Bible Strands
1 Corinthians 1:13
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Corinthian believers to confront their factionalism over human leaders. He poses three rhetorical questions immediately after cataloging their claims of following Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ.
The words — μεμέρισται (memeristai) means "has been divided," and ἐσταυρώθη (estaurōthē) means "was crucified." The text states that Christ is not divided and that Paul was not crucified for them, directly rejecting their allegiance to human teachers.
The thread — The singularity of baptism and faith appears in Ephesians 4:5, while baptism in Jesus' name is prescribed in Acts 2:38. Warnings against receiving a different spirit or Jesus are recorded in 2 Corinthians 11:4.
Why it lands — The passage demands that readers acknowledge Christ alone was crucified for salvation and that baptism belongs to His name, not a human apostle's. It requires abandoning factional loyalty and submitting to the exclusive authority of the cross.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
Cross-references
- Ephesians 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
- 2 Corinthians 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it very easily.
- Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 10:48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
- Acts 19:5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
- 1 Corinthians 10:2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
- 2 Corinthians 5:14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, therefore all died.
- Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
- Galatians 1:7 which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.
- Acts 8:16 For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.