Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all say the same thing, and that there be not among you divisions; but that ye be perfectly united in the same mind and in the same opinion.
Paul has just thanked God for the Corinthians and for their calling into fellowship with God's Son. Now he begs them to stop splitting apart, which raises a hard question: how far does agreement have to go?
The name that carries the plea
Paul could have leaned on his own standing. Instead he appeals by a name. It holds believers together, and it searches anyone who only claims it.
He was an apostle. He had taught them about Christ, and he had brought them to birth through the gospel. Even so, he appeals to them here by that name which touches the believer most closely, and speaks most solemnly even to the person who only professes to believe. That name is the centre of unity, as the Holy Spirit is its bond. If anything could bring his appeal home to their souls, that name would. He is jealous for the honour of Him, their Lord, whom their quarrels compromised. In these rival schools with their misguided leaders, where was the witness to the fellowship of God's Son?
Speech is where division starts
He starts with speech. That order matters.
First, Paul urges that they "all speak the same thing." For it is wrong speaking that is the beginning of division. If we are inclined to "speak our mind," let us remember first that "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16), and be watchful that it is His mind that moves our tongues. If this is true, we shall "all speak the same thing." Our speaking will have one agreed goal, moving in the same steady direction.
"United" — a mended thing
Where the ESV says "united," older translations say "perfectly joined together." The same verb turns up in other places, and those places explain it.
In other passages, translators render forms of the verb "perfect" from Hebrews 13:21 as "mending" (Matt. 4:21), "restore" (Gal. 6:1), and "united" (1 Cor. 1:10). A note on the last of these explains it: every member has its own place, and together they make a whole. If broken, they are restored to one complete whole.
Three steps, and two words that differ
Paul's appeal moves in three steps, and the last step names two different things.
Would the apostle have been satisfied with the same outward confession alone? By no means. But that is where he begins, following the wisdom of the Spirit who guided him. Then he adds, "that there be no divisions among you" — their party cries were the expression of those divisions. Lastly he begs that they may be "made perfect" (see Eph. 4:12 as well as 2 Cor. 13:9), or "wholly united," in the same mind and in the same judgment. He does not mean the will by this... for nous means the mind viewed as the thinking faculty, while gnōmē is the opinion or judgment that it forms. He wanted them to have careful, intelligent thought. They were weakest where they were proud or vain, as people usually are.
Politeness does not repair a split
Some argue that Paul condemned only the bad temper of the Corinthian parties, not the parties themselves. His own words answer that.
Nothing is more dangerous than trying to blunt the edge of Scripture so as to escape a wound to our own consciences. The apostle does not say, "I beg you all to speak different things in a friendly way." He says, "I beg you that you all speak the same thing." He does not say, "Keep your divisions friendly." He says, "Let there be no divisions among you." He does not say, "Let there be peace among people of different minds and different judgments." He says, "Be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."
Where the parties came from, and what ends them
The Corinthians admired real gifts in real servants. The trouble lay deeper.
This party spirit among them had its source not in the Spirit of God, but in the flesh. It did not glorify the Lord; it exalted man. They thought more about Paul and Apollos, and about their persons and talents, than about the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how sectarianism began, as the fruit of the flesh. And the remedy for it is "seeing no man but Jesus only."
One direction, not identical eyesight
Agreement does not mean every believer sees equally far.
If all were walking in the Spirit, we should be perfectly joined together, in the same mind and in the same judgment. There would be no occasion for a divided judgment. Believers may indeed grasp divine truth in different measures. Some see further than others. But if the same Spirit controls all, all look in the same direction.
Summary
- One name. The appeal rests on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — the centre of unity, with the Spirit as its bond.
- One speech. Wrong speaking begins division, so the cure begins at the tongue: let His mind move it.
- One repair. "United" is a mending word. Each member has its own place, and the broken thing becomes one whole.
- One direction. Different depths of understanding are not division; all led by the same Spirit face the same way.
- One remedy. Party spirit is the flesh exalting man; it dies where believers see "no man but Jesus only."