Disunity in the Church

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Salutation

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Notice Paul always seemed to think it necessary to establish his credentials at the beginning of every letter that he wrote. Even though it had been 20 years sense Paul was converted, he still felt the need to do this because of his persecution of the believers prior to his conversion. You notice that he wanted everyone to know, if they didn't already, that he was "called by the will of God".

This knowledge made Paul a great believer in the Sovereignty of God for he knew that if it had been left up to him, he would have continued his persecution, in a blind but sincere belief that he doing what God wanted him to do. But there on the road to Damascus, God struck him down in a blinding light and called him to be a missionary, preaching the Gospel just as surly as He had called the Disciples. There never was any doubt in Paul's mind concerning his calling, however, for years there was great doubt in the minds of others and Paul knew this and therefore he never ceased proclaiming his calling.

Now notice what God called Paul to do. "Be an Apostle of Jesus Christ." There were many "false prophets" at the time of Paul, many claiming to have been called of God, so Paul felt that he needed to proclaim his credentials in order to give authority to his words, which he acknowledged were certainly not his words but the words of the Holy Spirit.

Note, he also sends greetings from a man called Sos'thenes. Sosthenes was president of the Synagogue in Corinth at the time that Paul was establishing the church there. At that time, Paul was literally thrown out of the synagogue and went elsewhere to establish a Christian Church in the city. The Jews eventually had Paul brought before the civil authorities and would have had him killed but he was secretly taken out of Corinth by night. Many believe that it was Sosthenes that aided Paul in this escape, and for this he was beaten and disgraced and had to leave Corinth. He went to Ephesus where he was converted to Christianity. He had endured himself to Paul and was probably with Paul at the time of the writing of this letter. So Paul mentions his name here in his salutation knowing that there would be those in Corinth who would be concerned about an old friend.

Now notice to whom the letter was written. Four groups of people, all the same.

1. To the Church at Corinth.
2. To those sanctified in Jesus Christ.
3. To those called to be Saints.
4. To those everywhere else who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

From this we see that certainly Paul's letters were circulated among the churches as all were in need of his council and many had the same problems.

Then Paul pronounces what we have come to know as an "apostolic benediction", "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here Paul wishes for them two of the Lord's richest gifts, Grace and Peace. These are gifts that He wants to bestow upon all believers in unlimited measure. Why do we insist on limiting Him in those areas? We have available to us, Grace sufficient for all our needs, but we insist on taking care of them ourselves. We have peace available to us that is beyond our understanding, but we worry any way. Always limiting the Lord either by lack of faith or by neglecting to ask.

Thanksgiving

Here in these verses, Paul gives thanks for two gifts of the Spirit that gives credence to the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints. First he gives thanks for their conversion. Paul thanked God for this because he believed that conversion was a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Eph. 2:8). So those who are united to Christ, by faith, are objects of Divine favor. We too should thank God for the gift of salvation.

Secondly, he thanks God for their "spiritual gifts". Notice he mentions two in particular, speech and knowledge. As Matthew Henry points out, many have the ability to speak but do not have knowledge (Aaron) while some have knowledge but do not have the ability to speak (Moses). These Christians had both and Paul thanked the Lord for it.

Paul says that these gifts were evidence of the Lord's presence with them. There is a lesson here for us. It is not so much problems that stunt a churches growth as it is lack of the presence of the Lord. A gifted people is the evidence of the Lord's presence. Paul also suggests that these two gifts made them live in a state of "expectation", looking for the coming of the Lord. The more we are gifted, the more we are confirmed and the more confirmed we are, the more we look for the coming of the Lord.

Then Paul reminds them of their assurance in Christ Jesus (Perseverance of the Saints). He reminds them and us that Jesus will sustain to the end, He will present you "faultless before God, He is faithful and just to do these things. How can we doubt so great a salvation. If God sustains us who then can separate us?

So Paul has established his credentials and reminded them of theirs, now he must get to the purpose of his letter.

Disunity

Devotion to a certain person had caused disunity. Each one of the members were attaching themselves and being loyal to the one that had led them to Christ, instead of attaching themselves and being loyal to Christ. We have a tendency to to have a deep affection for the one who was instrumental in leading us to Christ, even those who have, at some time in our lives, helped us through a crisis or who have demonstrated leadership in a time when we needed it. These loyalties are all right as long as they do not replace the loyalty that we have for Christ.

It appears that word came to Paul about this by way of "Chlo'es people". Chloe was a woman who lived in Corinth and Ephesus and traveled much between the two cities, a distance of about 300 miles by boat across the Aegean Sea. It is not known for sure if she was a Christian. It is also not known, what her motive was in letting Paul as well as the church at Ephesus, know of the problems at Corinth.

Even though the church at Corinth had only been established for about 3 or 4 years, there had been, in that period, three men who had been instrumental in leading people to Christ. Paul established the church and he was followed by a man by the name of Appolos and then even Peter did some work at Corinth. It appears that each of these men had a group that were loyal to them. There was also a group that knew where their loyalties should lie and they were loyal to Jesus. So the problem, at least for three of these groups, was misplaced loyalties.

What was Paul's answer to this problem? Forget who was instrumental in leading you to Christ, be united, be of one mind. Make Christ your leader and devote all of your energies to Him. Besides, it is not important what we did. "I am thankful that I didn't baptize many of you." "I am not really sure how many I did baptize, for Christ didn't send me to baptize, nor did he bestow upon me, the gift of eloquent speech or wisdom less the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."

God does not rely on the persuasiveness or the eloquence of the speaker, nor his wisdom, to bring about the conversion of lost souls, for conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit, not the work of men. The Lord said to Isaiah in chapter 29, "I will destroy the wisdom and cleverness of men." The Gospel is foolishness to anyone not led of the Spirit, but to those whom God has chosen and enlightened, it is the power of God unto salvation, to save, to keep and to enlighten.

So why put any importance upon people, even those who have made a great difference in our lives, for it is God who is the source of all good and perfect gifts.

The Preaching of the Cross

So Paul has established for these Corinthians that God was the source of their salvation and therefore should be the object of their localities.

Corinth was not some small town out in the mountains of Greece, it was a city of educated and "worldly wise" people. The Greeks claimed to have all wisdom and dearly loved to debate. They were very proud of the place in the world that they thought wisdom had given them and they boasted of having achieved all of this by themselves. Do you get the picture? Do you see why it was necessary for Paul to include these few words?

"People of Corinth, get down off of your high horse." "Look about you, brethren." "Where is the wise man?" "Where is the scribe?" "Where is the debater?" "Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many of you were powerful or of noble birth." What was Paul saying about these believers? He was saying that the so called wise and powerful people of Corinth were not the ones that God had called to be one of His. He was not saying that this type of people could not be saved, he was saying that it would be difficult.

Jesus said about the "rich man", "It will be easier for a camel to pass through the needles eye than for a rich man to enter heaven." Why? Because of their pride. Rich people take pride in their works, they feel that they have "earned" salvation. and when Paul preached that salvation was by faith and not works, it became a "stumbling block" to them. But Paul says, "Make no mistake about it, God has chosen the weak and the foolish or uneducated people of this world to receive His plan of salvation." Why? So that no one can boast of having acquired it of themselves. So remember this. God is the source of your life in Christ. God is the source of your wisdom and the source of your righteousness. Therefore, "If you must boast, make sure you boast of the Lord."

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