I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Corinthians 1-4.

    When Paul writes about the divisions in the Church in Corinth, I believe he is talking more about factions than about actual disagreement over actual teachings. He is addressing those who are making a claim to being more righteous than those who are part of different factions. I have often heard this used by non-denominational congregations to justify not being part of a denomination, and to imply that they are superior to those which are part of a denomination. While they do have a point about denominations being the result of a failure of Christians to be truly faithful, they have clearly failed to fully read the passage because Paul addresses them when he writes “or, ‘I follow Christ’.” When we become divided into factions, we become more concerned with remaining loyal to our faction than in serving God. Factions also serve to make us feel superior to others and to gather power. We should be seeking to serve others and to elevate them, not lord it over them.

    Paul tells us that we will never convince people of the Gospel message by the wisdom of our arguments. By human thinking the Gospel message is foolishness. On the one hand are those who refuse to believe in the miraculous and thus will not accept Jesus’ resurrection. On the other hand are those who will not accept that Jesus’ death was His victory. Another way to put this is something I have said previously. No matter how sound your logic, if your starting assumptions are faulty your conclusions will be as well. Until we accept God’s assumptions, no amount of wisdom or logic will get us anywhere. One cannot arrive at the Gospel through the application of wisdom or logic, only through the action of the Holy Spirit. Paul makes clear that this does not mean, as some have concluded, that wisdom and logic do not have their place in Christian faith. Once one has come to understand the power of God and accept the assumptions upon which He created the Universe, the Holy Spirit can show us the wisdom and logic of God and how it should shape our lives.