Paul
the apostle desired that the church members in Corinth “come
behind in no gift”
while they were “waiting for the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”,
and in chapter one and verse ten of First
Corinthians, Paul continued his letter by desiring that God would
“confirm” the
church members “be no
divisions among you”
where we read:
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that
there be no divisions among you; but that
you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment.
The
verse begins, “Now
I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
you all speak the same thing,...”
Paul began
with the word, “Now”
which means “moreover, nevertheless and also” “I
beseech you”
which means “call for, summon, address, exhort, entreat and
instruct the church members”, “brethren”
which means “fellow believers who are united to each other by the
bond of affection” “by the name”
or “through everything which the name covers, everything the
thought or feeling of which is aroused in the mind by mentioning,
hearing and remembering” “of our
Lord”
which means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he
has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”
“Jesus”
whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God,
the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “Christ”
who is “the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of God”, “that
you all”
which refers to “so each, every, the whole and everyone” “speak”
which means
“affirm, maintain, teach, exhort, advise, command and direct”
“the same thing”
or “likeminded discourse”. Paul plead for the church members in
Corinth whom he considered fellow believers to “maintain and have
the same discourse”.
The
verse goes on to say, “...and
that
there be no divisions among you;”.
Paul
continued with the words, “and that
there be” or
“so there might and should be” “no
divisions”
which means “never or neither schisms or dissensions” “among
you” or
“in or within the Corinthian church members”. Paul wanted “no
schisms or dissensions” to be heard of or seen within the church at
Corinth.
Finally,
the verse says, “but that
you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment.” Paul
ended this verse with the word, “but”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated “that
you be” or
“so the church members might and should be”
“perfectly joined together”
or “to render, fit, equip, arrange, adjust, make sound, perfect,
what they ought to be and complete” “in
the same mind”
which means “likeminded and comprising alike the faculties of
perceiving and understanding and those of feeling, judging and
determining” “and in the
same judgment”
or “and in like faculty of knowledge, mind, reason and opinion”.
In addition to being without “schisms and dissensions”, Paul
desired for the church to be “perfectly”
“likeminded” in their minds and “reason”.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we understand there is
possibility for people within the church to be divided. Their minds
are unalike, and their judgments are diverse. Paul wanted the church
within Corinth to put away their “divisions” and to “come
together” “perfectly” in their ideas and reason. Jesus
Christ came to bring “peace” among men, not division, and
the church in Corinth, though a fairly new church, was already
beginning to have “schisms and dissensions” within it. Perhaps as
we study Paul's exhortation to the Corinthian church we shall
discover “schisms and divisions” within our own churches, and if
so, let us take heed to the apostle Paul's words.
Next
time Paul shares how there are “contentions
among”
the people within the Corinthian church, so read ahead, and we shall
join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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