1 Corinthians 1: 10 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [f]agree and that there be no [g]divisions among you, but that you be [h]made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am [i]with Paul,” [j]or “I am [k]with Apollos,” [l]or “I am [m]with [n]Cephas,” [o]or “I am [p]with Christ.” 13 [q]Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized [r]in the name of Paul? 14 I am thankful that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one would say you were baptized [s]in my name! 16 But I did baptize the household of Stephanas also; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with [t]cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made of no effect.
Jesus is your Lord; Now Act like it
There’s a new translation that I intend to get. Legacy Standard Bible. Released in 2021. Why do we need another Bible translation? This is not driven by book sales like some others. “The Skateboarders Bible.” If I were to summarize what it is; It is a revision of the New American Standard Bible. Some count the New American Standard Bible to be the closest word by word translation. The most literally translated of the English translations. All the Legacy Standard is is a revisiting of the New American Standard to review for accuracy and consistency.
In other words, the translators went back to the original texts to ensure that the NASB translation was correct. But they also did something that is new in the translation world. They didn’t just look at each individual text for consistency; they looked across the whole Bible. If there was a word translated “shaken” is used in the Greek translation of an Old Testament passage, the Legacy Standard Bible seeks to use that word “shaken” in other Biblical passages, including New Testament ones. Doing this helps us better see the consistency of thought in the Bible from beginning to end and it helps us see when New Testament writers are alluding to Old Testament Scripture. There are many things about this translation that I like. Another example is any time God’s name, YAHWEH, is used in the original languages, most other translations change it to LORD, with all capital letters. The LSB leaves it YAHWEH.
But one of the other word changes that you would likely notice in the LSB is the translation of the word “Doulos.” Let me read you the reasoning for how they consistently translate this word.
“The NT has a variety of terms that refer to the individuals who serve under the authority of another. Doulos denotes a very specific form of servitude: slavery. The NT uses doulos to describe an individual who is totally subordinate to a master
Matt 8:9 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
24:46 46 Blessed is that slave whom his [a]master finds so doing when he comes.
2 Pet 2:19 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what anyone is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
and even owned by that master
Philem 16 16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother,
in contrast to one who is freed
Gal 3:28 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is [a]neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus
For this reason, the NASB already translated the vast majority of this term as slave. The LSB made this consistent, which brings out how believers are to relate to Christ. He is our Lord and master
2 Cor 4:5 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants [a]on account of Jesus.
and we are His slaves
Rom 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, [a]called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
Phil 1:1 Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus,
This underscores His great redemption in buying believers from slavery to sin
This also underscores the believer’s absolute surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ
Rom 6:16-17 16 Do you not know that the one to whom you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of that same one whom you obey, either of sin [a]resulting in death, or of obedience [b]resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that [c]though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that [d]form of teaching to which you were entrusted,
A consistent translation of doulos, in effect, sharpens the very nature of the Christian life.[1]”
1. "Frequently Asked Questions". Legacy Standard Bible. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
Why did I draw attention to this translation in our study of 1st Corinthians? Because the Corinthians had a Master/Slave problem. They had the modern American Christian problem; Maybe they are comfortable thinking of Jesus as brother, Savior or friend. Or maybe they were even okay with being described as “servants.” But they forgot that though Jesus is our brother, Our Savior, our friend He is also our Master, and we His slaves; owned by the Lord, and every aspect of our lives is subject to, and rightfully belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, “you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought for a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
22 For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave, is the Lord’s freed person; likewise the one who was called as free, is Christ’s slave. 23 You were bought for a price; 1 Corinthians 7:22-24
And this theme of Master and slave runs through the entire letter. I am giving you an outline of the letter and I put it on the overhead screen. I am doing this because I think my role as a Bible preacher and teacher is to help you better understand the Bible book that we are studying. And in order to understand all the little truths and themes in the letter, you need to understand the overall theme. Here’s the outline.
(put on overhead) This may change.
Master and Slave
I. Factions vs Unity 1:10-3:23
II. Pride vs Humility 4:1-21
III. Sexual Immorality vs Spiritual Purity 5:1-7:40
IV. Christian License vs Christian Love 8:1-10:33
V. Self-centered vs God-centered Worship 11:1-14:40
VI. No resurrection vs True Resurrection 15:1-58
VII. Love vs Pride 16:1-24
Prayer
We will begin today with the first problem in the church in Corinth; Factions vs Unity. This is the first area that Paul brings up where they have forgotten who is Master and who is slave.
This theme runs from chapter 1 to the end of chapter 3. So, we will be looking at it over several Sundays. If you want to know how that is outlined, Chapter 1 outlines the problem and solution, chapter 2 lays out the source of unity; what to do to be united, and chapter 3 lays out the source of divisions; what not to do. But to get started today I just want to address two questions; What’s the problem? What’s the solution?
A. What’s the Problem?
Let’s just reread part of the text, vss 10-12
10 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [f]agree and that there be no [g]divisions among you, but that you be [h]made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am [i]with Paul,” [j]or “I am [k]with Apollos,” [l]or “I am [m]with [n]Cephas,” [o]or “I am [p]with Christ.”
Now let me break that down for you. What was happening in the Corinthian church? In short, there were opposing groups that had formed in their church. People had divided up into groups based around the preachers and personalities of the church. Over the years of the church’s existence they had had some powerful and notable ministers.
The great apostle Paul had started the church. Apollos, that fiery preacher and debater had come later as a preacher. Some members of the church may have been Jewish and migrated from the Jerusalem church where the first apostle Peter was an elder and apostle. Paul was a meticulous preacher of doctrine, very intelligent and very precise. So, some “brainy” people naturally gravitated to him. Apollos was known for his eloquence and his persuasiveness in debate. So, others who were moved by his words, enjoyed his style more. Still others, maybe Jewish, identified with Peter, because he was Jewish in practice and had been in the closest relationship with the Lord for the three years of His ministry. And, maybe they had known Peter in Jerusalem or it is even possible that Peter visited the church in Corinth at some point. That is a debated issue among Bible students.
So, what happened? What was the problem? When any sort of strife or disagreement arose in the Corinthian assembly, and many issues did come up, instead of appealing to Scripture, or seeking the Lord, or inquiring of Paul, the people of the church remained divided and pompously claimed that their faction was right based on the preacher they identified with. They didn’t humbly seek for the truth. They divided up into competing factions and argued.
Some said, “Well, we are right because we base what we believe on Paul’s teaching.” Others said, “We are right because we base what we believe on Apollos’ teaching.” Still others claimed Peter, the first apostle, as their authority. And then there was a final group who very piously said, “Well, you are all wrong. We base what we believe on Christ. We are of Christ.” Now, technically, that last group was right. We are all of Christ. But it may be that they were saying it out of arrogance, or a sense of intellectual superiority. So, though their theology was right, their spirit was not.
So, the answer to the question, “What’s the problem?” is the problem is competing groups in the church. But a good follow up to that question I think helps make the picture more vivid in your minds.
Well, what were they arguing about? What issue made them divide into camps to begin with? We are not told. We are not told what lit the fuse of their arguments. But if you read the rest of the letter, you can find all kinds of issues that could have divided them. We reviewed these when I gave you the outline of the book. There was sexual immorality in the church as described in chapter 5. They could have argued about how to deal with it. There were questions about marriage. They could have argued about the grounds for divorce. There were disagreements about how much a person should be separated from the idol temples and practices. Some people freely went to the idol temple’s meat department to buy a roast for Sunday dinner. There was a lot of discord about who should be allowed to speak and offer their gifts in worship services. There was a question of order in those services. There were squabbles about the role of women. So, squabbles started over how we come up with some order in our worship service. In chapter 15 we learn that some were teaching that there is no resurrection from the dead. Of course, others were teaching about the truth of the resurrection. So, you had competing Sunday School classes.
Anyone of these issues, or all of them, could have been the basis for the contentious division into opposing factions. And each faction would get together in their Sunday School rooms or their corner of the fellowship hall and discuss these squabbles and further justify their viewpoint by saying, “we are right because we follow Paul, or Apollos, or Peter, or Christ.” And by the way, it’s seems apparent that neither Paul, Apollos, or Peter were there in Corinth at the time to put a stop to this division. If any of them had been present, they would have called foul on this nonsense.
This is the problem he is addressing.
So, the very first issue that Paul addresses regarding the life of their church is divisions, factions, lack of unity, schisms, splinter groups. The fact that Paul addresses this first tells me that this is a very important issue regarding obedience for us to consider. That it is an issue that was not only huge and important for the Corinthian assembly, but also for all the churches that would come after them, up to us today.
Factions in the church is a big issue for us as well, isn’t it? And factions in the church surface in a couple of ways. I dare say that if I were to ask for a show of hands asking how many of you had been a part of a church split, most if not all of you would raise your hands. I know you would, because we’ve had a split in this church. That’s why we can identify with the classic joke;
A man lost at sea is found on an island 20 years later.
The sailors that find him are surprised to see three large buildings on the island. They ask the man why he built the buildings. "This first building is my house" he says. "I was able to set up a crude aqueduct to create some form of indoor plumbing". The sailors are impressed and ask about the second building. "This second building is my church" he says "I am a Christian and my faith is very important to me". The sailors nod in understanding and ask about the third building. "Oh, that one" the man says. "That's the church I USED to go to".
And if we haven’t personally been in a church that split, most of us have heard stories and could tell stories about churches we know of that were divided and split. In some ways, church splits make up the very fabric of the American church. We have the freedom to be obstinate “donkeys.” Let’s keep it polite. “Well, I don’t like ____ at my church, so I’ll take my big money and my like-minded friends and go elsewhere.” And if we can’t find anywhere else to go, we’ll start a new church.
And factions surface in a second way; as an undercurrent of division. When differences aren’t settled, when both parties don’t come together and humbly submit to the Lord, a church can end up with a group here, a group there. Everyone is polite to each other, but there is a major schism in the body.
You say, preacher do we have that here? Of course. We’re not perfect. It is not a major issue, but I think there will always be some division, or discord in any church because we are all sinners, and we are not perfectly humble or submissive to the Lord. But do you want to know what the biggest issues of division are in our church, or any mainstream protestant Southern Baptist Church? Let me clarify. I’m not talking about denominational differences; or even differences between different local churches. I’m talking about the major differences that occur today in local Southern Baptist Assemblies. The issues that cause opposing groups to form.
Disagreements over space
I’m not talking about outer space. I’m talking about the places we occupy in this facility. “Our Sunday School room, or where I sit in service. Arguments over space are so prevalent in local assemblies that they have become a cliché. “Somebody sat in my pew.” Or it might be, “Somebody moved the stuff in my Sunday School room.” And there is usually fault on both sides when this happens. One person doesn’t communicate that they need to borrow the fan from a Sunday School room, or they don’t return it. The other person has little grace or forgiveness when someone makes a mistake. And they may be too possessive of things that belong, not to them, but to the whole church.
Disagreements over time
Now, we don’t have as much of a struggle with this as some other assemblies because we don’t have as many things happening. But we still have a master calendar on the finance office door so members can ask for and then reserve spaces and times for whatever ministry event that they are putting together. I am actually quite proud to recall sometimes this was an issue here at Parkview. I remember early on we were having our AWANA clubs on Wednesday nights, and once a month we had our church business meeting. It was a conflict of time. We had people leading AWANA clubs and listening to children recite memory verses who had to make a choice once a month. “Do I participate in the church business meeting? Or do I help with children’s ministry?” And do you know what this church did? We moved our business meeting to Sunday nights, so those people could do both.
Disagreements over ministry
I have my ministry in the church. I may work in the kitchen. I may work on the building and grounds. I may do hospital visitation. I may teach or preach. I may be a deacon. I may be on some committee. I may be a part of the music ministry or the children’s or youth ministry. But guess what? I am not alone. And conflict can arise in a couple of ways. There can be conflict within the ministry; two people who serve in the same ministry have different opinions about how it should be done. And there can be conflicts between ministries. One ministry chooses to have a social, and uses the kitchen. They dirty the dishes and use up supplies without informing those who manage the kitchen. (Guilty)
Disagreements over doctrine
I think this one is bigger than we want to recognize. It can be subtle so that we don’t recognize it. It comes down to what we believe about three basic questions;
How highly do I regard the Word of God? We all say we believe it. But many may as well leave their Bibles in the pew rack in the sanctuary, or in their Sunday School rooms, because Sunday is the only day they spend any time studying it.
This is a division in the church.
How literally do I interpret the Bible? That impacts what I believe about a lot of doctrinal issues; creation, the end times, baptism, human nature, and on and on. Many hold to the “verbal plenary inspiration” of Scripture. What that means is that you believe that the very words and phrases in the original texts of Scripture were given as God intended for them to be given. So, when I study or preach the Word, I want to know what each word means, because God intended each word that is written. You may say, “well, how else do people interpret Scripture?” Some view Scripture not as inspired “word by word,” but “thought by thought.”
Let me illustrate. Word by word inspiration tells me that God created the world in six literal 24 days. Thought by thought says, God created the world, the specifics are not important.
This is a division in the church.
How diligent should I be in applying the Scripture to my life?
Okay, so maybe we may all agree that the Bible is inspired “word by word.” But “I’m not perfect, just forgiven.” By the way, that saying is both my most favorite and least favorite Christian expressions. It is my favorite when spoken apologetically after I sin. I say, “Forgive me, I’m sorry, I’ll try not to do that again, I’m not perfect, just forgiven.” But others use it differently. Someone says, “How can you call yourself a Christian, and do x, y, or z sin?” And the Christian flippantly replies, “I’m not perfect, just forgiven,” and continues to practice x, y, and z without remorse.
These are doctrinal divisions in the church. God’s desire for the church, and I mean those who have joined themselves to a body of believers, made a commitment to that body of believers by uniting in membership, is that they are united in their belief in Scripture, their hunger to know it, and in their desire to practice it.
What is the solution?
So, now we come to the second question for today; What is the solution? There are divisions in the church. They may be superficial regarding time, space, or ministry, or they may run deeper concerning doctrine. So what is the solution?
Remember that Christ is your Master, and that we are His slaves. When we stand before the Lord after this life is over, do you know what the Lord will hopefully say to us?
Matthew 25:21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. (the word is slave) You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’
Paul said as much in this passage. Listen to what Paul says in verse 13 concerning their dividing into “the Paul group,” “the Apollos group,” “the Peter group,” “the Christ group.”
Chapter 1:13 [q]Has Christ been divided?
In effect He is saying, that there should be no divisions, because we are all slaves of One Perfect Master, not 4 masters, One Perfect Master; Christ.”
Look at what Paul says later in chapter 3.
Chapter 3 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 23 and you belong to Christ
Our One Master is Christ. Our church and faith are built on One Perfect foundation; Christ.
What’s the solution? If there is a difference of opinion, seek the Lord, and everyone submit to Him. Then there will be no difference. I’m not saying that there won’t be times that disagreements occur over little things. But if we all humble ourselves to the Lord, to leadership and to each other, those disagreements become very minor things.
Do you want to know what is the source of all major divisions and discord in the church is?
The biggest source of contention in the church is when people forget that Jesus is the Master and they are the slave. We will get into some specific instances in the Corinthian church next time. But the problem is not the division itself, it is how each party deals with the division. What does Paul say the solution is?
10 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all [f]agree
Okay preacher that’s not helpful. We don’t agree. How do we come to an agreement when we don’t agree?
The words are literally “that you all speak the same thing.”
The solution to factions in the church is for us to speak the same thing. We’ll will break this out next time. But think about what he is saying. You all need to get together and determine the one thing that you are going to speak, believe, act on. You need to get together, determine what is the truth, and agree to be united behind the truth. Well how do we do that? Do we hold a meeting and take a vote on what the truth is? Majority rule. 56% say that God created the world in 6 days, that’s what we will choose to believe. That’s not how it is done. Should we get a committee together of all the smartest people in the room and whatever they decide, we will believe? No
Listen again to Paul.
13 [q]Has Christ been divided?
2 And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come as someone superior in [a]speaking ability or [b]wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the [c]testimony of God.
The solution is for all parties involved to humbly seek their God, to search the Scriptures, to pray, to ask for the Lord’s conclusion on the matter. That’s the solution.
Now, there is much more that can be and will be said about that. But just dream about that for a moment. Play “what if” with me. What if we had a church where every person who chose to become a member knew they were the slave of the Lord? What if we had a membership who all searched the Scriptures daily to know the Mind of Christ? What if we had a membership who didn’t just have the beliefs, or faith, but put the Word into practice? They had works to match their faith? What if we had a membership who were characterized by humility? They first submit to the Lord, then to the leadership of the church as the leadership submits to the Lord, then to each other,
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves;
Would we have divisions? We would not. And the power and love of this body would be a testimony to our entire city.
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