1 Corinthians 1

Chapter 1. The Unity of the ChurchWhat I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.“Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?… So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. (1 Corinthians 1:12-13; 1 Corinthians 3:21-23)The first epistle to the Corinthians deals largely with the principles and life of the Church of Christ. It is a picture at once of Christ’s ideal for His Church and the Church’s failure to meet it. But the very faults of this particular church were overruled in God’s providence as occasions for the profound teachings of the Holy Spirit respecting the true character, government and work of the Church. We have, therefore, in this epistle an outline for an apostolic Christian Church in its unity, purity, discipline, government, life, work, worship and glorious destiny. The church in Corinth had a most providential and even romantic inception. Sent by a special divine commission to Greece, the apostle had preached the gospel in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea and Athens amid much persecution, and finally arrived at Corinth, the great metropolis of commerce and culture. His work at first was greatly hindered by the opposition of the Jews, and he seems to have written to his friends in Thessalonica to pray for him that the Word of God might have free course and be glorified in this difficult field (2 Thessalonians 3:1). The prayer was answered in a most signal way. First, the Jews bitterly opposed him, so that he withdrew from them and turned to the Gentiles, beginning his work in the house of Justus, adjoining the Jewish synagogue. This was followed by a great outpouring of the Spirit of God, so that Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed, and many of the Corinthians also believed and were baptized. Then God spoke to Paul in a special vision saying, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10). All this was wonderfully fulfilled in the apostle’s immediate experience, and for a year and a half he continued teaching the Word of God among them. Then the Jews made another frantic effort to destroy his work when Gallio, the new Roman governor, came into office. They brought charges against Paul, hoping to take advantage of the governor’s ignorance or weakness. But with true Roman indifference Gallio refused to entertain their petty theological strifes, and before Paul needed to answer a single charge the complaint was dismissed and his accusers were driven from the judgment seat. Then the mob turned upon the defeated Jews, and beat their ruler, Sosthenes, unmercifully. It would almost seem from a little coincidence that Sosthenes may have been compelled to appeal to Paul’s friends for protection. At least we know what treatment he would have received if he had done so. At any rate, either this or some other Sosthenes was converted to Christ at Corinth; and when Paul wrote the letter to the Corinthian church, he associated Sosthenes with himself in the greetings of the epistle. It would indeed be a fine touch of divine irony and a glorious revenge for the apostle if Sosthenes had been truly converted from an enemy to a friend, from the man that sought to destroy them into the associate of Paul himself in the oversight of the little church at Corinth. From the apostle’s letter to this church we are able to form a very good idea of its condition. Living as they did in a city of extraordinary wealth and culture, they were remarkable for their intelligence and for the extent and variety of the gifts of the Spirit which they exemplified, but we do not find the same recognition or commendation of the graces of the Spirit. It seems probable that their intellectual culture was far in advance of their spiritual culture, and the result was a condition of sectarian strife and division which drew from the apostle the most earnest and affectionate admonitions and appeals, and which became at length the occasion for the most sublime picture of the supremacy of love which the Holy Scriptures contain. Let us notice at this time some interesting and instructive points connected with the membership and gifts of the Corinthian church, and more especially the unity of that church.

Section I: The Membership of the Church

Section I—The Membership of the ChurchSanctified in Christ They are described first as those “sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:2). This refers no doubt to our standing with Jesus Christ as those who are set apart as belonging to Him, and who are recognized by God as saved and sanctified through the purchase of His redemption and by virtue of their standing in Him. Every believer who has become truly united to Christ is recognized by the Father as one with Christ in all the fullness of His grace. When we take Him by the initial act of faith, we take Him in all His fullness, and we are accepted in Him and recognized as one with Him, even in the things which have not yet been realized in our experience. Therefore we are recognized by God as not only crucified with Christ, but risen with Him, and even sitting with Him in heavenly realms. All this has not yet come into our actual experience, but all this belongs to us by right of our redemption and union with our glorious Head. We are therefore spoken of as “sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Called to Be Holy But, secondly, they are next described as those that are “called to be holy” (1 Corinthians 1:2). We are to enter in personally and experientially to all which belongs to us by right. We are to be saints in our hearts and lives, and live up to the high standing which we have in Christ Jesus. There is a miner who has found a piece of ore richly veined with gold, but still mingled with coarse rock and sand. He takes it to some wealthy assayer or dealer in the precious mineral and offers it for sale. The man examines it and knows its mixed condition; but knowing also its inherent value, he purchases it perhaps for several hundred dollars and it becomes his property. Then he puts it through the processes of the mill, crushing it, washing it, melting it and refining it until at last it flows out a stream of unalloyed gold worth five times what he paid for it, without a particle of mingled rock or sand. It is much cleaner now than when he purchased it, but it is not any more his own now than it was then. It belonged to him in its mingled state; it belongs to him still, but it has been cleansed, separated and prepared for its true use. This describes the two processes of salvation and sanctification, our standing and our state, our acceptance in the Beloved first, and then our conformity to His image later. Just because we are accepted in Him, we are to press forward into all to which He has called us. This is our high calling: “called to be holy” (1 Corinthians 1:2). No Narrow Sectarianism But, in the third place, there is still another clause which must be included in the circle of fellowship to whom the apostle addresses his letter: “together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2). There must be no narrow sectarianism about the church in Corinth or anywhere else. It includes all who belong to Christ, and He belongs to them as much as He does to us. There is no place in the apostle’s mind for denominationalism or bigotry of any kind. Christian fellowship must in the very nature of things be as large as the whole household of faith; for the body is one, and if you restrict it you narrow yourself and cut off your own very life.

Section II: The Gifts and Graces of the Church

Section II—The Gifts and Graces of the ChurchThe apostle was able to speak in very high terms of the endowments of this church at Corinth. He attributed all to the grace of Jesus Christ, but he could honestly say of them that they had received an unusual supply of the gifts of His grace. “For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge…. You do not lack any spiritual gift” (1 Corinthians 1:5, 1 Corinthians 1:7). Their meetings were full of bright, deeply spiritual testimonies. Their views of the truth were clear and fresh and strong. The gifts of tongues and of utterance and even of miracles were widely prevalent and strongly marked in their history as a church, and they were prominent among the apostolic churches for the abundance and the power of their spiritual enduements. Then their attitude about the Lord’s coming was all right. They had not settled down in worldly self-complacency, but they were waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the apostle felt sure that God would confirm them unto the end that they should be blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is very high testimony. Had you or I visited this Corinthian church we would no doubt have been much impressed with its prosperity, its intelligence, its power and its brilliancy in teaching, testimony and Christian work.

Section III: Its Lack of Unity

Section III—Its Lack of UnityNotwithstanding all this, there was one grave defect and cause of reproof and blame which filled the apostle’s heart with deep concern and sorrow. The unity of the Church is essentially part of her constitution as the body of Christ. Just as the human body cannot be divided without death, so schism and separation are fatal to the life of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. The system of denominationalism is essentially human, and contrary to the highest will of our glorious Head. No single doctrinal principle is important enough to displace the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as the one name that alone should dominate His Church. The fact that God has overruled and used a divided Church is no sort of reason for supposing that He approves of it. But there are far worse evils than denominationalism. Within the same denomination and congregation there are frequently greater dissensions and divisions than among the various churches and sects. It is not union but unity that God wants, and that is a matter of life and love. The true unity of the Church is broken not only by open schisms, but by social and secret strifes, strains, envyings, jealousies and grievances among the Lord’s people. As sins against love, which is the supreme grace of Christianity, these are carnal signs and grievous wrongs against the body of the Lord. One of their chief causes is the lack of sanctification. They are the evidence of a carnal state. They all spring from the old sinful nature, whereof the apostle says: “For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly (carnal)? Are you not acting like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3). By another figure he describes them as a result of immaturity and an infantile condition: “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1). Again, another cause of these divisions is the undue attachment to men as men; human leadership with earthly hero worship is the source of this great evil which has weakened and divided the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is altogether wrong. The Effects of Division The effects of division in the body of Christ are very sad. First, they hurt the Head. Just as the scratch or wound in the feeblest member of the body at once communicates itself to the senses of the brain, so Christ is hurt by all our strains and strifes, and often He has to repeat the cry to His thoughtless children, “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Full of profoundest truth as well as tenderness, was the answer of the old Scottish martyr mother as she saw little Margaret Wilson, the maiden martyr of Perth, struggling and choking to death at the hands of her cruel foes in the sands of the Solway. “It is Christ,” she said, “in one of His members, wrestling there.” When we wound the brethren, we wound the Lord Jesus; and when the body is torn asunder, the Head is caused to suffer in sympathetic pain. Secondly, we hurt ourselves. The body is so one that the pain we inflict upon another member reflects itself upon us. There is a settled law of retribution that brings back upon the author of unkindness the reflex action of his own conduct. There is many a body that is suffering with sickness, and many a spiritual life that is dwarfed and stunted in consequence of injustice and wrong which ought long ago to have been confessed and righted. Thirdly, we hurt the whole body of Christ. It is not the individual only that we injure, but the cause of which we are a part. Spiritual deadness of the Church of Christ is largely due to her divisions. The lack of apostolic power has come in consequence of the severed life of spiritual organism. Fourthly, not only do we hurt the body, but we hinder the testimony of Christ’s Word before the world. The unity of the Church was designed by Him to be His most powerful witness to the unbelieving world, and the absence of this unity is the most powerful obstacle to unbelieving men in the way of their acceptance of the gospel of Christ. Even the infidel Gibbon was forced to acknowledge that the unity of the primitive Church was a testimony to the world which they could not gainsay. But, alas! it can no longer be said today, “See how these Christians love one another,” but rather the admonition must needs be emphasized, “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Galatians 5:15). Developing the Spirit of Unity How will we cherish the spirit of unity and overcome the divisions and strifes of the children of God?

1. The supreme secret must ever be to cling closer to the Head. The nearer we come to Him the more closely will we touch each other. As the spokes of the wheel near the center, they grow closer to each other. As the little birdlings press up to the mother’s breast, they press more closely to one another.
2. We must be filled with the Spirit. The little pools along the seashore are united when a great tidal wave sweeps along the shore, and so the baptism of the Holy Spirit alone can unite the sects and parties of divided Christendom in the full tides of the common element of their life. The absence of unity is an evidence always of a low spiritual condition, and the remedy for division is the quickening of spiritual life and the filling of the Spirit.
3. We are to recognize our brethren as ours. The apostle has given us a blessed remedy for the strifes and strains of Christians. “So then,” he says, “no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours” (1 Corinthians 3:21-22). We are to make common cause with them, and so take them in that we shall feel ourselves responsible even for their very faults. Then there will be no place for rivalry, jealousy or separated interests. You know if your child does wrong and even greatly tires you; you feel it is your child and almost as if it were your own disgrace and failure, and instead of condemning mercilessly and throwing off the erring one, you take the fault to yourself and lovingly seek to help and to save. If another’s child did the same thing you would condemn and blame and feel no such responsibility. The whole question is whose child it is. Make it yours and love immediately comes into play. Now this is what the apostle means by recognizing not only all things as ours, but all people as ours, yea, our brethren. When therefore we see good in them we rejoice as if it were our own. When we see evil we mourn, pity, forgive and forbear and help and deal just as we would with ourselves. It was thus that Daniel took upon himself the sins and faults of his own people and confessed them as if they were his own transgressions, and in this he was but imitating Christ, for “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
4. But finally the real secret of union is for each of us to be fully saved from the spirit of self and strife and sin, and filled with the disposition and temper of the Lord Jesus Christ. There could be no strife if every believer were a Christ-filled man or woman, baptized with the gentleness and love of the Lord Jesus. While the carnal nature is allowed to sway us, we can never have real unity with one another. It is a painful confession, but it is probably one that would be reechoed by almost all those who have had intimate dealings with a large variety of professing Christians, that there is no single line of failure and sin on the part of the children of God, especially those who confess to know something of the deeper life of the Spirit, than the infirmity of temper. The spirit of irritation, depression or sensitiveness—you may call it what you please, by the finely drawn phrase of being tired, or the more honest name of ill nature—it is the one place where the great majority of most earnest Christians are conscious of not really living the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is better to recognize it and call it by its right name, and then with an utter surrender and unreserved confession, a single purpose and an uncompromising faith, take the grace of God, the power of the Spirit and the indwelling life of Christ against it, and enter into an eternal covenant never again to willingly sin against love.