1 Corinthians 1:12 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 1:12

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What is going on? Well, to begin with, it was not a doctrinal issue. Some people have assumed it was. They argue that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, whereas Cephas, Peter, was very Jewish, and some said that they preferred the apostle Peter’s Jewish approach, while the Gentiles said, no. Others see it as a division between people who were Judaisers and taught the need to be circumcised, while others taught justification by faith alone. Now that was certainly a problem in the Galatian churches but it is unlikely to have been an issue in Corinth, because Paul does not correct any doctrinal problem in connection with this. The real problem was about their hero-worshipping men, when as Christians all the glory belongs to Christ. They were behaving like they used to behave before they were saved. ‘Every one of you’ – note that. This is not necessarily every literal person in the membership of the church at Corinth, but it certainly implies most of them. They were lining up behind teachers and championing certain people. Paul, the evangelist and apostle: ‘He must be the key authority’, some would say. ‘He is the one that we shall hero worship, and put first, and follow; the power of God is with him.’ On the other hand, Apollos was noted for his oratory. He was a tremendous speaker, and you could listen to him for hours, He probably bought all kinds of illustrations and arguments, and he was very sound. But people wrongly lined up behind him, and clothed him with a special authority over them. ‘And I of Cephas’, said others. Why should the apostle Peter be a favourite? Because he had been an eyewitness of the entire ministry of Christ. Even Paul had not done that. Paul had arrived at all his knowledge by special revelation, but Peter had seen it all. He had started as a humble fisherman and had preached the first great sermon at Pentecost, and was also able to do signs and wonders. ‘And I of Christ’ – more and more I have come round to the opinion of Calvin, that the ‘I of Christ’ party were the right ones, and the good ones; they went to Christ alone. But what a tragedy that they should be only a party within the church! Everyone should have been, ‘I of Christ’.

Application

There are distinctive cultures around the world. There are good things in every human culture and there are some very bad things too. In the English culture from example, it used to be said that the Englishman loves to sit on the fence. That is true and it has hurt the churches a very great deal. The English do love to sit on the fence not make a decision and not make up their mind about things. We see this in the history of the churches over the last 150 years. At the end of the 19th century there were so many Calvinistic Bible loving gospel preaching churches. What happened to the Baptist Union? What happened to the Methodist group of churches and the old Congregationalist Union? These were bursting with gospel at the end of the 19th century and then in a period of about 50 to 60 years they totally collapsed. Why? Because of theological liberalism which came first into the colleges denying the infallibility of the Bible, denying the essentials of the faith. And what did the deacons do in so many churches? They said, ‘We don't fight; we don't enter into battles; there is good on each side’, and they would not take stand and defend the faith, and so church after church collapsed. The Englishman sits on the fence and he watches precious things be destroyed before his eyes. The Americans with the entrepreneurial spirit and their go get, have a tendency – not all of them – to turn the church of Jesus Christ into a business and want things to answer the laws of commerce, and grow and grow bigger and better. They too have to be careful that this does not wreck the churches and take them over. In some of our African countries, it is the big man culture and a man becomes a pastor and the dear man is saved, but he feels it is important to be the big man and to have a big Mercedes and rule his church with a rod of iron. The Corinthians were being ridiculous. It was a fault in their culture, hero worship. We love oratory and we worship people. The apostle Paul is pointing out to the Corinthians the foolishness of bringing their culture into church and admiring their preachers and lining up behind them. Watch out for bad things in every culture that have no place in the church of Jesus Christ. The church of Jesus Christ has a unique culture and a precious culture of its own.

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1 Corinthians 1:12 Commentary and Bible Study