesus Christ often meant that a person would be rejected by his/her family, might lose their job and/or suffer persecution.

It cost something to be baptized in the 1^st Century!

Ex. Being baptized in Iran vs. the USA

So, it’s easy to understand why the Corinthians put so much stock in their baptism experience and boasted about who it was that dunked them.

But, as we see in Paul’s letter here the Corinthians had missed the mark because they were exalting the ritual over…

…the reality of what their baptism symbolized!

That is, Paul wasn’t out to minimize water baptism, rather he wanted to put it in its proper perspective!

That baptism was only a symbol of the spiritual reality of an individual’s new birth.

But it certainly didn’t save anyone and didn’t make anyone more spiritual.

In fact, Paul reminds his friends at Corinth that he really didn’t baptize many people there…

“I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius” ~ vs. 14

And…

“Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.” Vs. 16

And then a shocking statement in vs. 17…

“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.”

Did you hear that!?

The Apostle Paul, called by Jesus to take the message of salvation to the Roman world says here that Jesus did not send him to baptize!

Rather, that he was sent to preach the Gospel of Christ that a person can be saved by simply trusting in Jesus as their Savior!

√ The Gospel

What Gospel did Paul preach? We’re not left to wonder because he defines it later in his letter…

1Cor. 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

1Cor. 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

1Cor. 15:3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

1Cor. 15:4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Writing to the Romans Paul said…

Rom. 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):

Rom. 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Rom. 10:10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Did you notice what wasn’t part of the Gospel message that Paul, and the other apostles preached…

…baptism!

Church membership

Sacraments

Indulgencies

Rather, salvation is the result of simply trusting in the finished work of Christ on the Cross!

There’s nothing that we can add to what Jesus did for us.

All we can do is receive the gift of salvation.

The bottom line is that while baptism is important as a testimony of our faith it doesn’t save us and to say that it does is in effect to make…

“…the cross of Christ…of no effect.” ~ vs. 17

That is, to add anything to the Cross as a requirement for salvation is to say that the death of Jesus on the Cross wasn’t enough to save us!

√ Baptismal regeneration

I just want to warn you that there are people and groups out there that believe that water baptism is necessary for salvation.

The doctrine is called “baptismal regeneration” because the proponents of it claim that a person is regenerated…

…”born again”, saved, at baptism.

The scripture they hang their hat on is Acts 2:38, which reads…

“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

They like to point out the word “for” and say…

“See Peter says you your sins are forgiven when you’re baptized”.

Hold on!

First, that’s contrary to what Jesus said in John 3:14-17 where Jesus equated salvation with the experience of the Jews in the wilderness by which they were saved from death by simply “looking” to the Bronze Serpent.

Second, as we read in our text this morning Paul certainly didn’t believe that baptism was necessary for salvation.

Third, we have the divine record of how Cornelius and his household were saved in Acts 10 and they were saved and baptized with the Holy Spirit before they were water baptized.

Fourth, Philip the Evangelist wouldn’t baptize the Ethiopian until after he had confessed his faith.

Acts 8:36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”

Acts 8:37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” ¶ And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

The point is that their interpretation of Acts 2:38 is contrary to the Biblical record.

So, they must be missing something in Acts 2:38.

Indeed they are! Turns out that the word “for” in Acts 2:38 upon which the whole doctrine of baptismal regeneration hangs is misinterpreted!

“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The word “for” is the Greek work “eis” pronounced “ice” and means “because” as in…

“Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because your sins have been forgiven”

Ex. Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy was one of the most decorated soldiers of WWII receiving 33 medals for bravery including the Medal of Honor! When his commendation was read it said something like…

“Audie Murphy was decorated for bravery”

The word “for” means he was decorated because he was brave in battle, not because he was going to be brave in battle!

That’s the way the word “for” is written in Acts 2:38!

A person is baptized because they have been saved, not because they are going to be saved!

The reason that’s such a big deal to Paul here in our text in Corinthians is that he understood that as soon we add any requirements to salvation beyond the work of Jesus on the Cross…

…we have replaced Grace with a Law and made salvation a thing to be obtained by work rather than to be received by Grace.

We’ve robbed God of His glory and given men an opportunity to boast and exalt themselves over others based on a work of the flesh.

That’s exactly what was going on at Corinth and the result was a divided church.

Ap. Unity around the Cross

Paul’s point and solution to the divisions in the church was that they should abandon their false spiritual criteria and instead gather around the Cross!

Specifically so that they would be continually reminded that they were all sinners saved by Grace…

…not by baptism or any other ritual or spiritual experience.

Let me illustrate this truth by comparing our spiritual condition separate from Christ to that of an addict.

Ex. AA meeting

If you’ve ever been to an AA or NA meeting you’ll find a broad spectrum of society…

The person who looks like a street drunk

Lawyer

The teen who baby sits your kids

Mom’s

Policemen

While they are all very different people there’s a unity among them because they all recognize that they can’t in their own strength beat their addition.

You can’t put on any airs, or pretend that you’re superior to the others because everyone there knows that no matter how well you’re dressed…

…you’re an addict just like they are.

In the Church we have a similar, but superior fellowship and unity because we should recognize…

That no matter how well we’re dressed, or how much theological training we’ve had, or who baptized us.

That we’re all just sinners saved by Grace through the Cross of Christ.

Close

√ Dismantling division

The church at Corinth was divided because of the people there were still living like they were in the world.

They were filled with pride and turned the beautiful Grace and work of God into an opportunity for boasting.

They could only restore unity by recognizing that they were nothing but sinners saved by the Cross of Christ!

That message is still true today!

Division comes when we seek to promote ourselves or when we see ourselves as superior to others.

Unity comes when we admit that we’re all sinners and that we can only find salvation in the Cross of Christ.

We call our church “Calvary” because it reminds us of the Cross…

…may our lives and our fellowship be marked by God’s Grace!