Post by John on Mar 24, 2019 19:01:02 GMT -5
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
Within the church at Corinth, divisions had taken hold. Loyalties were divided. Some were claiming loyalty to various Apostles, while others were loyal to different people within the church and some were claiming to simply be loyal to Christ, which I suppose would mean as opposed to people like Paul, Apollos or Cephas. They were simply "standing." If you have been in the church for a long time, you know exactly what I am talking about.
When we think of divisions today, there are different ways to apply this. It can be loyalties to cliques in the church, particular individuals or families. When a division takes place, those people are loyal to certain people. You might have a battle over padding the pews. The family you are loyal to doesn't want to spend the money, and others want the padding. Your side loses, so you and your clique split the church and now what was one church becomes two small churches. When they have a falling out over the lighting, that church splits, and eventually, one church becomes 6 or 8 churches with 4 to 6 members.
Then there are denominational loyalties. One will say that "I am Baptist," another, "I am Methodist," and yet another, "I am Lutheran." Their main concern is loyalty to the church founder and his doctrine, tradition, or just a name on the sign out front. Paul is asking is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? If we are looking at things today, was Charles Wesley crucified for you? Was Martin Luther crucified for you? Was John Calvin crucified for you? If we look locally, was I crucified for you, or was any other member here crucified for you? The answer is no. It is Jesus that went to the cross for all of us, so why are we divided?
Paul speaks about baptism, and how he is glad he only baptized a handful of people. That is because he didn't want people saying he did this in his name. We can clearly see from this that baptism is not what saves a person, but it is just an outward sign of what took place, the new birth. If it was what saved us, Paul would have wanted to go around dunking everyone, but he says in verse 17, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."
When Paul speaks of unity, he means among true Christians. He is not meaning among all religious sects and idol worshippers. Paul is saying that Christ desires that the true church be united. Is that possible in this day and time? As much as I dislike the idolatry and paganism that is mixed with Christianity in the RCC, they did have one thing going for them. They were the only church. If you were put out of the RCC, you had no place else to go. If you had a problem with the RCC, you couldn't simply buy an ordination certificate for $20 from a fly by night outfit and rent a store front for a church. Today, if you leave one place, you simply go somewhere else. I wouldn't want to go back to the pre-reformation days and be under a corrupt Pope and church full of Mary worshippers, but having so many options has it's down side too.
Is it possible for the true church to have unity today? I am speaking of the true followers of Christ? I am really not sure, but whether we see many seeking that kind of unity or not, it is part of God's Word, so I will leave you with the same words I began this OP with.
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Within the church at Corinth, divisions had taken hold. Loyalties were divided. Some were claiming loyalty to various Apostles, while others were loyal to different people within the church and some were claiming to simply be loyal to Christ, which I suppose would mean as opposed to people like Paul, Apollos or Cephas. They were simply "standing." If you have been in the church for a long time, you know exactly what I am talking about.
When we think of divisions today, there are different ways to apply this. It can be loyalties to cliques in the church, particular individuals or families. When a division takes place, those people are loyal to certain people. You might have a battle over padding the pews. The family you are loyal to doesn't want to spend the money, and others want the padding. Your side loses, so you and your clique split the church and now what was one church becomes two small churches. When they have a falling out over the lighting, that church splits, and eventually, one church becomes 6 or 8 churches with 4 to 6 members.
Then there are denominational loyalties. One will say that "I am Baptist," another, "I am Methodist," and yet another, "I am Lutheran." Their main concern is loyalty to the church founder and his doctrine, tradition, or just a name on the sign out front. Paul is asking is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? If we are looking at things today, was Charles Wesley crucified for you? Was Martin Luther crucified for you? Was John Calvin crucified for you? If we look locally, was I crucified for you, or was any other member here crucified for you? The answer is no. It is Jesus that went to the cross for all of us, so why are we divided?
Paul speaks about baptism, and how he is glad he only baptized a handful of people. That is because he didn't want people saying he did this in his name. We can clearly see from this that baptism is not what saves a person, but it is just an outward sign of what took place, the new birth. If it was what saved us, Paul would have wanted to go around dunking everyone, but he says in verse 17, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."
When Paul speaks of unity, he means among true Christians. He is not meaning among all religious sects and idol worshippers. Paul is saying that Christ desires that the true church be united. Is that possible in this day and time? As much as I dislike the idolatry and paganism that is mixed with Christianity in the RCC, they did have one thing going for them. They were the only church. If you were put out of the RCC, you had no place else to go. If you had a problem with the RCC, you couldn't simply buy an ordination certificate for $20 from a fly by night outfit and rent a store front for a church. Today, if you leave one place, you simply go somewhere else. I wouldn't want to go back to the pre-reformation days and be under a corrupt Pope and church full of Mary worshippers, but having so many options has it's down side too.
Is it possible for the true church to have unity today? I am speaking of the true followers of Christ? I am really not sure, but whether we see many seeking that kind of unity or not, it is part of God's Word, so I will leave you with the same words I began this OP with.
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.