I Corinthians 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13  Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
14  I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15  Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
16  And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
17  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

God is the Father of all saved people. In His “family” there must be godly unity. It is important that those who are God’s children speak the truth. The truth does not have many avenues. The truth is narrow and it is defined in the Bible.
Yesterday the pope made a statement that most New Evangelicals agree to, but it is a statement of defiance against the true God. He stated that there is only one God and that we should not try to divide people of different religions. He stated that we should accept all religions and understand that there are many paths to God. I did not hear him say there is one TRUE God and thus his statement has relevance to all false religions. All false religions serve the “god of this world”. That god is Satan. The Bible shows us that Satan’s followers are evil people and have various degrees of pride and greed. Thus there will always be division among His people.
However, true saints serve the TRUE God. There must be unity among God’s children. That unity is possible because there is only One TRUE God and that God is defined as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. These three are One. When a person is saved, the Holy Spirit indwells that person. The Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself. He speaks the Word of God. He guides the saved into closer unity with the Word of God. He shows the lost their depravity and need to submit to the God of Creation and to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
After Paul’s opening remarks, he was directed to begin to address the problems that existed in the family of God in Corinth. You notice that Paul’s authority to address these issues is the “name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Corinthians saints had the same Lord Jesus Christ as he had. We have noted before that saved people submit themselves to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. He becomes the master of the saved person.

I Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

The Holy Ghost is the third person of the Godhead. He is third in the list but not third in importance. As we have mentioned He does not speak of Himself.

John 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

The Charismatics have a different God, than that of the Bible. The Bible tells us that tongues shall cease and yet the Charismatics babble at will. They suggest they are better because they have that “gift”, which is not a gift of God.
Paul stated that saints need to “be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” We, those who are saved, need to do more than just read the Bible. We need to meditate on It and submit to It. There should be no reason for divisions among God’s children. Pride is the problem that keeps God’s people from being of the same mind. Those who are saved need to submit to the true God.
We are commanded to study to show ourselves approved unto God. If we take God as our authority, we can come to agreement. God expects that of His children.
In verse 11 we read that there were contentions among the Corinthians. The house of Chloe had mentioned this to Paul. They needed help in solving this issue. In verse 12 we learn what the contention was. There were those who declared they were of Paul, others of Apollos and others of Cephas and others of Christ. We are all different. We have certain likes and dislikes. Depending on our spiritual growth we will have different preferences in who we like to listen to. We need to be more concerned about the message than the messenger. It is important that the messenger be a true man of God. If the man is a true man of God, then he will have a message from God. A true man of God will teach the people the Word of God.
In verse 13 we have an important question that needs to be answered. Is Christ divided? The answer is obvious. Paul is not supporting the heresy of the universal church doctrine here. The local church is in view here. However, other churches would read this letter as well. In Bible times they did not have the ease of travel that we have. In our time, there are cars and planes and trains and we can be more mobile. However, the important point is still the local church. If we have opportunity to meet with other saints in another area there should be agreement in doctrine as well. That will never be the case unless we know the true God.
Paul was also directed to remind the saints that he was not crucified for them. The point is that Paul was not as important as Jesus Christ. Our submission should be to Jesus Christ first of all. No man is of greater authority than Jesus Christ. We are not saved by man and we are not baptized in the name of man.
Paul reminded them that he did not have a long list of people that he baptized. Those being baptized needed to be reminded that they were baptized in the name of the Godhead, not the name of Paul. The local true pastor is the one who should baptize the people in his church. In the first church I pastored, there were some rebels who did not present themselves as saved people. They declared they were saved but they did not live as saved people. They wanted to be leaders in the church, but they were not baptized. They refused to be baptized but insisted on being in leadership positions. One couple made a trip to Israel and there they were “baptized” by someone in the Jordan River. They were quite impressed with that, but they just got wet. Salvation comes before baptism. Baptism does not make a person a Christian. It is an outward testimony of the fact that you have been saved. This couple wanted to be “Christians” on their own terms. That never works with God.
In verse 15 Paul pointed out that he did not want anyone to think they were baptized in his name. In verse 16 he was led to mention one other household, but that was the extent of those he had baptized. Paul was an apostle, not a pastor of a local church. He was instrumental in planting many churches, but he was directed by God to ordain pastors for those local churches.
In verse 17 Paul stated that Christ did not send him to baptize. Paul was more like an evangelist. As an apostle he had the ability to do signs and wonders to authenticate his ministry. An evangelist does not have that ability. He was sent to preach the Gospel. He needed to be careful not to take away from the power of the Gospel through wisdom of words. He did not need to try to impress people with “word salads”. He needed to speak the truth in love and in a manner that the cross of Christ was not negated.
God raises up men to pastor churches. Those men need to be careful that they do not become a distraction to the important work they need to be doing. The local church is not about the pastor. It is about Christ. Sometimes a church becomes divided when a pastor dies or moves to another place. The new pastor needs to be a man of God, and if he is, there should be no reason for division among the members. If he wants to “modernize” the church, that is a concern. If he is a faithful man of God, then the people should be able to submit to his leadership because he is not taking them off course.
There needs to be much prayer in choosing a pastor. The pastor needs to be properly taught and he needs to have true humility in order to lead the people. He is not the authority, God is. He leads and he gives the direction, but he points people to the Head, Jesus Christ. The members accept his leadership and submit to him as he shows them the truth in God’s Word.
There must be unity in the local church. That unity must be in truth. There is unity among many New Evangelical churches, but that unity is apart from submission to the truth. That will work in this life, but not for eternity. That situation just makes them a social club, but not a blessing to society.
God wants His children to be united in Him. The importance of the Lord Jesus Christ needs to be taught and submitted to. When that is in place, there will be unity among those who are truly born again. Paul will go on and teach doctrine further. Paul was addressing saints and sound doctrine will be the unifying factor in Corinth and in any true church.
Pastor Bartel