[Steve Myers] So, after talking a little bit about the background, we'll get into more details about Corinth as a city, the people, as we actually go through the letter. But I thought it might be most helpful just to jump into this particular letter that Paul writes to the Corinthians. I mean, this was such an important city. If you could just imagine, it was this hustling, bustling worldwide trade, culture, commerce center that also was the host of just disgusting idolatrous religion. And yet, God calls people out of that. God founds a church there, and the Apostle Paul is going to help them and guide them and lead them to be the kind of people God wants them to be. And so, he finds out about some of the issues, and he writes to them. And so, let's just take a look. 1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul begins this letter. Of course, an epistle is a letter, just a fancy name for a letter. Paul writes this epistle to those in Corinth, and he begins like this.

1 Corinthians 1:1 "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother."

Now, we've talked about first-century letters before. They're different than our letters. You know, we would write a letter differently. We would write who the letter is to, to begin with. You know, to Mom, we would write, "Please send money," right? We'd do something like that. Well, in the first century, they always wrote who the letter was from to begin with. Instead of signing your name at the end, you put your name right at the very beginning. So, he starts the letter exactly like that. And then he identifies who he is. He's called to be an apostle, called to be an apostle. Well, did he appoint himself? How did he come to that position? He wasn't like false teachers. He wasn't like an orator that would've gone through ancient Greece and now the Roman Empire. No, he's an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. God made that choice. God made that direction. God calls people and places them in the body the way He chooses.

And he's going to make that point, not only here as he begins the letter, but later on in this letter to the Corinthians, he's going to do just that. And so, it's by God, he is an apostle. And so, we think about that term for a moment as well, an apostle. Well, what is an apostle? He's called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. Well, we know that word literally means one sent or one sent forth, but we certainly don't want to restrict the meaning just to that, somebody that's just sent out. Yes, Paul was sent by God, but it also carries a connotation that he was sent with a specific message, that he's sent with a message to deliver as being sent forth, but he also carries then the authority of the sender. Well, who's the one that sent him? Well, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God. So, he carries the authority of God as he brings this authoritative message of the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. He's carrying it to the world as he travels and goes on these journeys.

And so, he identifies that very fact, that he is sent by the will of God, carrying God's authority and His message almost like a representative, almost like someone that, you know, we might send to a foreign country to represent us, to represent our country, to be an ambassador. You might think of it in those terms. We send an ambassador to foreign countries, they represent the United States of America. They are sent, but then also carry that authority and then that message with them as well. So, in a sense, an apostle is a kind of ambassador, and of course, in this sense, one that's sent by the will of God, the Father.

Now, we also mentioned earlier, he says Sosthenes is with him as well. Probably brings up that name. Could have something to do with the Sosthenes in Acts 18, possible. And even if not, this Sosthenes must have been someone that was well known to the Corinthians. It would carry some weight that Paul would mention this particular individual especially if he was the ruler of the synagogue who took the place of Crispus and then beaten in front of Gallio, and then ultimately converted. Yeah, that would carry a little bit of weight. So, that could be a possibility that this man was later then converted, and Paul's then using him as someone that they would be very familiar with, someone then that would back up what Paul is saying as well. And so, that's an interesting way that he begins the letter. And so, this first-century letter begins with who it's from, and then addresses who it's to.

1 Corinthians 1:2 "to the church of God, which is at Corinth."

Now, there it is, the church of God. What is the name of God's church? The church of God. Yeah, you can have some modifiers. Today, we have modifiers for the church. We are the United Church of God. Here, he addresses the church of God at Corinth. And so, we see, you really won't find any other name for the congregations of God other than the church of God. And so, he addresses them, the Church of God at Corinth. And who are they?

1 Corinthians 1:2 He says they are those who, "are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours."

So, he's making it very clear, here's who it's to. Even though you've got your issues, you've got your problems, you're a part of the church of God, the greater church of God. You're not a little congregation all by yourself. No, you're part of the greater church of God. If you're a part of the greater church of God, then you're fulfilling God's calling, God's purpose. Otherwise, you're really not a part of the church at all. You're really not a part at all. And he says in this calling that God has given, as Paul was called to be an apostle, they are called, it says, and sanctified to be saints, called to be saints, called to be saints. Now, that's an interesting word.

Certainly don't think of it in terms of, you know, how the Catholic church has kind of demeaned that idea of what a saint is. It's not that at all. This idea of being a saint is someone that's called to be holy. In fact, the word for "saint" is from the same base word that we get the word holy, hagios, H-A-G-I-O-S, hagios. Same base word, it means holy or means set apart, set apart. So, this idea of being sanctified carries that similar connotation, being set apart. You're not a part of the megalopolis of Corinth anymore. You're not a part of that culture anymore. Now you are separate. You're called to be different. You're called to be a hagios, a saint, a holy one set apart from this society. And so, he reminds them of that.

That's our calling because sometimes with all the busyness of life, all the things we've got to do, and all the things that we have responsibility, we forget that calling. And so, he reminds them right off the bat that this is what God's purpose is all about. We're to be different, we're to be God's people. And then he also says that “it's with all who are in every place that call on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours.” So, what's he emphasizing? Well, it wasn't just the Jewish converts. There were also those gentiles, those who were not of a Jewish background. The gentiles were also called. So, one and alike called to be God's people. That's an important point. Could you see that there could be divisions because, oh, you have a Jewish heritage and I have a pagan heritage? "Oh, I'm better than you because my people knew the true God and yours never did. All you never did is worship idols." You could see how that could become a problem.

And so, Paul's, in a way, giving a little heads up, giving a little idea like, "Wait a second, we are one in Christ. We are one, Jews and gentiles alike who have become converted. And so, don't let that be a dividing factor among you." He's kind of intimating that already. He doesn't make a difference between those that God has called. All of them alike are to be separate. All of them alike are to be sanctified. All of them alike are called to be saints. And so, that's an important delineation as he really begins this letter. And so, Paul is so masterful, when you really get down to it, because he's already addressing issues, and he hasn't addressed the issues yet. Isn't that interesting? He's just getting through the introduction and he's already giving us an idea of where he's going with this letter. He begins, of course, after this introduction, in a typical Pauline way. We'll find in his letters, he'll normally do what we've got right here, who it's from, who it's to, by the will of God. And then this next statement is a familiar one, you'll find almost word for word in all of Paul's letters. He says in verse 3.

1 Corinthians 1:3 "Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."

So, a couple important things going on right here at the very beginning of this letter, as we look at verse 3. Where does grace come from? You know, where does it...? Maybe a way to say this, where does it spring from? Well, it springs from God the Father, and Jesus Christ. That's where grace is initiated. And so, it's interesting that he points that out very specifically, that that grace, this comes from God, the Father, from Jesus Christ. And that's where it's initiated. And this idea of grace doesn't just mean a free pardon, not just talking about that, that we have forgiveness of sins through God, the Father, and through Jesus Christ. But he also encompasses the idea of God's favor, God's care, God's concern. God is gracious. He loves us, and He cares for us.

And so, when he says, "Grace to you in peace," not just talking about forgiveness of sin, but he's talking about how God favors us. God loves us. God wants the best for us. And so, he emphasizes that point, grace and peace. Peace is also an interesting word because it contrasts the idea of division. Peace is bringing people together. In fact, this word for peace comes from a word the Greeks would use in the healing process, that they would, in their medical treatment, let's say a bone was broken, they would have peace between the parts. And so, when they would set a broken bone, that bone would come to peace. It would heal. It would heal. And so, this word is kind of a medical term that means bringing things back together like a bone that would heal after it was broken. So, we see that grace, that favor from God, the gifts that God give us, as well as this peace, healing peace that can bring parts together comes from God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Also, something else interesting in this verse. Anything missing here? Well, I don't think so. But if you're a Trinitarian, there's something missing here, right? What's missing? Well, he doesn't say, "Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit." No Holy Spirit mentioned here. Can you imagine if the church had viewed God as a trinity, that would be an affront to God, not to mention, the Holy Spirit. And so, it reiterates that point, God isn't a trinity. God is not a triune being. We have God the Father, and Jesus Christ mentioned. They are God. It takes us all the way back to the beginning of Genesis. Let us make man in our image, you know, that we have God the Father and Jesus Christ. No Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit flows from God. Grace springs from God as the Spirit does as well.

And so, interesting that Trinitarians often overlook these verses. And Paul mentions that in all of his letters. He mentions God the Father and Jesus Christ and never mentions the Holy Spirit as the third person of a triune God. And so, you know, for those who might want to force that belief into the scripture, this makes the point. It's wrong. It is not there. And Paul doesn't address the Spirit as another part of the trinity. And so, that's an important point to remember as well, even as we begin this particular letter. I guess you could say Paul insults the trinity in that regard, which is a pretty important aspect here. Now, as he gets into verse 4, he also points out something important about this grace that we receive from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ. Look at verse 4.

1 Corinthians 1:4 He says, "I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God, which was given to you by Christ Jesus," by Christ Jesus.

Now we'll pause here for a moment. We see something interesting beginning here in verse 4 that is pretty typical of Paul's writings. Paul has a tendency to write very long sentences. As we go through each of the verses here, sometimes we'll kind of overlook the fact that, wow, this is just a small part of a very long sentence. And this particular sentence begins in verse 4, and it doesn't end until we get all the way to verse 8, all the way to verse 8. That's pretty typical of Paul's writing. He likes these long sentences. And so, we'll see that is certainly a characteristic of his writings. It'll also cause us to kind of pause here and there along the way as we kind of dissect what he's writing about.

So, we'll try to take the bigger view at times and remind ourselves of the context of comments he makes. But we do have to break things down a little bit as we kind of look at these longer sentences that Paul uses. So, what does he say here in verse 4? Something I think that's really important. We don't ever want to forget the grace that God's shown us in calling us. He's favored us. God loves us. He wants the best for us. Paul, in a way, is expressing his gratefulness that God not only called him, but He's called others as well. So, here's Paul thanking God for our calling, for the calling that He gave the other Corinthians as well. So, he says, "I thank my God always concerning you. I'm glad God called you, that God extended His favor, His grace to you." So, he appreciates...

How often do we do that? You know, one of the problems the Corinthians had, they were easily falling into condemning and criticizing each other. And Paul starts out his letter by expressing his thanks that God's even called them, that God's working with them. Do we ever thank God? Thank you for calling them. Thank you for making them a part of your family, your church. That's a pretty important admonition that he gives right there. How much easier it is to criticize and put down someone rather than to thank God that He's extended His grace to them as well as to us. And here's the apostle. You know, he's the man, you could say, and he's doing that very thing, and he's thanking God for the grace that He's given to them, that calling that He's given to them.

I mean, it also reminds us of something else as we look at that beginning of that sentence in verse 4, how is God's grace given to us? How is that grace given to us? He tells us by Jesus Christ. We receive God's grace by Jesus Christ. If we don't have a savior, then we don't have that conduit, I guess you could say, of God's grace. So, God's grace is shown by Jesus Christ. It's shown through what He did, how He lived His life, how He sacrificed His life, how He's crucified on our behalf, He became our sin offering, and He was resurrected. And all of those things point to the fact that we receive God's favor, we receive even the opportunity to be forgiven of sin, that we can come to God and He forgives us, that He extends that free pardon, that's part of grace. He extends that free pardon to us, how? By Jesus Christ. By Jesus Christ.

And it's also interesting here, he flips the name around, doesn't he? Earlier he said that he's called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, but here, he flips his name around, given to you by Christ Jesus, emphasizing the Christ, His title, Christ being Messiah, the anointed one. Because of that, he's emphasizing what Christ has done, who Christ is. So, not just God in the flesh, not just Jesus, but Messiah. He is the anointed one. He is the one who sacrificed His life for us. He is the one by which we receive God's favor and God's grace. So, pretty amazing that it's through Christ, grace is shown, and it's through Christ and His actions and the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we receive that free gift, we receive God's favor, we receive pardon. And so, he emphasizes that in just this one little statement here in verse 4. All right, going on with that same sentence then, he also says in verse 5.

1 Corinthians 1:5 "that you are enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge."

And this would be a pretty interesting Greek characteristic when you think about the Greek world. So, we're Roman, by this time. The Romans have taken over. Here we're 55 AD or so. And thinking back to their heritage in Corinth, thinking back to their Greek culture, how important was speaking? How important was debate? How important was theater? How important was philosophy? To the Greeks, that was just about everything, education, all of those things. Paul takes that idea that the Greeks would've been so proud of that. He takes those things and he says, "You're enriched in everything by Him, by Jesus Christ. It's not by your culture, it's not by your tradition, it's not by your education, it's not by your philosophy. It's in Jesus Christ. The most important things of God are through Christ." And so, then he says, in all utterance, that's the talking part. Of course, the utterance also then ties in with really the nature of Christ being logos, being the utterance, being the Word, the utterance, yes, in utterance, and he says, "all knowledge."

And so, that's a pretty cool thought when you think about it. Our ability to speak, our ability to reason, our ability to understand the truth, our knowledge, all of that can be amplified by Jesus Christ working in us. And I feel that's not just spiritual understanding and spiritual knowledge. I think knowledge as a whole can be amplified, can be encouraged in us as we submit ourselves to God working in us. And so, I think the opposite is true then as well. If you turn away from God, our ability, especially to convey spiritual truth, begins to fade and ultimately will cease. And so, here Paul definitely gives all the credit to God the Father, and then receiving these things through Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:6 He says, "Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you."

They heard the Word, they heard the utterance. God inspired Paul's preaching and teaching, then God calls them, and he says, "The testimony of Christ was confirmed in them." Of course, think about that for a second. What is testimony? As the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. Well, testimony is something that happens in a court case, right? You testify in a court case. That is your testimony. Give me all the truth, nothing but the truth, all that sort of thing, right? And so, here he's saying the testimony of Christ, the witness of Christ, what Christ has testified, which then refers to what? The truth of God, the gospel, the plan of God, the purpose of God, all of those things confirmed in us.

He says to the Corinthians, "You confirmed these things, that there was a witness, there was a testimony, and now you're the evidence." He testified about these things. You're the evidence that God, in fact, is working in us. And so, how does that happen? Through changed lives, through the mind of Christ working in us, coming out of the culture and the influences that we used to be under. And so, the fact that Jesus Christ is living in us is confirming that very fact. That's a pretty cool thing, that we are evidence in that sense. Now, he's not saying we're perfect. He didn't say that. But certainly the effects and the impact of God's Holy Spirit, it's there. It is there. And the Corinthians, I think, in a unique kind of a way, he kind of gets into that as he's, well, kind of wrapping up the sentence, we're not quite there yet. So, testimony that's confirmed, evidenced in them.

1 Corinthians 1:7 He says, "So that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Was the Corinthian church somehow shortchanged when it came to spiritual gifts? Nope. You could probably say in...as we read through what we'll talk about, Corinth and spiritual gifts. In fact, there's a whole chapter dedicated to just that in this letter. We'll get to that. You could probably make the argument that Corinth was the most gifted congregation that's mentioned in the New Testament, that they had many spiritual gifts. They definitely were not shortchanged. You know, they didn't fall short when it came to God's spiritual gifts. And he's referencing, "You weren't shortchanged, you didn't come short of any gift." They were very gifted, spiritually speaking.

Now, the question is, how did they use those gifts? You know, did they see those gifts as something to brag about, as something as a status kind of a symbol? Or should they, as Paul is intimating here, be reminded that these are tools that God gives us, but the gift is not the goal? It's not the goal of Christianity. No, not at all. "You are a gifted people," Paul tells them.

And now he's later going to get into that whole idea of, "Well, what about spiritual gifts and how should they be used? What is their purpose? Do I even have one? What if I have more than one? What about those kinds of things?" He's going to talk about that very thing, and he's going to show that relationship of the purpose of those spiritual gifts. And so, he begins the letter here kind of setting up some of those issues that he's going to be talking about. And so, they had them, and they were definitely a gifted congregation. And maybe that's also saying that perhaps some people were a little frustrated that they didn't have the same gift that somebody else had, and I thought that gift's a little better than what I got. And you could see how that could cause some problems.

But he's also pointing out the fact that's not the ultimate goal. He says here, "You're not short of gifts and you're eagerly waiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ." Well, what's revelation? I mean, literally revealing. He's not talking about the Book of Revelation. He's talking about the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. What is the revealing? That's certainly not talking about His first coming, right? He'd already come as God in the flesh. He was already Emmanuel, God with us, right? He had already been crucified and resurrected.

So, this revelation has to refer to His second coming, to the return of Jesus Christ. And so, they're eagerly awaiting that revealing of Christ. And so, he ties that all together then, verse 8.

1 Corinthians 1:8 "who will also confirm you to the end."

Who will confirm you? Christ will confirm you. You'll be confirmed. What's confirmed? It's kind of a... Maybe we don't talk a lot about confirmation and how we confirm. Literally, that word in the Greek means to establish you, or in a sense, it can also mean to kind of be sure, to be sure, which is an amazing statement when he says, "You're waiting for the return of Jesus Christ, and Christ will confirm you," He'll establish you, or He wants you to be sure to the end. Maybe saying it a little bit differently, as we stay close to God and we have a relationship with God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, will we make it? Will we make it into the Kingdom?

Here, he says He's going to confirm you to the end. In other words, God is never going to fail to do His part to make sure you are in the Kingdom. God wants you in the Kingdom. That's our calling. He wants you there. He wants you in the family. There's no doubt about it. He's going to do everything He possibly can to establish us, to confirm us right to the very end, right to the revealing of Christ. He wants us to be there. And so, God's not going to fail on his part.

Now, he's not saying, well, once saved, always saved, or anything like that. He's saying God's going to do His part, which then emphasizes the fact we better do our part, right? Is God going to force us to have a relationship with Him? No. Is God going to force us to repent and to change? No. He's not going to. Is He going to force us to put on the mind of Christ? No. Is He going to force us to come before Him and ask for forgiveness? No, He's not going to... That's our part. That's what we need to do. But I think we can all take courage in the fact that He's not going to fail to do what He will do. He will confirm us to the end. We do our part, then we can be sure of that very fact that God's going to do His part, and He's going to apply the sacrifice of Christ to us, and ultimately, we will be. So, ultimately, as he says here…

1 Corinthians 1:8 “that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Well, how do we stand blameless in that day at the return of Christ? Well, that means we're in a right relationship. We're justified before God. Our sins have been forgiven. We're in a right relationship with God. We've continued to grow in grace and knowledge. All of those factors come into that concept of being blameless, not to be blamed. And if we're not to be blamed, that means we're forgiven. We're in a right relationship with God. And so, that's a really powerful positive statement, isn't it? That God expects us to be there, and God's going to do what He will do to make sure we're there to the end because God wants us to stand blameless before Him, wants to apply that sacrifice of Christ to us so that we can be free of blame, we can be justified before Him. And so, we'll talk a lot about justification, you know, as we get more deeply into the letter. And so, finally, that gets to the end of that sentence that began all the way back there in verse 4.

Now, let's get specific. Let's get more specific. Verse 10, we highlighted this passage as kind of a summary statement of where Paul is going to go with this letter.

1 Corinthians 1:10 He says, "Now, I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Yeah, there's no more powerful appeal for a Christian than to plead in the name of Jesus Christ. Not just saying the name of Jesus Christ, but implying the authority of Christ with everything that Christ is. If we understand who the Messiah is, we understand who our Savior is, he's pleading on His behalf. And this gives it an urgency, kind of an emotional appeal as well, that this is something you better think about right now. I'm pleading with you. This is what would be best.

1 Corinthians 1:10 And that he says, "We all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in that same mind and same judgment."

We talked about that joining together and the connection to the word peace, that there'd be peace between you. You're perfectly joined together, that these breaches can be healed, what was broken can be mended. Yeah, that's what he's talking about here. He's not saying we're never going to get into issues with other Christians, but through Jesus Christ, there can be peace, through Jesus Christ, we can be perfectly joined together, through Jesus Christ, there doesn't have to be divisions. And so, he's saying, "No, there shouldn't be divisions." And that word for divisions is an interesting word. The Greeks use this word, I think, in an interesting kind of a way. That word for division there is schisma, schisma. And you could probably get an idea even in...this is supposed to be an H here. We get the English word schism from this particular word. There should be no schisms, no fractures, no tears, or, that's why it's translated here, divisions among you. No divisions among you, but be joined together. And the interesting thing about schisma, about this dividing thing, it's not just saying, "Oh, you got one side over here and one side over there." No, that word for division, the schisma carries a much deeper connotation because it really implies tearing apart, tearing apart. This division is one that has ripped them apart.

And what happens when you rip something apart? Is it a nice little division? No. No. It means it's all jagged and rough and difficult. And that's the implication here, is that that ripping apart has consequences. It has consequences. And it's hard to put it back together. It's a difficult thing. It's implying the fact when there is this division, when there is this tearing, this ripping apart, there's damage that's done in the process. And so, in a sense, Paul's saying, there's no more serious problem within a congregation than division, than that ripping and tearing apart. I mean, yeah, there's other problems in congregations, no doubt about that. It might not be the most serious problem, but it is a... Whenever there's division, it's serious, it's difficult. And so, when we look at what Paul's getting at here, that schisma has to be mended.

And it's interesting, even though schisma means tearing and ripping and damage done from that division, he says that it's possible to be perfectly joined together. You know, if we have anyone that's, you know, seamstresses among us, or those that sew, boy, when something gets ripped, it's hard to put it back together. But through Jesus Christ, it's possible. Even though it's all jagged and messed up and difficulty, and there's consequences, you know, from the damage that's been done, it can be put back together. And that's the amazing part. And so, through Jesus Christ, we can speak the same thing. Damage can be overcome. And so, powerful principle here.

So, he's even starting this letter that's going to be really corrective. And in some ways, it's become known as the harsh letter, the harsh letter because he is going to talk about these things, you know, really specifically and straightforwardly, yet at the same time, he's showing, you know, there can be ultimate peaceful consequences that can result from all of those things. And so, while it's going to be tough, he shows ultimately the potential. Maybe that's a good thing to think about as we do our evaluations for speeches, right? We can get to the point, but we can also point out the good things that can ultimately improve ourselves as speakers. And so, here, he's kind of using that as an example for the congregation. Okay. Going in. Yeah, there was a short sentence, just a one-verse sentence there, so we got that through Paul's writings here as well. So, verse 11, now he gets to the heart of the problem.

1 Corinthians 1:11 He says, "It's been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you."

There's contentions. So, there's problems, there's issues, there's difficulties. The contentions were kind of means of quarreling kind of fighting, more of a wrangling kind of a thing, debating. What other synonyms you might use? Strife. Strife. There's strife among you. Yeah. Contentions among you. Yeah. Chloe and her household have kind of sold you out and told me that there's this problem here. So, you can't help but wonder, "Well, why would he mention them? Why wouldn't he just say, "Hey, I heard there's problems there, and you guys better fix this?" You know, why mention Chloe?" Well, sometimes, you know, when you have a problem, when there's an issue, maybe you've even done that. If somebody comes to you and says, "You know, I heard you did this." Your reaction ever been, "Well, who told you that?" Yeah, maybe I told on my brother. Who told you that? Well, okay, let's not go there.

In a way by telling them straight out, you know, their initial reaction shouldn't be that, "Well, who told...? Well, Chloe's household told me this." So, it removes that ability to react in that way. I think that's at least part of the reason that he kind of calls them out in this way. I think there's more to it than that as well. I think the other part that probably comes into play, well, who is Chloe? Who is her household? Yeah, I would wager that she was a prominent member of the congregation, that she was someone that people respected, that her household, they were Godfearers, who emulated what was right and what was good.

And so, if you recount that, I mean, I think we've all been there. Well, who told you that? Well, they told me that. Well, you can't believe a word they say. You ever thought that? Said that? Yeah, probably. Well, this Chloe had to be someone that you can't say that about. You wouldn't be able to say, "Oh, well you can't believe a thing she has to say." No. She would've been a reliable source. So, to be able to quote her in that way, everybody reading the letter would know, "Yeah, yeah. She doesn't lie. She tells it the way it is."

And so, what we find here, even in the way that he says this here, it's been declared to me. It doesn't say, "Well, Chloe was putting all of you down by letting me know how terrible you've been." There's no condemnation here. It doesn't carry any of that connotation at all. It just is saying, "Hey, this is happening and she's just been letting me know." And so, they were concerned about what's happening there. And so, I think in that way, it helps to kind of make the point, know the source is reliable, as well as take away any opportunity to say, "Well, you know those things anyway." And so, he just lays it out right away. And he says the problem straight up front is its division, its contentions, it's that ripping and tearing, it's that quarreling and debate that's been going on within the congregation. And so, right off the bat, what's one of the most contentious things?

1 Corinthians 1:12 He says, "Now I say this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ."

So, Paul begins to show the different sides that were being taken. A lot of the people were choosing sides. They were choosing sides on what teacher they liked best, who they thought was the best. You know, is it possible...? Paul, very learned, very scholarly, spoke multiple languages, was it possible that the educated among them chose Paul because he's so scholarly? Could you see that happening? Or maybe Apollos. Who would Apollos appeal to possibly? Well, he was the great orator. He was the great speaker. Wow, he gives such great sermons. He is amazing what he comes up with. This man is so powerful and so interesting. Of course, we would never do that today, would we? Choose sides? Well, maybe we would.

You know, Peter. What about Cephas? What about Peter? Well, he was one of the original 12. He was the one that seemed to be so... He was the one that walked on water. How many other disciples did that? Peter was the man, you know, that gave that powerful, powerful sermon at the very first Pentecost when the church began. Yeah, you could see how people could pick their favorites. And then maybe for the super righteous, you say, "Well, yeah, they're okay, but I'm for Christ." So, you kind of get that feeling that, okay, maybe that was what the most righteous of all would choose. "Well, I'm not going to follow any man. I'm going to follow Christ."

You see, part of the problem is instead of seeing each one of these individuals as uniquely gifted, having certain traits and characteristics, instead of appreciating them for who they were and the way that God used them, instead of doing that, Corinth was allowing it to be a source of division. And so, that was a big part of the problem.

Now, it's also interesting, Paul wanted nothing to do with that. Paul didn't say, "Oh, yeah, you should be following me. Forget that Apollos, forget that Peter, I'm the apostle to the gentiles." No. They didn't want anything to do with... So, that's also an interesting thing, that they didn't want any...Peter didn't want anything to do with that, Apollos didn't want anything to do with that, Paul didn't want anything to do with that, which also makes an important statement as well.

Sometimes people do like that. People do like a following. "Oh, yeah, follow me. I'm the one that you should follow. I'm the one that God's given special abilities to. I'm the one that He's used in these ways. You should follow me." People do that today? Yeah. Yeah, they did it back then. Yeah, some certainly did. We'll see that throughout Paul's letters. There were some of those that were after a following. There were false teachers who were after God's people trying to get them to follow them rather than ultimately following God's calling. And so, certainly, something we need to be aware of as well. You just never think that, you know, we have such special, amazing abilities that, you know, we're the ones that God's used in unique ways. Now it all comes back to God. In fact, Paul's going to emphasize that very point. Notice what he says next.

1 Corinthians 1:13-15 He says, “Is Christ divided?” You know, they're all fellow workers. They're all working to do the things that God has called them to do. He says, “Was Paul crucified for you?” These are rhetorical questions. Obviously not. “Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Of course, not. Pretty ridiculous questions when you really get down to it. He says, “I thank God I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I baptized in my own name.”

I mean, you look at that and you go, "Well, how silly is that?" People were arguing, "Well, I was baptized by Paul, aren't I great? And oh, yeah, that local minister baptized you. Well, sorry." What? You're going to get into an issue over that? Well, they did. They did. And I think it emphasizes that fact. Isn't it true that sometimes we argue over the dumbest, smallest little things? Yeah, I think so. And so, Paul was emphasizing that very fact. And Paul has a way, he can be kind of cynical at times, kind of sarcastic. He's really being sarcastic here, just to point out how silly it was, just to point out how foolish it really was. And so, he makes this, Eh, that's a small point.

1 Corinthians 1:17 “Yes, I baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I don't know whether I baptized any other.”

Okay, I did baptize a couple people, but that's nobody's claim to fame. Also kind of interesting, he just kind of throws this in here, which I think shows the reality of what's happening, is Paul's probably dictating this letter. Someone's scribing it. Someone's writing down his thoughts and, yeah, as he's talking, he just says this, "I don't think I've ever... Hmm, I don't think I've baptized anybody else. I think that's it."

You can kind of see the kind of the human side of things as he's probably dictating this letter probably to Silvanus. Probably, probably most scholars feel that that might be the case. But definitely puts a human aspect on this particular letter. And so, Paul makes that important point. We cannot divide over these things. And has the church ever divided over individuals? Has the church ever divided over leadership or perceived leadership problems? What does Paul say about that? Is Christ divided? No excuse. No excuse is what he says. All right. We'll leave it at that for today and we'll pick it up in verse 17 next time.