Denominations

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Monday March 30, 2009

1 Corinthians 1:10-13 (NIV)
10. I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
11. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas "; still another, "I follow Christ."
13. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?

The "I follow Paul" or "I follow Apollos" idea can be directly paralleled to "I follow Martin Luther" (Lutherans) or "I follow John Wesley" (Methodists), or "I follow (every other denomination)."!

God's will is for the church to work TOGETHER on the earth! The distinction between parts of the Body Of Christ is NEVER attributed in the Bible to differences in doctrine! The parts are different because of DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS:

1 Corinthians 12:12-20 (NIV)
12. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
17. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18. But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19. If they were all one part, where would the body be?
20. As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

These verses make it plain that different parts of the body have different FUNCTIONS; NOT different BELIEFS! Lets look back at the verse we started with:

1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV)
10. I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Christian denominations were all men's ideas; not God's. Separatism occurs because of the imperfection of humanity; not because it is God's will!

PRAYER
Thank You Father for Your Word, that tells me so much about You and Your ways. Help me to understand Your Word, so I can follow Your ways more closely.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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