A Private Commentary on the Bible: First Corinthians

By James D. Quiggle

The Corinthians were immature in their conformity to Christ. Much had changed but much more remained to be changed. That is the goal of Paul’s ministry to them, the intent of his several letters, to teach them what it meant to be in Christ, to exhort and encourage them to conform their behavior to biblical standards.

The Book of First Corinthians was written ca. AD 57, from Ephesus, in the third year of Paul’s third missionary journey (AD 54–58). The book is partly a response to a prior letter to Paul from the Corinthians, 5:9; 7:1, partly to address troubling issues reported to Paul by those of Chloe (i.e., of her household), 1:11, and to address issues Paul had heard from others, 5:1. Many doctrinal issues and things of the practical Christian life are addressed in this letter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James D. Quiggle
• Release date: Jun 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798215670927

James D. Quiggle

James D. Quiggle was born in 1952 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He grew up in Kansas and the Texas Panhandle. In the early 1970s he joined the United States Air Force. At his first permanent assignment in Indian Springs, Nevada in a small Baptist church, the pastor introduced him to Jesus and soon after he was saved. Over the next ten years those he met in churches from the East Coast to the West Coast, mature Christian men, poured themselves into mentoring him. In the 1970s he was gifted with the Scofield Bible Course from Moody Bible Institute. As he completed his studies his spiritual gift of teaching became even more apparent. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Bethany Bible College during the 1980s while still in the Air Force. Between 2006–2008, after his career in the Air Force and with his children grown up, he decided to continue his education. He enrolled in Bethany Divinity College and Seminary and earned a Master of Arts in Religion and a Master of Theological Studies.As an extension of his spiritual gift of teaching, he was prompted by the Holy Spirit to begin writing books. James Quiggle is now a Christian author with over fifty commentaries on Bible books and doctrines. He is an editor for the Evangelical Dispensational Quarterly Journal published by Scofield Biblical Institute and Theological Seminary.He continues to write and has a vibrant teaching ministry through social media.

Book preview

Preface

Introduction

First Corinthians One

First Corinthians Two

First Corinthians Three

First Corinthians Four

First Corinthians Five

First Corinthians Six

First Corinthians Seven

First Corinthians Eight

First Corinthians Nine

First Corinthians Ten

First Corinthians Eleven

First Corinthians Twelve

First Corinthians Thirteen

First Corinthians Fourteen

First Corinthians Fifteen

First Corinthians Sixteen

Sources

Preface

The Private Commentary series on the Old and New Testaments is my interpretation of the Bible, neither more nor less. I am responsible for the use made of all quoted and cited material.

This commentary on 1 Corinthians is a Bible study, an explanation of the meaning (interpretation) and significance (application) of the biblical text. This work is intended to serve as a guide for others wanting to study the book, understand its meaning, and how that meaning may be applied to their life and their local church.

Come and study the Scripture with me.

Introduction

The Book of First Corinthians was written ca. AD 57, from Ephesus, during Paul’s two years in that city, Acts 19:9–10. Most likely the letter was written about the time of the Ephesian riot, Acts 19:21ff, cf. 1 Corinthians 15:32. The book is partly a response to a prior letter to Paul from the Corinthians, 5:9; 7:1, partly to address troubling issues reported to Paul by those of Chloe (i.e., of her household), 1:11, and partly to address issues Paul had heard from others, 5:1.

The city of Corinth was ancient, perhaps dating to 3,000 BC. The city developed as a commercial center between 800–700 BC. Corinth had a unique location. The city was located on a narrow isthmus between the Saronic and Corinthian gulfs, allowing it to have two seaports, each a short distance east and west of the city. The location gave Corinth great strategic value and made it an important commercial and trading hub. In 44 BC Julius Caesar made Corinth a Roman Colony, and it became the administrative center of Achaia. Today the ancient city is ruins, destroyed by an earthquake. Modern Corinth lies about three miles northwest, founded in 1858 after the earthquake. [https://www.britannica.com/place/Corinth-Greece].

Paul spent about eighteen months in Corinth. After the Gallio incident Paul stayed in Corinth many more days. Paul’s second missionary journey began ca. AD 51, after the Jerusalem Council. Putting it all together, Paul probably arrived in Corinth in AD 52, and remained in the city until mid-to-late AD 53. In this first letter Paul mentions supporting himself and the missionary team with his own hands. In Corinth Paul found two believers, Aquila and Priscilla, who were tentmakers by trade, as was Paul, and he worked with them in their business. Jewish custom required a scholar such as Paul to have a skill, other than teaching, by which to support himself.

The local church at Corinth was a mixed congregation of former Jews and pagans. Yet, none of the issues in the church involved conflict between these two groups. Many doctrinal issues and things of the practical Christian life are addressed in this letter. The reality of any local church is it is peopled by three groups: those genuinely saved; those genuinely seeking salvation; those professing but not possessing salvation. To these one might add the curious, who wander in and wander out. Conflicts within a local church, and resolution of those conflicts, are exampled in many ways in the two letters to the Corinthians.

When a person is saved, he or she has a lifetime of living by the world’s standards. He or she has mastered how to be a citizen of the world. Regeneration gives the newly saved new wants and new desires, but those new things must be worked out in daily life. The old must be replaced by the new. The Holy Spirit sets the standard in Scripture, e.g., 1 John 2:6. The Holy Spirit deals with us as the individuals we are, teaching, convicting, exhorting, guiding, and empowering us, a little here and a little there, to conform our life to Christ in thought and action.

The Corinthians were immature in their conformity to Christ. Much had changed but much more remained to be changed. That is the goal of Paul’s ministry to them, the intent of his several letters, to teach them what it meant to be in Christ, to exhort and encourage then to conform their behavior to biblical standards. The Holy Spirit has given us two of those letters to read, learn, and apply to ourselves.

The letter may be outlined according to the problems Paul addresses.

Chapter one: cult of personality

Chapter two: worldly wisdom

Chapter three: fleshly living

Chapter four: who are you following

Chapter five: approving sexual immorality

Chapter six: unrighteous behavior

Chapter seven: questions about marriage

Chapter eight: eating meat sacrificed to idols

Chapter nine: necessity of financial support

Chapter ten: responding to temptations

Chapter eleven: gender roles in the local church;

wrong attitudes in the Lord’s Supper

Chapter twelve: disorder in spiritual gifts

Chapter thirteen: love in spiritual gifts

Chapter fourteen: unity and order in spiritual gifts

Chapter fifteen: denying the resurrection

Chapter sixteen: standing fast in the faith

These and other issues will be discussed in the exposition.

First Corinthians One

Translation 1 Corinthians 1:1–3

1 Paul, appointed apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes the brother. 2 To the church of God being in Corinth, the ones sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints together with all those calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theirs and ours. 3 Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

EXPOSITION

Paul, Appointed Apostle

There are only four of Paul’s thirteen letters where he does not introduce himself as apostle: Philippians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon. The Thessalonian letters were his first, to a people with whom he felt a strong emotional connection. Likewise the letter to a friend, Philemon, and friends, Philippians. To the Romans and Colossians, people he had never met, it was proper to introduce himself. His letter to the Galatians depended on his apostolic authority to inerrantly declare right doctrine. So also the letters to the Ephesians, Timothy, and Titus.

The two letters to the Corinthian church present a different issue: his apostolic authority to correct the church. One of the functions of an apostle was to inerrantly establish local churches. That required telling the churches what to believe and how to behave. There are similar issues in the Pastoral letters, which though written to the pastors, was intended for the church as a whole.

The Corinthians were the local church that doubted Paul’s authority. Paul directly addresses that issue in 2 Corinthians 11–13. We see hints of that opposition in 1 Corinthians. For example, some denying Paul’s teaching on the resurrection, an essential doctrine of genuine Christianity, taught and accepted on the basis of apostolic testimony and authority. In the Corinthian letters, Paul forcefully defends and exercises his apostolic authority to inerrantly declare how individuals in a local church, and the local church as a whole, should believe and behave.

Paul’s apostolic instruction is timeless. The New Testament church continues to be afflicted with the cult of personality, 1:12. Man’s wisdom continue to compete with God’s wisdom, 1:21. These are but two of the issues Paul addresses with apostolic authority in this letter.

Sosthenes The Brother

There are two mentions of Sosthenes in the New Testament, and this is the second. Sosthenes is first met with at Acts 18:17, Then all having taken hold of Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, began beating him before the judgment seat. And nothing about these things mattered to Gallio. The Jews had forcefully taken Paul to the Roman proconsul, Gallio, accusing Paul, Against the law, this man earnestly persuades men to worship God, Acts 18:13. Gallio refused to hear the issue, because he knew the accusation was false. Paul was a Jew, and the Jews by the authority of a Roman treaty were allowed to earnestly persuaded men to worship YHWH. Gallio drove them from the judgment seat. The gentiles, apparently angry the Jews had caused a disturbance, took hold of Sosthenes and beat him before the judgment seat.

Paul was in Corinth 18 months, and both Timothy and Silas were with him; but the only person Paul mentions is Sosthenes. Why? Sosthenes, formerly the ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, is now a believer in Christ and has become Paul’s companion on his missionary journey. Sosthenes conversion from angry Jew to believing Christian missionary reveals the power of faith in Christ, and the authority Christ has given Paul as an apostle.

The occasion for the letter would seem to be members of the household of Chloe, 1 Corinthians 1:11, had brought news to Paul concerning the problems in the Corinthian church. Did Sosthenes return to Corinth with those of Chloe’s household, bearing the letter? Whether he did or did not, Paul says to the church there is one is with me who knows you and knows me and by his changed life demonstrates my authority in Christ.

The Church Of God Being In Corinth

As explained in the Introduction, the city was located on a narrow isthmus between the Corinthian Gulf of the Aegean Sea, east of the city, and the Saronic Gulf of the Ionian Sea, west of the city, allowing it to have two seaports. There was a paved trackway (with rails similar to a train track) across the isthmus, known as the Diolkos, that allowed ships to be moved overland across the isthmus. Later, a canal was dug across the isthmus replacing the Diolkos. The site is now a tourist attraction.

[https://greekreporter.com/2023/05/07/diolkos-stone-road-ships-ionian-aegean/].

Corinth’s city’s culture was heavily influenced by all manner of visitors and residents, from farmers to sailors, from businessmen to soldiers, from politicians to priests to philosophers. Every vice and every religion had a presence in Corinth. Not unlike the church in the world today, the local church at Corinth had to struggle against many worldly influences. Some would have said Corinth was an unlikely place for salvations. The Lord said, There are to me many people in this city, Acts 18:10.

Where sin abounds, grace often superabounds. For example, in the USA, the city of Las Vegas, NV, an entertainment and gambling mecca, has the highest percentage of religious organizations per person, and the lowest percentage of residents with no religious affiliation. Ancient Corinth was full of temples, and one local church. (I lived in Las Vegas, NV for fifteen years, and attended several Bible-believing churches, and had fellowship with many others.)

Some estimate Paul spent three months in Thessalonica; less time in Philippi, and Berea, and Athens. In Corinth the Lord gave Paul eighteen months to see the fruits of his labors in sinners saved and discipled. The church was an important outpost of Christianity in a pagan wilderness full of wickedness.

Sanctified In Christ Jesus, Called Saints

Undoubtedly there are those today who would not name a church such as the local church at Corinth as the church of God. This church had many internal divisions, many moral problems, many doctrinal discrepancies, many issues of wrong behavior; the list is long. Some would doubt if any were saved. Some might say (wrongly) their continued salvation was in doubt. Paul, writing under the superintending influence of the Holy Spirit—divine inspiration—thought otherwise. One wonders what the church elders were doing. Were they complicit? Or were they trying to preach and teach the Good News.

Paul has some hard things to say—things requiring apostolic correction—but he takes time here in the opening words to assure them of their salvation. Their relationship with Christ was solid; their fellowship with Christ was unstable, grievously injured by some of their beliefs and behavior. Their many problems did not prevent Christ from owning them as his church in Corinth. They were sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints together with all those calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theirs and ours.

Bad behavior and incorrect doctrine do not, cannot, undo salvation, which is anchored in what Christ has done, not what the believer might do. Christ, not the believer, completely satisfied God for sin, all sin, past, present, and future. Therefore, it is not what the believer may or may not do, but what Christ has done that secures the believer’s salvation against all acts of sinning. Certainly, reader, all your sins were yet-future when Christ satisfied God for sin.

Excursus: Security in Christ

Some may say, If Christ secures the believer’s salvation against all acts of sinning, that leaves the believer free to believe and behave anyway he or she desires. That is an ignorant and immature understanding of salvation, and of God. Sin prioritizes human nature to serve self, not God. The regeneration of human nature that is the consequence of salvation re-prioritizes human nature to serve God, not self. The believer is a new creation through saving faith in Christ. Look what Paul said to the sinning believers in this troubled church.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ—a new creation he is, the old things are past, look, the new is here, and all from God, the one who did reconcile us to himself through Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17–18.

And here is the context of that new creation: and [God] did give to us the ministry of reconciliation: how that God was by Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing to them their wrongdoing, and having appointed to us the word of reconciliation, 2 Corinthians 5:18–19. Having been reconciled to God in Christ, dare we proclaim an unsecured salvation that does not actually reconcile the sinner to God? May it never be!

God takes action to correct wrong behavior and beliefs, through the convicting authority and power of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s two letters to the Corinthians are an example. God will exhort to encourage repentance, and if exhortation does not lead to repentance, God will chastise to bring the sinning believer to repentance. And if chastisement fails, God will take the still sinning, stubbornly unrepentant believer home through physical death, as I believe, 1 John 5:16, because God’s covenant is with Christ to secure a people for himself, Hebrews 2:11–18.

What is repentance? Biblical repentance is godly sorrow for having rebelled against God. In relation to the unsaved repent simply means convert by turning away from sin to Christ. In relation to the saved repent is godly sorrow for having rebelled against God, accompanied with confession of the sin and the sincere intent to change one’s behavior so the rebellion does not occur again. In both saved and unsaved repentance is not separate from faith but an inseparable and a vital component of faith.

How secure is the satisfaction for sin Christ made to God? Now if anyone should commit an act of sinning, we have one who represents us with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, 1 John 2:1. The one who paid for your sins is the one who represents you before a just and holy Judge when you commit an act of sinning.

"In what way does Christ plead the believer’s cause with the Father when an act of sinning has been committed? He does so by confessing to the Father that one of his believers has committed an act of sinning. Then he applies the limitless merit of his propitiation to the act of sinning as the ground for forgiveness and cleansing. The believer confesses his/her sin, 1 John 1:9. The penalty for any sin is death—spiritual and physical. Christ’s propitiation paid the penalty for every sin (hamartía in the plural form) past, present, and future. The believer’s present act of sinning is forgiven on the basis of Christ’s eternally efficient propitiation and the believer’s prior historical act of saving faith." [Quiggle, A Private Commentary on the Bible: John’s Epistles, 51–52.]

Christ appears before the Father in the court of divine justice to plead why the believer should be forgiven; as though Christ’s legal pleading reminds the Father that the eternal penalty which might affect the relationship has already been resolved, and the temporary penalty, the loss of fellowship, is then and there resolved. Of course, the Father does not need reminding, and the Son need not plead, but here is an imaginative illustration of the spiritual transaction:

Yes Father, says Christ, that person has sinned and deserves death. Remember that I paid for that sin. When I was on the cross I suffered your wrath and my physical death for this person’s sin. The debt has been paid, and this saved person, who is Our child, must be forgiven. He/she has confessed and repented their sin and must be restored to our fellowship and our service.

Every issue related to sin and sinning has been, and will continue to be, resolved by the Son’s propitiation and the believer’s faith in Christ. Salvation has been secured by what Christ did for God, and we are secured in salvation by what Christ does for us.

Returning to the exposition.

Of course, there were some within the church at Corinth who were unsaved; Paul does not directly interact with those persons. Toward those who are saved, his interest is in correcting, not condemning. Like his Master, in his seven letters to seven churches, Revelation 2–3, he commends the right , unsparingly and unambiguously rebukes the wrong and exhorts to repentance of the sins and restoration to fellowship.

The Ones Sanctified In Christ Jesus

The use of Christ Jesus, versus Jesus Christ, is significant in this context. Jesus is the human name of the God-man, Christ is an office of the incarnate God the Son. The word christ is from the Hebrew messiah, and means anointed, i.e., anointed to an office, such as priest, prophet, or king. King David, in Psalm 2; says the coming one is anointed, 2:2. The context of the Psalm indicates anointed to be king. The angel Gabriel, in Daniel 9:26, says of the anointed he will be cut off, and have nothing for himself. The New Testament revelation tells us Gabriel was referring to the propitiation of God for human sin Christ made on the cross.

Propitiation. The satisfaction Christ made to God for sin by dying on the cross as the sin-bearer, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10, for the crime of sin committed by human beings, suffering in their place and on their behalf. [Quiggle, Dictionary.]

Therefore the word Christ means anointed to be both Redeemer and King. In the context of 1 Corinthians 1:2, Christ as redeemer is in view, as the one having sanctified the believers at Corinth. Positional sanctification is in view.

Positional Sanctification. A result of salvation that occurs at the moment of salvation. The judicial guilt of personal sin is forgiven. The soul is regenerated to spiritual life. God shares the communicable aspects of his eternal life. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer. The term born-again succinctly expresses initial sanctification. Initial (positional) sanctification defines the believer as he or she stands before God in Christ: forgiven, regenerated, possessing eternal life, judged as holy and righteous, placed into an eternal relationship with God. This status never changes, because secured for the believer by Christ. [Quiggle, Dictionary.]

Because an act of deity is in view (the positional sanctification of the believer), Paul uses Christ Jesus versus Jesus Christ. The phrase Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus are equivalent, because referring to the same person, but not exactly the same. When Jesus Christ is used, the use is more generally of the person. When Christ Jesus is used, the focus is more on the deity of the person. This is not a hard rule, but a useful observation. The words Christ Jesus occur sixty-nine times in the New Testament, beginning in Acts. The words Jesus Christ occur 184 times, beginning in Matthew.

Called Saints Together With All

The English saints, translates hágios [Zodhiates, s. v. 40], holy. The translation here, saints is plural because hágios is in the plural form. The grammatical form of hágios in 1:2 is an adjective, so the word might be translated holy, as in called holy together with all those etc. The basic meaning of hágios is set apart, in the sense of set apart from one thing and dedicated to another thing. In the Old Testament, the shovel used to remove ashes from the altar of sacrifice was hágios, it was set apart from all other uses and dedicated to one use only.

A saint is not character, behavior, or works. A saint is any person who has been saved from the penalty of their sins and positionally sanctified (hágiazō [Zodhiates, s. v. 37]) in Christ. The word hágiazō is derived from hágios. Paul writes to saints, identified as All those calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Corinthians may have difficult and troubling issues, but they are fellow saints with all those calling on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, theirs and ours.

Grace To You, And Peace

Paul’s usual opening greeting. The origin and source of grace and peace is God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ. In Paul’s mind Lord Jesus Christ is deity as God our Father is deity. Paul has not forgotten Lord Jesus Christ is God and man, the God-man. He is focusing on the deity of the God-man.

The teaching of the Scripture is grace and peace come to the believer from God our Father through the propitiation made by Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace are from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ as to origin and source. Jesus Christ is both the infinite God who made the universe and a finite creature living in the universe he made.

Grace is God choosing to bless because he wants to, although blessing is undeserved. Grace is more than salvation. Grace is active in every aspect of the Christian life. Grace brings salvation, thanksgiving, knowledge, wisdom, ministry, hope, strength, justification, and sanctification: Titus 2:11; 2 Corinthians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:12; Ephesians 4:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Romans 5:17; Ephesians 1:6. Paul is not speaking of grace in salvation, but grace in the Christian life.

Peace from God has two aspects: peace of God and peace with God. Peace with God is the absence of enmity between man and God, a position of perfect amity between God and man. This is possible only by the reconciliation of the sinner with God through salvation.

The peace of God is serenity of spirit that cannot be changed or challenged by external or internal circumstances, because of one’s conviction God is sovereign in all aspects of life. Because only God has the authority and power to give conviction, the peace that arises from the conviction of God’s sovereignty has its origin and source in God alone.

An illustration of God’s peace. God’s peace is like a perfectly calm lake, in which no wind, no storm, no pebble or rock or boulder thrown into the lake, is able to make the slightest wave or ripple in the water, but all troubles sink without disturbing the perfect calm of God’s peace.

Translation 1 Corinthians 1:4–9

4 I thank my God at all times concerning you, for the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 so that in everything you have been enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of the Christ has been confirmed in you, 7 even as not to be lacking in not one gift, expecting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who also will preserve you unaccused to the end in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son Jesus Christ our Lord.

EXPOSITION

Paul begins with commendation. However, if one reads closely, he will discern Paul is not so much commending the Corinthians (contrast 1 Thessalonians 1:2–3), as he is thankful to God for what God has done in their lives.

That God gave them the grace of salvation.

That God in Christ enriched them in all speech and all knowledge.

That in them God confirmed Paul’s testimony of Christ as Redeemer.

That in them God confirms Paul’s testimony that through Christ they have been given spiritual gifts and the assurance of Christ’s return.

That God in Christ will preserve them through the judgment to come (see 3:11–15).

That God in Christ is faithful to keep them in fellowship with Christ.

Paul says of the Corinthians they are expecting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ and God will preserve you unaccused to the end in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the first phrase, by revelation Paul may mean Christ literally bodily (physically) revealed to the New Testament church in the rapture of the New Testament church, when we will see him as he is, 1 John 3:2. Paul may also mean what he expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:8, the literal revealing of Christ to the individual at their personal physical death, when absent from the body means present with the Lord.

In the second phrase, Paul means the grace of perseverance that keeps the believer in the faith by means of faith al the way through life and death to heaven. Paul is probably thinking ahead to the Judgment Seat of Christ, 1 Corinthians 3:11–15 , compare 2 Corinthians 5:10.

Considering all the problems Paul is about to discuss, he has given them assurance that God is faithful to himself to keep them in their relationship with God in Christ. No problem a believer may have is so big or awful that God cannot 1) maintain the believer’s salvation, and 2) by grace and providence rescue the believer from his or her acts of sinning. But beware, the path to restoration may be difficult. There are always consequences to our choices. Some are more easily resolved than others. Some decisions to commit sin take the believer down a path he should never have taken, deliver him to a place he should never have come to, prevent him from returning to his starting point to begin anew, requiring him to live with the consequences of his sin.

Paul will in this letter speak unfavorably about their misuse of all speech and all knowledge and the spiritual gifts they have been given. Paul is not playing the hypocrite. He is genuinely thankful for what God has given, even as he instructs them to correct their misuse of God’s gifts.

In this opening statement, one sees a necessary balance in the Christian life. There is—always—God’s part and the believer’s part. This is not to deny God’s sovereignty, quite the opposite. An objective reading of Scripture reveals God normally chooses to work mediately, through others, versus by divine fiat.

An example. God gives grace, the believer is to make wise use of the grace God has given. A particular example, God gives his saved people the grace of perseverance in the faith, God’s saved people are to use that grace to persevere in the faith by means of faith.

Even so, using all speech as a particular example, God gave the Corinthians the use of languages other than the language or languages they normally used and understood. Their part was to use that gift wisely, agreeable to the purpose for which it was given. The same is true for every spiritual gift.

Translation 1 Corinthians 1:10–11

10 Now I exhort you, brethren, for the sake of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same, and there not be among you factions, but you be fit together in the same mind and in the same will. 11 For it was told to me about you, my brethren, by those of Chloe, that there are quarrels among you.

EXPOSITION

That You All Speak The Same

To all speak the same and for all to be fit together in the same mind and in the same will must be understood within the context. Paul cannot be saying each believer must say exactly the same words as another believer. To so teach would violate the biblical principle—an observable fact—that each person is an individual.

All human beings are descended from the one and only original human being, Adam. The Woman (Eve) was not created but was formed from Adam’s substance, body and soul. All other human beings are descended from Adam’s propagation with Eve. But no human being, including Eve, is merely a copy of Adam; in modern terms no individual is a clone of Adam. Each human being, including Eve, is Adam individualized into a genuine person.

A person has independent existence as an immaterial soul, possessing nature, will, and personality.

The term person denotes a complete substance endowed with reason, and, consequently, a responsible subject of its own actions. A person is a nature with something added, namely, independent subsistence, individuality.

Nature is a complex of attributes that are part of the person. The term nature denotes the sum-total of all the essential qualities of a thing, that which makes it what it is. A nature is a substance possessed in common, with all the essential qualities of such a substance.

Personality is the sum total of the attributes and the behavior patterns created by the nature and its decision-making process. Personality is not an essential and integral part of a nature, but is, as it were, the terminus to which it tends.

[Above descriptions from Berkhof, 331–332.]

The will is a term representing the decision-making faculty of the person. A decision is the end-result of the constructive interaction of all the attributes of human nature deciding how to act or react in a certain way. [Quiggle, God Became Incarnate, 49.]

Through these aspects of nature, will, and personality, each individual derived from Adam is a person with an independent existence. Each human being is as human as Adam, because possessing the immaterial essence that makes each person human. Each individual has the same human nature as Adam—the attributes of human nature—but the synergy of attributes+will+personality means each person is not a clone of Adam but expresses him or herself in the world as a unique individual; like Adam but a unique person. Each human being is Adam individualized as a unique person.

I have digressed a little to say this: God who created the human soul ex nihilo (Genesis 2:7), and designed human nature (the human attributes), interacts with every descendant of Adam as individuals, because each is a unique individual. Even so-called identical twins develop into unique individuals.

Therefore, to all speak the same cannot mean all are the same, nor that all are to be the same. Nor does Paul mean all are to use the exact same words. The context is belief and behavior. The members of this local church separated themselves, 1:12, into diverse groups based on the flimsiest of reasons: the cult of personality.

In Greek culture, individuals chose a philosophy to follow, which means they chose a person. The Epicurean philosophy was named after the person Epicurus, who developed the philosophy. Stoicism was founded by Zeno of Citium, ca. 300 BC. Every Greek philosophical system, and there were many, had a system of teachings—doctrines—that divided the one following from all those who did not follow.

Every Christian is to be a follower of Christ only, not other Christians. It is the sinful tendency to idolatry that leads some believers to devote themselves to this or that pastor, this or that theologian, this or that Christian celebrity (so-called). Loyalty has a place in life, but also limitations. The Christian has one Master, Christ, and he or she is not to sell themselves to another. If we cannot see the faults of those we have chosen to follow, if we cannot see them as merely servants such as ourselves, no more, no less, then we have taken a step or two in the wrong direction.

Some scholars speak of Pauline theology, and Petrine theology, and Johannine theology, as though these are Paul, Peter, and John are Christian philosophers we may choose to follow, or not. There is no such thing in genuine Christianity, which has one theology composed of many harmonious parts. (When Paul says, Be followers of me, 1 Corinthians 11:1, it is because as I also of Christ. Paul intended them to follow his example in belief and behavior, not follow him as a Christian philosopher.)

Paul and Peter and John had faith in one Lord, were taught by one Holy Spirit, and believed the same doctrines. The Holy Spirit used each person as the individuals they were, and although one may teach something another did not, or in a way another did not, all each taught agrees with all the others taught. It cannot be otherwise, because all were taught by one Holy Spirit, who inspired their words to be inerrant: the accurate, credible, and authentic voice of God teaching his saved people through his designated teachers.

Simple examples. What Paul taught, and often in a theologically complex manner, Peter taught his readers using simpler words and concepts. What Matthew, Mark, and Luke taught in their accounts of the life and times of Jesus the Christ, was focused on certain times and places in Jesus’ public ministry. John focused on other times and places in Jesus’ public ministry. Through them the Holy Spirit has given his saved people four perspectives of the same person and the same ministry, that we may understand the Person and Works of Jesus the Christ.

The Corinthians, however, had divided themselves on the basis of a cult of personality. Paul says they are to be united in belief and behavior. They were to fit together in the same mind and in the same will. As he later explains, that same mind is the mind of Christ.

But a natural person does not accept things of the Spirit of God, for they are absurd to him, and he is not able to know them, because they are discerned spiritually. 15 But the spiritual, he himself discerns all, but by none is discerned. 16 For who has known the Lord’s mind? Who will teach him? But we have Christ’s mind. 1 Corinthians 2:14–16.

They were acting like a natural person, i.e., an unsaved person, a person without spiritual perception to understand spiritual things. They, being saved, had that spiritual perception, but they were not properly using what the Spirit of God had given them. God is not the author of chaos, and it was spiritual chaos they were generating amongst themselves. To be of the same mind and of the same will was to focus on the things of the Spirit not the things of the world.

The world always divides; the Holy Spirit always brings unity: you are to be what you were saved to be in Christ. Paul described that same mind, same will a few years later in his letter to the Ephesians (4:4–6): one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called into one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one immersing; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in all. As Paul says to the Corinthians, do not follow me, or Apollos, or any other. Why? I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept it growing. So neither the one planting is anything, nor the one watering, but only the one, God, giving growth, 1:6–7.

Those Of Chloe

Paul, who is in Ephesus, is made aware of the many problems at Corinth by Chloe. More specifically, by those of Chloe. Those of Chloe would be members of her household sent by Chloe to Ephesus to inform Paul of the quarrels among members of the local church at Corinth. The most likely means was a letter from Chloe to Paul delivered by a member or members of her household. That Chloe was tattling on the activities of the church could not have made her popular. Indeed, it is a reason people are excluded from fellowship, or are made to feel unwelcome and leave the church.

Chloe and her household had more important concerns than popularity. Whether or not she had read a copy of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, she knew the biblical principle: Bear you one another’s burdens, and thereby you will fulfill the Law of Christ, Galatians 6:2. The ill beliefs and behavior of her brothers and sisters in Christ concerned her. She may have followed another bit of Galatian advice, Brethren, even if someone should be detected in some wrongdoing, you, the spiritual ones, restore such a one in a spirit of strength and gentleness, giving attention to yourself, lest you also be tempted, Galatians 6:1. Regardless, the problems had reached a point where she believed only someone with Paul’s authority could give an effective exhortation for correction.

Chloe sending a letter to Paul incidentally tells something about the interconnectedness of the first century New Testament church. There were no phones, no telegraph, no internet by which people in diverse places might remain in contact with one another. So how did Chloe in Corinth know Paul was in Ephesus? Time and distance separated Chloe and Paul [map, https://www.thebiblejourney.org/].

P

aul had not been in Corinth for about three years when Chloe wrote to him. Paul had left Corinth in AD 54, 1 Corinthians was written from Ephesus in AD 57. Paul had returned to Antioch of Syria after leaving Corinth, Acts 18:18–22. After some time he left Antioch (his third missionary journey, AD 54–58) to visit the Galatian region and Phrygia in order to strengthen all the disciples in those local churches. He then came to Ephesus, where he remained for about two years. The natural question is, how did Chloe know where to find Paul?

One reason may be a previous letter from Paul to Corinth, referred to at 1 Corinthians 7:1, which was written in response to a letter from Corinth to Paul. So the question remains, how did those of the local church at Corinth know where to find Paul, in an age when communication between separated persons was by necessity by letter or face-to-face? The answer is, by those walking from one place to another. There was continuing and regular travel between the churches.

Just as our age is set up to communicate electronically, even so Paul’s times were set up to communicate through letter and face-to-face by persons traveling here and there. The Romans maintained a postal service for their government communications, and the common person sent letters via friends and strangers traveling to this or that city, using those same roads and sailing vessels. The New Testament has twenty-one of those written communications—the epistles of Paul, James, Peter, John, Jude, and the Writer of Hebrews. Jesus Christ had John write and send seven letters to seven churches. The churches shared letters, e.g., see Colossians 4:16. Chloe knew where to find Paul because of the regular communications between individuals and groups.

Chloe sets an example. There are times when problems in another’s belief and behavior need to be shared with church leaders. A personal effort should be the first course of action, where possible. But should a doctrinal or behavior problem develop in the local church, especially among the many, the leadership should be aware. The church elders, not Chloe, should have sent Paul the letter.

Translation 1 Corinthians 1:12–16

12 Now I mean this: that each of you says, Truly I am of Paul, but I of Apollos, but I of Cephas, but I of Christ. 13 Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you immersed into the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I immersed no one of you, except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were immersed into my name. 16 But I also immersed the household of Stephanus. As to the rest, I do not know whether any other I immersed.

EXPOSITION

I Am Of …

This error, the cult of personality, in the local church at Corinth, was so troubling, so divisive and destructive to Christian unity, that Paul spends four chapters (as our Bibles have been arranged), refuting the error. The strength of this error gives it persistence in the New Testament church. Look today on Christianity and see how many divide themselves among popular pastors, teachers, celebrities, theologians, and Christianized philosophies, and cults. Paul uses about one quarter of the letter (by count of words) to oppose this error, but the New Testament church continues to repeat the sin. Brethren, this sin ought not to be in the church.

The Corinthian church knew of Paul because he had founded the local church at Corinth. They knew of Apollos because he had come after Paul, Acts 18:27–19:1, evangelizing the lost and teaching the saved. Cephas was the Jewish name Jesus had given to Simon son of Jonah, John 1:42, indicating those who were of Cephas were formerly Jews of the synagogue at Corinth.

Paul, Apollos, and Cephas had been reduced to the status of a philosopher of religion. The culture of the times was not much different than today. Some members of the church at Corinth saw each man as the originator of a Christian philosophy, and were choosing which Christian philosopher each would follow, in order to become a disciple of the religious philosopher and his philosophy. Paul, Apollos, and Cephas had nothing to do with these divisions in the local church at Corinth.

The tendency to follow others—to identify one’s self by whom he or she has chosen to follow, idolize, or become a disciple—is not confined to any age or culture or group, but is common to sinful human nature. Human beings were designed by God to be in submission to and dependent upon God. Adam was appointed by God to be God’s steward over the earth and its creatures. Adam was to exercise his power by delegated authority from God, following God’s commandments, dependent upon God’s wisdom and power. Adam chose to act autonomously, which infected his human nature with that evil principle of rebellion the Scripture names sin. His human nature was altered to prioritize self over God; but what God designed was not erased. Though rejecting God and his authority, sinners continue to look for an authority—a false god, themselves, or another—by whom to order their life; to find meaning and guidance and purpose.

Therefore, divisions among brethren are a consequence of the sin attribute still resident in the saved human nature. God left the sin attribute in the saved human nature so that our lives might be by God’s grace. And he said to me, ‘My grace suffices you, for the power is perfected in weakness,’ 2 Corinthian 12:9.

Human beings define self-worth, and put their focus on this or that cause, by identifying with others. This may seem a silly illustration, but it makes the point. Which sports team do you support, but another Christian in the church supports another sports team as avidly as you, and with the same dedication as you support yours? The point is this: we choose to divide ourselves, in matters ranging from the mundane to the significant.

Even so, in many matters human beings seek the approval of their peers, by their associations with this one or that one. Seeking the approval of others leads to the sinful trait that says, Truly I am of the senior pastor, but I am of this podcast teacher, but I am of this theologian.

Think not? Let’s insert some current names. I am of Joel Osteen, but I am of TD Jakes, but I am of Beth Moore but I am of Rick Warren; and for the more conservative believer: but I am of R.C. Sproul, but I am of Paul Washer, but I am of Voddie Baucham, but I am of John MacArthur. The false teachers—Osteen, Jakes, Moore, Warren, and others of similar nature, encourage such divisions; Sproul, Washer, Baucham, MacArthur, and others of similar nature, do not encourage such divisions. Nevertheless, each has devoted followers.

There is no specific evidence the divisions created by the factions in Corinth began as a Jew versus Gentile division. Paul, and Aploolo, and Cephas, and Jesus were Jews, and the factions included Jews and gentiles. The Scripture never supports any kind of racial or ethnic or any other kind of division within the church, except to separate from false doctrines and practices.

Galatians 3:28, There is not Jew nor Greek, there is not slave nor free, there is not male nor female—for you all are one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11, where there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ the all and in all.

2 Corinthians 6:17, Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord, "and do not touch unclean, and I will gather you. (see the context, 6:14–16.)

Divisions of all kinds continue to exist within the New Testament church to the present time, including ethnic divisions, and divisions based in skin tone, and both are as ridiculous as divisions based on teachers. (Variations in externals such as eye color and skin tone are an insignificant 1/6th of 1/10th of 1 per cent of DNA. Sin will grasp at the frailest straw to build a house of prejudice.)

These things should not be. In genuine Christianity there is no such thing as a Jewish Christian, just as there is no such thing as a pagan Christian. Nor should any Christian be of Paul, or of Luther, or of Calvin, or of Arminius, or of Sproul, or of Pink, or of Macarthur, or of Lawson, etc., etc., because you all are one in Christ Jesus.

To learn from those whom the Holy Spirit has taught? Yes. To use those whom the Holy Spirit has taught as a pattern of Christ-like behavior (where appropriate)? Yes. To so identify with one teacher as to exclude others the Holy Spirit has taught? Never No Never. Beware of creating divisions in the body of Christ, no matter how worthy or how trivial such divisions might seem (except as required by Scripture for false doctrines and practices).

There are Christians saved out of every ethnicity—out of every nation, and tribes, and peoples, and languages. One might say there are Hebrew Christians, Italian Christians, American Christians, African Christians, etc. But when these identifications create division within the church, whether a local church, or a group of local churches, or the church as a whole—the Scripture never recognizes such divisions among believers because you all are one in Christ Jesus. Not ethnic divisions, not tribal divisions, not national divisions, not skin color, not gender, not nothing. If you are among the saved, then you all are one in Christ Jesus.

Paul does not commend their actions: there are quarrels among you … Now I mean this: that each of you says, ‘I am of … and Paul lists the factions in the church. Following some individual as the source or authority of your faith or practice always leads to divisions in the church, whether the local church, a group of local churches, or the church as a whole. These things are too well known to require an argument or example.

However, one modern faction should be mentioned, the I am of Messiah, faction of our times, self-identifying as a Messianic Jew. No. To be a Jew is to practice Judaism. The rule for the New Testament church is this, There is not Jew … you all are one in Christ Jesus.

Don’t tell me your reasons because if you are Christ’s, then There is not Jew … you all are one in Christ Jesus. There is no such biblical thing as a messianic Jew, only Hebrew Christians separated from Judaism, not looking for Messiah and the Davidic-Messianic kingdom, but for Jesus Christ’s return for his New Testament church, John 14:22–3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17, of which they are members.

Paul will teach the Corinthians to focus on Christ, not Christ’s servants. However, there was one faction Paul mentioned that was the most dangerous. The I am of Christ faction. But, you would say, "I am of Christ, and so you are, and so every believer, without division. Interpret within the context. Paul does not commend any faction, even those who say, I am of Christ."

Why was the I am of Christ faction the most dangerous? The Corinthians had divided up the faith among those they considered Christian philosophers: disciples of Paul, disciples of Apollos, disciples of Cephas (Peter), disciples of Christ. Each claimed to be a true disciple of the faith, because of the philosopher they had chosen to follow. Each proclaimed they had the monopoly on truth because of who they followed.

The I am of Christ faction were claiming more: I am more right than you, I am more spiritual than you, I am more Christian than you, because ‘I am of Christ,’ the founder of Christianity. It is not a statement faith, but of personal superiority, an arrogant pridefulness that does not seek to correct the divisions in the church, but seeks to gain an advantage over the others.

Has Christ Been Divided?

The problem in Corinth was following the servants of Christ, not Christ himself. As Paul states in 1:30, you are in Christ Jesus. If one is in Christ, then his loyalty to Christ cannot be divided or shared with another. Though Paul does not say, he is pulling his doctrine from the Old Testament, as expressed in scriptures such as Exodus 34:14, For ye shall not worship strange gods, for the Lord God, a jealous name, is a jealous God.

The particular word translated jealous in Exodus 34:14 is qannā [Harris et al., s. v. 2038b], jealous. This word is used five times in the Old Testament, only in the Pentateuch. The context is always a prohibition of idolatry. The basis for the prohibition is Exodus 20:3–5.

There is a sense of ownership about qannā (and related words) as well as zeal. Israel is God’s people, God is zealous they should remain his people, and will take corrective action should they join themselves to another god—a false god, to be sure, but just as surely as YHWH says there is no God but me, YHWH treats worship of false gods as real, because to the worshiper a false god is real. The metaphor Scripture often uses to describe the fidelity the worshiper is to have toward YHWH is marriage, and therefore idolatry is spiritual adultery (YHWH is not married to Israel, it is just a figure of speech.) Like a jealous husband toward an adulterous wife, YHWH will take action against those of his people Israel who commit idolatry.

Even so, there is one Christ, who was crucified for your salvation, into whom you have been immersed, and who was raised for your justification before God the holy and righteous Judge. Jesus Christ is not divided. Therefore, to be a disciple of another is idolatry, though Paul does not name it idolatry to the Corinthians. They would not grasp the connection, because both the Hebrews and the gentiles in the church knew idolatry was worshiping other gods, not following a particular philosopher.

To the Corinthians, following a particular teacher, whether a gentile philosopher or Hebrew rabbi, was the normal thing to do. However, it can devolve to idolatry. There is a reason we name the object of fanaticism an idol. For example, Elvis Pressly was (and though dead still is) the idol of many. They self-identify as fans, but their actions identify them as idolators. When a servant of Christ—a Paul, an Apollos, a Cephas—become more important than Christ, that is idolatry.

In relationship to a preacher or teacher, it is what the Scripture as a whole teaches that is to be the focus, not this or that taught by another. If another agrees with the Scripture, wonderful, but follow what the Scripture teaches. The believer’s identification is Christian, not Pauline or some other person.

When a person professing Christ as Savior identifies as of Paul, of Apollos, of Cephas, of Osteen, of Moore, of Meyer, of Jakes, or even of Sproul, of Washer, of MacArthur, etc., in place of Christ, that is idolatry. Christ the Master is to be the focus of one’s Christianity, do not make a servant of Christ your master. The believer is of Christ, not in competition with others, but only and always of Christ as his property, as his saved people, as members of his spiritual body, as his church, individually and corporately.

Immersed

Apparently, some were making their of Paul or of Apollos claim on the basis of immersion by Paul, or by Apollos. Perhaps one or more of those claiming to be of Cephas had been immersed by Peter prior to coming to Corinth. Immersion (or baptism as it is transliterated from the Greek baptízō, to immerse), is often seen as entry into church membership, or acceptance as a disciple (and is in some cults seen as salvation). None of those things is baptízō.

To be immersed is the first step of obedience to Christ by the newly saved sinner: all who are disciples of Christ are to be immersed, Matthew 28:19. To be immersed is the new believer’s first public testimony of having been saved. Any other meaning is tradition, not Scripture. The act of immersion is important to the individual being immersed: acts of obedience and testimony. Certainly immersion is not a cause for division in the church.

Paul says he remembers immersing two people, and the members of one household. If there were others, he says, I do not remember. Paul immersed Crispus, memorable because he had been the ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, Acts 18:8, but had believed on Christ and left the synagogue. The person Gaius whom Paul immersed at Corinth cannot be identified with others of the same name (Gaius of Macedonia, Gaius of Derbe, Gaius of 3 John). Stephanus is mentioned only in 1 Corinthians.

Baptism has a long and troubled history in the New Testament church. What was to be an act of obedience and testimony immediately following salvation, has gone through many changes. In the post-apostolic age, the pagans saw immersion as the sign a person had converted to Christ, and persecution began immediately after immersion. In response the church required a year of discipleship (catechism) before immersion to prepare the saved to stand firm in Christ when the inevitable persecution arrived.

About the time of the Edict of Tolerance, the church began to view sins committed after immersion as not forgiven, and immersion was delayed until just prior to physical death. Then, salvation by immersion became the doctrine, and paedobaptism—immersing a child to save the child—became the doctrine.

Paedobaptism continued with the Reformers as a New Testament analogue to circumcision, to testify a child was a member of the church by the covenant sign of immersion, though not saved by baptism. But there is only one covenant for the New Testament church, and it is entered only by saving faith, not by immersion, at whatever age.

Because Reformed paedobaptism was seen as the entry into local church membership, even those denying paedobaptism, but professing creedal, aka believer’s baptism, required immersion for local church membership after salvation. Today’s immersion practices are a matrix of differing and opposing practices and attached meanings.

Paul gives the scriptural view. As to the rest, I do not know whether any other I immersed. Immersion is not salvation, it is not church membership, it is not discipleship, it is not attachment to this or that teacher. Immersion is the individual’s obedience to Christ’s commandment as a public testimony of having been saved by faith in Christ.

Translation 1 Corinthians 1:17–19

17 For Christ did not send me to immerse, but to proclaim the Good News, not in the wisdom of discourse, that the cross of Christ may not be emptied. 18 For truly to those who are perishing the word of the cross is absurd; but to those being saved, to us it is the power of God. 19 For it was written, I will ruin the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will make void.

EXPOSITION

Christ Did Not Send Me To Immerse

On the basis of Paul’s statement, Christ did not send me to immerse some have said immersion is not a doctrine of the New Testament church. This is the position of Mid-Acts Dispensational theology (an aberrant form of Dispensationalism), Quakers, and Salvation Army. Adherents of Mid-Acts use this scripture to say Paul himself did not consistently practice water baptism and says specifically that Christ did not send him to baptize [Marsh, 285].

What does the Scripture say about immersion? To be immersed after salvation is a command from Jesus Christ. During the forty days between Christ’s resurrection and his ascension, Christ commanded the apostles and other disciples in this manner.

Matthew 28:19–20, Having gone therefore, disciple all the peoples, immersing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things whatever I commanded you.

To immerse those whom Christ has made disciples through salvation, is a command. Jesus not only said to immerse disciples, but to teach disciples to observe all things whatever I commanded you. Is not the command to immerse one of those commandments Jesus said his saved people must observe, i.e., must do? Yes. The last time I checked the Scripture, obedience to the Lord’s commands was not optional.

Did Paul practice the immersion of disciples? In the book of Acts, immersions are performed on disciples nineteen times. Of those, Paul is reported to have practiced immersion.

Acts 16:15, Then when she [Lydia] was immersed, and her household, she implored, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide. And she persuaded us.

Acts 16:33, And taking them [Paul and Silas] in that hour of the night, he [the Philippian jailor] washed the wounds from them; and he was immersed, he and his household immediately.

Acts 18:8, Now Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, with all his household. And many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were immersed.

Acts 19:5, Then having heard, they [certain disciples] were immersed [by Paul] in the name of the Lord Jesus.

The apostle Paul practiced immersion of those whom Christ saved. To use 1 Corinthians 1:17 to deny the commanded practice of immersion is twisting the Scripture. Why then did Paul say, Christ did not send me to immerse, but to proclaim the Good News? As always, it is helpful to see all Paul said.

For Christ did not send me to immerse, but to proclaim the Good News, not in the wisdom of discourse, that the cross of Christ may not be emptied.

Did that mean Paul would proclaim the Good News in the stupidity of words randomly said, words without meaning or reason? No. Neither did Paul say immersion was unimportant. I will explain not in the wisdom of discourse below, but let us first resolve the immersion issue.

What Paul did not say was this: Christ did not send me to immerse, therefore immersion is unnecessary, you don’t need to do it, in fact, let’s just forget about immersion. That would be contrary to the fact Paul