Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.

First in the hopper of exhortations, Paul directs attention to what is likely the main issue. All the problems addressed in this letter contributed to a great travesty, namely, division in the church. Peace had been forfeited because of self-centered, worldly attitudes and actions. The Corinthians’ fellowship had devolved into conflict, sectarianism, legal proceedings, one-upmanship in the abuse of spiritual gifts, and a church devoid of love. That is not at all what God intends for believers, all of whom He brought into one body by the death of Jesus on the cross. Unity of God’s children is high priority with our elder-brother, Jesus (see Heb. 2:11), who had left His disciples with this command: “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). He is our example of grace and peace. The Corinthians were failing miserably to follow that lead.

Paul’s exhortation comes “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” His stern tone and authoritative voice is unmistakable. Simply put, he says, “Stop that!” Stop the divisions! He is like a parent talking to his two squabbling children, whom he anticipates saying, “But he hit me first!” The charge (similar to Phil. 2:1-11) is unity in how they think about the issues involved, to have a consistent judgment. That is extremely difficult to do when we mere humans are so imprisoned by our own self-interests. We all tend to judge matters of personal conflict from our own perspective, and therein is the rub.

Responding to this exhortation for agreement in mind and judgment requires God’s grace working in us, for only His supernatural working can free us from that self-interest prison. It also requires God’s grace working through us toward others as we begin to loosen the grip on our own interests, while also considering the interests of others and their point of view. This is the only path forward to peace and unity in the church. These are seed thoughts that build toward chapter 13, the chapter on Christian self-sacrificing love.

We err if we miss an important point here: Paul communicates openly about the issue he addresses here, namely, the Corinthian quarrels, and the source of that information—he identifies Chloe by name! Conflict resolution must have open communication. Too often Christians, because of fear of conflict, avoid speaking of the issues, yet ironically allow the conflict to fester.

Lord let the quest for unity in the church begin with grace and peace in me.