In Paul's first epistle to the saints at Corinth, he (by inspiration of God) continually scolded them for arguing over which minister brought them to the Lord. He expressed the UNITY of the body of Christ .... regardless of who the minister was that led them to faith in Christ:
1 Cor 1:10-13 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith,
I am of Paul; (Today, these are the ‘mid-Acts-ers’ .... ‘Paul followers’. They believe that people are only saved by what-they-call "Paul’s gospel" .... which they see as a DIFFERENT, UNIQUE gospel, from the gospel message by EVERY OTHER preacher in the Bible, including John the Baptist, JESUS Himself, and ANY of the apostles and prophets.)
and I of Apollos; (‘Mid-Acts-ers’ say he was in "Israel’s program" because at first, he knew only the water baptism of John - Acts 18:24-25. They do not allow for any believer that would be ‘of Apollos’ to be in what-they-call the ‘body of Christ’. They nicknamed one of their own Apollos, because they think he is "an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures" .... but they exclude any saints who would follow Apollos’ teaching as "not being in the body of Christ".)
and I of Cephas; (‘Mid-Acts-ers’ claim Peter preached ‘another gospel’ from the gospel PAUL preached. If that were REALLY the case, then Peter would be accursed, according to Gal 1:9)
and I of Christ. (‘Mid-Acts-ers’ won’t even classify a follower ‘of Christ’ to be in the ‘body of Christ’. That, in itself, is very weird. ‘Mid-Acts-ers’ look down on anyone, call them ugly names, and say they don’t understand the scriptures (rightly-divided) who claims to follow Jesus. They think anyone who says they are ‘of Christ’ .... is following ‘another Jesus’ .... Jesus in His ‘earthly ministry’ .... who they also think preached ‘another gospel’ .... being, the gospel of the kingdom .... in what-they-call "Israel’s program".)
13 Is Christ divided? (No, He is not, and neither should His body be.)
was Paul crucified for you?
or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
The saints at Corinth were arguing about which minister brought them to faith in Christ. GOD’s answer was that it did not matter. The carnal ‘mid-Acts-ers’ need to get that. The example is given over Paul and Apollos. Paul was one minister, Apollos was one minister .... yet 1 + 1 = 1 .... Paul and Apollos are ONE:
1 Cor 3:3-8 For ye are yet carnal:
for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions,
are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4 For while one saith,
I am of Paul;
and another, I am of Apollos;
are ye not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul,
and who is Apollos,
but ministers by whom ye believed,
even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted,
Apollos watered;
but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing,
neither he that watereth; (Which minister is irrelevant)
but God that giveth the increase.
8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: (Do you believe God? Paul -- who 'mid-Acts-ers' think started a NEW program called the 'body of Christ -- and Apollos -- who 'mid-Acts-ers' say was in 'Israel's program' -- ARE ONE! They are 'all' in ONE BODY!)
and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
In the same letter, for yet a third time .... Paul, by inspiration of God, showed that it did not matter WHO preached the gospel of Jesus Christ .... the point was, they believed it! We will see this in 1 Cor 15:1-11.
Paul plainly expressed the gospel he preached was that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the 3rd day. He testified that THIS gospel was already written in the scriptures:
1 Cor 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Then Paul named many others who witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
1 Cor 15:5-7 And that he was seen of Cephas,
then of the twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7 After that, he was seen of James;
then of all the apostles.
Then Paul named himself also .... to be included in the group:
1 Cor 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
Paul felt unworthy, and he worked harder than anyone else to make up for wasting God’s church in time past (also see Gal 1:13). He was thankful for the grace of God:
1 Cor 15:9-10 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Then Paul showed that it did not matter WHICH preacher gave the gospel of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection .... whether it was PAUL .... or ANY of the rest of the men he mentioned .... the Corinthians believed the gospel that they preached:
1 Cor 15:11 Therefore whether it were I or they,
so we preach, and so ye believed.
A few chapters earlier, Paul taught them that they were ALL one:
1 Cor 12:12-13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Whether Paul’s disciples, or Apollos’ disciples, or Peter’s disciples, or Christ’s disciples, or the 12's disciples, or James' disciples, or all of the apostles’ disciples, or more than 500 other brothers' disciples .... it did not matter .... because they were ALL ONE in the body of Christ!
1 Cor 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
This is David Dowell saying, "Think about it!"
