When Paul wrote his first letter to Corinth, he wrote to address and correct various problems and misunderstandings the brethren had. He talked about such topics as the acceptance of a fornicator (1 Corinthians 5), corruption of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11), abuse of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14), and misconceptions about the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). The list could continue. But the first problem Paul addressed, which was also in some way tied to the other problems, was that of division. Some were claiming to be “of Paul,” some “of Apollos,” some “of Cephas,” and others “of Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:12). In reality, they all should have been “of Christ.” They probably understood that to a certain degree, but still wanted to claim allegiance to these other men. This demonstrates that they did not really understand what it meant to be “of Christ” since Christ is not divided (1 Corinthians 1:13). Let us see what we can learn from Paul’s correction of them here as we strive today to be “of Christ.”

“Now I exhort you, brethren, 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 brethren, 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? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).

For this study, we will see what points we can draw from this passage as it relates to our being of Christ.
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