First Corinthians 11 Part 3 Division And Discord In Christ's Church Must Be Confronted

The Corinthians had a sin issue that Paul must address.

1 Corinthians 11:17  Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 

Paul turns to a different issue involving what we know as communion or the Lord's Supper. 

His words are emphatic in a negative sense. He rebuked the Corinthians for how they inappropriately observed the Lord's Supper.

Even though a strong correction must be given, Paul displays his love for the Corinthians as he administers rebuke.

God's law commands that a sinning brother or sister be rebuked.

Leviticus 19:17  Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

Paul was a Jew by birth and education. He was trained by a well respected rabbi named Gamaliel such that Paul had an excellent understanding of the law of Moses.

That holy law tells us that if we know a brother has sinned and we fail to address it with them, we are guilty of having hate toward them. 

According to God's law, loving a brother means giving them a rebuke when sin is observed, so that they have the opportunity to confess and forsake the sin. 

This is why Paul offers a correction to the Corinthians. He loves them and wants God's best for them.

1 Timothy 5:20  Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. 

When writing to young pastor Timothy, Paul instructed him as to his spiritual duties in the churches. 

Timothy must learn to rebuke professing Christians who sin and it must be done as Christ commanded. 

Church discipline must always be followed in these cases as Jesus outlined in Matthew 18:15-20.

The Spirit of God guided Paul to give us a proper foundation as we study why he needed to rebuke the Corinthians.

Experiencing divisions in God's church hurts our witness for Christ. 

1 Corinthians 11:18  For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 

The sin of people causing divisions within the church has been brought up for the third time by the apostle.

This sin was entrenched in the church and had to be rooted out. 

The Greek word translated "divisions" is contained in the word "schisms." 

Paul believed the reports he received concerning underlying discord and division within the Corinthian church. 

However, Paul knew that not every Christian at Corinth was guilty of this sin and this is why he said "I partly believe it." 

Certainly this is a good reminder for parents, pastors and parishioners to be careful about making sweeping indictments or blanket statements about others.

We must not assume that each church member is guilty by accusing the whole church family of some particular failing.  

God hates those who cause divisions and it must be dealt with as He says. 

Ephesians 4:31-32  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32)  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 

Divisions refers to Christians forming cliques of people following a certain teacher and rejecting those who do not agree with their positions.  This is what was going on in Corinth.

Bitterness, wrath and anger often accompany those who have a contentious spirit. 

A hateful heart must be addressed from a biblical perspective. All personal bitterness, wrath, anger, malicious intent or speaking evil of other believers, must be put off. 

It must be stopped because sowing discord among brethren in Christ is clearly condemned by God (See Proverbs 6:16-19). 

Loving one another is Christ's command to each Christian. 

John 13:34-35  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35)  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 

Causing divisions in the church is the very opposite of what Jesus Christ commanded believers to do. 

Jesus, the Son of God, said we must love one another as a testimony of God's saving grace to a lost and dying culture.  

But those who cause divisions foster a hateful, malicious spirit.

When a church has divisions caused by some who delight in sowing discord in the church, our witness as Christians is diminished.

The world will know we are Christ's disciples when we truly love one another. All of the apostles addressed this issue because it is of vital importance. 

Sowing discord and causing divisions was an ongoing problem. 

1 Corinthians 1:11  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. 

A Christian woman named Chloe brought the problem of divisions to the apostle's attention, so that it could be addressed.

1 Corinthians 3:3   For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?  

Paul reminded the Corinthians that causing discord and divisions meant that they were walking after their flesh and not after the Holy Spirit of God. 

1 Corinthians 11:19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 

Heresies are something that is inevitable in the church. 

The word "heresies" is a word that means having a multiplicity of opinions that causes strife and dissension. 

It is a strong word used of a mob storming a city to take control, so we can see how serious a problem it is in the church. 

Paul shows us that when heresies do occur, those leaders who are approved of God will be made manifest. 

They will be men who know God's Word and reject heresies and divisions. 

They are approved in the sense that when we know the faithful men who stay true to God's Word, we must align with them.  

False teachers and heresies will always be a problem.

2 Peter 2:1-2  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2)  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 

The apostle Peter also warned believers about false prophets and false teachers who will promote heresies that cause much pain and division within the churches. 

Many will follow false teachers because they like what they hear, even if the Bible says otherwise.

IF heresy erupts in our church, we must seek out faithful men who take their stand upon the scriptures. We must join them in rejecting heresy and those who cause it. 

Israel was also warned about the dangers of false prophets. 

Deuteronomy 13:1-4  If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2)  And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3)  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4)  Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 

Though Paul was addressing the church at Corinth, he may have recalled warnings God gave through Moses about false prophets and false teachers.

God said Israel may encounter someone who claims to have had a dream or some revelation from God. This false prophet may even produce a sign or a wonder to deceive the Israelites. 

His goal is enticing the Hebrews to follow another "god" just as the ones at Corinth promoted following a man rather than Christ. 

God's instruction was clear and certainly applicable to the modern church. We are not to listen to them and in some cases, they may be sent by God to prove our faithfulness to Him.

We are to walk after Jehovah with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. We are to have a respectful reverential fear of Him and to obey His Word.

May the Spirit of God grant us understanding of these truths so that we follow happily and faithfully after our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Bob