1 Corinthian (Class Version)

Chapter 3

1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ.

2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

In v.1-4 Paul lays down the rebuke for the Corinthians, Is he saying that they don't have the Holy Spirit?

No, they have the Spirit but they are acting like the natural man arguing with each other and using worldly wisdom to do so. Worldly wisdom exalts man and divides over whom to follow and this is what they were doing with Paul and Apollos

How does Paul make it clear to them that they should not follow either himself or Apollos?

He describes himself and Apollos as mere servants, instruments, and tools in the hand of God, the Lord gave them a task and they did it, but the credit is God's not theirs

What his illustration?

Like two farmers working together (Paul and Apollos). One put the seed in the ground and the other added water, but this is not difficult – what is difficult, even impossible for man, is to bring life and growth to that seed – this only God can do. So his point is that they did give the gospel and they did do some discipleship (him and Apollos had the same purpose – v.8), but God is the One that gave the Corinthians spiritual life and it is Christ who died for them and it is the Holy Spirit who lives in them

What does Paul mean by "each will be rewarded according to his labor"?

The next segment explains more in detail

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.

11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,

13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.

14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

What is the foundation that Paul laid?

Jesus Christ, the foundation of the gospel message Jesus is the foundation; Paul just did the work of laying down the message.

What does he mean "someone else is building on it"?

Referring to the foundation; probably Apollos and Peter being with the Corinthians, discipling them, doing ministry amongst them, ect.

So we understand that this building illustration refers to serving the Lord by ministering to others – by this the foundation of Jesus Christ is being built upon

What are the different building materials? What do they represent?

Gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, obviously three are strong and valuable, and three are weak and have a low value – they represent the things done for the Lord now while living on earth.

What does the fire have to do with it?

Purgatory! (joke) Paul describes a time that all Believers will face when we will be rewarded for the things that we did in faith for the Lord

Note: we are not judged! Our works are judged for the purpose of rewarding us – has nothing to do with salvation. Those things that were done in faith are the gold, silver, and costly stones – they will survive the fire and the rewards will follow – the things that were not done in faith will be the wood, hay and straw – they will easily burn up in the fire and no reward will be given v.14-15. These rewards will be enjoyed for all eternity or lost for all eternity depending on how we choose to live for the Lord while we are still on this earth.

V.16-17 seem strange to me – almost out of context – I don't think I totally understand. Could be that Paul is saying that they, as a Church, are the temple of God which His Spirit lives in (later he will talk about how the individual is the temple), and anyone who tries to destroy God's Church will face God's judgment

18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.

19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";

20 and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."

21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours,

22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours,

23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

According to Paul, how can they become wise?

By abandoning the wisdom of this world (becoming a "fool") and embracing the wisdom of God , and we know that Christ is our wisdom, thus, we honor Him and trust Him in everything that we do – this is where we will find wisdom

What is Paul's conclusion?

No more boasting about men – that's the world's way, but we follow Christ not the world

What does he mean "all things are yours"?

He wants them to know that if they follow one man they are limiting themselves – instead, as followers of Christ, we are open to all that Christ wants us to experience and learn. If we follow just one man then we limits ourselves to only receiving the things that God has shown that one person. But we belong to Christ, and therefore we belong to God – therefore, it is Him that we trust in and it is Him that we follow above all else