Sacerdotalism Divides

The Greeting and Reading of 1 Corinthians 1

We'll be looking at 1st Corinthians 1, and I'll go ahead and read verses 1 through 17. Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any gift.

As you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our 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 judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.

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. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. I did baptize also the household of Stephanas, but beyond that I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. You may be seated. Dear Holy Father, I thank you again for your word.

I pray that you would make the word effectual salvation, that by your Spirit you would build us up to holiness and comfort. I pray that you would convince and convert sinners, and I ask that you would be pleased to see us more united and with a better knowledge of you through your preached word.

Sacerdotalism, Penance, and the Donatist Controversy

In Jesus' name, amen. So perhaps it's worth making a reminder that we're walking through 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, looking at the topic of unity. What God says about community in his kingdom, and how unity is a major part of that community.

In the fourth century, there is a great persecution against the church. There is a an emperor named Diocletian who commanded that churches be burned, and that scriptures be handed over. And those Christians that would hand over scriptures were called traditores, traditore meaning someone who gives something over.

Now, nowadays that wouldn't be such a big deal, because Bibles are cheap, and they're easily reproducible, but back then that wasn't the case. It was a lot of effort to copy scripture. So traditores were often viewed as traitors.

A traditore was someone who was generally considered apostatized. They had left the faith because they had betrayed Christ by handing over scripture. Now, in many churches, this wasn't the end of the world though, because someone could still re-enter the church.

They could demonstrate that they were still loyal to Christ, and they had not truly betrayed him, and they would be allowed back in. Nowadays, when we use the word penance, a lot of times it's this idea of saying enough Hail Marys to make up for a certain sin or something like that, an unbiblical idea.

But back then, the way penance originally came about was this very reasonable idea that if you weren't certain of someone's salvation because they had done something that appeared to be betraying Christ, they could do acts of service, and over time the church would be able to see that this person was sincere.

So it's a very reasonable thing, not some private thing you do to please God and convince him that you're okay, but something public you do to convince the church that you trust Christ. And so people would be able to enter back into the church.

However, in Carthage, they had a different opinion. In Carthage, it was the case where if you had become a traditore, there was no way that you could be allowed back into the church. There was no amount of penance you could do to prove that you truly loved Christ.

In addition to that, this was especially the case for ministers. A minister who was a traditore, if he administered communion or administered baptism, his ministry was so illegitimate that those acts themselves were illegitimate.

And if you had received a baptism from a traditore in Carthage, it was considered not a real baptism, and communion was not real communion. You weren't receiving grace if you were receiving it from a traditore.

And so this was very, very divisive. This idea that it is through men that you receive grace. This idea is known as sacerdotalism, the idea that various men mediate God's grace to you. Now, this was divisive for additional reasons, too, because it wasn't just baptism and Lord's Supper, but how has someone made a minister?

Other ministers lay hands on them. Well, they would say that if a traditore laid hands on a minister, well, that one doesn't matter. If he wasn't a traditore, he wasn't a true minister. And so maybe in the early 4th century, you'd be able to trace your way back to an apostle.

But you can imagine how impossible that would be nowadays. You know, Josh laid hands on me. Someone laid hands on him. I have no idea who laid hands on that guy, and so on. And maybe there's a traditore in that lineage.

Maybe I wouldn't be a real minister. You can see how divisive this would be. So Carthage broke off from the rest of the church because of their sacerdotalism. They refused to have communion with the rest of the church, because even if there was a minister who appeared true, perhaps he had a traditore who had laid hands on him to make him a minister, and he does not truly have God's grace.

See, this sacerdotalism in Carthage, it divided. Now, this was called Donatism because the leader of this was called Donatist, or his name was Donatist. So if you want to look this up later, you can look up the Donatist controversy.

Now, this ended. This church finally died off. However, the spirit of Donatism, sacerdotalism, I believe is alive and well today. You see it in all kinds of ways when people raise up ministers to be so high and exalted that they think they are receiving grace from them as opposed to grace from Christ.

And it's not just the case for believers. It's also the case for even unbelievers, because even if you don't call it grace, there's some goodness in the world. Everybody understands that, and there's some goodness that you want, and so you go to various things to get it.

You might go to a certain philosopher, a teacher, a politician, or maybe an activity, and you think that that's where true goodness comes from. And in the process, you end up considering yourself better off than those who have a different source of goodness.

And so it creates all these little factions, all these little things that divide, and in the end, this just leads to death, because if you are not receiving the true grace of God from Christ, then you don't have a saving grace.

You know, when Adam and Eve were placed in the garden, they were perfectly united because they had the grace of God, God's favor. But then after sin entered the world and people began dividing up, looking to other sources of grace, these things divided.

Christ as the Sole Mediator of Grace

Sacerdotalism divides, and this is exactly what Paul is concerned with in Corinth. He says, there are these people who are saying, I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, I follow Christ. These people do not realize that Christ is the sole source of grace, that no other man mediates grace, but Christ is the only mediator between God and man.

And if the church could just realize this, they would be unified. But if they do not recognize this, they will be divided. And so as we look at this passage, I would like us to see this, that Christ is the sole mediator of God's grace, that no one can add to that, and then lastly, that we can point to it.

We can point to it or point away from it. So Christ is the sole mediator of God's grace. No one can add to that source, and the only thing we can do is point to that source. Now, before we read this first verse here, maybe it would be worthwhile to back up and explain to you what grace is.

You see, we're all sinners, we've all sinned against God, and we've done wrong things, and because of that, we deserve death. God is a just God, and he will not let sin go unpunished, and so each person will die, and then beyond that, they will continue suffering forever if they do not have pardon from God.

However, God is also merciful. He gives grace, he gives pardon, so that people can be free from that death. They can live with him forever, and then on top of that, they can grow in holiness, free from the bondage of sin.

This is why we need God's grace. It is his favor towards us, when otherwise, all we would have is his wrath, because we have sinned against him. And so this is what Paul is concerned about here in this opening verse.

He says, is Christ divided? In verse 13, was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul? So he's asking a very simple question here. The question is essentially, from where does grace come from?

Who is the mediator of God's grace? And his answer is, it is Christ. It is not, it's not Paul. Crucifixion is the means by which Christ purchased pardon for us. When he died on the cross, he suffered the punishment that was owed to sinners who deserve death.

It is through that cross that he purchased a great inheritance that we get to partake in, that he secured for us, the Holy Spirit, by whom we grow in holiness. In addition, it speaks of baptism. We're baptized into Christ's name, meaning under his authority.

When you're baptized into Christ's name, it's different than just going underwater any other time. When you go underwater in Christ's name, when you're baptized in his name, it means that he himself has given the authority to have you set apart for this holy life that's, that's a new life, free from the bondage of sin.

These are things that Christ provides, and when Paul asks the question this way, was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul? It shows the folly of elevating men to this level.

You know, it's probably unlikely, I think it's very unlikely, that they were actually suggesting that these different men were mediators of grace. But by elevating the teacher so highly, they were treating them practically as if they were.

And so, Paul, in asking these questions, shows how ridiculous it is, and shows that only Christ is a true mediator of grace. You know, in English, there's a way of asking questions so that they're very leading, right?

Like a way that I think lawyers aren't allowed to do in court, where you can say, is it not the case that etc.? Right, and the answer to an is it not the case question always has to be yes, right? Like that's the, that's the answer to those questions.

In Greek, there's a very similar grammatical feature, where if you use the Greek word me, at the beginning of a question, you can, you can lead to a no answer. So this is, so when he says, was, was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the Paul's name?

He's starting with me each time, so that, so that you know the answer is no. However, this first question where he asks, is Christ divided? It doesn't start with me. He's asking a more pointed, serious question to them, saying, is Christ divided?

Now, if you are familiar with the rest of this letter, and you've read ahead, you know that eventually he talks about the body of Christ. Now, you might think that, well, the, if the Christ is divided, you know, it's his church being divided, his body being divided, and I think that's true, but I think there's something more pertinent here, when he's speaking of, of, essentially, the grace received from God.

Is it, is Christ's mediation of grace divided? Is it divided among this man, or among this man? No, it is, only comes from God. It only comes through Christ. There is no second mediator of grace, none under him, none beside him.

Now, occasionally, this is formally denied, occasionally, people do say that there are other mediators, right? For example, in Roman Catholicism, Mary is called a mediatrix, because she's an additional mediator of grace.

However, most often, this is far more subtle, that people, by elevating men up to high levels, consider them mediators of grace. You see people who, who put themselves under a teacher, and think that because, you know, they're a follower of this man, that gives them a greater status in Christ's kingdom.

Or you see others who, having followed a teacher, suddenly realize that this person has many flaws, and they, they feel quite scandalized, not necessarily because this man has disqualified himself from ministry, but because they feel like, like with the case with the Donatist controversy, that they were receiving grace from this man, and now, well, what good is it what they received?

Because they don't realize the only true source of grace is Christ. You know, I find this, I think this is very related to a misunderstanding of our sonship in Christ. If you believe in Jesus, you are a child of God.

You are a child of God by adoption. Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son, and in Him, we are also sons. We, we have a secondary sonship, right? One by adoption. Now, I am, my sonship, is not different than anyone else's sonship in that adoption.

We are all directly children of God. We are not grandchildren of God, or great-grandchildren of God, etc. This idea that you need to receive grace from a particular man, or that you receive more grace from particular individuals misunderstands that we go directly to Christ.

It would basically make us grandchildren of God, rather than actual children of God, because you would not be receiving unfiltered grace from Christ, but you would be receiving what was filtered from man to man to man.

That is the problem with this. So, be mindful of any infatuation you have for a particular teacher, because if it raises to this level of sacerdotalism, it divides the church. It places people in opposition to each other, instead of being unified under Christ as sole mediator.

Baptism, Church Office, and Human Mediation

Now, Christ is the only mediator. In addition to that, he is, no one can add to him. Verse 14 says, I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you are baptized in my name.

I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else. So, some quick words about who these various people are. Crispus was the leader of the synagogue in Corinth.

He is mentioned in Acts 18. Gaius is uncertain, but he is quite likely the same Gaius from Romans 16, who hosted Paul in Corinth. And there is also Stephanas, who is mentioned at the end of this letter as being one of the first converts.

And it's probably the case that Paul only baptized these people because they were the original converts. He baptized them, and then after that, others baptized the rest. So, that's the idea behind this.

So, no one else adds to this thing that God does in Christ. No one else adds to it. So, Paul is flabbergasted that anyone would think that these teachers are so great, that Paul is so great that it would be something special to be baptized in his name.

And once again, it might not be something they're explicitly saying, but something that they are doing practically. Something very similar happened at the time of the Reformation, where the followers of Martin Luther began being called Lutherans.

And Luther was appalled by this. There's an excellent quote. Luther said, What is Luther? The teaching is not mine, nor was I crucified for anyone. Alluding to this verse here. How did I, poor stinking bag of maggots that I am, come to the point where people call the children of Christ by my evil name?

You see, there is nothing special about being baptized by Luther, or baptized by Paul, or being under Luther, or being under Paul. There is nothing special about any of this. It is Christ's teaching. We must be under him.

And what this is essentially doing is setting these leaders up as though we can patronize them to receive special grace. It is that sacerdotalism that divides. So, for example, in Roman Catholicism, you have this concept of patronizing saints very explicitly.

There is a different saint that you can pray to for different things. And you can look up the list and see all the different things you can pray to different saints for. For example, St. Nicholas of Myra is the patron saint of children.

So if you are a child, you might be taught, and kids don't actually do this, you might be taught in some churches that you should pray to St. Nicholas of Myra, and he will take care of you. And many children do this, not just because they were taught to in church, but also because when December 25th rolls around, you want St. Nick on your good side.

There are some practical implications for what we teach our children. You want to be careful about this kind of thing. And so I looked up one of these lists and tried to figure out who the patron saint of a software engineer is.

It's Isidore of Seville. So now if you're a software engineer, you can know who it is that you could pray to, but trust me, I will not be praying to Isidore of Seville. He lived long before computer programming, so I don't know how he got the job, but apparently he did.

So maybe you don't pray to saints, and you're wondering, you know, how is this sacerdotalism really present in the church today? I have some examples that I think might be more apparent to you. So here's one.

There was this discipleship movement in the 70s and 80s. Some of you are probably way more familiar with this than I am. This is not something I've studied, really. But I know that Campus Crusade is one of the things that came out of that, and I was involved in Campus Crusade in college.

And this is not anything against Campus Crusade. I'm not saying that they're a bad organization. But, you know, they have a heavy emphasis on discipleship and mentorship. And so, you know, you have a mentor, and they have a mentor, and so on.

There's these little hierarchies of mentorship. And I was taught, even explicitly, you know, that there was something special about being a disciple of this guy, and this other person is a disciple of that guy.

And I had a friend who was jealous because he had to be a disciple of this guy and not a disciple of that guy, not the disciple of the guy who I got to be the disciple of. That's problematic. That's walking into sacerdotalism.

And that language is problematic, too. You know, if you want some heftier homework, go home and look up the writings of the early church. You know, they exist in big volumes. You can just download as text files.

There's these works called the Pre-Nicene Fathers. That Nicaea was something that happened in 325. You can download that and get all the writings of the early church before 325. There's also Post-Nicene Fathers.

You can download those, too. And do a Control-F, you know, do a search for every time the word disciple or discipleship is used and see how it's used. You know, there'll be not unsurprising things where people talk about being a disciple of Christ, et cetera.

Anytime someone talks about being a disciple of someone other than Christ, you know, being a disciple of a man, they're pointing out someone as a schismatic, someone who has a different teaching, who is separating from the body of Christ.

So, you know, in the modern-day church, when we talk about being a disciple of certain persons, that's not how the word is supposed to be used. You know, Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations.

We're to make them disciples of him, not disciples of us. That is the idea. And so there are times when we can take spiritual language and bathe good things like mentorship. Mentorship is a good thing.

Bathe it in the spiritual language in a way that imports ungodly ideas, like that there's something special about being a disciple of this person. There's nothing like that. Consider also, I know people who have moved to areas and then not joined a church because they try different churches and they don't think that any of them are quite good enough.

You know, they wouldn't call them false churches, but they don't think they're good enough. That's, in essence, sacerdotalism, because rather than following the command of Christ, you are saying that the grace that would be mediated to me by these various sources just is not good enough.

I need a greater mediator. And they don't understand that the role of the church and the pastor, etc., is to lead them to Christ, not to mediate his grace. And how many people have left churches for the same reason?

They begin to see some flaws in their pastor, and they think that, oh, the grace that I'm receiving from this man is now not good enough. I must leave and go elsewhere. Now, it certainly can be the case where a man has flaws that, given that, you could serve Christ better elsewhere, depending on what's going on.

But many times, people aren't thinking along those lines of how can I best serve Christ. They are rather thinking along the lines of, is this grace being mediated to me good enough? That's not what they're literally saying in their heads, but it's practically how they're thinking about this.

You know, one more example. I've heard said, maybe you've heard this too, that we should be going to the best church. And if you find a church in another area, you should even move to go to that best church.

Once again, that's sacerdotalism. Every true church has the same Jesus. There's no reason to be divisive with this sacerdotalism that considers men mediators of God's grace rather than Christ being a mediator of God's grace.

If we all had the same Christ, we'd all be united. You know, Christ even set up his church so that we would recognize this. He set it up so there would have to be local assemblies. You know, if he wanted us to all find the best church, he would have made it so that we would be encouraged to do so, but he made it so that people have to go to many different churches.

It's of absolute necessity given the geographic expanse of the earth. And given that, it's going to be the case that some people have better pastors than others. But we all have the same Christ. Jesus loves all his children.

He does not give some of them a better of himself than to others. He might give different people different pastors who have different qualities and different gifts, but he himself is one Christ, and if we all are being led to him through whatever imperfect means we are being led to him, then we have the same Christ, and there's no reason to practice divisive behavior like this.

But Jesus said that he has living water, and it is good for men to lead people to that living water. However, these practices treat them as though they are additional fountainheads or additional streams, and what happens when you have an additional stream flowing into that living water?

You're just going to pollute it. You're going to pollute that living water. And so that's the important thing to realize. You see, ministers and churches, they are not mediating God's grace, but what they are accomplishing is pointing to the one who does.

What they are doing, if they're doing it rightly, is pointing to Christ. I'd like to continue reading here in verse 17. Actually, before I do that, one more comment about this. You notice the parenthesis in verse 16, if your translation does that.

You know, there's no parentheses in Greek, but the book of Corinthians was most likely, most scholars understand that Paul's letters were edited multiple times. It sounds like he's making a mistake and, oh, there's also Stephanas, but I don't know if, you know, it sounds like as he's writing, he's making a mistake.

He would have had every chance to correct this. I believe he kept that in there on purpose, because he understands that it really doesn't matter. I'm going to make a point of how little I remember or care about who it was that I baptized, because all that's important is that you were baptized in Christ's name.

It doesn't matter whose hands were involved in that baptism. Pointing to Christ, verse 17. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. This phrase should be a little surprising to us.

Paul is a church planner. He is one who is fulfilling the Great Commission. What does the Great Commission say? Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them. Say, well, Paul, you know, I've read Matthew 28.

I know that you worship to baptize. His point is not that baptism was not on his agenda. His point is that it is so secondary to the main thing, which is preaching. He desires to point to Christ. He does not desire to be the one whose hands are effective in baptism.

He desires to be the one who is telling people of Christ. You know, we spoke in Sunday school about who it is that is to administer communion. And we do restrict it to particular people, but not because, you know, someone is better able to mediate grace.

But because of their qualifications as a preacher, they must be able to explain what it is that's going on. They must be able to point people to Christ. Otherwise, this ordinance of baptism or communion does not have the same meaning if people don't understand what it means.

There is a, you know, if I were in Yosemite and a couple were to come up to me and say they would like to see Half Dome, it would be very silly of me if I pulled out pencil and paper and I drew them a picture.

That's what Half Dome looks like. That is the difference here between setting one up as a mediator of God's grace versus considering them what they ought to be as ones who point to Christ. You know, the reasonable thing for me to do would be over there, that's Half Dome.

They would be able to go see it in all its majesty. It would not be the same just if I were drawing a picture. This is what Paul is concerned about here. He's concerned about people getting a terrible copy that is not the same thing when Christ is the one mediating grace, unifying his church under one Savior.

He continues on. See, he is concerned about the gospel, the cross of Christ. The gospel is the good news that Jesus died so that we can have forgiveness. He died in place of all those who believe. This good news is wonderful good news.

And the baptism at the hand of someone else or, you know, having some status under some teacher or anything like that, none of these are the good news. You could be part of a very weak church and still have the perfect good news of Jesus.

Now, he says not with eloquence. Why not with eloquence? If preaching the gospel is pointing to Christ, when he speaks of eloquence, that is essentially pointing away from Christ. There's nothing in particular wrong with the word eloquence.

You know, there's actually a famous book on preaching called Evangelical Eloquence and there eloquence is just defined as clarity. Clarity is, of course, a very good thing. However, what he's describing here is some kind of rhetorical force and persuasion that distracts from the power of the gospel, the power of the cross.

You know, if you are moved by the preached word, that is wonderful. If, however, you are moved by the rhetorical force of the preaching, that's not the power of God, you know. Praise God, he gives people gifts, but that's not his power.

You know, that's one of the reasons why we don't do the whole mood lighting thing, etc., that a lot of churches do, is because we don't want to be guilty of causing people to be moved by something other than the power of the cross of Christ.

We don't want to distract away from it. We want to be ones who are pointing to Yosemite. We don't want to distract from Christ's mediation of grace. We don't want to offer a kind of sacerdotalism that divides.

You know, there's a saying that there's a right answer to the question, what's your favorite sermon? So you might think about that for a second and think about all the sermons you heard. It's often said that the right answer is the one I heard last Sunday.

Not necessarily because, you know, that was the best preacher you've ever listened to or the best structured message, but that was the means that God used to deliver to you his word from Jesus, who is mediating grace to you, mediating God's favor.

The reason that this message that you are hearing right now is special is not because of me, but because of what we studied in that catechism question. It's the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God effectual to salvation, especially the preaching.

And this is what he is accomplishing right here, right now, regardless of how good of a preacher I am. It is his power, not mine, not my eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be stripped of its power. You know, Jesus, when he talked to the woman at the well, she said, you know, your people worship on this mountain, my people worship on this mountain.

And Jesus responded, yes, you worship who you do not know, but one day those who follow God will be worshiping him on anywhere because those who worship him worship him in spirit and in truth. You see, during the time where there was a temple, there was a special place to get God's grace.

It was very limited to this one location. Since Jesus Christ has come and the Holy Spirit has been outpoured in a way he was not before, that is no longer the case. There is no special place where I can receive God's grace.

God's grace is just as much here as it is at any church because Christ is the one mediator between God and man, not dividing us into different camps where we can find the best kind of grace or the best mediator of grace, but uniting us under one mediator of grace, one mediator of God's power.

Do not be fooled into thinking that you are hindered in receiving Christ's grace because of where you are or what teachers you have or what situation you have. God's word is near, and we have access to Christ directly.

If you do not believe, if you do not have forgiveness, you can come to him today, not just at this church, but at any church under any preacher who is opening these words, and you could come to him. Repent of your sins.

He will forgive you. He will be so gracious to you, so merciful, not because of any goodness I have to offer, but because of the goodness he offers. And do not be deceived into thinking that you have some special status under any kind of teacher.

Do not be deceived into thinking that you need to find the best situation. Sacerdotalism, this idea that God's grace is mediated by various men and not solely by Christ, it divides. Sacerdotalism divides, but Christ unites.

Let us be united under him. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the goodness and favor we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we have forgiveness of sins through him and not through any man who is imperfect and unable to give the same thing that another man is giving.

I thank you that as we are pointed to Christ, we can all be united under one Savior. And I pray that we would find ourselves more and more united under that Savior, growing closer and closer in unity with him, with each other, and with other churches, other true churches across the world.

In Jesus' name, amen.