"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?"
Today's quote demonstrates the dissension that was brewing among the members of the Church, even as early as Paul's time. That same dissension is found among many supposed Christian Churches today. Im my lifetime I have witnessed the split up of several Church groups simply because of something the preacher said, or didn't say.
Paul said of the Corinthians; "every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ." This meant that the people were giving more credit for their salvation to the preacher than they were to God. Although some did give all the credit of Christ.
To address the problem, Paul asked the Corinthians, "Is Christ divided?". Knowing that Christ was NOT divided, and that there is only one savior and by asking that question, Paul challenged them to expose where their faith was truly placed. Was their faith in Christ Jesus, or was it in the preacher who had delivered the gospel to them, seeing that some said "I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ."
As I said previously, that same problem remains in many of today's "Churches". There are some whom are clearly more devoted to the preacher than they are to the appointed work of the Church.
In the last verse of today's quote, Paul said; "was Paul crucified for you? or were ye *baptized in the name of Paul?" Herein, Paul was asking if their preacher (Whomever had taught them.) was the one who was sacrificed for their sins? The very obvious answer is that it was Jesus Christ who died for all sins.
When Paul asked, were ye *baptized in (into) the name of Paul, he was asking if they believed they had been immersed into Paul's saving grace and not the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ.~
NOTE: *The term "baptized", as it is applied in today's quote, is not in reference to an immersion into water. The term is in reference to the sanctification given to the Corinthians through the gospel message that had been brought to them by the disciples, Apollos, Cephas, et al.
This lesson will be expanded upon tomorrow.
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