WWUTT 1411 Being of the Same Mind (1 Corinthians 1:10-11)

As much as we know about some of the problems that were going on in the church in Corinth, Paul nevertheless expresses thanks for them and exhorts them that they may continue in gospel living when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study in the word of Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness. Find all our videos and other ministry resources at www .utt .com.

Opening Greetings and the Reading from 1 Corinthians

Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the book of 1 Corinthians, and I'll be reading to you today from the Legacy Standard Bible. This is 1 Corinthians 1, verses 1 -19.

Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all word and all knowledge, even as the witness about Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, beyond reproach, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.

Has Christ been 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 would say you were baptized in my name.

Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, not in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty.

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.

This is the first time I have read on this podcast from any other translation other than the ESV. And this is the Legacy Standard Bible, which is not completed, not Old and New Testament. Right now what they have is a New Testament version that also includes Psalms and Proverbs.

But I tell you, reading through this, especially looking into the Psalms and seeing the name Yahweh there, that was particularly a treat. So those places in the Old Testament where we would have the capital L-O-R-D, right, all in uppercase letters, that is supposed to be a substitute for the name Yahweh, which is really what appears there in the Hebrew.

And the Legacy Standard Bible preserves that, putting the name Yahweh in there instead of the Lord. So that's been neat to read. But anyway, what we're reading here in 1 Corinthians out of the Legacy Standard Bible, we pick up where we left off last week, and I had finished off in verse 9.

God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. And then we get to verse 10. We're now after this wonderful greeting and expressing his thanks for this church, the Apostle Paul now begins to confront some of the problems that has been told to him by Chloe's people when they gave a report of things that were going on in the church in Corinth.

He says, Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Now, being in the same mind how? Well, that they would all have the mind of Christ. I mentioned to you last week that 10 times in these first 10 verses does Paul mention the name of Christ. It's either Christ Jesus or the Lord Jesus Christ, but it comes up 10 times in just these first 10 verses.

So what does he want to fill the church in Corinth up with? He wants to fill them up with Christ. Everything that he has to say to them flows out of the gospel of Christ. Now, even though he means to fill them up with Christ, that doesn't mean they don't have Christ.

In fact, he says, I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God, which was given you in Christ Jesus. How does he know that the grace of God is upon them? Because he was there for over a year and a half.

He proclaimed the gospel. He taught them the full counsel of God and they came to faith. They left their pagan ways, this sexually immoral and idolatrous city. And yet known throughout Macedonia and Achaia now that there is a church there of people who used to be just immersed in all this paganism that Corinth was known for.

And now they have renounced their idolatrous ways and are worshipers of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's well known. And Paul rejoices in knowing that about this church. Now, there are some who are factious, who have gone into some divisive ways, even renouncing essential doctrines, which we'll talk about as we go through this.

But that doesn't mean the whole church is just lost. It's gone. Paul will later say that there must be factions among you so that those who are genuine might be revealed. And we will see who is genuine by those who are convicted of heart over those things that Paul needs to tell them.

And they will realize, yeah, I've been going away now that is contrary to the gospel that I've been taught. So I repent and I return back to the way of righteousness. So Paul says that this is a church that is sanctified in Christ, called as saints, with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

This is a church that is being sanctified. That's every church, by the way. The church that you attend is being sanctified. That's the difference between an unbeliever and a believer. Believers believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Unbelievers do not. Believers are being sanctified. Unbelievers are not. So we should expect the evil and the wickedness and things like that going on in the world of unbelievers. But those who are believers are pursuing holiness.

It doesn't mean they're perfect. You're not going to walk into a church and see perfect people. But what you should see in a church that is faithful to sound doctrinal teaching, the proclamation of the gospel, and that which accords with godliness, what you will see in that church is a progression in godliness.

You will see people who are growing in their Christian faith. They're growing in love. They're growing in the knowledge of God, love for God, and love for one another, by the way. Now, saying that they're not perfect does not mean that that's, therefore, an excuse for there to be sin in their midst.

Because, again, what you should witness is a progression in holiness, growing in righteousness and Christlikeness. That's what you should be able to observe in a church. And there's going to be those who are more mature, who are further along in that walk, and there are those who are going to be less mature, who are not as far in that walk, who are needing to be brought up by those who are mature.

We talked about that when we were in Romans 12 through 15, especially. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. So we're seeing this growth that is happening in the church, a growing in godliness.

Those who are mature helping those who are younger. Those who are younger respecting their elders and learning from what the scriptures say and growing in a knowledge of these things and how to apply them.

And that's one of the things that the church in Corinth was needing some help with here. Sounded an understanding of the gospel, even though, like I said, there is a denial of some essential doctrinal truths.

Paul is going to confront that, but it doesn't mean the gospel isn't there. There are people that believe the true gospel and proclaim every aspect of this doctrine. There's just some others who seem to be more devoted to their pagan ways than to the Christian ways.

And Paul means to deal with them through this letter that he is writing to them. But this is a church being sanctified. So the problems that are going on there are not a reason to say this is not a church, but it is definitely to show that this church needs desperately to mature.

So he approaches this very pastorally filled with love and appreciation and thankfulness to this church. I recently had to discipline two of my girls, my youngest two kids. And it was because of their attitude in church yesterday that I had to discipline them.

But I spoke to them very lovingly. I explained to them why they were being punished. And what I wanted from them was to grow up to be good young ladies of God. And as somebody that needed to mature in God, I needed to confront them in their sin.

Here's what you did wrong. And here is what God expects of you. We ask for forgiveness. We're desiring to grow in knowledge and in maturity of God. Now, these are little girls, of course, six and four years old.

But the same thing applies within the church. You're going to have those who are more spiritually mature and those who are less mature. And those who are less mature at times are going to need to be admonished.

Sometimes even the mature need to be admonished. But the less mature need to be corrected with goodwill that they would pursue that desire for Christ likeness. That is Paul's pastoral approach with this church.

Loving expression of thanksgiving and appreciation for them. But it's because he loves them that he must confront these things so that they would grow in Christ and not continue in these wicked ways. And if that would be the progression, if they would continue in wickedness instead of righteousness, then what will happen is Christ will remove their lampstand, which is what he said to those churches that he calls to repentance in Revelation chapters two and three.

If by removing their lampstand means that the light of the gospel is no longer with that church. God's presence is no longer with them. But that's not the case with this church in Corinth. Christ is there.

They have the truth. They are growing in it. Paul in his apostolic authority means to continue that along. So here we go in verse ten where we have a shift. We've gone from the expression of thanksgiving at the beginning of the letter to now it's I exhort you brothers.

Now that word exhort is to call somebody to do something. He's talked about the gospel at the beginning of this. It's not a it's not a proclamation of the gospel like Jesus died for our sins and he rose again from the grave.

So in light of that, you know, that's going to come up in the letter. He's definitely going to say those things, but he he has shared the gospel or reminded them of it in the sense that they're being sanctified in Christ Jesus.

That's good news. That grace has come to you. That's in everything. You are enriched in him in all word and all knowledge, even as the witness about Christ was confirmed among you. You're not lacking in any gift eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ who will also confirm you to the end beyond reproach in the day of Christ.

All of this is sharing the gospel reminding them of that gospel proclamation that first came to them that they realize their sin and left their ways of darkness to become part of the kingdom of light.

So he says I exhort you brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all agree. So exhorting is now taking that belief that you have and there needs to be a response to it. The gospel is not just given to us as as you know, some sort of informative thing just letting you know about this.

Jesus rose from the dead. Oh good. Okay. Thanks. Thanks for letting me know that that's not the declaration of the gospel but that there is in addition to the proclamation of good news a call to respond to it.

So the gospel is not just something to be proclaimed but it is also something you must respond to as Jesus preached at the beginning of Mark's gospel Mark 115 the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe the gospel.

So that's a declaration of the gospel that demands a response that you would turn from sin and turn to Jesus Christ and believe in him. There are other places in the New Testament that talk about obeying the gospel.

Romans 10 16 talking about the Jews who did not obey but they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah says. Lord who has believed what he has heard from us second Thessalonians 1 8 talks about the judgment of God that is coming inflicting Vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

They're going to be the ones who will perish in the judgment those who did not obey the gospel first Peter 4 17 for it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God and if it begins with us what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God.

So here that that's that's what Paul is putting into effect here with the Corinthians judgment has come to the household of God. He as an apostle is looking at their behavior and saying there are things that need correction.

And if the judgment has come or it begins with the church what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God. Well we know the answer to that according to John 3 36 he who has the Sun has life.

He who does not obey the Sun shall not see life but the wrath of God remains on him. So we who obey the gospel we're going to turn from sin and follow Christ. But those who do not obey the gospel will not turn from sin.

They will continue in that way and perish in the judgment of God that is coming. So here Paul is he's issuing judgment on the household of God. Those who believe the gospel will therefore hear this exhortation be convicted of sin turn from it and back to the way of Christ according to his gospel.

So I exhort you brothers calling for a response to the gospel that Paul proclaimed to them by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you but that you be made complete.

That's again calling this attention back to the sanctification that they've received in Christ Jesus to the Church of God which is at Corinth to those who have been sanctified that you be made complete again verse 8 Christ will confirm you to the end beyond reproach in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So be complete that oneness the unity that we are to have in Christ by having the same mind of Christ be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. This was something that that Paul shared with the Philippians.

Now all of my cross references so far have been from the ESV because that's what I'm most familiar with. So let me turn to Philippians chapter 2 in the LSB now and read to you from the same translation of a teaching from out of 1st Corinthians.

So it's in Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 where it says. Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. So having the mind of Christ who although existing in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself by taking the form of a slave by being made in the likeness of men being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

And that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now that's a presentation of the gospel right there. And Paul is saying at the beginning of it that we need to have such a mind that is in conformity with that gospel proclamation that Christ humbled himself that he left his throne in heaven and put on flesh taking on the likeness of sinful man and living in obedience to the will and glory of the Father.

And so likewise we in response to that gospel need to live the same way. We need to live in humility with one another. Because that's how Paul started that chapter in Philippians chapter 2 talking about putting others needs ahead of your own.

You are demonstrating the love of Christ that he has had for us humbling himself even to the point of death on a cross. Would you be willing to sacrifice yourself in such a way for the benefit the sanctification of the church.

This is for your sanctification and it's also for the sanctification of your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Sanctification is a community project. We all do this together. You're not sanctified on your own.

We do it together as the church of Jesus Christ as Paul is is exhorting here. So I exhort you brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus that you all agree. You all agree according to the same gospel that's been proclaimed to you that there be no divisions among you but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

This is a judgment that Paul is making upon them in light of the fact that they've not been following along in the gospel the way that they should. But if they are truly in Christ those who are in Christ will be convicted of sin and repent and come back to the way of the gospel.

And then he gets real specific. So he says you need to be of the same mind and of the same judgment. What. What's the problem. What's going on in Corinth where they're not demonstrating this. And then he says verse 11.

For I have been informed concerning you my brothers by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this that each one of you is saying I am of Paul I of Apollos and I of Cephas and I of Christ.

Has Christ been divided. Was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized in the name of Paul. We're gonna pick up there tomorrow. We're gonna get a little more specific with what Paul is exactly confronting that's happening there in the church in Corinth.

And how they need to correct this error. Because most assuredly my friends you've witnessed the same thing in your church. I'm sure that you've seen divisions that have occurred even in your midst. And there's the divisions are based on devotions to certain people certain teachers certain ideas certain doctrines you know doctrines that might be named after certain theologians in church history so on and so forth.

So we're going to talk about that a little more specifically and tie this apply it back to some real-world examples. But I hope you've enjoyed the lesson today especially as the reading has come from the legacy standard Bible provided by steadfast Bibles.

Thanks for thanks for this little book guys. And I'm looking forward to the whole Bible in this particular translation Old Testament and new. Let's finish with prayer. Heavenly Father we thank you for the kindness that you show to us that you are convicting us of our sins so that we may grow in the righteousness of Christ and have a Christ mindedness.

And may that be the case for our churches. May we desire to see that in our church a growth in the knowledge of God and having the mind of Christ. May we be long-suffering with one another knowing that there are some people that grow a little bit faster than others.

But we do this for our sanctification for the sanctification of your church that we may all be presented before you in splendor on that great day of Christ. Teach us to humble ourselves and be after the the growth of your church for the sake of your great name.

And it's in Jesus name that we pray amen.

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