1 Corinthians 1:10-3:4

New King James Version

Sectarianism Is Sin

¹⁰ Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(A)that you all ^[a]speak the same thing, and that there be no ^[b]divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹ For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are ^[c]contentions among you. ¹² Now I say this, that ^(B)each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of ^(C)Apollos,” or “I am of ^(D)Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” ^13 (E)Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

¹⁴ I thank God that I baptized ^(F)none of you except ^(G)Crispus and ^(H)Gaius, ¹⁵ lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. ¹⁶ Yes, I also baptized the household of ^(I)Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, ^(J)not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God^(K)

¹⁸ For the ^[d]message of the cross is ^(L)foolishness to ^(M)those who are perishing, but to us ^(N)who are being saved it is the ^(O)power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

^20 (Q)Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the ^[e]disputer of this age? ^(R)Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the ^(S)wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For ^(T)Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, ^(U)to the Jews a ^[f]stumbling block and to the ^[g]Greeks ^(V)foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ ^(W)the power of God and ^(X)the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Glory Only in the Lord

²⁶ For ^[h]you see your calling, brethren, ^(Y)that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many ^[i]noble, are called. ²⁷ But ^(Z)God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the ^[j]base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and ^(AA)righteousness and sanctification and redemption— ³¹ that, as it is written, ^(AB)“He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

Christ Crucified

2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the ^[k]testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know anything among you ^(AC)except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ^3 (AD)I was with you ^(AE)in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching ^(AF)were not with persuasive words of ^[l]human wisdom, ^(AG)but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the ^(AH)power of God.

Spiritual Wisdom

⁶ However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ^[m]ordained before the ages for our glory, ⁸ which none of the rulers of this age knew; for ^(AI)had they known, they would not have ^(AJ)crucified the Lord of glory.

⁹ But as it is written:

¹⁰ But ^(AL)God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the ^(AM)spirit of the man which is in him? ^(AN)Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but ^(AO)the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

¹³ These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the ^[n]Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ^14 (AP)But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. ¹⁶ For ^(AQ)“who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” ^(AR)But we have the mind of Christ.

Sectarianism Is Carnal

3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to ^(AS)babes in Christ. ² I fed you with ^(AT)milk and not with solid food; ^(AU)for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; ³ for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and ^[o]behaving like mere men? ⁴ For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?