Written ~ 08-06-2024
Read 1 Corinthians Chapter Three
1 Corinthians 3
When Paul was with the new believers at the church in Corinth (Acts 18) his teaching of the Gospel message was done with simplicity so they could learn who Jesus was and what He had done for them. Paul was with the Corinth believers for a year and a half, before he left, he would have set up leaders for the church and he would have instructed them to guide the church from there on out. In our chapter for today Paul is reprimanding those believers because their walk with the Lord had not grown. Paul expects a brand-new believer to need a more simplistic explanation of the Word of God, but he was quite dismayed to find them still needing the “milk” of the Word as though they were still infants in Christ… They were still living by the world’s standards, and he was not pleased.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3…
1 “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?”
When someone becomes a Born Again believer, quite often there is a surge of energy that comes from that decision and that person will want to learn all they can about this new relationship they have with Jesus. But something can happen along the way, their enthusiasm begins to fade away, they still believe, but other things become more important and the desire to move forward with the same dynamic effort they once had becomes stagnant. They remain in an infancy stage of wisdom and knowledge of Scripture. This can lead to, as Paul put it, “…you are still being controlled by your sinful nature…and you are living like people of the world…” Look how Paul uses the example of milk and solid food, “…when you were infants in Christ…I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready…”
How does this challenge you today? Have you been a believer for some time but still find yourself in an infancy stage in your walk with Christ? What steps are you going to take to grow from an infant Christian to a mature Christian? If you still require the “milk” of Scripture, in what way are you going to make yourself ready to feed on the “solid food” of Scripture? Will you continue to live your life controlled by your sinful nature? Or do you want to escape a lifestyle that is keeping you bound to the world’s standards? These can be some tough questions to ask yourself. But can you see how God wants to see you grow in your faith? To grow in wisdom, knowledge and understanding? A goal for every single believer is that there would be a boldness and confidence in our knowledge of Scripture, so if the opportunity presented itself, we would have the courage to share the Gospel message with any passerby.
Who are you following today? Are you following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and building your foundation of faith on Him? Or have you decided to follow someone else and take their advice as the higher authority in your life?
1 Corinthians 3:4-5…
4 “When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?
5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us.”
Here again Paul is questioning the Corinthians about who they are following, just as he did in chapter one of 1 Corinthians. It is important to hear Paul when he asks these types of questions, when he repeats himself, it is worth pondering what it is he is trying to get us to realize. Who are we following? Are we following Christ? Are we following our own sinful nature? Are we following the advice of the world? Are we saying we are a followers of a Christian leader like Paul or Apollos like the Corinthian believers did? Well, Paul makes it very clear that his purpose is to be a servant of God and to spread the Good News message, that’s it.
God has given each of us a specific role within the body of Christ, as we continue our study of God’s Word we will learn more about who Jesus is, plus we will learn more about ourselves, we will learn what God expects of us and we will, inevitably, follow the instructions given to us by the Lord.
The next analogy Paul uses to explain the role of every believer is so good!
1 Corinthians 3:6-9…
6 “I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.”
- One person plants the seed of the Gospel
- Another person comes along and waters that seed
- But it is God who makes that seed grow
Paul sets the reader straight that it makes no difference who does the planting or the watering, the important thing is that we are working together for the common goal of getting the Gospel message out to all people.
Verse 3:8 states that “…both will be rewarded for their own hard work…”
The next set of verses are incredible… honestly I am surprised I have not studied the next few verses more thoroughly! So let’s dive in now, together! These are the type of verses that will make each of us look inward. What are we doing to further the Kingdom of God? What are we doing to plant or water seeds? What are we adding to the foundation of God’s building? Take a look, these verses may surprise you, like they did me. They might just make you sit back and think a little bit about your walk with the Lord!
1 Corinthians 3:10-15…
10 “Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”
As believers, we can use a variety of difference materials to further the work of the Lord. Where do you see yourself in the layers above the foundation of Jesus Christ? Are you contributing straw, hay or wood? Or do you contribute jewels, silver or gold? God knows each of our hearts, He knows our desires, He knows whether or not we want to truly participate in the building of Christ’s foundation. We need to be honest with ourselves if we are doing all we can to build on this foundation using materials that will survive the fire.
Did you catch one of the warnings Paul gives us in verses 3:10-11? “Whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful! For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have – Jesus Christ.”
What foundation are you building your life on? What are the things in your life that are more important to you than spending time in the Word of God? Have the things of this evil world become your foundation? Let’s look at the last set of verses in this chapter.
1 Corinthians 3:16-23…
16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say,
“He traps the wise
in the snare of their own cleverness.”
20 And again,
“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise;
He knows they are worthless.”
21 So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”
Well, aren’t those verses awesome? They should ignite a fire within you when you realize who you are in Christ! These verses should make you excited! God has made us the temple for the Holy Spirit to reside in. Think about how many Born Again believers there are in the world today – think about how many of them don’t understand who they are in Christ. My wholehearted desire is to help believers who don’t yet know these truths and help fan that tiny flicker of fire within them into a blazing inferno. If each and every believer truly realized they were the temple of the Holy Spirit of the Almighty God, think of the revival that would explode in this world today!
But so many believers don’t walk in that power, they want to stay comfortable with what they know and understand and instead of seeking God’s instruction they confide in the wisdom of this dying world. God says the wisdom of the world is foolishness. So if we, as believers, are not seeking the wisdom of the Holy Spirit first in all things, we have become fools. Whew! Let that hit you between the eyes and sink in! I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be a fool! No, I want to overwhelm and overflow my heart, mind and soul with the wisdom and power found only in the Holy Spirit!
Who’s with me?
Again Paul writes that we should not follow a particular human leader (vs. 3:21). We have the ultimate teacher! Jesus, and through His Holy Spirit, He gives us everything! So we must keep a very discerning heart and mind when we listen to anyone claiming to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We must be able to go to the Scriptures and confirm what is being said. That’s why it is so important to feed on the “solid food” of Scripture. Let’s keep in mind… we are the temple of the Holy Spirit! If our hearts and minds truly grasp that the Holy Spirit dwells within us, how would our daily lives change? What things would you remove from your temple to make room for all that the Holy Spirit wants to give? What worldly wisdom are we clinging to that makes us look like fools before God?
For me, I want to clear out everything that is of this world and fill it with everything the Holy Spirit wants to give me!
“Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”
Unite yourself with Christ, fill your heart with the Holy Spirit! Seek wisdom from the Lord alone! Build on His foundation using gold, silver and jewels! Plant and water the seeds of the Gospel message and watch how God makes them grow!
~AMEN~