Counsel for a Church in Crisis

KEY VERSE: “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.” —I Corinthians 1:10

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: I Corinthians 1:10-17; 3:1-9

THE SITUATION THE Apostle Paul addressed in this letter was one where the brethren were not well grounded in the fundamental doctrines of the truth, and as a result were divided over a preference for leadership. In another statement Paul informs us that unity in Christ is based upon our united belief in the “one Lord, and one faith.”—Eph. 4:5

Our Lord and Redeemer is Jesus Christ, and in him is centered all the great fundamentals of our most holy faith. What a harmonious group of doctrines is clustered around Jesus to make up the one faith which is the light and inspiration of our lives! The creation and fall of man; the Abrahamic promise of deliverance from sin and death; the coming of Christ at his First Advent to redeem mankind from death; the high calling of this Gospel Age; the return and second presence of Christ; the establishment of his kingdom for the blessing of all the families of the earth—are some of these soul-satisfying teachings.

Our unity is based upon the fundamental doctrines of the divine plan. The question might be raised as to how we are to determine what are the fundamental doctrines. We suggest that the fundamental teachings of our most holy faith are those which can be firmly established by a ‘thus saith the Lord’. This is true of those we have mentioned, and of the others. There are frequently certain viewpoints we enjoy which we would find difficult to establish directly by the Bible. These are sometimes based upon philosophy; sometimes on guesswork; sometimes they are traditions. We like them, but perhaps some other brethren do not. Their philosophy is different; they guess differently; and they have other traditions which they like better than ours!

It is well to keep in mind that we cannot maintain the unity of the Spirit by insisting that all in the ecclesia conform to our ideas. All should want to conform to the Lord’s ideas, and we can know whether or not they are his by applying the simple test of their credibility by a ‘thus saith the Lord’. If the ideas which mean so much to us are not dearly expressed in the Bible, we can conclude that the Lord did not consider them very important.

It is upon the fundamentals that Paul advises us to all speak the same thing. When the focal point of our fellowship is an appreciation of the truth of God’s plan, we will be less apt to consider it important to argue over leaders. Each has his own unique style and manner of expression, as did Paul and Apollos, but if they are presenting the same message of truth we should all rejoice together in the knowledge and Spirit of truth presented.

Paul mentions our “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) as being associated with growing up into Christ in all things. This is related to our use of the truth. The proper use of the truth is also one of the fundamentals of our unity in Christ. One of the purposes for which the Lord gave us the truth is that we might be its ministers.

Thus we see that unity of the Spirit is based on the great fundamentals of the faith and the proper application of these basic truths in our lives. We are to be doers of the Word as well as hearers. We are to keep this unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Peace and goodwill among ourselves, and a loving, enthusiastic cooperation in the ministry of the truth are possible only within the framework of the basic doctrines of present truth, so let us hold fast the profession of our faith.

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