1 Corinthians 1:13 - Printer Friendly

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

NIV: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

NASB: Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

CSB: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul's name?

NLT: Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!

KJV: Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

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

Paul has called out a source of hot conflict between the Christians living in Corinth. Instead of being united together, as God has called them to be, they have divided themselves into factions based on their loyalty to different leaders. Four are given, at least as examples of these groups: those claiming Paul, Apollos, Peter, and Christ.

At first glance, we may wonder how people could be so committed to just one Christian leader that they would fight with other believers over it. After all, didn't all of them teach the same message: Christ's gospel? Wouldn't one assume all of these leaders preached that salvation comes only by faith in Christ? Experience, however, shows how easy it is for human beings to lose perspective and divide over issues of personality, authority, and race.

We don't have any reason to assume that Apollos or Peter were encouraging this conflict. Nor do we see evidence they were building factions against other teachers. Paul certainly was not, as he makes clear in this and the following verses. In fact, Paul sounds both baffled and angry. Can Christ be divided into parts, he asks. In other words, isn't Christianity all about Jesus Christ, not some fallible human teacher? How can loyalty to one person's truthful teaching about Jesus cause those in Christ to declare opposition to other truthful teachers about Christ?

Paul immediately calls out any group which would say it is loyal to him and against the others. He pointedly and sarcastically asks if he was the one who was crucified to pay for their sin? Were they baptized in Paul's name? No, of course not. All Christians were baptized in the name of Jesus as a way of identifying themselves publicly with Him. Paul's remark is not only cutting, it is telling: those who identify more with a human teacher than with Jesus should consider in whom they are truly trusting.

First Corinthians 1:10–17 is about Christian unity. After giving thanks to God for the Corinthians and their sure place with Him in eternity, Paul addresses the way they have divided themselves into factions based on which Christian teacher they follow. Paul urges them to stop and be unified in and around Christ. After all, Christ is not divided. They were not baptized in the name of Paul, though he baptized a few of them. Christ did not send Paul to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Paul will not risk emptying the cross of its power by preaching with eloquent words.

Paul's letter to the Christians in Corinth begins with thanks for the great and powerful gifts God has given to them by His grace and through their faith in Christ. They will stand blameless before God in the end. Right now, though, they must stop dividing themselves according to which Christian teacher they follow and become unified in and around Christ. The gospel message of Christ's death on the cross is weak and foolish to the world, but God has given faith in Christ to those who believe it and find God's power and wisdom.

First Corinthians 1 begins Paul's letter to the Christians in Corinth, a big, bustling city on a major trade route. Paul knows them well, having spent a year and a half leading people to Christ and establishing the church there. He writes from Ephesus to correct some of their wrong attitudes and behaviors and to answer some of their questions. First, though, he thanks God for His grace to the Corinthians, knowing they will stand blameless before Him on the day of the Lord. Still, they must stop being divided and unite in and around Christ.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.