In this first epistle to the congregation at Corinth,
the apostle Paul addressed many questions that those young Christians had
concerning the faith. Paul also addressed many problems that was plaguing
that congregation as well. They needed unity instead of division.
To get to a point of unity they needed to follow just what they had been
taught when Paul was with them. Among the many questions that caused trouble
was the question of baptism. Some thought that who baptized them made them
better than others. Of course this led to division and strife because they
were not of the same mind and the same judgment. They also had a brother
living in fornication and they were accepting it instead of trying to get
the brother out of such sin. Spiritual
gifts were also a concern and another point that caused some problems
for them,. Because of their immaturity, some felt they had a superior gift
over others. The apostle Paul not only informed them that ail spiritual
gifts were of equal importance, but that they were only temporary in nature
and would soon be passing away. Love was the greatest gift and it would
never pass away, it was the gift they should all hold onto. In chapter
15, Paul revealed much information about the resurrection and reinforced
the central facts of the gospel of Jesus Christ, His death, burial and
resurrection, which is the basis for the hope of our own resurrection.
Three "Sames" Equals Unity!
The church of Christ at Corinth had many problems. One
of the greatest and gravest was their disunity! We understand the
gravity of this problem from the fact that the apostle Paul, by inspiration
of God, addressed this first in this epistle. "God is faithful, by whom
ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our
Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:9). These Christians had been called into the
fellowship of Jesus Christ the Son of God, so they were also in fellowship
with God, Himself.. But this fellowship was in jeopardy! In the next
verse, Paul explained the problem, "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."
Simply put, they were not doing this. There were contentions among them
(1 Corinthians 1:11).
Notice what the apostle Paul wrote by inspiration of God, that it takes to have fellowship with God and His Son and to have unity. Three "sames" equals unity! First, they were to all to speak the same thing! Only by knowing and obeying God's Word would the Corinthians, or anyone claiming to be Christians, be able to speak the same thing. Second, they were to be of the same mind! By knowing and obeying the will of God they were able to speak the same thing doctrinally. This is the only way we can be of the same mind. By speaking the same thing and having the same mind then they were able to have the third "same" and that is to have the same judgment. If all who claim to be Christians had these three "sames", then there would be NO divisions among believers. Plus, because there would be no divisions among believers, all believers would be perfectly joined together.
What a change in the world there would be if this would
happen! Then would the prayer that Jesus prayed in John 17 come tree in
it's fullest meaning. Unity of all believers would have a great effect
on our world. Once again, Christianity would be growing like it did in
the first century, and we would be accused again of turning the,
world upside down. May we all study God's word and learn His
will, making whatever changes needed in our lives to match God's will.
May we as a congregation of believers, called into the fellowship of God's
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, diligently work toward this goal, speak the
same thing, having the same mind and being of the same judgment!