1 Corinthians 3
McGeeCHAPTER 3THEME: Correct conception of God clarifies Christian serviceAs we have seen in chapter 2, Paul has presented two classes of mankind: the natural man and the spiritual man. Now he makes a further division, and it is among believers: carnal Christians and spiritual Christians. Their status as carnal or as spiritual will manifest itself in their lives and in their Christian service.
1 Corinthians 3:1
So here we have the third class. He is the unnatural Christian or the unnatural man. We learned about the natural man, also we learned about the spiritual manwhom we can call the supernatural man. Here we have the unnatural man. He is unnatural because he is a Christian but is still carnal. He is still a babe in Christ. In the entire first part of this epistle Paul is speaking about carnalities. In the last part of the epistle he speaks of spiritualities. I think Paul got very tired of talking about carnalities because, when he reached chapter 12, you can almost hear him heave a sigh of relief. And he begins to talk to them about something else: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant” (1Co_12:1). The carnal Christian is the one who hasn’t grown up spiritually, and it is evident that he lacks spiritual discernmentnot because he doesn’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling within him, but because he is not growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. Again this is a consequence of his relationship to the Word of God. That is so important to see. This unnatural man, this carnal Christian, is a babe in Christ. He has an ability but no desire. A baby has the potential to become a learned man, but he has to start out by drinking milk. Paul carries this figure of speech over to the spiritual level.
1 Corinthians 3:2
Paul cannot talk to such folk about spiritualities. They are not yet ready for it. First he must talk to them about their carnalities. Unfortunately, it is on this level that most church members are living today. How can we identify the carnal Christian? It is the Christian who is using the weak arm of the flesh. He uses carnal methods to obtain spiritual goals. An obvious example is the kind of Christian who says, “Let’s have a banquet or let’s put on a musical and introduce some of this modern music.” This is carnality. The Greek word for carnal is sarkikos, which means “fleshly.” In Latin and French the word carna means “sensual.” We get our word carnival from two words, carne vale, which means “farewell flesh.” You see, carnival was something they had before the season of Lent. During Lent they would practice farewell to the flesh with certain denials of pleasure to the flesh; so just before Lent they would gorge and gourmandize the flesh, get drunk, satisfy and satiate the flesh in every possible way. Then they would be able to do without such things during Lent! An example of this is the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. That literally means “fat Tuesday” and refers to the Tuesday before Lent begins. Paul described folk like this when he used the expression, “…whose God is their belly …” (Php_3:19). You say, “Oh, that’s crude.” I agree with you; it is crude. But the thing it speaks about is even more crude. This would be an apt description of a lot of folk. Their motto is: Do what comes naturally. Let the flesh have its way. Perhaps you are saying, “Well, I’m not a carnal Christian. I don’t believe in carnivalsI even get sick on a Ferris wheel. I am a separated Christian.” What is the mark of carnality? Paul will tell us here.
1 Corinthians 3:3
You see, the carnal Christian is not necessarily one who rides on roller coasters. It does not mean one who promotes carnivals in his church. What is a carnal Christian? Where do you see him in evidence? Wherever there is strife and division, there is actually a “carnival” going on. In many of the fundamental churches one can see divisions and gossip and strife and bitterness and hatred. When that is going on, we know that the flesh is on display. Sometimes Christians can lose their tempers and cover it over by saying, “Well, I am just being frank.” No, they are just being mean, that’s all. My friend, you can turn a Sunday school class into a carnival, a missionary society into a carnival, or a prayer meeting into a carnival when you gossip or stir up strife and envy and division. My friend, you may not do “worldly things,” and still you may be a carnal Christian. Listen to Paul:
1 Corinthians 3:4
Paul says, “Both of us are workmen for God.” Paul was the one who was the missionaryhe had opened up new territory. Apollos came along and held meetings and preached and built up the saints. They were both servants of God.
1 Corinthians 3:7
The important thing is not who the preacher is; the important thing is whether God is using him. If God is using him, then God should have the credit for the results. Give God the praise and the glory.
1 Corinthians 3:8
We need to recognize that God uses many workmen. They may each be doing things a little bit differently. That is why we should not go into a tirade against any individual whom the Lord is using. There are many men who use different methods. Many men do things in a different way from the way I would do them. Yet God uses these men. We are all workmen together with God.
1 Corinthians 3:9
The foundation was put down over nineteen hundred years ago. You and I cannot put it down. All we can do is to point to that foundation which is Jesus Christ. We can build on that foundation. The important thing is to get out the Word of God and to preach the gospel which alone can save men.
1 Corinthians 3:11
Are you building on Him? That is the important question for the believer. When you came to Christ, you came with no works. You came bringing nothing to receive everything! You were put on that Rock which is Christ. Now you can build on that. This is where good works come in.
1 Corinthians 3:12
Paul says that you can build on the foundation that has already been laid with six different kinds of material: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. Fire won’t hurt the first three on the list. Actually, the fire purifies gold and silver and precious stones. But fire certainly gets rid of the last three on the list. Wood, hay, and stubble will all disappear into smoke. The believer is at liberty to build on the foundation with any of these materials: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. This teaches that the believer can work for a reward. If any man’s work abides, work that he has built on the foundation that has already been laid, he shall receive a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:14
That is, he shall receive a reward if he is building with gold, silver, or precious stones. I am of the opinion that we have many wonderful saints of God about us today. I have been able to meet some of these folksome of them personally and some by letterwhom God is using in a marvelous way. They are building in gold. As you well know, a little piece of gold isn’t as visible as a hay stack. Possibly God is the only One who knows that it is gold. Now a haystack is another thingI have traveled across flat farmland, and it seemed to me I could see haystacks that were twenty miles away. There are a lot of folk building haystacks, and everybody hears about what they are doing. The haystacks are going to be tested someday, and then there won’t be one haystack left because the testing is going to be by fire. The same thing will be true of works of wood or stubble.
1 Corinthians 3:15
You see the contrast: “If any man’s work abide” which he built on the foundation, he shall receive a reward; if any man’s work goes up in smoke, he will suffer a terrible loss, but, he himself will be saved. He does not lose his salvation if he is on the foundation, which is trust in Christ, even though he receives no reward. Friend, what are you building today? What kind of material are you using? If you are building with gold, it may not be very impressive now. If you are building an old haystack, it will really stand out on the horizon, but it will go up in smoke. I like to put it like this: there are going to be some people in heaven who will be there because their foundation is Christ but who will smell as if they had been bought at a fire sale! Everything they ever did will have gone up in smoke. They will not receive a reward for their works. Now if you are a carnal Christian, you cannot expect a reward because you have not been rightly related to God through the Word of God. The carnal Christian is the one who does not know the World of God. You see, one can identify the three categories which Paul mentions by their relation to the Word of God. The natural man says it is foolishness. The spiritual man discerns the Word, and it gives him spiritual insight. The carnal Christian says, “Let’s have a banquet and not a Bible study.” Or he says, “Let’s listen to music rather than to the teaching of the Word of God.” That is the way you can identify the carnal Christian.
1 Corinthians 3:16
The child of God is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Paul will bring this matter to our attention again. Our very bodies belong to Him!
1 Corinthians 3:18
THE BELIEVER POSSESSES ALL THINGS IN CHRISTUnfortunately, most of our seminaries today are trying to train “intellectual” preachers. I have listened to some of them, and very few of them are really intellectual. May I say again that the important thing is to know and preach the Word of God. Oh, if only I could get that across to some of these smart-aleck young fellows in seminary! I have the privilege of speaking in many seminaries today, and I have met so many boys in the seminaries who want to be “intellectual.”
1 Corinthians 3:19
Oh, how wonderful it is that we do not have to be confined to one narrow group or one particular denomination. Instead of feeling that we belong to so-and-so and can be taught by only one particular teacher or preacher, we can know that all the men of God belong to us. How wonderful! The reason I get along with the Pentecostal brethren is because I know they belong to God. Oh, my friend, those folk belong to me too. And I belong to them. How glorious it is to meet around the person of Christ with other believers who are on the foundation which is Jesus Christ!