1 Corinthians 1:10

By exhorting his readers in the name of their Lord Jesus Christ, Paul was putting what he was about to say on the highest level of authority. This is the tenth reference to Jesus Christ in the first ten verses of the epistle. Clearly Paul was focusing the attention of his audience on Christ, who alone deserves the preeminence. The Corinthians were to regard what he was about to say as coming from the Lord Himself.

"That the true source of the Corinthians’ illicit behavior is bad theology-ultimately a misunderstanding of God and his ways-is evident from the beginning, especially with Paul’s use of crucifixion language in 1 Corinthians 1:10 to 1 Corinthians 2:16." [Note: Idem, "Toward a . . .," p. 41.]

Bad theology usually lies behind bad behavior. There was already disagreement among members of the congregation, but there was not yet division in the sense of a church split. Paul urged his original readers to unite in their thinking. The Greek word katartizo, translated "made complete," describes the mending of nets in Mark 1:19. Paul wanted them to take the same view of things, to have the same mind (cf. Philippians 2:2), and to experience unanimity in their judgment of what they needed to do.

"The gospel that effects eschatological salvation also brings about a radical change in the way people live. This is the burden of this letter and the theological presupposition behind every imperative. Therefore, although apocalyptic-cosmological language is also found, salvation is expressed primarily in ethical-moral language. [Note: Ibid., p. 47.]