THIS AGE

9

How to Eliminate Division (3:18–23)

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. (3:18–23)

This passage follows the problem Paul has already carefully delineated, that of division and disunity. Typical of Paul, the solution to the problem is found in correct thinking. To gain and maintain unity in the church, we must have the proper view of ourselves, of others, of our possessions, and of our Possessor.

The Proper View of Ourselves

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” (3:18–20)

Much division in the church would be eliminated if individuals were not so impressed with their own wisdom. A person who thinks that he is wise in this age—that is, wise in contemporary human wisdom—does nothing but deceive himself. Anyone who is so self-deceived ought to become foolish (mōros), that is, identify with those who recognize that human wisdom, including our own, is mere foolishness (mōria) without God. Those two Greek terms are from the same root from which we get moron. Human wisdom is moronic in the Lord’s sight, before God. Unity in the church can never come without recognizing human wisdom to be what God declares it to be: foolish. And unity can never come without Christians becoming foolish in the world’s eyes by conforming to God’s wisdom.

The human wisdom that is foolish is in the area of spiritual truth. Paul is not talking about such things as business, mathematics, science, or mechanics. We can be quite knowledgeable about those things without any special enlightenment from God. Where human wisdom becomes foolish and useless is in matters concerning God, salvation, and spiritual truth. Human wisdom has no way of discovering and understanding divine things.

Even Christians, therefore, do not have a right to their own opinions about the things God has revealed. When Christians start expressing and following their own ideas about the gospel, the church, and Christian living, the saints cannot help becoming divided. Christians are no wiser in their flesh than are unbelievers. The first step in a Christian’s becoming truly wise is to recognize that his own human wisdom is foolishness, a reflection of the wisdom of this world, which is foolishness before God. It is the product of intellectual pride and is the enemy of God’s revelation.

The church must create an atmosphere in which the Word of God is honored and submitted to, in which human opinion is never used to judge or qualify revelation. As far as the things of God are concerned, Christians must be totally under the teaching of Scripture and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Only then can we be open to God’s wisdom and truly become wise. Common commitment to the Word of God is the basic unifier.

Where the Word of God is not set up as the supreme authority, division is inevitable. Such happens even in evangelical churches, when pastors and other leaders begin substituting their own ideas for the truths of Scripture. The substitution is seldom intentional, but it will always happen when the Bible is neglected. A Bible that is not studied carefully cannot be followed carefully. And where it is not followed there will be division, because there will be no common ground for beliefs and practices. When the truth of Scripture is not the sole authority, men’s varied opinions become the authority.

Some people are not satisfied unless they can express their opinion on virtually everything. Some are not happy unless they take the opposite side from the majority. Intellectual pride cannot be content to listen and admire; it must always speak up and criticize. By its very nature, it must always try to win out in an issue. It cannot stand opposition or contradiction. It must justify itself at any cost and is exclusive. It looks down its nose at all who disagree.

Pride is always at the heart of human wisdom, the wisdom of this world, which is foolishness before God. It is difficult to teach a person who thinks he knows everything. The Roman rhetorician Quintilian said of some of his students, “They would doubtlessly have become excellent scholars if they had not been so fully persuaded of their own scholarship.” A well-known Arab proverb goes: “He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is simple. Teach him.”

If a congregation were to have ten men with doctorates who were only nominal in their commitment to the Lord and to His Word, and ten other men who had only finished high school but who were completely sold out to the Lord and steeped in His Word, it should not be hard to decide which ten were most qualified to lead the church. By God’s standards it would be no contest. Having members who are highly talented and trained can be of considerable help to a church, but only if those who possess such abilities are submitted to the truths and standards of Scripture. Christ will rule and unify His church if He is given pure channels committed to His Word through whom to mediate that rule.

When believers look to psychology alone, instead of to God’s Word, for answers to personal or marital or moral problems, spiritual disaster results. When Christian businessmen look to popular methods of expediency alone, rather than to the principles of Scripture, to determine business ethics, their spiritual life and testimony are undermined. In science and technology men have made great advances, for which we should be glad and from which we can profit. But in regard to the things of God and His plan and will for men, human ideas and understanding stand completely empty and helpless.

The liberal Bible scholars and theologians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were brilliant men, highly learned in many areas. They often disagreed with one another on doctrines and interpretations, but the one belief in which they were unanimous was that the Bible was essentially a human book. Because they considered it to be primarily human, though perhaps influenced by divine guidance of some sort, they felt perfectly free to reject or modify whatever part of Scripture did not fit their own understanding. Because they did not believe that writing had been developed by Moses’ time, they concluded that he could not have written the Pentateuch. Because they did not believe in supernatural predictions, they did not believe that the man Daniel could possibly have written the book of Daniel, which tells of events hundreds of years after he lived. When Scripture reported that God said or did something that was contrary to their self-invented view of God, they denied that He said or did it. In the name of intellectualism they decimated God’s Word, leaving only that which suited their personal biases. They also decimated a great part of His church, causing unimaginable confusion, doubt, unbelief, and spiritual division. The legacy of those men is still polluting seminaries, colleges, and churches throughout the world.

The person who elevates his own wisdom will always have a low view of Scripture. But the more important truth is that God knows the value of that person’s own wisdom. It is foolishness, stupid, totally unreliable and useless. Eventually God will trip up those who oppose His Word. He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness. Like Haman, they hang on their own gallows (Esther 7:7–10). Their cunning plans turn to condemn them as God catches them in their own trap. He knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.

Human philosophy is totally inadequate to bring men to God, to show them how to be saved or how to live. It will always become entrapped in its own schemes, and entrap those who trust in it. The one who trusts in human understanding does not have the right understanding of himself. He does not see that his spiritual opinions, ideas, and reasonings are useless (mataios), vain and empty.

The proper view of ourselves, the godly and true view, is that apart from divine truth we are fools with empty thoughts. Recognizing this truth opens the door to true wisdom and closes the door to division.

The Proper View of Others

So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas. (3:21–22a)

A second requirement for overcoming church division is having the right view of others. Paul had spoken strongly against special loyalties to church leaders (1:12–14; 3:4–9), the same three leaders he mentions here. But now the emphasis is different. Although those men should not have been specially elevated or revered, they were sources of great help and blessing. They were sent to the Corinthians by the Lord, and therefore should have been listened to and respected. They were God’s teachers. They taught the same truths from God and were meant by God to be sources of unity, not division.

The divisions that developed around them were based on the people’s attraction to their individual styles and personalities, their personal appeal to various Corinthians. Church members began to boast of Paul or Peter (Cephas) or Apollos, giving honor to one over the other—and the church became divided.

Parenthetically, it should be added that sometimes certain leaders should be respected over others. A pastor who carefully preaches God’s Word and lives a life consistent with his preaching deserves to be respected and followed. One who is careless in preaching and living, on the other hand, does not deserve to be respected or followed. In both cases our response should be based on the leader’s faithfulness to the Word, not on his personality or style. If he is faithful he is worthy of esteem (1 Thess. 5:12–13).

Some years ago I spoke at a conference attended by people from a wide variety of churches, Protestant and Catholic, liberal and evangelical. The series of messages was on Christian ethics, with Hebrews 13 as the text. When I began explaining “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls,” I received some interesting responses. Many of the people found it hard to justify the idea of obeying and submitting to their pastors—and for good reason. The pastors did not believe the Bible to be the Word of God, and their lives were consistent with that unbelief. I pointed out that Hebrews teaches submission to godly leaders, to those who are faithful to Scripture both in teaching and in living (Heb. 13:7, 17).

The Corinthians were fortunate to have had the ministry of at least three outstanding men of God, two of them apostles. Peter probably did not serve personally in Corinth, but some of the Corinthians had benefited from his ministry. Each of those men had special gifts and abilities that God used to teach and lead the believers. That variety of leadership should have enriched the church, not divided it.

Christians can learn from many good teachers and leaders today—through radio, television, books, magazines, tapes, conferences, and other means. To the extent that the leaders are scriptural and godly, they will spiritually unite those to whom they minister. Our first responsibility is to our local church, and our spiritual submission should first of all be to our own pastors. But no pastor should be jealous of the spiritual blessing that someone else may be giving to members of his congregation. This was Paul’s spirit even in the very adverse circumstances he reported in Philippians 1:12–18.

The point Paul makes in 3:22a is that we should rejoice in and profit from all the faithful leaders God sends us, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas. If the Corinthians had been careful to understand and follow what all three of those men taught, rather than, for instance, how they looked or spoke, the church would have been united, not divided. Their view of others had to be corrected.

The Proper View of Possessions

or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you. (3:22b)

A third requirement for overcoming division is having the right view of our possessions.

This phrase (v. 22b) continues the list of the “all things” that belong to us (v. 21). Not only are all godly leaders ours, but everything else from God is ours as well. As believers we are “heirs of God and fe fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17). We have even inherited Christ’s glory, bequeathed to us by our Lord Himself (John 17:22). “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

The world or life or death or things present or things to come is totally inclusive. Paul begins and ends this declaration with all things belong to you (cf. 21b). In Christ, all things are for our sakes and for God’s glory (2 Cor. 4:15).

Specifically, the world (kosmos) is ours, even now. His main point is that, in the millennial kingdom and throughout eternity in the new heavens and new earth, we will possess the earth in a richer way (Matt. 5:5; Rev. 21). But even now the universe is a possession of God’s people. It is ours. Our heavenly Father made it for us. It is still in the grip of the evil one (1 John 5:19), but it will someday and forever belong to us, not to him.

Joseph Parker reports an interesting story about his first pastorate:

I began my ministry in Banbury, and my upper window looked over the vast estate of a wealthy man. It was I, really, who inherited that estate. Oh, I did not own a foot of it, but it was all mine. The owner came down to see it once a year, but I walked its miles day after day.

When we fully inherit the world, with Jesus on the throne, it will be perfect, and even more ours. In the meanwhile, this present world already belongs to us, with its wonders and glories, imperfections and disappointments. The believer can appreciate the world as no unbeliever can. We know where it came from, why it was made, why we are on it, and what its final destiny will be. We can sing with certainty as well as joy, “This is my Father’s world.” And we are His heirs.

All life is ours; but from the context it is clear that Paul is primarily referring to spiritual life, eternal life. In Christ we have new life, a quality of life that will never tarnish, diminish, or be lost. God’s own life is in us now. Through Christ, God abides in us (John 14:23), and we share His nature and His life (cf. 2 Pet. 1:3–4).

Even death is ours. The great enemy of mankind has been overcome. Christ has conquered death, and through Him we have conquered death (cf. 1 Cor. 15:54–57). Unless we are raptured, we will have to pass through death; but we will pass through it as its master not its slave. All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus. It brings us into the eternal presence of our Savior. That is why Paul could say with such joy, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Whether he remained on earth for a while longer or went to be with the Lord, he could not lose. For Christians, death can only make things better. To stay here and finish the work Christ has given us to do may be “more necessary,” but “to depart and be with Christ … is very much better” (Phil. 1:23–24). For God’s people, this present life is good, but death—which ushers us into eternal life—is better.

Things present are ours. That encompasses everything we have or experience in this life. It is, in fact, a synonym for this life. It includes the good and the bad, the pleasant and the painful, the joys and the disappointments, the health and the sickness, the contentment and the grief. In God’s hands it all serves us and makes us spiritually richer. “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us”; and because nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” nothing can cause us any real harm (Rom. 8:37–39). God causes all things to be working together for our good (v. 28).

Things to come are ours. The reference here is not primarily, if at all, to the future of our present lives. That is included under things present, meaning everything we will experience on earth. The things that are to come are heavenly blessings, of which we now have only a glimpse. Yet they will be the greatest blessings of all. These somewhat overlapping terms crisscross the reality that everything is for us to share equally as heirs of God’s glories. So why should we divide ourselves into factions? No man is the source of any of this inheritance, so there is no reason to “boast in men” (v. 21a).

The Proper View of Our Possessor

and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. (3:23)

By far the most important requirement for overcoming division is having the right view of our Possessor, Jesus Christ. He is Himself the source of spiritual unity and the source for healing division. It is in taking our eyes off Him that division begins, and it is in putting our eyes back on Him that division ends. “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17). Believers all belong to the same Lord, and are thus one with each other. Therefore anything that denies our oneness with each other denies our oneness in Him (cf. Phil. 2:1–4).

The greatest possible motive for maintaining the unity of the Spirit and for avoiding church division is knowing that we belong to Christ and that Christ belongs to God. Because we all belong to Him, we all belong to each other.

In His high priestly prayer, our Lord wonderfully enriches His teaching on unity. Speaking of believers, He says, “For they are Thine; and all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, … that they all may be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us, … that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity” (John 17:9–10, 21–23).

We are tied together in an eternal oneness with God the Father and Jesus Christ, and thus with each other in them. How can men who are so much one, be divided? It begins with failure to understand the reality of our spiritual unity in the One who is our Possessor. With a common Possessor and possessions, common leaders and teachers, and common dependence on Scripture, there should be no cause for factions and disunity.

The crux of Paul’s concern is that boasting about human personalities is entirely inappropriate when we appreciate and understand that preachers and teachers are the Lord Jesus Christ’s gift to us. Paul underlines this by his affirmation: ‘All things are yours’—‘whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas’ (vv. 21, 22). We are all the Lord Jesus Christ’s gift to one another. We all have gifts but, in the Lord Jesus, mine are yours and yours are mine.

But this glorious truth has even wider application to ‘the world or life or death or the present or the future’ (v. 22).

THE WORLD is ours in that as Christians we may enjoy the good things of this world with a new dimension of enjoyment (1 Tim. 4:3–5).

LIFE is ours in that it cannot be taken from us until the time God has appointed (Ps. 31:15).

DEATH is ours in that it has lost its power over us (2 Tim. 1:10).

THE PRESENT is ours in that whatever our present circumstances we are able to rejoice in the Lord Jesus (Phil. 4:4, 11–13).

THE FUTURE is ours because it is in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ and we are co-heirs with him (John 14:1–4; Rom. 8:17; 1 Cor. 2:9).

The same Lord who gives us these benefits also gives teachers and preachers to instruct us in them. In verse 23 the first ‘and’ is probably better translated as ‘but’. We, likewise, are to be the servants of Christ for the benefit of others just as Christ, in his Incarnation as the God-provided Mediator, was the Servant of God.

Speaking to a group of ministers, Charles Spurgeon referred to this part of 1 Corinthians and said, ‘The apostle was anxious to be rightly accounted of, and well he might be; for ministers are not often estimated rightly; as a rule, they are either gloried in, or else despised … It would be for the advantage of the Church, for our own benefit, and for the glory of God, if we were put in our right places, and kept there, being neither over-rated, nor unduly censured, but viewed in our relation to our Lord, rather than in our own personalities.’¹

3:18–23. Wise in this age (v. 18) refers to the kind of impressive abilities that typified the sophists but which had no place in the church. To become wise in God’s opinion required rejecting the brilliance applauded by the world and becoming foolish in the world’s eyes. In v. 19, Paul cited Jb 5:13, which expresses the inevitability of God reversing the fortunes of the cunning (Jb 5:12) who seek their own advancement by oppressing the poor (Jb 5:15), similar to the Corinthians’ situation. He cited Ps 94:11 (v. 20), which stresses God’s judgment of the proud and wicked who crush His people (cf. Ps 94:2–7, 9–11). Likewise, the arrogant in Corinth will give an account of their troublemaking. One of the ironies in Corinth was that every believer could profit from each of the leaders whom God gave to bless the entire church (vv. 21, 22). All believers belong to Christ (v. 23), not to Paul, Apollos, or Cephas, and their allegiance should be directed to Him. But Christ belongs to God. Paul described Jesus’ functional subordination to God, but his words do not mean that Jesus’ nature was less than divine. Paul’s point may be that Jesus humbly served God in dying on the cross, and He is a model for the Corinthians who apparently had little time for either humility or service²

1 Prime, D. (2005). Opening up 1 Corinthians (pp. 31–33). Leominister: Day One Publications.

2 Vanlaningham, M. G. (2014). 1 Corinthians. In The moody bible commentary (pp. 1780–1781). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.