As
Paul the apostle continued to address the “carnal”
ways of the Corinthian church, he shared how there were “envying,
and strife, and divisions”
among them,
and in chapter three and verse four of
First Corinthians, Paul the apostle shared what those ways were as he
referred to the
Corinthian church members saying, “I
am of Paul and I of Apollos”
where we read:
For
while one says, I am of Paul; and another, I am
of Apollos; are you not carnal?
The
verse begins, “For
while one says, I am of Paul;” Paul
began with the word, “For” which
means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and
therefore”, “while one says”
or “one person peaks, affirms, maintains, points out, command,
directs and mentions”, “I am of
Paul”
whose name means “small or little” and was “the most famous of
the apostles and wrote a good part of the New Testament which were
the fourteen Pauline epistles”. Some of the church members in
Corinth were claiming to be a part of the “division”
of those following after the teachings of “Paul”.
The
verse continues, “and
another, I am
of Apollos; are you not carnal?”.
Paul added
the words, “and another” which
means “another church members was saying”, “I
am of Apollos” whose
name means “given by Apollo” and was “a learned Jew from
Alexandria and mighty in the scriptures who became a Christian and a
teacher of Christianity”; “are you
not carnal”
or “are not the church members fleshly, having the nature of flesh
or under the control of the animal appetites, governed by mere human
nature and not by the Spirit of God”. Other church members in
Corinth were following after the teachings of “Apollos”
who was also used by God, and this division of people between Paul
and Apollos caused Paul to determine the church members were
“fleshly” minded.
When
we consider these words from Paul, we see how the church members in
Corinth were following after certain teachers of the “gospel”
to the exclusion of some and superiority over the others. This
ethnocentric idea permeated the church and caused divisions among the
people there. Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected is the central
message of the “good news” of God, and the instrument used to
share that message is not nearly as important as the message itself.
Sometimes people follow a certain teacher of the Bible whom they
determine to be “superior” to others who teach, and if a person
follows their teacher, they are accepted into their group. If not,
they are rejected and divided like a faction and are believed to be a
lesser or lower “Christian” than they. That is “carnal”
thinking, and this is what Paul was addressing. Jesus Christ has
one body, one church and one message. The message of the “gospel”
is the same, and regardless of who teaches it, Jesus Christ is to be
exalted and not the teacher. Let all who read these words hear and
put away “carnal” thinking and ways.
Next
time Paul asks, “Who
then is Paul, and who is
Apollos, but ministers ”,
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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