“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1:10)
This letter begins with a salutation and Paul’s words of thanksgiving, which serve as more than customary courtesy, but actually introduce us to the content of the entire letter (1:1-9). He mentions the unity of the church (1:2), its purity (1:8), its spiritual gifts (1:7), and its future glory (1:7-8). This basically outlines the rest of the epistle.
Chapters 1-4 will deal with the divisions which threaten Christian unity. Chapters 5-11 are concerned with the purity and sanctity of the church. Chapters 12-14 will elaborate on the use of their spiritual gifts. Chapter 15 discusses the resurrection and our future glory.
Then he gets to the very source of all their other problems—there are contentions among them which are about to develop into full-blown divisions (1:10-17). He then stresses the inconsistency of their claim to be a body of Christ and at the same time be divided—such a condition destroys everything they live for.
Dear God, I pray that I will keep my eyes on Jesus and that with Him clearly in my sight that I will find unity with all others in the Body of Christ.
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