1 Corinthians 11:19

For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. HERESIES - not merely 'schisms,' "divisions" (), which are 'recent dissensions through differences of opinion' (Augustine), but also "heresies" - i:e., 'schisms become inveterate:' 'sects' (Greek, ; ). At present there were dissensions at the love feasts; but Paul, remembering Jesus' words (; ; ; ), foresees "there must be (come)...

19._For there must be also heresies _He had previously spoken of _divisions _(1 Corinthians 11:18.) Now he uses the term _heresies_, with the view of amplifying the more, as we may infer, too, from the word _also_, for it is added for the sake of amplification. ( προς αὔξησιν.) It is well known in what sense the ancients used those two terms, (648) and what distinction they made between Heretics and Schismatics. (649) _Heresy _they made to consist in disagreement as to doctrine, and _schism_, on the contrary, in alienation of affection, as when any one withdrew from the Church from envy, or from dislike of the pastors, or from ill nature. It is true, that the Church cannot but be torn asunder by false doctrine, and thus heresy is the root and origin of sch

17-22 The apostle rebukes the disorders in their partaking of the Lord's supper. The ordinances of Christ, if they do not make us better, will be apt to make us worse. If the use of them does not mend, it will harden. Upon coming together, they fell into divisions, schisms. Christians may separate from each other's communion, yet be charitable one towards another; they may continue in the same communion, yet be uncharitable. This last is schism, rather than the former. There is a careless and irregular eating of the Lord's supper, which adds to guilt. Many rich Corinthians seem to have acted very wrong at the Lord's table, or at the love-feasts, which took place at the same time as the supper. The rich despised the poor, and ate and drank up the provisions they brought, before the poor were allowed to partake; thus some wanted, while others had more than enough. What should have been a...

Verse 19. _THERE MUST BE ALSO HERESIES_] αιρεσεις. Not a common _consent_ of the members of the Church, either in the _doctrines_ of the Gospel, or in the _ceremonies_ of the Christian religion. Their difference in religious _opinion_ led to a difference in their religious _practice_, and thus the Church of God, that should have been one body, was split into sects and parties. The _divisions_ and the _heresies_ sprung out of each other. I have spoken largely on the word _heresy_ in Acts 5:17, to which place I beg leave to refer the reader....

FOR THERE MUST BE - It is necessary (δεῖ dei); it is to he expected; there are reasons why there should be. What these reasons are he states in the close of the verse; compare Matthew 18:7; 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 2:2. The meaning is, not that divisions are inseparable from the nature of the Christian religion, not that it is the design and wish of the Author of Christianity that they should exist, and not that they are physically impossible, for then they could not be the subject of blame; but that such is human nature, such are the corrupt passions of men, the propensity to ambition and strifes, that they are to be expected, and they serve the purp

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 11:1 FOLLOWERS OF ME; rather, _imitators of me; _follow herein my example, as I follow Christ's. What Christ's example was, in that he too "pleased not himself," he sets forth in Romans 15:1; and the general principle of self abnegation for the sake of others in Philippians 2:4. This verse ought to be included in ch. 10. It sums up the whole argument, and explains the long digression of ch. 9. AS I ALSO AM OF CHRIST. This limits the reference to his own example. I only ask you to imitate me in points in which I imitate Christ....

FOR THERE MUST BE ALSO HERESIES AMONG YOU.... This is a reason why he was ready to believe there might be something of truth in the report he had received of the divisions among them; for if there were heresies, false doctrines, and bad principles, among them, such as were subversive of the fundamentals of Christianity, as the denial of the resurrection of the dead, c. it was no wonder that there were schisms and factions among them, since heresies generally issue in them. These, the apostle says, "must be" because God has decreed they shall, whose counsel is immutable, and his purpose unalterable; and since this always was the case, that there were false prophets under the former dispensation, it must be expected that false teachers will arise in the churches now, bringing in damnable heresies; and since Satan is always busy to sow the tares of false doctrine; and human nature, being bo...

The members of the church at Corinth abounded in gifts, and therefore they thought it meet for each one to speak to edification. They had no pastoral oversight whatever; acting, in this respect, like certain brethren whom we know nowadays. The result, however, was very deplorable. They do not appear to have been able even to conduct the Lord's supper without the most disorderly proceedings. Church discipline was utterly forgotten or neglected; and it seems as if the two Epistles to the Corinthians are given to us as beacons to warn us against that form of worship, seeing that it produces such mischievous and sad results. 1 Corinthians 11:17. _Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse._ It is a very bad state of things when we meet for worship, and separate without any improvement, o

II. THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST: CHAPTER S 11-14 1. Headship, and the Position of Woman. The Lord's Supper. CHAPTER 11. _ 1. The Headship of Christ and of the Man; Position of Woman. (1 Corinthians 11:1 .)_ 2. The Lord's Supper. (1 Corinthians 11:17 .) The opening verse belongs to the preceding chapter. And now after the church in relation to the world had been treated by the Apostle in the first part of the epistle, he takes up next the affairs of the church itself. Here, too, much had to be corrected into which the Corinthian assembly had drifted. After the brief and excellent word of praise by which he expressed his confidence in them ((1 Corint

1 Corinthians 11:7. THE DESECRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. Paul feels that in one respect he must restrict his praise. Their meetings damage rather than profit them. He cannot help believing part of what he hears about their divisions. To be sure they must have their factions, or their best men would get no chance of displaying their qualities! When they meet they have supper, it is true, but it is out of the question to eat the Lord's Supper. Possibly the poorer members could not come early being detained by their work. The wealthier members could therefore eat and drink all they had brought, so that the poor, who could bring little, and that perhaps coarse food, had insufficient for a meal and had to eat this under the critical stare of the well-to-do. So that some were hungry, and naturally discontented and envious, while others became intoxicated. What a religious atmosphere