Overall theme of this letter of correction – UNITY

v 10 – I appeal to you brothers, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you /agree/, and that there be no /divisions/ among you but that you be /united/ in the *same mind* and *same judgement*.

  • Agree – lit. “all speak the same words in accord and in unity of mind”
    • Divisions – gk “scisma” – lit. “schism / split”
      • Divisions over:
      • spiritual issues (ch 5)
      • doctrinal issues (chs 1-2)
      • worldly issues (chs 3-4)
      • relationships (ch 7)
      • Paul and his convictions / practices
      • Selfishness in the Lord’s Table (ch 11)
      • The use of spiritual gifts in the corporate worship of God (ch14)
  • United – “to make someone completely adequate or sufficient for something1”. (1 Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 679). New York: United Bible Societies.)

v 11 – For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is /quarreling/ among you, my brothers.

  • My brothers – a plea and reminder that they are not to be separated, but that they are all, indeed, brothers in Christ Jesus. The body of Christ, which Paul will later fill out in detail, is definitely composed of different members, each with their own gifting and roles, but that all are united:
    • For the sake of Christ
    • Under the headship of Christ
    • To the glory of God the Father through Christ and his work on our behalf

v 12 – What I mean is that each one of you says. “I follow Paul”, or “I follow Apollos”, or “I follow Cephas”, or “I follow Christ”.

  • Paul, in demonstration of his humility in practice, begins with himself (at the lowest level), then proceeds through from Apollos to Peter to Christ.
  • “I follow Christ” – Possibly a Jesus Juke. Still in the same thread of division as the rest, but choosing to separate themselves from the other factions into a new faction that serves Christ (or some set of beliefs that they believe Christ represents), yet still supporting some of the divisive attitudes.