Unity in Christ

1 Corinthians 1-2

Introduction

We are continuing our study of 1 Corinthians this morning and getting into the text with chapters 1 & 2.

These chapters really set the tone for the letter as a whole. So much of this book is dealing with issues that divide churches.

So he really focuses on the solution at the beginning…that is Jesus and the cross.

The Call to Unity

Paul’s introduction is saturated with language reminding them of their connection to Christ (1 Cor. 1:1-9).

Notice Paul has pointed out: the same calling; the same grace; the same gifts; the same hope; the same Lord.

So division doesn’t make sense while these things are true.

From that unity should flow a sameness of thinking (1 Cor. 1:10).

Paul is not calling for identical behavior or complete uniformity in thought. The rest of the letter shows that is not what he is calling for.

He is calling for a unified source and framework of thought.

Are we using the same measuring rod?

Can you make the case for your position from this center or is your argument rooted in some other center.

The same center may still arrive at different places on a particular action, and yet both can “measure up.”

It is also possible to arrive at the same conclusions, but use different centers to get there. This is what becomes dangerous because it can mask the division.

Their quarrels reveal that they are not of the same mind (1 Cor. 1:11-17).

The issue isn’t specific doctrinal disagreement, it is divided loyalty that creates division where it doesn’t even exist.

These three men all preach the same gospel, but divided loyalty would pit them against each other.

This is the same thing that so often creates strife in congregations where truth is being taught and preachers are chewed up and spit out over divisions that shouldn’t even exist.

It pits style against style or perhaps fame against anonymity instead of recognizing the sameness of substance.

But it also leads to drift when we choose to ALWAYS side with any individual other than Christ.

It is this context that makes Paul glad to not have baptized many. Not because baptism isn’t important but because HE is not important (in the light of Christ).

Even baptism itself is only important in light of Christ and not the other way around.

There are things that can reveal you “don’t get it” that aren’t just about the doctrine you espouse.

Division is far more frequent over misplaced loyalties than it is over doctrinal disagreement.

The Correction of the Cross

The cross is the measurement of all things (1 Cor. 1:18-25).

The cross is the climactic point of comparison to determine wisdom and folly.

It rarely fully satisfies either side in worldly debates.

It typically has rebuke for all sides (though not necessarily and not necessarily equally).

It points to methods and results that aren’t even in the minds of men of whatever approach.

There are times where someone IS proposing the biblical solution so the answer isn’t “always in the middle.”

For that matter, it may not be in the middle when both side are wrong.

Often, the truth is completely outside the scope of the conversation.

Often, it is a solution than might strike both sides as overly harsh or both sides as overly naive or kind.

It is a constant source of upheaval for worldly wisdom.

The cross destroys the basis of boasting (1 Cor. 1:26-29; 15:10).

Have you ever done something for which you were praised but you know you didn’t come up with the idea or even the execution.

You just showed up and did what you were told.

That doesn’t mean you sat and watched. You may have put real sweat and tears and blood into the project.

But you know you don’t deserve the credit because you never would have seen the way to do it with out total guidance.

In fact, truth be told, you would have gone about it in almost opposite ways than what the master told you to do.

You might have even felt at times, why would we do it this way???

When that is the case, you don’t get to say, look at what I did.

At best, you get to say, look at what I participated in.

Jericho offers a most poignant example of this idea.

Identity is the solution to divided loyalty (1 Cor. 1:30-31).

A common refrain for America is that “we are a nation of laws and not of men.”

That means that we consult the standard and not the whims of changeable man.

In this case the law and the Man are one and the same.

The word became flesh and all of our boasting is a point in His direction.

I did what He told me is a boast but it is a boast IN THE LORD.

The Clarification of True Wisdom

Paul pits the wisdom of men against God (1 Cor. 2:1-5).

The wisdom of men is at the heart of the Enlightenment and the great thinkers of the world since that age.

It is the wisdom that evaluates the world without God in mind and forms calculations as if He didn’t exist.

The wisdom of the world says if you do things this way then this will be the outcome whether or not you acknowledge God and His ways.

The wisdom of this world evaluates everything both blessings and cursing only by the mechanical causes under the sun without even considering whether or not God has any effect on outcomes.

What exalts a nation? Sound economic policy or righteousness?

I don’t think those are mutually exclusive.

In fact, I think righteousness will involve or lead to sound economic policy.

But sound economic policy doesn’t necessarily lead to righteousness.

And I believe, in fact, that a nation is MUCH more likely to collapse because of rampant wickedness than because of unsound economic policies.

That is the type of comparison that is being made here.

But there is a wisdom that Paul does speak in (1 Cor 2:6-9).

He says this wisdom is for the mature (not the educated).

It is a mystery that has been carefully revealed (not to the rulers but to the humble).

“The trouble with people is not that they don’t know, but that they know so much that ain’t so.”

There is a worldly way to reject wisdom from the ivory tower, there is another way to reject it from the pig sty.

Both reject it by putting their own wisdom in its place.

True wisdom comes from God not from me (1 Cor. 2:10-13).

I want to be able to trace my way of thinking back to God.

If I start with, “well, I’ve always thought…” understand that unless that is followed by a confession and change of thinking, it bears no weight.

If we aren’t able to identify ways in which our minds have changed over the years as we have studied God’s Word, then there is a high likelihood that we are living more by our own wisdom than by His.

Wisdom is external to me and will therefore demand change in me as I come into contact with it unless I came here wise.

We have to acclimate our minds to receive wisdom (1 Cor. 2:14-16).

One of the most difficult aspects of this, is that becoming wise isn’t about computing power.

God is not infinitely wise because He simply has more hard drive space and more RAM.

This is why AI is not God and ultimately will not lead us to wisdom.

This is not mere data to be processed and an answer spit out like an equation.

Spiritual examination requires a right heart and attitude aligned with the Spirit of God.

And so we are back to our first point. This is not just about same conclusions, this is about same WAYS of thinking.

Conclusion

Paul is not just calling them to stop arguing here. He is calling them to have the same center. He is arguing for that center.

Peace is not our primary goal. Christ is our goal and peace through Him, not in spite of Him.

So if you are not in Christ, this is a moot conversation.

The call to unity here is a call to Christ, so if you are not in Him, then come.