1 Corinthians 3

1 Corinthians 3:1

3:1 When Paul first visited Corinth, he had fed the believers with the elementary milk of the word because they were weak and young in the faith. The teaching which had been given to them was suitable to their condition. They could not receive deeply spiritual instruction because they were new believers. They were mere babes in Christ. 3:2 Paul had taught them only the elementary truths concerning Christ, which he speaks of as milk. They were not able to take solid food because of their immaturity. In the same vein, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now (Joh_16:12). With regard to the Corinthians, the tragic thing was that they still had not improved sufficiently to receive deeper truth from the apostle. 3:3 The believers were still in a carnal or fleshly state of soul. This was evidenced by the fact that there was envy and strife among them. Such behavior is characteristic of the men of this world, but not of those who are led by the Spirit of God. 3:4 In forming parties around human leaders, such as Paul and Apollos, they were acting on a purely human level. That is what Paul means when he asks, Are you not … behaving like mere men?Up to this point, the Apostle Paul has been showing the folly of exalting men by a consideration of the true nature of the gospel message. He now turns to the subject of the Christian ministry and shows from this standpoint also, it is sheer foolishness to exalt religious leaders by building parties around them. 3:5 Apollos and Paul were servants (minister is Latin for servant) through whom the Corinthians had come to believe in the Lord Jesus. They were simply agents and not the heads of rival schools. How unwise then of the Corinthians to raise servants to the rank of master. Ironside quaintly comments at this point, Imagine a household divided over servants!3:6 Using a figure from agriculture, Paul shows that the servant is after all very limited in what he can do. Paul himself could plant and Apollos could water, but only God could give the increase. So today, some of us can preach the word and all of us can pray for unsaved relatives and friends, but the actual work of salvation can only be done by the Lord. 3:7 Looking at it from this point, we can readily see that the planter and the waterer are really not very important, relatively speaking. They have not the power in themselves to bring forth life. Why then should there be any envy or rivalry among Christian workers? Each should do the work that has been allotted to him, and rejoice when the Lord shows His hand in blessing. 3:8 He who plants and he who waters are one in the sense that they both have the same object and aim. There should be no jealousy between them. As far as service is concerned, they are on the same level. In a coming day, each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. That day is the Judgment Seat of Christ. 3:9 God is the One to whom all are responsible. All His servants are fellow workers, laboring together in God’s tilled harvest field, or, to change the picture, working together on the same building. Erdman renders the thought as follows: We are fellow-workers who belong to God and are working with one another.3:10 Continuing with the idea of building, the apostle first of all acknowledges that anything he has been able to accomplish has been due to the grace of God. By this he means the undeserved ability from God to do the work of an apostle. Then he goes on to describe his part in the beginning of this assembly at Corinth: As a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation. He came to Corinth preaching Christ and Him crucified.

Souls were saved and a local church was planted. Then he adds: And another builds on it. By this, he doubtless refers to other teachers who subsequently visited Corinth and built on the foundation which had already been established there. However, the apostle cautions: But let each one take heed how he builds on it. He means that it is a solemn thing to exercise a teaching ministry in the local church. Some had come to Corinth with divisive doctrines and with teachings contrary to the word of God.

Paul was doubtless conscious of these teachers as he penned the words. 3:11 Only one foundation is required for a building. Once it is laid, it never needs to be repeated. The Apostle Paul had laid the foundation of the church at Corinth. That foundation was Jesus Christ, His Person and Work. 3:12 Subsequent teaching in a local church may be of varying degrees of value. For instance, some teaching is of lasting worth, and might be likened to gold, silver, or precious stones. Here precious stones probably do not refer to diamonds, rubies, or other gems but rather to the granite, marble, or alabaster used in the construction of costly temples. On the other hand, teaching in the local church might be of passing value or of no value at all. Such teaching is likened to wood, hay, and straw. This passage of Scripture is commonly used in a general way to refer to the lives of all Christian believers. It is true that we are all building, day by day, and the results of our work will be manifested in a coming day. However, a careful student of the Bible will want to note that the passage does not refer primarily to all believers but rather to preachers and teachers. 3:13 In a coming day, each one’s work will become clear. Day refers to the Judgment Seat of Christ when all service for the Lord will be reviewed. The process of review is likened to the action of fire. Service that has brought glory to God and blessing to man, like gold, silver, and precious stones, will not be affected by the fire. On the other hand, that which has caused trouble among the people of God or failed to edify them will be consumed. The fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.3:14 Work in connection with the church may be of three types. In verse 14 we have the first typeservice that has been of a profitable nature. In such a case, the servant’s life work endures the test of the Judgment Seat of Christ and the worker will receive a reward. 3:15 The second type of work is that which is useless. In this case, the servant will suffer loss, although he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. E. W. Rogers points out: Loss does not imply the forfeiture of something once possessed. It should be clear from this verse that the Judgment Seat of Christ is not concerned with the subject of a believer’s sins and their penalty. The penalty of a believer’s sins was borne by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, and that matter has been settled once for all. Thus the believer’s salvation is not at all in question at the Judgment Seat of Christ; rather it is a matter of his service. Through failure to distinguish between salvation and rewards, the Roman Catholic Church has used this verse to try to support its teaching of purgatory. However, a careful examination of the verse reveals no hint as to purgatory. There is no thought that the fire purifies the character of a man. Rather, the fire tests a man’s work or service, of what sort it is. The man is saved despite the fact that his works are consumed by the fire. An interesting thought in connection with this verse is that the word of God is sometimes likened to fire (see Isa_5:24 and Jer_23:29). The same word of God which will test our service at the Judgment Seat of Christ is available to us now. If we are building in accordance with the teachings of the Bible, then our work will stand the test in that coming day. 3:16 Paul reminds the believers that they are the temple (Gk., the inner shrine or sanctuary) of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in them. It is true that every individual believer is also a temple of God indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but that is not the thought here. The apostle is looking at the church as a collective company, and wishes them to realize the holy dignity of such a calling. 3:17 A third class of work in the local church is that which may be spoken of as destructive. Apparently there were false teachers who had come into the church at Corinth and whose instruction tended more to sin than to holiness. They did not think it a serious matter to thus cause havoc in a temple of God, so Paul thunders out this solemn declaration: If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. Viewed in its local setting, this means that if any man enters a local church and wrecks its testimony, God will destroy him. The passage is speaking of false teachers who are not true believers in the Lord Jesus. The seriousness of such an offense is indicated by the closing words of verse 17: For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.3:18 In Christian service, as in all of Christian life, there is always the danger of self-deception.

Perhaps some of those who came to Corinth as teachers posed as men of extreme wisdom. Any who have an exalted view of their own worldly wisdom must learn that they must become fools in the eyes of the world in order to become wise in God’s estimation. Godet helpfully paraphrases at this point: If any individual whatever, Corinthian or other, while preaching the gospel in your assemblies assumes the part of a wise man and reputation of a profound thinker, let him assure himself that he will not attain true wisdom until he has passed through a crisis in which that wisdom of his with which he is puffed up will perish and after which only he will receive the wisdom which is from above. 3:19 The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. Man by searching could never find out God, neither would human wisdom ever have devised a plan of salvation by which God would become Man in order to die for guilty, vile, rebel sinners. Job_5:13 is quoted in verse 19 to show that God triumphs over the supposed wisdom of men to work out His own purposes. Man with all his learning cannot thwart the plans of the Lord; instead, God often shows them that in spite of their worldly wisdom, they are utterly poor and powerless. 3:20 Psa_94:11 is quoted here to emphasize that the Lord knows all the reasonings of the wise men of this world, and He further knows that they are futile, empty, and fruitless. But why is Paul going to such pains to discredit worldly wisdom? Simply for this reasonthe Corinthians were placing a great premium on such wisdom and were following those leaders who seemed to exhibit it in a remarkable degree. 3:21 In view of all that had been said, no one should boast in men. And as far as true servants of the Lord are concerned, we should not boast that we belong to them but rather realize that they all belong to us. All things are yours.3:22 Someone has called verse 22 an inventory of the possessions of the child of God. Christian workers belong to us, whether Paul the evangelist, or Apollos the teacher, or Cephas the pastor. Since they all belong to us, it is folly for us to claim that we belong to any one of them. Then the world is ours.

As joint heirs with Christ, we will one day come into possession of it, but in the meantime it is ours by divine promise. Those who tend its affairs do not realize that they are doing so for us. Life is ours. By this we do not mean merely existence on earth but life in its truest, fullest sense. And death is ours. For us it is no longer a dread foe that consigns the soul to the dark unknown; rather it is now the messenger of God that brings the soul to heaven.

Things present and things to comeall are likewise ours. It has been truly said that all things serve the man who serves Christ. A. T. Robertson once said: The stars in their courses fight for the man who is partner with God in the world’s redemption.3:23 All Christians belong to Christ. Some in Corinth were claiming to belong to Him to the exclusion of all others.

They formed the Christ-party. But Paul refutes any such contention. We are all Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. By thus showing the saints their true and proper dignity, Paul reveals in bold relief the folly of forming parties and divisions in the church.