1 Corinthians 1:8-11 - No divisions

1:8,9

So how do we manage now? In this life we face many struggles. Some churches experiences persecution, though that does not seem to have been an issue at Corinth. All of us experience battles within ourselves, and within the church,and within life. How do we manage to win these battles? It is because God will keep us firm until the end, He provides sustaining power in our lives. And we will be blameless on the day of Christ Jesus. The cross has cleared all our sins, and the Spirit enables us to persevere. God is faithful. God has not just given us a second chance, He has not called us and then left us to get on with it. He works actively in our lives. And we have been called into fellowship with His Son. We are meant to know Jesus, and to work together with Him in our day to day lives.

1:10

We now come to the first of the problems, but before addressing the problem Paul states the way things should be. So often when dealing with issues we focus so much on the negative, on what is wrong, that we forget what is right. Perhaps the area of sexual morality is a good example of this. Sexual sin is prevalent in society, indeed it always has been, but one of the most powerful arguments that we have is the presentation of God’s positive mandate for sexual relations between one man and one woman in marriage. Here we are concerned with unity. There should be agreement between brothers. Note that this unity is “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”. There is no virtue whatsoever in being united in being wrong! We should be united in agreeing with what the Lord has said. There are to be no divisions, and they are to be united in mind and thought. This is a very tall order! However, if we look at what is coming next, the divisions are over “personality cults”. The word for “perfectly joined together” is related to the mending of nets or other broken things. Relationships needed to be restored within the church.

1:11

Word of the divisions had reached Paul via members of Chloe’s household. We do not know much about Chloe, though it is thought she was from Ephesus. It is interesting that she is female and it is referred to as her household. “Have informed me” (NIV) actually means “made clear”. Paul has been left in no doubt about the reality of there being quarrels among the church.