1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 1.
A Reproof of Disharmony. 1 Cor. 1, 10–16.
V. 10. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among- you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. V. 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.
The apostle takes up at once the question which caused him the deepest concern in the congregation at Corinth, that of the threatening disruption. He beseeches them, he exhorts them, he most earnestly begs them, as brethren, his brethren and brethren among one another.
He bases his pleading upon the soundest foundation: Through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because the name, the honor, of Jesus is involved in all the actions of the Christians, they must be doubly careful in all their actions.
The hallowing of the name of God and of Christ requires that we at all times keep it unstained, unblemished, by any behavior which might bring disgrace to Him.
Therefore Paul asks the Corinthians that they all say the same thing; there should be such perfect accord and harmony of sentiment that in their confession of faith before men their agreement may always be voiced. He demands unity for union, not an ignoring of fundamental differences by equivocal confessions. If a creed is purposely so worded as to include or admit both true and false interpretations, it will not aid the cause of Christian harmony.
But Paul wants unity and union on the basis of the truth, lest there be among them clefts, splits, schisms, and thus divisions be found among them in spite of the fact that they are united in an outward organization. Instead of that, they should be well and surely adjusted, held together in a bond of perfect unity, in the same discernment and in the same judgment. They should have the proper view of all conditions and circumstances pertaining to the belief and work of the Church, and they should rest their judgment upon this correct understanding; they should form their opinion from the right disposition, Acts 4, 32.
As the Christians are one heart in the faith, so they should be one mouth in confession. But where there are breaches of opinion, due to false thinking and reasoning, there the perfect interrelation and harmony of all the members of the Church is out of the question.