1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 1.
A Reproof of Disharmony. 1 Cor. 1, 10–16.
V. 12. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. V. 13. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? V. 14. I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius, v. 15. lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
The apostle now names the witnesses, upon whose testimony he bases his admonition: For it has been made known to me concerning you, my brethren, by them of Chloe that there are personal contentions among you. Paul had received definite information, it had been disclosed to him as a fact. Chloe may have been a freed-woman belonging to the congregation at Ephesus, but also well known in Corinth, the members of whose household had been in the latter city and brought their report from first-hand knowledge. So the apostle knew about the personal wranglings which were threatening to disrupt the Corinthian congregation; for, naturally, the difference of opinion would lead to contentions in the effort to establish various opinions.
Note that Paul, in spite of these conditions, yet addresses the Christians at Corinth as his brethren.
The apostle says wherein these strifes consisted: But I mean this, I have reference to this fact, that each of you individually says, I am of Paul; but I of Apollos; but I of Cephas; but I of Christ.
As the Corinthians saw it in the schools of their heathen philosophers, so they applied it in their pride and self-conceit to the Christian congregation: they formed parties and called themselves after the name of their favorite teacher. Paul had been the first teacher of the Gospel at Corinth, and, as the apostle to the heathen, had preached the truth with all fervor.
Next had come Apollos, whose brilliant gifts of oratory had naturally impressed a great many of the members. Both of these teachers undoubtedly emphasized the universality of the grace of God in Christ, as they were obliged to do in order to gain the Gentiles for Christ.
But soon came the Judaizing teachers, who wanted the Jewish ceremonial law introduced in all congregations, probably arguing with a great show of plausibility for their position.
And while the contention was at its height, a number of members that had not yet been involved formed their own party, sanctimoniously taking their name from Christ Himself and denying to the others true discipleship. The result of the entire quarrel was that each party claimed for itself the only true position and despised all the others.
Note that a feature of the movement was the adherence to a name and that it was nourished entirely by party spirit. Not one of them arose in defense of a fundamental principle of Christian truth.
Paul, therefore, takes hold of the matter in no uncertain terms: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or have you been baptized into the name of Paul? A divided Christ means a Christ appropriated in parts, to each one his several bit, in this case in four parts, each faction claiming His truth for itself. Surely that cannot be the intention of the Corinthian Christians; this point they surely did not consider in their wrangling!
And the thought foremost in the mind of Paul is that his readers had become members of the Church by faith in the Cross, in the atonement of Christ, which had been sealed to them in Baptism. The very idea as though Paul had been crucified for them is monstrous in his eyes. And the thought as though any of them had been baptized into his name and thus become consecrated to his person, is perfectly abhorrent to his humility.
"The fact that Paul puts his name for all the rest proves how ingenuously he was opposed to all this party spirit, and how humbly he was anxious that Christ's name should not be prejudiced through his own" (Neander, in Lange-Schaff, 1 Corinthians, 30).
He could not bear to be placed upon a pedestal by such as did not trust solely in the Gospel preached by him but made their boast of the dubious distinction that they called themselves after the name of such an excellent preacher.
It is with a feeling of relief that Paul cries out: I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest any one should say that you were baptized into my name.