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 1:12-13

In the eyes of God, there are only two kinds of people on this earth…those who belong to Christ and those who do not (John 3:18). All of the world’s religions and philosophies can be silenced by the following:

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him (Jesus), and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

          Philippians 2:9-11

While the unbelieving world rejects this truth (placing them in the category of unbelieving), the Word of God could not be any clearer. There is only one God and only one way that we, as sinful and depraved mankind, can be reconciled to God, and His name is Jesus (Isaiah 45:5, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19). We are helpless to do anything about our spiritual dilemma other than run to the cross. No amount of religious activity, religious motion, good works, or just trying to be a “good person” will make us right with God. But when we surrender our lives to Christ, we are born again, we move from spiritual death to spiritual life, and we receive the very presence of God to come and live on the inside of our hearts (John 3:3, Romans 10:13, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Acts 2:38). This explains why, in the eyes of God, there are only two kinds of people in this world…born again believers in Jesus Christ and those who have yet to place their faith in Christ. Only when we surrender our lives to Christ, trusting completely in the finished work of the cross, do we find true life, abundant and eternal. It’s important to establish all of that so that we can appreciate what Paul is saying to us in today’s passage. “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?” It took mankind all of less than a century to start running to their own spiritual “camps.” Instead of recognizing that all Christians belong to the same spiritual family, these early believers seem to have had the need to be affiliated with the name of particular person, doctrine, or group. And today, nothing has changed. 

How many churches do you think there are? If you answered, “one,” you would be correct. All born again believers in Jesus Christ are a part of the body of Christ, are saved, are filled with the Holy Spirit, and are heaven bound. The alternative is to be lost, void of the Spirit of God, and bound for an eternity apart from Christ. If we were to ask an unbeliever how many churches they see in the world today, they might respond with something such as, “There are too many to count.” That is exactly what it looks like to people who did not grow up in church, have yet to come to saving faith in Christ, and have no knowledge of the church or the Word of God. And honestly, for those who are apart from Christ, this can be quite confusing. Drive through any community in today’s world, especially in the southern part of the country, and you can find a church on every corner, in some cases, literally. Some communities have Christian churches right across the street from one another. Certainly, God calls people to plant churches all over the world. And when He places that call on our lives, we should be obedient to plant where He sees fit. That may mean that two churches are geographically close to one another. God knows what He is doing and we certainly do not want to question the sincerity of any group of born again believers in any location of the world, here or abroad. But all of this “grouping” needs to be brought under the truth of today’s passage.   

People tend to go to church where they feel comfortable. Let’s counter that practice by stating that all of us should be plugging into the church that God leads us to and to the one in which He has purposed us to go and use our spiritual gifts. We are not to be consumers when it comes to picking a church rather we are to be following the leading of the Spirit of God. But often, people move in the direction in which they feel most comfortable. Hopefully, that comfortability is not acting as a distraction from the convicting power of the Spirit of God. Regular exposure to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word will yield conviction, repentance, and a changed life. These components of “church” should never be replaced with comfortability, repetition, ritualistic motion, or even treating church as a social club. When we meet, we should be desiring to see a mighty moving of the Spirit of God, feeding those of us who belong to Christ and drawing those apart from Christ to saving faith.

So what are we saying? All born again believers in Jesus belong to the same spiritual family and we should all be living in the power of the Spirit within us. After all, it is the Spirit of God that brings unity among believers in the first place (Ephesians 4:3). We should be seeking God’s will and guidance when it comes to deciding where we will join with other believers. It shouldn’t be about what the church can do for us rather it should be about what we can contribute in the local church to which we sense God is leading us. 

But Paul brings out the fact that these early believers were lining up according to their favorite personality. We all have a favorite pastor, Bible teacher, doctrinal approach, and, if we were raised in church, probably a favorite denomination. But to be sure, no one is going to heaven because they are a Catholic, a Baptist, a Lutheran, a Presbyterian, a Calvinist, an Arminian, a Wesleyan, or any other person’s or denomination’s name. In fact, we can find doctrines, in so called Christian churches, that don’t even align with the truth of scripture. We only have eternal life if we have surrendered our lives to Christ, having been born again, having received the Holy Spirit, and having moved from spiritual death to spiritual life (Colossians 1:13-14). 

So can anything positive come from all of the apparent division between denominations, doctrines, and groups? We could make the argument that a diversity in Christian expression could cast a wider net, allowing more people to come to saving faith in Jesus. But this is only true if the church, doctrine, or denomination, in question, is operating under the direction of the Spirit of God and building on the teaching and preaching of the truth of God’s Word. For Paul’s day, the need to follow popular personalities were causing people to find their affiliation with certain teachers. I like the fact that Paul was one of the popular named personalities. How many of us would have been so flattered at such recognition that we might have overlooked the entire situation? But not Paul, consider his words: “Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” This is a good reminder for all of us. Jesus died for our sins and He alone. A theological personality didn’t do that. A denomination didn’t do that. A pastor or Bible teacher, popular today, didn’t do that. Only the name of Jesus deserves praise for what He, alone, has accomplished for us…this is Paul’s point. Stop following a person, a doctrine, a denomination. We are to be abiding in and following Jesus Christ. Filled with the very presence of God, it is this personal relationship with the One True God through faith in Jesus Christ that drives us and gives us the power to live the “called out” lives that God desires for all who claim His name (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).  

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:4-6