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+# One Foundation
+
+Paul begins this section of 1 Corinthians with a simple appeal to the
+Corinthians to be united.
+Paul begins this section with a bafflingly simple appeal.
+
+    "be united in the same mind and in the same judgment."
+
+You don't resolve disagreements with such appeals.
+It's usually naive to to think that you can.
+
+## Do Not Divide Over Teachers
+
+But as we read on, we see the reason why.
+To put it bluntly, these are basically just really dumb disagreements.
+The Corinthians are dividing over different *faithful* teachers.
+They are associating so strongly with certain teachers they sinfully exclude
+those who follow other teachers.
+Their faith is defined by the likes of Paul or Peter or Apollos, to the
+exclusion of all others.
+
+I want to start with a point of clarification.
+Paul is opposing division here, but there are other places where he insists on
+it.
+There is good division and bad division.
+As a general rule, we divide over teaching and sinful behavior, but do not
+divide over teachers who teach the same thing.
+
+Now, there are times when we are introduced to new teachers and we just don't
+know what they are about.
+I have family members who I would love to have spend more time listening to the
+likes of John Piper.
+I know the teaching of John Piper and trust him.
+They listen to other people who I am not familiar with, and I have to
+investigate.
+Do these teachers faithfully proclaim the Gospel?
+Do they faithfully teach God's Word?
+
+If the answer to that is yes, then we have unity and should act accordingly.
+
+## Christ Is Not Divided
+
+Look at verse 13 - in response to the teacher oriented factions of the
+Corinthians, Paul asks, "Is Christ divided?"
+If someone is claimed by Christ and commissioned by Christ, if they teach
+Christ faithfully, then to set him against another that teaches Christ
+faithfully is to divide Christ.
+
+And of course, the people saying that they follow Paul or Peter or Apollos are
+missing the point.
+But, notice that among Paul's list of factions in verse 12, there is a faction
+that says it follows Christ, and yet Paul still rebukes them.
+We might be inclined to sidestep such disagreements in this way.
+But if we receive Christ and do not receive those who are His, then we set Him
+against His own.
+By saying I follow Christ and I do not follow Paul, we set Christ against Paul.
+We set the Head against the Body.
+
+Saying that you learned from a particular teacher as opposed to another is
+fine.
+We all have teachers who have influenced us more than others, but if we
+faithfully follow faithful teachers, we are united in the truth of the gospel.
+
+Like most members of this church, I would not say that I follow Josh Hayward.
+He just hasn't had much influence in my life and I've spent very little time
+listening to him.
+With that said, he seems to be a faithful teacher and we would not have any beef
+with the members of Kinney Avenue Baptist Church over the fact that they follow
+him.
+We should and generally do recognize Josh Hayward, and happily greet those who
+sit under his teaching, because he teaches and they receive Christ.
+We should happily commend him and Kinney to our visitors.
+Where we lack unity in under-shepherds, we are united in the Great Shepherd.
+
+## Christ Defines the Church
+
+In verse 13, Paul asks, "Was Paul crucified for you?"
+
+By the time of this writing, many martyrs had already been minted for the sake
+of the spread of the Gospel.
+Opposition to God's Word spilled the blood of many prophets before Christ came.
+In that sense, we could say that many faithful believers have died for us, but
+Christ stands alone in having a death that appeases the wrath of God.
+
+Accordingly, Paul then asks, "were you baptized in the name of Paul?"
+Which is to ask, did you profess faith in Paul in baptism?
+Is it by the name of Paul that you entered the church?
+
+No.
+We have one baptism, which is in Christ, regardless of whether we were baptized
+here or 2000 years ago by an apostle.
+It is by professing the name of Christ that we enter the church.
+
+And notice verse 14.
+Paul is grateful that he baptized only a few of them, thinking that they might
+cling to him as the grounding of their baptism.
+Our faith is in no way defined by our baptizer.
+Our baptism and the faith expressed in it are grounded in Christ.
+
+Christ is more than merely the pedagogical ancestor of all other faithful
+teachers.
+A fully trained teacher cannot ever become a substitute for Christ Himself.
+
+Christ did not come proclaiming a system that can exist apart from Him.
+We do not put our faith in a system named Christianity.
+We put our faith in the person of Christ.
+
+Christ did tell us how we should live, but we do not derive our life from these
+things.
+Christ taught more than mere principles by which we should live.
+We do not have life because we live as Christ taught us to live, we have life
+because of how Christ lived.
+We have life because of who Christ is and what He has done.
+
+And then because of that life that we have, we live as He taught us to live.
+
+Many philosophers and mathematicians have systems of thought and formulas named
+after them.
+Platonism can exist apart from Plato.
+The Pythagorean Theorem can exist apart from Pythagoras.
+Marxism could be conceived of apart from Marx.
+But there is no Christianity without Christ.
+And if we truly have Christ, we have Christianity.
+
+No teacher has brought anything of worth to the table that he has not received.
+
+Christianity is not incomplete without any particular teacher, other than
+Christ Himself, who is the teaching.
+
+### Comment on Samuel's Mission
+
+As I reflect on how we are thinking that we must release Samuel to go and do
+something that he is almost uniquely gifted to do for the nation of Romania,
+part of me wants to say, "He is going to spread the 9Marks way."
+"Go forth make disciples of the Park Hills way of all nations."
+But other resources exist to convey the ecclesiological teachings of 9Marks.
+
+There is nothing truly unique to Samuel or to the 9Marks ecosystem that Romania
+needs.
+In truth, God could have called anyone from any multitude of schools of thought
+to this task.
+What is required is the faithful proclaim of God's Word.
+
+### Ending
+
+As I close here, I want to note that wrote what I am about to say in the last
+hours of August.
+I had no idea when writing this how prescient this sentiment would be for us
+now.
+
+God can take away our teachers or assign us to other teachers at any time.
+But whoever He assigns to us and to those we love, we should receive warmly as
+gifts from God so long as they remain faithful to the gospel of our Christ.